Hello and welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer. Today we will jump right into part 8 of When God Speaks to Women, and our continuing study of HAGAR.
REVIEW: Last week we read Genesis 21:1-9, regarding Sarah having a son at the age of 90. The child, Isaac, was a miracle of God. Some time after Isaac was weaned, Ishmael was seen by Sarah, mocking.
Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 21:10
Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall they seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
Ishmael is a unique child. He is the son of the greatest man in the world, but he is also the son of a bondwoman. God sheds more light on this situation in the New Testament.
The word ‘bondwoman’ is only found six times in scripture; three of which we just read in Genesis 21, and the other three are found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Up to this point in scripture, we have seen Adam and Abram hearkening to the voice of their wife, which had serious consequences.
- Genesis 3:17 Adam hearkened to Eve and ate of the forbidden fruit.
- Genesis 16:2 Abram hearkened to Sarai, taking Hagar to be his wife.
- Genesis 21:12, God tells Abraham, “in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice”.
Q: What is the difference in these three situations?
A: God’s word, God’s will and God’s purpose.
God has a purpose to reconcile the Earth and the Heaven unto Himself (Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:20). God speaks according to His will. When a wife speaks contrary to God’s word and will, as we saw with Eve and Sarai, the husband should not hearken unto the voice of his wife. We also see this demonstrated by Job’s wife when she told Job to “curse God, and die” in Job 2:9.
In Genesis 21:10, Sarah’s command is in line with God’s will and purpose. That is why God tells Abraham to hearken unto Sarah. Personally, I am thankful for this example preserved in scripture; otherwise, men might be led to think that it is never a good idea to listen to their wives.
God tells Abraham not to be grieved for the sake of the lad, and reminds him that God will make of Ishmael a nation. God will not forget Ishmael for Abraham’s sake.
Genesis 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her,
What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not: for God hath heard
the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in
thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Some things to note and study further:
‘Wilderness of Beer-sheba’ is found only 1 time.
‘Beersheba’ is found over thirty times, and its origin is described in this same chapter, which is an interesting study in itself as we learn that Abraham comes to dwell in Beersheba (Genesis 22:19) while Sarah dwelt at Hebron (Genesis 23:2).
A ‘bottle’ of water
I encourage you to study the word ‘bottle’ in scripture. I think in this case it is an earthen vessel as described in Jeremiah 19:1.
Q: How long would the bottle of water last in the wilderness?
We know when the nation of Israel was delivered out of Egypt into the wilderness, they were out of water within 3 days (Exodus 15:22).
It may seem careless and cruel of Abraham to send Hagar off with such meager supply, but because God had said to Abraham that He would make a nation out of Ishmael, Abraham knew that Ishmael would be preserved by God.
It was Hagar who wept, but God said he heard the voice of the lad. (Perhaps the lad is repenting and calling out to God?) Ishmael is the person to whom God has made a promise of becoming a nation, but Ishmael is still young. He is called ‘the child’ and ‘the lad’; perhaps that is why God addresses Hagar instead.
Again, using scripture to define these terms, we find that ‘lad’ is a reference to someone in their teens (Genesis 37:2), and a child is someone under 20 years old (Numbers 14:29 cf. Deuteronomy 1:39). We know from the context of this account that Ishmael is somewhere between 15 to 19 years old.
God Speaks to Hagar
He asks her, “what aileth thee?”, even though He knew what aileth her; just as He knew what Eve had done when He asked her, “what is this that thou hast done?”.
God tells Hagar not to be afraid and to hold Ishmael in her hand. This is a figure of speech that Isaiah 42:6 sheds light on. It probably means to keep or guard. Ishmael would now be solely Hagar’s responsibility. We see Hagar getting a wife for Ishmael later in the chapter, which is something that a father would usually do for his son. We can glean from this account that Ishmael is no longer Abraham’s responsibility. To confirm this, we see in the next chapter, God calling Isaac Abraham’s ONLY son (Genesis 22:2).
Genesis 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
For the second time we see Hagar by a well of water. This is another significant detail that I hope to come back to in a future study. In the New Testament we see Jesus, who is God in the flesh, speaking to a woman at a well (John chapter 4).
Genesis 21:20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
Ishmael becoming an archer is significant.
Study the name ‘Ishmael’ and learn about his descendants, and you will find other archers mentioned among his sons. They show up in prophecy, too. In the King James Bible, the word ‘archer’ has to do with making war. Remember the prophecy of Ishmael? His hand is to be against every man, and every man against him.
