“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!” Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away. The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.”
Genesis 16:1-16 NLT
Abram and Sarai continue to not understand God’s providence. Try to form, they continue to fulfill his will in their own way. However, this time they do something that seems against character, at least for Abram. Whereas Abram has shown to be a generally caring figure, for both Sarai and Lot, here he dismisses Hagar as a both a disposable vessel for legacy and his wife’s jealousy. It is clear that he did not consider her the way in which he had been considering Sarai or God had considered him. Yet, we find that God does consider her. A new name for God is introduced here that seems important for the current generation’s focus on identity. Hagar calls him the God who sees me. He is aware of her mistreatment and he is both saddened and compelled by it. We should take note that he doesn’t simply whisk her away from her problems. Instead he reassures her that she should return, as does Paul in Philemon. He assures her that he will care for her and her offspring. This will turn into a source of contention to this day. Specifically Abram should never have involved her. Yet, she is not just collateral damages to God. Because she is involved, God extends some providence to her and her offspring. Our actions always have consequences. We must always be godly about them.
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