003 Women in Context: Sarah & Hagar (Genesis 21)

Why would a mother be forced to leave her home, taking her son into the desert with nothing but faith? Discover the harrowing yet hopeful journey of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21, as we unravel the pivotal moments that led to their exile. This episode sheds light on the dramatic transformation of Abram and Sarai into Abraham and Sarah, and the divine decree that secured Isaac's place as the bearer of God's covenant. Feel the tension as Sarah demands the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, highlighting ancient inheritance practices and the strained dynamics within Abraham’s household.

Join us as we explore the profound themes of divine provision and protection for the marginalized. We'll walk with Hagar through her moments of despair and witness God’s unwavering promises to her and her son, Ishmael. From his growth into a skilled bowman and the patriarch of a great nation, to the broader implications of God's care for the vulnerable, this episode will enrich your understanding of faith, resilience, and divine justice. Tune in to reflect on how these ancient stories echo the assurances of God's closeness and faithfulness during times of adversity.

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Chapters

• 0:21 The Hagar and Ishmael Dilemma
• 16:38 Hagar's Promises and Provision
• 20:08 God's Care for the Vulnerable

Transcript

Jessica: 0:21

We are continuing in the story of Hagar. Today we are looking at Genesis 21. Last time we looked at Genesis 16 and discussed Hagar and her interactions with Sarai, how Hagar became pregnant as Abraham's concubine or secondary wife. She then rebelled- cursed Sarai and was brought down a notch by Sarai's discipline, from which she fled into the desert where she saw the God who sees her. She decided to come back to rejoin their Abram and Sarai's household and she had a son named God hears, or Ishmael. Abram actually named the child, which typically the mother names the child in Genesis, but Abram does it here. I believe it as a adoption ceremony that this is his son and who. Whether or not Ishmael is a legal son of Abram is significant for Genesis chapter 1.

Jessica: 1:25

Now, between Genesis 16 and Genesis chapter 21, several important things happen contextually. God gives Abram the covenant of circumcision, so both Abram and Ishmael are circumcised. God also changes Abram's name from Abram, (exalted ather), to Abraham chief of multitude. He also changes Sarah's name from Sarai to Sarah. Both of those mean princess. Sarai is likely the Akkadian, a Sumerian version of the name, where Sarah is the Hebrew version of the name. God has changed their name as the patriarch and matriarch of the household that they function in in a patricentric heterarchy.

Jessica: 2:09

Genesis 21 happens. God the previous year told Abram and Sarah that they would have a baby. Sarah would have a baby. Now she is about 89 years old when she hears this and both of them just laugh at the ridiculousness of this. Abram asks, or Abraham asks God, please bless Ishmael.

Jessica: 2:30

He loves this boy. This boy is about 13, 14 years old at this time. He loves this child and God says don't worry, I'm going to bless Ishmael, but the son of Sarah is the one from whom the covenants and blessings I have given you, abraham. That son is the one these will come through.

Jessica: 2:51

So we get to chapter 21, and it starts with "the Lord visited princess. That's what Sarah means. The Lord visited princess, like he said, and then the Lord did for princess that which he spoke Verse 2, and then the Lord did for princess that which he spoke, verse two. And then she conceived. And then princess Sarah bore ", abraham, a son in his old age, at the appointed time which God spoke to him. Then, chief of multitude called the name of his son, who was born to him. Who, princess, bore to him. Laughter. We see a theme of laughter happening here. Then chief of multitude circumcised laughter, his son at eight days old, as God commanded him in the previous chapter, genesis 20. Then chief of multitude was a hundred years old when his son, laughter Isaac, was born to him. It doesn't say this, but Sarah was 90 at this time. Ishmael was 15.

Jessica: 3:51

Hagar is largely a side character for the first part of Genesis 21. We'll get into her, but I'm just bringing us up to speed on context.

Jessica: 3:59

"Then Sarah said laughter, god made for me. All who hear will laugh over me. Then she said, verse 7, verse 8, "braham made a great banquet in the day laughter Isaac was weaned. And then Princess Saw the son of Flight, or Hagar, the Egyptian who she bore to chief of multitude, laughing.

