Read with Me
Genesis 21:14-21 (HCSB)
Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.
God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Listen with Me
When Hagar was told that morning that she had to take Ishmael and leave, she was stunned. She had settled into her dual roles as servant of Sarah and mother of Abraham’s eldest son and heir. She rejoiced when Sarah had miraculously become pregnant. And she had celebrated the weaning of Isaac right along with everyone else.
But now she was being told that she had to leave. Abraham provided her with several days’ worth of food and a skin of water. Then he ushered her and Ishmael out of the camp, ordering her not to return.
Hagar and Ishmael were both distraught. They left the camp but had no idea where to go. When Hagar had previously run away from Sarah (Genesis 16:6-14), she had intended to head back to Egypt. But now the pair wandered aimlessly in the wilderness.
Wandering aimlessly in that dry country was a dangerous thing to do. There were springs and oases, but it was hazardous to simply hope to come across one of them. Predictably, Hagar and Ishmael drained their water skin within just a couple days. They could find no springs, and Ishmael grew weaker with thirst and finally passed out.
Hagar couldn’t deal with the idea of losing Ishmael. He was literally all she had left. She dragged him to a place where there were some low bushes and put him under one of them out of the direct sunlight. Then she staggered off several yards where she collapsed in tears of fear and frustration.
At that point, she remembered God, the one who had spoken to her when she had run away earlier. At that time, God had promised that her son that was still to be born would be the source of a massive number of descendants. So, she cried out to God, needing his help to preserve Ishmael’s life so that the promise could come true.
And God answered, not only reassuring Hagar but, giving her concrete help as well, showing her a nearby spring of water. She gave some to Ishmael, who quickly revived., Then, steeled with a fresh determination inspired by the renewal of God’s promise for her son, she set her face toward the west, back to Egypt. And once there, she renewed her connections and obtained a wife for Ishmael.
Pray with Me
Father, when we are caught up in the challenges and circumstances in our lives, it can be desperately difficult for us to remember the promises that You have made to us, and to have confidence in your ability to see us through to the other side. But You are always faithful to keep every promise You make to us, if we will simply keep our face turned toward You in times of victory as well as in times of trial. Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness. Amen.