Hello and Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer. This is part 5 in the series, When God Speaks to Women. Thank you for joining me.
We will jump right in to Hagar; she is found 12 times in 10 verses.
Here are the search results:
- Genesis 16:1, 3-4, 8, 15-16
- Genesis 21:9, 14, 17
- Genesis 25:12
Agar is found in the New Testament 2 times.
- Galatians 4:24
- Galatians 4:25
Last week we covered Genesis 16:1-7, and we determined that the angel of the LORD who went looking for Hagar is God. And why was He looking for her? Because she was with child by Abram, to whom God had made promises regarding his seed.
Did you take the challenge and search for the location of Shur? Shur is found 6 times. If you looked those up you probably discovered that Hagar was fleeing towards Egypt. Check out these references to confirm that for yourself:
- Genesis 25:18
- 1 Samuel 15:7
- 1 Samuel 27:8
Let’s pick up Hagar’s story where we left off in Genesis 16.
Genesis 16:8 And [the angel of the LORD] 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. 9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
The first thing to notice is when the LORD speaks to Hagar, he calls her by name, but he identifies her position as Sarai’s maid.
Throughout scripture and across all dispensations, we see the position of servant/master (or servant/mistress in this case) being maintained. We even see the apostle Paul, the apostle of grace, addressing the positions of servant and master and telling us how Christian servants and masters are to walk. The word of God consistently teaches submission to authority. We even see this demonstrated in the Godhead.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you to know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Notice that Hagar did not answer the question, ‘whither wilt thou go?’. Perhaps she had not thought it through.
Genesis 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.
It is interesting to note here that we see the phrase “thy seed” being attributed to a woman. We will see it again when we get to Rebekah later in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 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. 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.
God, who knows all things, tells Hagar that she is having a son. He goes on to prophesy about this son.
The word ‘wild’ is easily defined by scripture. You should do a concordance search on the word. It is used as the opposite of domesticated. We see 'wild' used in reference to beasts and plants, which are for the service of man and God. Domesticated beasts and plants have attributes that are predictable and controllable, and as such they are beneficial to the men that domesticate them. Wild beasts are dangerous and wild plants are of little or no use to man. This will help you know the type of person Ishmael would be.
Ishmael’s name is defined in the context of the scripture, ‘the LORD hath heard’.
Another tool of Bible study that I use is a Hebrew Dictionary; it is especially helpful to understand the meaning of names. When I looked up ‘Ishmael’, I got this definition: God listens.
WARNING!⚠
Never use the Hebrew dictionary above the Bible. It is just a tool to aid your study and can sometimes be helpful.
It is interesting to note that God acknowledged Hagar’s ‘affliction’ in verse 11, yet He sends her back to her mistress.
This story is much bigger than Hagar and Sarai. The story is concerned with the dominion of the Earth according to God’s purpose. Sometimes when we read the Bible, we personalize the story too much without having any understanding of God’s will and purpose. God’s purpose has little to do with individuals and everything to do with bringing glory and honor to His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s good to keep this in mind when you are reading the Bible.
Genesis 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? 14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Again the name of the well, the fountain of water in verse 7, is defined in the context, ‘him that seeth me’. Try to find ‘Beerlahairoi’ in a Hebrew dictionary. There are many available online. Just make sure that it agrees with what scripture plainly says.
Another tool of Bible study is maps.
I use a very simple Student Bible Atlas, and many maps that are available online, both ancient and modern. It is best to do a concordance search to find the name of the place and compare it with other scriptures. For example, ‘Kadesh’ is found 18 times.
You must remember when searching places, that often there is more than one place by a particular name. You have to read and study the context to confirm the location. If we search both ‘Kadesh’ and ‘Shur’, two locations mentioned in this chapter, you get only one reference.
Genesis 20:1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
By this we know that it is the same location, in the south country, confirming that Hagar was fleeing towards Egypt, her home.
Genesis 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Gaps in the Bible
I have mentioned in previous studies that there are gaps all throughout the Bible of varying lengths. For example, there is a gap of several months between verses 14 and 15. If you continue on to Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram…, you see a gap of 13 years. God did not speak to anyone on record for 13 years. Thirteen is a significant number in scripture.
To continue our story of Hagar, we will have to jump ahead to Genesis 21; but we have to catch up on what is happening to Abram in the meantime.
Genesis 17:1 the LORD appears to Abram. In verses 1-9, God declared that He will make his covenant between God and Abram, and God will multiply Abram exceedingly. He reemphasized this covenant, which pertains to Abram being a father of many nations.
It is important to note that God changes Abram’s name to Abraham (17:5) and tells him again that he will be exceeding fruitful, and that nations and kings shall come out of him. God tells Abraham that his covenant will be with Abraham’s seed for an everlasting covenant, that He will be their God, and that the land of Canaan will be an everlasting possession.
God defines the covenant in verse 10 and declares the token of the covenant.
Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah (v. 15) and tells Abraham that He will give him a son of Sarah.
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
It is interesting to see Abraham’s response to this statement.
Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed,
He laughed out loud! The very first recorded LOL!
But,
And said in his heart,
He thought this to himself,
Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear?
Then Abraham says aloud,
Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O, that Ishmael might live before thee!
Ishmael is the only son that Abram has known for these last thirteen years.
But God tells Abraham again,
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God makes it clear that He is giving Abraham a son through Sarah, thereby choosing Isaac over Ishmael for His purpose. This helps us understand that circumcision is not the covenant He is referring to but something much greater. We know this because Abraham then circumcises himself at age 99, Ishmael at age 13, and all of his household that same day.
Genesis Chapter 18
Abraham receives three men as visitors. From the context we know they are angels, and one of the three is the LORD. He lingers behind and has a conversation with Abraham. Abraham calls Him ‘the Judge of all the earth’ (Genesis 18:25).
The three men inquire about Sarah. One of the men, we can assume it is the LORD, says to Abraham again that Sarah will have a son. Sarah heard this.
Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Sarah did not LOL the way Abraham did. Yet the LORD who knows the thoughts of the heart, asked Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh…?
Sarah says aloud,
Genesis 18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Here we see the LORD speaking to Sarah.
We will interrupt our study of Hagar and take a brief look at Sarah next week in PART 6 of WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO WOMEN. God has more to say to Hagar, and we will return to her.
Your challenge for next week is to search for Sarah. We have seen her first as ‘Sarai’, now ‘Sarah’, and in the New Testament she is called ‘Sara’.
The following week, the stories of Sarah and Hagar converge again, and there is something very important that we can learn . I hope you’ll join me again.
The material covered in this Blog can be seen in this video:
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