Jessica: 4:33

Many of your English translations will say that translate "laughing here mocking. But we don't know what kind of laughing Ishmael is doing here. He could just be enjoying the blessings. He could be mocking Isaac. That's how interpreters have commonly interpreted this. He could be just playing with Isaac. We're not sure. But Sarah sees this laughter of Ishmael and she has a problem with it.

Jessica: 5:03

Now, if you remember from the last episode when a character sees, I am seeing our crucial body terms that were huge word plays in Genesis 16. And so we're seeing some of that again in Genesis 21.

Jessica: 5:18

And in the book of Genesis, when a person sees something without God being in the picture, he's not interacting with them. It's generally not a good thing.

Jessica: 5:27

So "princess saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian who she bore to Abraham laughing and she said to chief of multitude drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not be an heir with my son, Laughter."

Jessica: 5:45

So here's where we need to start considering ancient laws, the end of chapter 16, I believe Abram adopted Ishmael as his son. The son of a slave is not automatically an inheritance-receiving son of a patriarch. It may be a biological offspring, but that does not mean he is an official son. We see in the Code of Hammurabi that if a patriarch has a son by a slave he has to adopt. He has to call that child his child for it to be eligible for inheritance, which we see Abraham did in Genesis 16..

Jessica: 6:27

Now Sarah is saying "drive out the slave woman and her son. And slave woman here is different than maidservant in Genesis 16. Maidservant is more of just your everyday term and it talks about where Hagar was in the household, how she was near Abraham and Sarah, kind of a personal servant. For Sarah, this Hebrew word for slave woman is more of a legal term, it's a class term. She is not free like Sarah, she is a slave. This is legal language Sarah is using, and the Hebrew word for drive out, gerash, is a word for divorce. So Sarah's basically saying your secondary concubine wife, hagar, you need to divorce her, and that would include Ishmael. You need to drive them out, you need to divorce, you need to sever your ties with them, for the son of the slave woman will not be heir with my son Laughter. What Sarah is doing here is trying to work the system, the legal system, to make sure that her son gets the inheritance.

Jessica: 7:30

She knows, and the original audience would know that you have a very large household. Abraham's household had about give or take 600 individual people or more in his household. Household does not mean singular family, biological family. It includes his entire household, servants, sojourners, people who have come alongside. It's not a clan or a tribe, yet it is a household, but it is exceptionally large. This household in chapter 12 had 318 warriors fighting men in this household. So Sarah is looking strategically, as the matriarch of this household, at the entire situation. She's like we have 318 fighting men. Ishmael is 15, or Ishmael actually at this point by the time Isaac is weaned is likely 17-18. Isaac is two or three, and so Sarah is looking strategically at this entire situation. She's like we have 318 warriors. Ishmael is the oldest and he is adopted. That means birthright and such would likely go to him.

Jessica: 8:39

Sarah could make this argument. Isaac is two or three. I don't know how much longer I'm going to live. I am 93. At this point I might not be around to advocate for my child, so I need to advocate for my child now. We could very well have a split in the household. We could have an all-out war if 200 men side with Ishmael and 100 with Isaac. We could literally have a war on our hands over who is going to be the next patriarch. And so she's appealing to Abraham to make that decision, and to make it now. Isaac is no longer a baby, he is now a child, he is a son, and she wants him to make this decision. So she asks him to divorce, to drive out Hagar and Ishmael.

Jessica: 9:24

Verse 11, "hen Then the word of Sarah was very evil in the eyes. Again we have that wordplay in the eyes of chief of multitude on account of his son. Again, ishmael is 17, 18 years old at this point. He is the son of Abraham. Abraham loves this boy. This is not just a random person out there. He didn't know he's raised this son. It was the son of his old age, his delight. Yes, he has another son now, but that doesn't mean he loves Ishmael any less.

Jessica: 9:57

hen is not okay with this. He is struggling in his heart. What do I do? "Then God said to do not let there be evil in your eyes about the young man and about your slave woman. All that princess said to you do what she said. Also, the son of the slave woman a nation I will make him for. He is your seed and offspring. So God steps in and he says, hey, I've got them, I've got this. He's going to be a nation. He's not the one that my promises, all the promises I've given you, all of the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is not for Ishmael. I am going to bless him. He is going to be a great nation, but the covenant will not come through him. God says do what Sarah said.

