Crumbs 55

 

Crumbs from the Master’s Table 55

In the Wilderness : Hagar

Introduction (The symptoms from my recent virus have slowly subsided enough for me to study. My thanks to those who pray for me. ) During Lent I hope to think about various people from Scripture who found themselves in the desert.

Scripture Genesis 21:14-19 NIV 14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. 15When the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Crumbs

This was the second time Hagar had ended up in the dessert. The first time she had sneered at her mistress. Sarai could not become pregnant and the pregnant Hagar had thought this to be an opportunity for some unkind mirth. (Gen 16) This time Hagar’s son was mocking Isaac. The results were disastrous. Hagar lost her situation and the boy his inheritance.

This is an account of abusive language and I note there is an emphasis in Scripture on what is said. This is true of the records of our Lord’s sufferings.

The mockery by Hagar and Ishmael stand in stark contrast to what is said by God. In Gen 16 The angel of the Lord gives a hopeful prophecy about Ishmael’s future and in Gen 21 there is similar hope and loving guidance dealing with their current distress. Ishmael had been deprived of his inheritance but not what God had for him Ishmael means “God hears”; appropriate to the boy’s experience.

In Galatians 4: 21-25 we learn that Hagar is an allegory of the law. The means laid down by God for us if we are to work our own salvation. Ishmael was a human expedient. It was her status as a slave that did not allow her to be a symbol of grace. Grace must come through a man free to give Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Questions

1. Does the behaviour of Hagar and Ishmael teach us about our behaviour?

2, What does this account tell us about the character of God?

3. What does the history of Hagar teaches us about the law?