Genesis 16:9-16
Ge 16:9
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy
mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
Then the Lord tells her to return to Sarai and she must
submit herself to Sarai and to humble herself under Sarai’s authority.
Even though she was the wife of Abram, she was still the servant of
Sarai. Hagar had treated Sarai with
contempt which means she took up an arrogant attitude toward Sarai but here she
is being humbled.
Ge 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.
Then the Lord makes a great promise to Hagar similar to
the one he made with Abram. Here we
know this is no created angel as he makes the promise that he would be the one
who would multiply the descendants of her child exceedingly which means there
are going to be many millions of them throughout the ages.
They would become the Arab nations which are still with us today.
Ge 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.
Then the Lord tells her that she is with child at this
point and he will be born a son and he is to have the name Ishmael which means
“God hears.” As we read in the
verse that God heard the affliction which Hagar suffered.
He was one of a few in Scripture who received his name before he was even
born. Others were Isaac, John the
Baptist, Josiah, and Jesus who was called Immanuel in Isaiah.
Ge 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.
Ishmael will be like a wild donkey who would wander the
deserts. He would love the freedom
of roaming but within those journeys he would be in conflict with many others.
He will be a man of courage but will be an aggressor.
He will also dwell in the presence of the descendants of Abraham through
Isaac. The Ishmaelites would be a
separate people and not tied to any other group.
Ge 16:13
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her,
Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth
me?
In ancient Egypt, it was not uncommon for people to
attribute names to their gods which represented their characteristics.
Hagar being Egyptian would have carried on that tradition as she gave the
name “Thou God seest me” and we know the name as “El Roi.”
It is one of the names of God which describes his attributes.
She named him that because he saw her affliction and dealt with her
kindly and not cruelly. Then Hagar
realizes that she was seeing the face of God who looked kindly upon her.
God granted Hagar, a foreigner, the privilege of seeing his glory, though
limited because she would have been consumed, and to experience his total
compassion in her situation.
Ge 16:14
Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold,
it is between Kadesh and Bered.
The name of the well where Hagar met the LORD was called
“Beer-lahai-roi” which means “the well of the Living One who sees me or the well
of the one who sees me and lives.”
It was located in Kadesh-barnea at the southern land on the way to Egypt.
In the time of Moses which was about 600 years later, the well was still
there.
Ge 16:15
And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's
name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
Then it was time for Hagar to give birth and she bare
Abram a son and they named him “Ishmael” which means “God Heareth.”
Abram was now 86 years old at the birth of Ishmael.
Hagar probably told him the events which took place by the well and so
Abram gave him the name of Ishmael.
Ge 16:16
And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when
Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Abram was 86 years old at this time but he would be 99 when Isaac was born and Ishmael would be 13 years older than him.