Jessica: 10:44

And this is really hard because we know God doesn't like divorce. We know broken families are not his goal. But God sees something here where he says it's going to be okay. I'm going to take care of Hagar and Ishmael, I'm going to take care of Isaac, I will take care of everyone. In this situation and from the original audience perspective, it is likely that separating the households having Hagar and Ishmael create a new household, a separate household will reduce the likelihood of violence. It will reduce inner household tension. It's hard for Abraham. He doesn't like it. He's been thinking of Ishmael as his heir, but this needs to happen.

Jessica: 11:33

Now there is a couple laws that come to play. The Code of Hammurabi talks about a slave's child who is adopted and how this child shall have part of the inheritance with the matriarch's sons. After the matriarch's son, because he's a higher class, he's a freeborn son of the matriarch, so he would become firstborn if there's not coup arguments in the household, and then the slave son would also get inheritance. Sarah wants to deny him some of this inheritance. Another code of Hammurabi says that if the children of the slave are not adopted and this is where we get real sticky here. If they're not adopted and the father dies, then the children of the slave women will not get any inheritance. But the slave woman and her children need to be freed. They cannot be slaves to the matriarch or to the firstborn son, the new patriarch, from the freed matriarch, if that makes sense.

Jessica: 12:43

So what, Abraham? What's happening here is this is where Hagar and Ishmael are freed from slavery. Abraham says I'm going to send you out, I'm going to send you away. We're going to divide the household, Isaac and Ishmael. They're going to be separated. This will reduce conflict. It will keep potential war from.

Jessica: 13:10

"And he took bread and skin of water and he gave it to Hagar upon her shoulder, and he gave her the child and he let her go. He dismissed her and she went away. Then she wandered in the wilderness of the seven wells, the region around Beersheba, and so he frees her. She is no longer a slave, she is no longer a part of the household and she and Ishmael are free to go. They are now free people, able to make their own life and their own agency from here on forward. But this is severing a relationship and this is in some ways, heartbreaking. You're ripping a son away from his father. She was legally married to him as a secondary wife and all of that is disintegrating. So you have a deep sorrow in this passage as things are split apart.

Jessica: 13:59

She is wandering in the wilderness. That Hebrew word "wandering could indicate they get lost. They've been moving from watering hole to wandering hole, trying to figure out how to establish themselves as a separate household. He is a 17, 18-year-old young man, able to start making his way in the world and taking care of his mother, but she's also feeling responsible for him as kind of the new matriarch of their little tiny household. They're unsure what to do. They're wandering from waterhole to waterhole and they run out of water.

Jessica: 14:30

The water in the skin was finished and so she abandons the child under a bush. "And she went and sat down opposite a distance away about a bow shot and she said let me not see the death of the child. What's happening here is she sets him down. He could be dying. It could also be a statement of he's up for adoption for somebody else. If a caravan comes along, she's afraid they're dying. She's hoping somebody she's not able to procure a household for him to take care of him. They're about to die of thirst. She is hoping because they're lost in the desert and she is hoping that somebody might take care of him. So she moves a little ways away where she can see what's happening. But she's not too far away and she sits down and she lifts up her voice and she wept.

Jessica: 15:19

"Then God heard the voice of the young man, which is interesting on one hand because she's the one that the text says is weeping. But if you think back to Ishmael's name, ishmael means God hears or the Lord hear". His name does not occur in this part of the passage, but you still have that wordplay if you're remembering his name and what it means. Then God heard the voice of the young man. God heard, god hears. And the angel of the Lord calls to Hagar from heaven and he said to her what's going on? Hagar, fear not, for God heard the voice of the young man. God hears Ishmael, who is over there. Up, lift up the young man, take hold of him with your hand, for a great nation, I will make him

Jessica: 16:05

Again, . God enters into the situation and answers the concerns of Hagar's heart. He knows how to exactly speak from heaven. This woman who's been divorced, she's been outcast. Yes, they are now free. But free without any resources is a really dangerous place to be. It is safer to be the slave in a household than to be a free person with no household. And they are lost in the desert. And God sees them and he says take the young man, take hold of him. I will make him a great nation.

