seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
I really wish anyone who reads this, would go and read the commentary. I don't know if Sarai was really avoiding Abram... and put her slave between her and her husband to keep her beauty. It's a thought I got while I was reading these chapters of Genesis. But now, Sarai's slave is pregnant and the world is going to change because of it. If Sarai was avoiding pregnancy to preserve her own beauty... and she put Hagar in the way.... well, that has just back fired on her.
Without getting too political.... from the commentary.
You shall call his name Ishmael: Ishmael was given a great promise, not only in the number of his descendants, but also in that he was the first one in the Bible given his name before he was born. God had a plan for this boy and his descendants. God doesn't give a name if He doesn't have a plan.
Many Christians today think they know God’s plan for the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabic people: God wants to wipe them out because of their hatred of Jews and their persecution of Christians. This reaction is not rooted in the Bible, especially in this passage of Genesis 16.
He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him: The life of Hagar's son would not be easy, but God would still look over him and sustain him.
Remember that the ill effect of this — a wild man, his hand shall be against every man, every man's hand against him — has been mostly seen in violence and murder among Arabs themselves. They kill each other even more than they kill Jews and Christians. For their own sake, even more than ours, we pray: God, bring salvation to the Arab people.
I know king Saul will be told to wipe out the opposing armies.... but we're not there yet. Abram isn't Abraham yet.... Isaac hasn't even been born yet. Sarai is still gorgeous.... Lot is still happy with his possessions and slaves over near a thriving Sodom. We haven't gotten to the "wipe them out" words in the Bible.
This is pure jealousy. Sarai didn't like the control Hagar now had. Abram has a son to inherit all Abram's riches. Sarai's failure to believe God was going to start a nation and it would begin with her.... was too much to handle.
The story of Sarai and Hagar has changed since I was a kid in Sunday School. Sarai was not gorgeous... just stupid and unwilling to wait on God. Hagar was a good handmade... maybe a little giddy, like the handmade in "Gone with the Wind" who didn't "know nothin' about birthin' no babies". It was never taught as rape or surrogacy... it was always confusing that God knew about this and didn't stop it because the story is about how there were indeed step brothers in Jesus' heritage.
It's hard not to be political... but look around.... It's affecting the news today! So, with all the protests going on at college campuses around the US, concerning the bombing of Gaza, it would seem to be a lot of hate in the world today. With so much hate in the world, there has also been talk of Hamas trying to kill all the Jews and the Jews trying to kill all the Hamas. Meanwhile, the hostages taken remain missing, and some may even be dead and thousands upon thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered simply because they got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. To make matters worse... it's not just Israel and Hamas... Iran woke up. There is a civil war going on in Syria. Jordan has been the scene of protests. I know I've left people out.... but my point is.... Muslims, Jews, and Christians are fighting and slaughtering each other.
Have they battled before? Sure! But this is much more intense than I've seen or read before. The last time the police were called in to quell college protests was during Vietnam. This is just mean.... and people are taking sides. Muslims, Jews, and Christians are putting each other to death!!!
Should the battle cry be "call me Ishmael"? According to the commentary... "Ishmael" means "God Sees".
"Call him Ishamel"
