Background: Again and again, God promised Abram he would become the father of many nations, yet this usually strong man of faith and his wife, Sarai, made their own arrangements in order to make God’s promise come true! As Genesis 16 records the story, Sarai urged Abram to follow the custom of the day and have children with her maid Hagar so the couple would have an heir. When this had been accomplished and Hagar knew she had a child on the way, she began to look down on her mistress, which did not go over too well with Sarai.
In Genesis 17 God gave Abram a new name – Abraham, which means the father of many. God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, which, interestingly, means princess. With the blessing of God resting on Abraham, however, God could not and did not forget Hagar.
When Sarah mistreated the servant girl, Hagar ran away until an angel of the Lord came to her and told her to go home and submit to Sarah’s authority.
“And the angel said, ‘You will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Ishmael, meaning God hears, for the Lord has heard your cries. Your son will be as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live in defiance of all his relatives’,” Genesis 16:11-12.
Hagar obeyed God and gave birth to Ishmael. Fourteen years later, God appeared to the 99-year-old Abraham, again promising to be with him and his descendants but with special favor over the child that his wife Sarah would have, despite the impossibility of her age! However…
“Abraham prayed to God, ‘Oh, if only Ishmael could live before You!’
“But God said, ‘No, your wife Sarah will bear a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard your prayer. I will indeed bless him and make him fruitful, giving him many, many descendants. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation, but I will establish My covenant with Isaac to whom Sarah will give birth at this time next year’,” Genesis 17:18-22.
Questions: Do people today ever hear God’s promises then run ahead or lag behind God’s timing? Did Abraham and Sarah’s decision to ensure an heir affect only their family, or did their actions have consequences and reverberations still felt today? Does Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael give a different slant to his motivations in the familiar Bible story in Genesis 22 where he offers up his son and heir, Isaac, as a sacrifice to the Lord?
Prayer: Dear LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and, yes, Ishmael, help me to hear You and be ready and willing to wait! Forgive me for the times I have fallen far behind or rushed before You. Thank You for giving me everything I need to obey You and follow Your will even when things look hopelessly impossible.
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© 2012,
Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.