Bible Commentaries
Genesis 16

Introduction

ISHMAEL

(Genesis 16-21)

God promised Abraham that his seed would be as innumerable as the stars in the heavens and the sand

on the seashore. But Abraham had no son. God also had promised that Abraham’s wife Sarah would bear

him a son. As the years went by without the fulfillment of this promise, Sarah took things into her own

hands. Feeling that her time for childbearing was passed, she persuaded Abraham to marry her Egyptian

maid, Hagar (Gen. 16:3). When Hagar discovered that she was to have a child, she began to look down

upon her mistress and "despised" her. When Sarah told this to Abraham, he said to her, "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." Evidently Sarah asserted herself as mistress and undertook to put Hagar in her place as her maid,

and so we read that Hagar fled into the wilderness until she came to a fountain of water.

And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to

Shur. 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. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress,

and submit thyself under her hands (Gen. 16:7-9).

There is important truth revealed in Hagar’s experience. Some people are called on to endure hard

things. Hagar not only had to face harsh treatment from her mistress, but (p.92) the angel of the Lord

told her that her son "will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand

against him." Despite his quarrelsome temperament, this man was to become the father of a vast

multitude of people. When Hagar’s son was born, she called him "Ishmael," even as the angel of the Lord

had instructed her to do.

When Abraham was one hundred years old his faith in God’s promise was rewarded, and Sarah bore

him a son, and they called him Isaac, which literally translated means, "God hath prepared laughter for

me." Sarah’s incredulous laughter at the time when God told her that she would have a son after she had

passed the age of childbearing was now turned into laughter of pure joy. As time passed, her joy was

marred by the scoffing of Ishmael. "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born

unto Abraham, mocking." Again Sarah came to Abraham and told him what had to be done.

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. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight

because of his son (21:10-11).

Abraham loved Ishmael and to cast him and his mother out of his house was something he was not

ready to do.

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy

bond-woman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be

called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed (21:12-13).

This must have been a very painful time. Abraham loved Ishmael, who was his own son. Incidentally,

Ishmael was at least thirteen years of age at this time and living as became the son of a man of wealth and

renown. What a tragic experience for him and his mother to be suddenly deprived of everything they had

come to accept as their due!

Hagar and the boy departed early in the morning and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Abraham had (p.93) given them food and water for their journey, but as they went on they ran out of

water. Now they faced death by thirst. Hagar was more able to endure the heat than Ishmael, so she

placed him in the shade of a shrub and walked "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." How

utterly bleak and hard her lot appeared Hagar was too spent with sorrow to pray, but Ishmael cried out

to the God of his father Abraham, "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." I wonder if

we can fully appreciate the fact that Ishmael, this quarrelsome boy, knew about God. Ishmael had been

brought up by Abraham. He knew that God answers prayer. It was right to turn to Him in his extremity.

When Hagar heard the voice of the angel say unto her, "Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the

lad," her sorrow vanished, her courage revived. "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. And God was with the lad; and he

grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran."

According to God’s promise, Ishmael became very rich and prosperous.

Surely our faith is strengthened as we study and learn more about God and His dealings with men.

Surely His mercy is inexhaustible in His guidance and in His offer of salvation, which is to all men. God

will not save arbitrarily. He will not take man and push him into heaven. God calls all men, but men must

respond to His call. God offers salvation, but unless we accept, it will pass us by. Parents have a

powerful influence on the lives of their children. So it was with Ishmael. He prayed because his father

Abraham prayed. He expected help from God because he had seen Abraham’s prayers answered.

It will be the common rule that non-churchgoing parents will have children who do not go to church.

When parents do not pray, it follows almost invariably that their children (p.94) do not pray. Praying is

something readily learned from parents. How well this was demonstrated in the life of Abraham!

God made a covenant with Abraham and sealed it with a ceremony, namely the rite of circumcision.

This was to be a constant reminder of the promise of God, that He would extend His blessing from the

father to the son.

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an

everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy

seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;

and I will be their God (17:7-8).

Many Christian churches practice a ceremony called "infant baptism," with the thought in mind that

in this rite the infant becomes a partaker of the blessing of the Lord. They have in mind that when

believing parents present their children to God, He will bless the faith of the parents. The rite of baptism

does not guarantee that the child will grow up to be a believer, but it does show the intention of the

parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.