Genesis 16 – February 6

Genesis 16 is an incredibly sad stage in the lives of Abram and Sarai. The events found here result in sorrow, bitterness, anger, aggression, and deep regret. The repercussions of the sinful actions of Abram and Sarai are truly incalculable. Let’s zone in on three main things today.

Sarai’s Sin

Any reader with an ounce of common sense about marriage relationships knows that Sarai’s request to Abram was going to end poorly. What was she thinking? What was her motivation? It ultimately boils down to two specific issues. First, consider her selfishness. She told Abram to have a child by her servant so “that I shall obtain children by her.” She was willing to sacrifice her marital exclusivity so that she could get her own way. Secondly, this is evidence of an incredible lack of trust in the Lord. God had already promised Abram that he would be given offspring. Perhaps Sarai was fearful that, due to her age, God was planning to replace her with a younger woman to provide children for Abram. So, in her twisted thinking, she devised a way that she could force God’s hand to move in her time. She had not yet learned that God’s plans are unmoved by human instrumentality or schemes. Things turned out terribly for Sarai. Hagar began showing signs of contempt toward Sarai. We don’t know what this looked like exactly but imagine the horrible situation that Hagar was in. She was being treated as a wife by Abram, but as a slave by Sarai. It is likely that Hagar, being pregnant, was unwilling to perform servant duties for Sarai any longer. Sarai immediately felt the unbearable weight of jealousy that the servant girl had given Abram what she never could. She became bitter and angry at both Hagar and Abram. By saying to Abram, “May the Lord judge between you and me,” Sarai was placing all of the blame on Adam for the situation that had come about.

Abram’s Sin

There is a very interesting linguistic connection to be made here. Verse 2 says, “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” You could compare that to God’s condemnation of Adam in Genesis 3:17, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife…” Husbands should listen to their wives for godly counsel and wisdom. However, as the one who is called by God to lead the family in righteousness, the husband has added responsibility to reject ungodly counsel. Abram didn’t seem to put up much resistance at the ungodly proposal presented by Sarai. He should have known that God’s design for marriage is one man and one woman till death separates them. Instead, Abram took the evil counsel of Sarai and took on a second wife. (This never works out well for anyone in the Bible.) Then, when the inevitable happens and Sarai becomes enraged, Abram refused to take responsibility and passively washed his hands of the situation. In doing so, Abram was essentially throwing away a wife and child for whom he was responsible. The failure to wait for God to fulfill His promises resulted in great turmoil for Abram and his descendants for centuries.

God’s Sight

Hagar, being the object of scorn and harsh treatment at the hand of Sarai, fled into the arid and barren wilderness of Canaan. It is there, next to a spring of water, that “the angel of the Lord” spoke to her. Who was this angel of the Lord? The best way to answer that question is to compare the promise made to her with the promise made to Abram. This “angel,” or messenger told Hagar, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” That sounds suspiciously close to the promise that God Himself made to Abram. Are created angels able to make these kinds of decisions? Absolutely not. We can therefore easily discern that it was the Lord Himself that came to Hagar and showed immense kindness to her. Verse 13 confirms that it was “the Lord who spoke to her.”

God knew that Hagar had been an innocent bystander in the weird chess game being played by Abram and Sarai. And “the Lord has listened to your (Hagar’s) affliction.” That is the same language that God uses to describe to Moses at the burning bush that He has seen the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt. Hagar rightly identified the nature and character of God by saying, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” This is an instructional reminder for us today. God not only sees you and knows about your suffering, He also cares about you in the midst of your suffering. And more than that, Jesus has come to experience suffering to an even greater extent than any of us ever will on our behalf. In Genesis 16 we learn that He sees and even comforts, but it is at the cross that we learn that God substitutes Himself for us.