Jessica: 16:39

God says you are a slave in the household of Abraham. You are now free. Before it was Abraham's job to take care of you. Now it is my job to take care of you. I, the God of heaven, am looking down from heaven upon you and I have made you a promise before, and I reiterate that promise now that I will make your son a great nation. That means I'm going to provide for you. That means you are going to have a life. That means you're going to have a way of life. That means you are going to have wealth. That means your life is going to be okay. I have allowed Abraham to cut you off from his family.

Jessica: 17:14

Now, later on, Ishmael does come back. Abraham gives him gifts before he dies. There's more that happens. It's not like they never speak to each other again, but there is a separation. They are now a different household. They are not part of Abraham's household, they are not under his protection. But God says you are under my protection, I've got you, I've allowed you to be separated from that household. But that does not mean you are destitute, that does not mean you are alone, because I am with you, I am watching and I will make Ishmael into a great nation. And then God opens her eyes.

Jessica: 17:50

Hagar has been seeing things all along in her story. She saw that she conceived in chapter 16. She cursed Sarah with her eyes. She has been seeing. She has been seeing with her eyes. She saw God in chapter 16. She named God in chapter 16. But she in this place is blind to the provision of God right before her until God proves to her how much he has her. She's afraid. They are dying of thirst. And God opens her eyes and she sees a well of water. She sees now what God wants her to see that He provides them water, that he will be taking care of them.

Jessica: 18:31

"And she went and she filled the skin of water. She caused the young man to drink. And then God was with the young man and he grew and he dwelt in the wilderness. He was an expert bowman and he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took for him a woman from the land of Egypt.

Jessica: 18:50

Hagar's story is rough. There is a lot of ups and downs, there are bumps and twists and turns. A lot of the aspects, especially from our perspective today, are just like oh, this is not okay, and you know what it's not. She was not treated rightly, she was not treated well. A lot of the time there's systemic systems in place to benefit Abraham and Sarah and to put her at a disadvantage. She is disadvantaged and vulnerable, but the God of the universe took special interest in her and continually comes to her saying I've got you, I will take care of you, I am watching over you, I will bless you, and by the next time we see them.

Jessica: 19:36

In the book of Genesis we have an entire family tree of Ishmael. Seven or 12 kings come from Ishmael. She becomes the matriarch of a great nation that she was deeply longing for in chapter 16. The Lord blesses and this is a woman who chooses to walk by faith. She chose to walk by faith in chapter 16, when God said go back to Sarah and humble yourself. She said I will walk by faith in what God has said, and I will go do that, trusting him for my well-being.

Jessica: 20:08

Now she's been ousted from that household. She's desperate, she's thirsty, she's dying. And God says , I've got you, there's water here, and if I can show you water in the desert, I will take care of you in every other way. And so they continue on and God keeps his promise. So, dear one, as you consider the story of Hagar, consider how God sees the weak and vulnerable and he cares for them. That is a theme throughout the entire Bible, that God pays special attention to the husbandless and the fatherless. And that is what Ishmael and Hagar are at this point. They've been ousted from their household. They do not have a patriarch to protect them. They have to make their own way, but God is looking out for them. He's always watching over them.

Jessica: 21:03

I love in chapter 16, God, the angel of the Lord, came to her at the well. It's kind of like a face-to-face discussion they're having by a spring of water. In chapter 21, god is speaking from heaven. It gives you this perspective that God is up above looking down at her and he's watching and he's moving the pieces as he's making sure they get what they need and he's pointing it out when they miss it. He has not abandoned them. He has not left them on their own.

Jessica: 21:30

They are in an extremely dangerous, vulnerable situation and God is taking care of them because he will fulfill his promise and he will take care of them and, dear one, that is the same for you.

Jessica: 21:42

God will fulfill his promises to us, his promises to bless us, his promises to teach us his love, his promises to see us in our weakness and our vulnerability and to walk with us in that, in our pain, in our suffering, in our sin. God does not go away from us because we're not good enough or because we're weak or we're vulnerable or we're lowly. No, his very nature drives him to come near to the vulnerable, to come near to the lowly, to come near to the destitute, to come near to the needy. We are fortunate to be sheep, like Psalm 23 says, because God takes care of his sheep, and we see this here with Hagar. Even though she is disadvantaged and not being treated well by those who were supposed to take care of her, god never drops the ball. God always looks out for her, even though it's not through human means, he takes care of her and he will always take care of you.