Genesis 16:1-8
Ge 16:1
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had
an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Sarai was now 75 years old and up to this point she had
no children. Sarai had a handmaid
which was probably given to her by Pharaoh when they were in Egypt or she may
have been born in the house of Abram.
She would probably have been Sarai’s personal assistant who handled all
the affairs for her. She would be
like a personal assistant to the First Lady of the United States.
Ge 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.
Sarai now confronts Abram and tells him that the LORD had
restrained her from having a child.
Basically, she was blaming the LORD for her barrenness.
So to give Abram an offspring and complicate matters more, she tells
Abram to go and have sexual relations with Hagar and through her Sarai would be
able to give Abram a son. In Middle
Eastern culture it was customary for a barren wife to give a female slave to her
husband to carry on the line.
Nevertheless, no matter what the custom was Abram was still committing adultery
even though the wife endorsed it.
God had repeatedly told Abram and even confirmed in a covenant that Abram’s true
descendant would come from his loins and yet here, he continues to discount the
word of God and unfortunately listened to the voice of his wife.
Adam made the same mistake and it cost the human race dearly.
Now Abram makes a great mistake in listening to Sarai which will later
become a snare to the nation of Israel.
We look at Abram and think that he was this mighty Patriarch of faith but
he had many weaknesses as we all do.
Ge 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.
Then after they had dwelled in the land
of Canaan for ten years. Sarai gave
Hagar to Abram to be his second wife.
This was prohibited under the laws of marriage in the Garden of Eden.
God stated that the husband would leave his mother and father and was to
cleave to his wife, singular, not wives, plural.
They both wanted children but it seems that Abram did not tell Sarai
about God’s promise to him and decided to take matters into their own hands.
Ge 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.
Hagar was a younger woman so after Abram married her he
went in to her and she conceived a child.
Then Hagar had taken an attitude of contempt for Sarai since she
conceived a child and Sarai could not.
Even though Hagar gave Abram a child, it was dangerous to turn on your
mistress because she could have the slave killed and then raise the child as her
own.
Ge 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.
Since Hagar was now seeing Sarai in a negative light, she
now confronts Abram that she wants him to address the situation between her and
Hagar. Since Abram was the head of
the family, it was his responsibility to deal with this and Sarai tells him that
her wrong is now upon him since he has done nothing to rectify the situation.
Sarai gave Abram her maid in his bosom but Abram did not request it,
Sarai insisted that Abram take her.
Sarai forgets that she initiated the entire situation.
Sarai then hastily appeals to the LORD for the resolution of this
situation. She did not give Abram
opportunity to deal with the matter.
She invoked the LORD to deal with each of them according to whether they
were right or wrong. Actually they
were both wrong since Abram had the promise of God of a son who would carry on
the Messianic line and Sarai for her impatience in the matter.
Ge 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.
Abram then passes the buck to Sarai and tells her that
Hagar is her handmaid and she has the right to do with her as she pleases.
Abram was very passive in this situation instead of correcting it
according to the laws. He probably
did not want to get heavily involved because he knew that he was wrong in
marrying Hagar because he knew the promises of God and attempted to circumvent
them with Hagar. So Sarai had dealt
quite roughly with Hagar to the point that Hagar had fled away from the camp of
Abram and Sarai. Sarai may have
placed extra work burdens on her or had her flogged for her insolence. The child
which Hagar bore was the property of Abram and not Hagar according to the
custom.
Ge 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.
Here we have another Christophany which is a
pre-Bethlehem appearance of Christ.
We know this by the term “the angel of the Lord.”
Angel is another word for messenger and does not necessarily mean a
created being. Shur was located to
the southwest of Canaan and leading to the Red Sea and Egypt.
Hagar probably figured that she would return home to Egypt.
Ge 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.
Then the Lord asked Hagar, from where did you come and where are you going? Then Hagar answered him and stated that she was fleeing from her mistress Sarai. The Lord must have appeared to her as a man since the Bible does not state that she was frightened at his appearance. Hagar had still belonged to Sarai and by law she was not allowed to leave her of her own desire. This is why the verse states “Sarai’s maid” because she was still the slave of Sarai no matter how bad Sarai treated her.