Readings for today: Genesis 14-16
Father, through your Holy Spirit, open to me the wonders of Your Word. Teach me all that pertains to life and godliness that I may know You more deeply and experience You more intimately and serve You more faithfully.
Hagar has always fascinated me. She probably was given to Abram while he was in Egypt. Perhaps as an exchange for Sarai when Pharaoh took her into his household. Maybe she was part of Sarai’s retinue when she left Pharaoh’s household. We’re not given the details. She would have been a young girl at the time. No rights. No voice. No status. She was a slave. The only reason we know her name at all is because of the role she is forced to play God’s salvation plan. She has no choice in the matter. When her mistress decides to take matters into her own hands and produce the promised heir through human means, Hagar is pressed into service. She is of child-bearing age presumably. She’s clearly demonstrated some measure of fertility already which is why Sarai would have chosen her and not another. Perhaps she even has other children? Again, we are not given to know. We only know she is given to Abram to be his concubine. A surrogate for Sarai who is barren.
Barrenness was a curse in the ancient world. Women were valued almost exclusively by the number of heirs they could produce. The more children, the more honored. The less children, the less honored. No children? Shamed. Sarai lived with shame almost all her life. Though loved by her husband, she could not give him what he desired most. She was old now. Long past child-bearing years so the promise of God to their family must have felt like a cruel joke. Especially when it didn’t immediately come to pass. But Sarai wanted Abram to receive his reward so she does what any Ancient Near East matriarch who was barren would have done. She gives him her servant in her place. The goal being once the servant became pregnant and bore a child, they would be adopted as Abram and Sarai’s own. Predictably, when Hagar does get pregnant, her relationship with Sarai changes. Now she has power. She can give her master something her mistress cannot. Becoming pregnant elevates her status in the household. She’s almost on the same level now as her mistress and Sarai responds accordingly to re-establish her authority. She abuses Hagar and Hagar flees.
Hagar’s prospects would have been dim at best. Alone. Pregnant. A runaway slave. No money. No family. Nowhere to go. Egypt must have felt like it was on the other side of the world. But God sees her. God looks after her. He finds her by the spring on the way to Shur. And he makes this incredible promise to her. One that echoes the promise He made to Abram. Her offspring will also become a multitude. One that cannot be numbered. This is simply unprecedented in the Ancient Near East. God treating Hagar as an equal to Abram. It’s amazing and it reminds us yet again of what the Apostle Paul will later say, “God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11) Jew or Gentile. Israelite or Egyptian. Master or slave. Rich or poor. Head of the household or servant of the household. Man or woman. It doesn’t matter to God. He sees us. He knows us. He loves us. He looks after us. Just like He did Hagar. Just like He did Abram and Sarai. Is it messy at times? Yes. Is it confusing? Sure. Does it sometimes involve suffering? More often than we know. We are sinners after all. Our families are all dysfunctional on some level. Life in this world is never up and to the right. Hagar had to return and submit to Sarai in order to receive the promise. It wouldn’t be the last time she and Sarai would get tangled up. But God worked through the dysfunction of their relationship to bring about His perfect will. What about your life? Where has God met you? Seen you? Looked after you? Where have you experienced His provision and grace?
Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 17-19