Notes on Genesis 16

Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

When Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt in previous chapters, we can notice here that they brought back with them Hagar to be a maid to Sarah. Now we will see the results of going down to Egypt in the first place.

Abraham believed God and believed in God but just like us today sometimes we think we have to help God fulfill His word. There is a difference in walking in the spirit and doing works by the leading of the Holy Spirit and walking in the flesh and doing works in the flesh. Here we see an example of walking in the flesh to try to accomplish the work of God in the spirit. It didn't work then and it doesn't work now. Flesh and spirit are total opposites.

They knew God had promised a child to them, they knew they were getting old so they most probably began to reason that they must do something themselves.

Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

This is the danger of not waiting on God. I say this with the spirit of meekness though because I realize that I am subject to such weaknesses myself. Sarah grew impatient and decided that perhaps God meant for them to have a child by using Hagar. This was not fair to Hagar to use her in this manner. It was also a weakness in the faith of Sarah.

Now we see the results of this error in the our world today with Arab and Israel conflicts constantly.

Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Gen 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

I never could understand why Hagar began to despise Sarah. Perhaps it was because the child would be considered Sarah's child and she was just a person who bore the child.

I do not think God ever intended men to have more than one wife. He allowed it and He didn't remove His promises and covenants when they did, but there are plenty of signs in scripture to show us that it was never the plan of God for men to have multiple wives. It causes jealousy. It would be hard for a man to love all of them the same so he would probably favor one above the others. Someone always gets hurt. Children are hurt too when we live like this. Had God wanted men to have more than one wife, He would have created more wives for Adam. The scripture says that man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife (not wives) and they shall become one flesh. This would be impossible with two wives. Men's lust and weakness causes him to desire more than one wife. In this particular case, Sarah's impatience caused this to occur. I doubt that Abraham desired this.

Gen 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Sarah admits she made a mistake. This is the first step toward making things right but the weakness of our flesh constantly hinders us from doing the right thing.

Gen 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Abraham allowed Sarah to rule here and didn't take the side of the maid. One has to feel a little sorry for Hagar here but even though God chose Sarah to bear the child of promise, He still cared for Hagar and her seed.

Gen 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Gen 16:8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Gen 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

Hagar was to trust God to make things come out right in the end.

Gen 16:10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

This prophecy has been fulfilled. It is believed that the Arabs are decedents from Ishmael.

Gen 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
Gen 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

This is also true. The descendants of Ishmael have always been wild and dwelt in the wilderness. They do not get along well with outsiders. The only thing that will unite the children of Ishmael with the children of Isaac is faith in Jesus Christ as Messiah and being "born again" by the spirit of God. Since the nation of Israel and the Islamic nations both do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God and God that came in the flesh to bring salvation to the world, this peace has not yet occurred and it will not occur until both nations accept Jesus as their Lord.
It is impossible to achieve this by giving up land or any other method world leaders try to dream up. It will not work. The Prince of Peace is Jesus (Yeshua) and until He returns to set up His literal kingdom, peace will never be upon the earth.

The church cannot set up this kingdom ahead of time. To try to do so, brings trouble, not peace. We are to preach the gospel to the whole world, not conquer the world and force Christianity upon them. Constantine was wrong. Church and state cannot bring peace until the Prince of Peace returns. This is Jesus who was crucified for the sins of the whole world. No other man can come and pretend to represent Him. It has to be Jesus Christ Himself, literally in person that returns to set up a kingdom of peace. This promise of His return takes faith and walking in the spirit.  The flesh cannot understand this.  The flesh desires to help God or try to do things some other way.  If we read world history though we can clearly see that our ways never work. 

Gen 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spoke unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

Even though we fail at times, God cares about the individuals that are hurt by our failures.

Gen 16:14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Gen 16:15 And Hagar bore Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Gen 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

This whole episode was heartbreaking for Abraham and he loved Ishmael. At first he probably thought this was the child promised of God. However this lapse of their understanding of God's word brings sorrow later on.

If beloved Abraham had misunderstood the word of God and made mistakes, how much more can we do so. That is why we need to study the word and diligently seek God daily being careful to stay humble and realize that we truly need God every step that we take. We must see that we can't do the works of God by the flesh.  It must be by the spirit in total dependence upon Him for direction. 

Genesis 17