‘Wilderness of Paran’ is found in six verses. Its location is somewhere between Egypt and the land of Canaan. God said Ishmael would be a wild man (Genesis 16:12), and what better place for a wild man to live than the wilderness.
Obviously Hagar and Ishmael were immediately provided for by God in the wilderness when He opened Hagar’s eyes to see the life-saving water; and I propose that Abraham also provides for them.
The last time ‘Hagar’ is mentioned in the Old Testament is in Genesis 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
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Now let’s jump to the New Testament references to ‘Agar’ to see what God would have us learn from this new revelation given to the Apostle Paul.
Galatians
Paul writes a letter of correction to the churches in Galatia. After he passed through Galatia preaching his gospel of justification by faith alone in the work that Christ accomplished on the cross, false teachers came in and persuaded the Galatians that they must keep the law to be justified with God.
In chapter 4, Paul presents an allegory. This is where we find ‘Agar’.
Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children, 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Allegory is defined by Webster’s 1828 Dictionary as,
A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The principal subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker, by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject. In scripture, an allegory is a figurative description of real facts.
Without the Bible, we would never come up with this allegory on our own.
In Abraham’s day, the giving of the law from Mount Sinai to Moses and the children of Israel is hundreds of years in the future. Sarah is closely linked with the children of Israel through Isaac's descendants, and the children of Israel are closely linked with the Mosaic law; we might suppose that Sarah would represent mount Sinai, but we would be wrong. God’s revelation to Paul gives us the correct view.
The two covenants mentioned by Paul both pertain to Israel. The first covenant is the law of Moses given from Mount Sinai, and the second covenant will be from Mount Zion when Jesus sits as King of kings and LORD of lords. [For reference read Jeremiah 31:31-34 cf. Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2, which clearly states who the New Covenant is with].
WARNING!⚠
Paul is not dealing with Israel’s covenants in this allegory! He is writing to people who were saved by hearing the gospel of grace, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), who have been persuaded that they must keep the law to be righteous with God. This is a false gospel being preached in many churches today!
Paul goes on to say,
Galatians 4:28 Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
The word ‘As’ introduces a figure of speech called a simile. The church today is not Isaac, and we are not taking the place of Isaac. We are AS Isaac. We who are saved today are a new creature, members of the Body of Christ. Our conception is spiritual; not carnal.
This allegory given by God through Paul is about LAW vs. GRACE. The law is bondage. Grace is liberty. You cannot be free from sin if you put yourself under the law. The law only causes sin to increase, and it causes you to be in bondage to sin. You might like to read Romans chapter 7 which describes the situation of anyone who puts himself under the law. It ends with the question, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
The answer is found in Romans 8:1 There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We are saved today by simply believing the word of God spoken to us.
Paul continues to make application.
Galatians 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
This lines up with Ishmael mocking, becoming an archer (a man of war) and his hand being against every man.
Paul goes on to quote Sarah’s command:
Galatians 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Sarah’s words are called scripture by Paul, because what she said was preserved and written for our learning. Paul is quoting Genesis, as we read earlier.
Genesis 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
The point God is making is that Law and Grace cannot dwell together. We must understand that we gain nothing by trying to be made righteous by keeping the law, and we stand to lose because sin will have dominion over us when we put ourselves under the law (Romans 6:14).
Paul concludes,
Galatians 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Here’s a list summarizing the allegory:
Ishmael
- Born of a bondmaid - Hagar
- Born of the flesh – man’s work; carnal
- Represents the old covenant with Israel – on Earth
- Represents the Law – flesh; in bondage to sin
- The persecutor
- Cast out – no inheritance
Isaac
- Born of a Freewoman – Sarah
- Born of God’s Promise – spiritual
- Represents the new covenant – from Heaven
- Represents Grace – liberty; free from sin
- The persecuted
- Heirs of God – joint heirs with Christ
When the details of an event in the Old Testament are obscure and new light is shed on it by the apostle Paul, we can understand the reason; it's called the mystery. God planned it BEFORE the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and revealed it to the apostle Paul for us Gentiles today (Ephesians 3:1-5). This is why we see Eve and Hagar used as examples in Paul’s writings and found no where else in the new testament.
The next woman that God speaks to directly is Rebekah, and it is not surprising that we also find her in Paul’s writings.
Your challenge for next week is to find ‘Rebekah’ in the Old Testament, and ‘Rebecca’ the New Testament. I look forward to seeing you in PART 9 of WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO WOMEN!
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