v.1-6
1. Sarai/Abram repeated the mistake of Eve/Adam. R.W. between Sarai and Eve
Sarai
v.2 Since the LORD has prevented me from having children, please sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her
v.5“You have brought this wrong on me! I gave my servant into your embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the LORD judge between you and me!”
Eve
3:6b She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it
3:13b “The serpent tricked me, and I ate
a. They both told their husband what to do in things that God has told their husband what to do. What Sarai did she was not even sure! Wife was designed to be a helper to help their husband to follow God, not to follow ourselves.
b. Sarai and Eve both blamed others when something went wrong. Sarai used God's name over and over again v.2, 5 but none of these involving her searching for God's will in prayer. Instead, she sought the way to fulfill God's plan through a cultural practice, which in turn brought her pains. If anyone to blame, that person was Sarai herself.
2. Hagar was called the servant of Sarai v.1, 3, 5, 6 and therefore Abram gave her the right to do whatever she think best to Hagar v.6. Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly v.6 and even the messenger of the Lord heard her painful groans v.11.
v.6 Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly
15:13 They will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years (same words)
What kind of harsh treatment Sarai brought to Hagar was the same kind that the Egyptian lord would do to their Israelites slaves. That was not easy on Hagar. That was why the angel of the LORD appeared to Hagar.
v.7-16
1. 8 "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
a. where is she going
v.7 near a spring of water in the wilderness—the spring that is along the road to Shur
v.14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.)
She was on her way home to Egypt and got half way.
b. Where had she come from: running away from Sarai
The LORD said, return, submit, He has heard her painful groans. Those would be hard to follow. However, the Lord gave her a blessings almost identical to one of the blessings He gave to Abram.
v.10 I will greatly multiply your descendants...so that they will be too numerous to count
15:5 Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them
Reflection: Without the work of the Lord, a servant girl with a single child would not become a nation with multitude of descendants. The child would be under the care of the LORD. The mistreatment of the human mistress would be a trivia matter now. Can we see what Hagar see?
2. Two special names:
a. Ishmael
v.11 You are to name him Ishmael, (NET- It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”)
for the LORD has heard your painful groans.
b. Beer Lahai Roi
14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (NET-The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.)
c. You are the God who sees me
v. 13 So Hagar named the LORD who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” (BDB look at, see, by direct volition...I have looked after one seeing me) (NET-Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).)
Both the phrase, "I have seen one who sees me" and the name of the well, The well of the Living One who sees me, suggest that the name of the LORD should be, "You are the God who sees me."
Therefore, Hagar's faith and obedience was based on the fact that God looked (see and hear her) after her, and took up the cause of her who were oppressed. She went back to Abram and the son was named after what Hagar was told by the angel of the LORD.
Reflection: Other than the blessings from God made Hagar feel the comfortable to go back to more harsh treatment, but the protection and His presence. What will be my choice: Running away without God, or running back to sufferings but with God looked after me? Is God enough for me?
3. Questions:
1) Sarai tried to fulfill the promise of God with something that perhaps ok but not explicitly stated there.
2) Probably not just the timing, but also the method of how God's promise will be delivered. Is there other example like that in the Bible?
3) I thought Sarai really cared about the result, not ignoring the result.
4) It was an acceptable custom at that time
5) God treated them with blessings. He would be a wild donkey and be different than others. (NET-The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought...Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).
6) ??
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