God cares — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 16:7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Gen. 16:13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

Gen. 16:15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

We pick up where we left off in the story about Abram, Sarai, and Sarai’s Egyptian servant Hagar. If you recall, Sarai and Abram made a mess of a situation when they decided to help God fulfill his promise to give Abram innumerable descendants. Sarai had the idea that since she’d not been able to conceive, Abram should have sexual relations with Hagar and have a child through her. Even though Sarai came up with the idea and told Abram he should do this, Sarai became accusative to the LORD and to Abram when Hagar conceived and “looked with contempt” upon Sarai. Sarai treated her harshly, and Hagar ran away.

In verse 7, we pick up the story where Hagar is on the run and “the angel of the LORD found her by a spring.” (v. 7). Many people have suggested this angel of the LORD is actually a Christophany, an appearance by Jesus long before he becomes incarnate in Bethlehem. That may be what is happening. But I suspect that is an overreaching interpretation. There’s no reason this should be a Christophany. Whatever the correct interpretation, this being is a messenger of the LORD who comes with a specific revelation to Hagar along with the LORD’s compassion.

I love it when the LORD, or an agent from the LORD, asks questions. The LORD is omniscient. He knows everything. It stands to reason that the LORD asks questions to people for their benefit and not for his own. The angel asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going. Notice that her response only answered the first part of the question. Hagar explains that she is running from Sarai, but it would appear that she has no idea where she is to go. As a side note to this story, I wonder how often we are prone to want to run from something but have no clue where we are going.

The angel instructs her where to go. The angel told her to return to Sarai and submit to her. I believe the intent here is for Hagar not to show contempt to Sarai but to cooperate with her. Is this instruction from the LORD cruel or unjust? I don’t think so. I believe the LORD intends for her to receive his blessings through her connection with Abram and Sarai.

The angel revealed to her the LORD’s promise that she would have many descendants and that the child she had recently conceived would be a son whom she would name Ishmael. This name means “God hears.” The angel explains, “the LORD has listened to your affliction.” (v. 11) I believe this is an essential point that we should learn from this story. Even though Hagar has been a victim of sorts and has run away, the LORD has never been away from her or uncaring concerning her problems. Instead, the LORD would bring some benefit to her through these circumstances. We see the Apostle Paul state this outrightly in Romans 8, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Not all things that happen to us are good. It wasn’t God’s desire for Abram and Sarai to devise their own plan. Yet, God can and does use the events that unfold from humanity’s independent efforts to bring about good things.

The angel’s statement that her son Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man was not an insult. It was just a prophetic statement that Ishmael would be a very independent person who would find conflict. This information would be of interest to the Israelites as they would conquer the land of Canaan after their bondage in Egypt.

Hagar’s response to this revelation about Ishmael is seen in verse 13. She confesses the LORD is “a God of seeing.” (v. 13) Hagar is not a pawn in a cruel cosmic game. The LORD hears her and sees her. She recognizes that God is looking after her. This is the second important truth that is revealed concerning the LORD. How might we look differently upon the events in our lives if we believed the LORD listened to our afflictions and looked after us? What an encouraging thought.