If you’re one of those people who thinks God hates women, that’s just not true. Here’s another example of how He provides for women and is close to women just as much. Just as He was there in the garden of Eden. The Lord is here in this situation too.
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Another example of trying to solve the problem of barrenness without fully relying on God and His plan. Let’s talk about the Biblical diferences between servants and slaves.
“Slave” is the Greek word “doulos”. The two words are distinctly different. A servant in Bible times was one who voluntarily chose to serve another. A slave was one taken against his will and forced to serve.
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
He could have objected if he wanted to be faithful, but she was his wife. Hagar was a slave and had no say in what happened to her at the moment. Things would get better though.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Polygamy causes unnecessary jealousy. Probably why it wasn’t part of God’s original design for marriage.
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
God is with Hagar, in the midst of the entire frustrating situation. He makes a promise that from her will come another nation. Abraham would eventually become “father” of the Israelites (Not to be confused with the Israelis of today, who occupy the same strip of land. That’s a different thing). Hagar and her son Ishmael start up the groups of people who live in Egypt and the Arabian peninsula.
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
God even has a plan for Hagar, and all women for that matter. None of this is taking Him by surprise. God also foreshadows the conflicts that would happen in this part of the world, to this day, even though the countries and allegiances have changed significantly. The Israel of now is not the Israel of Bible times after all.
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Scripture Discussed: Genesis 16
I should briefly explain something else. I’ve been using the names Abraham and Sarah to describe these two people. These are the names God gives to Abram and Sarai after He changes their destiny and their names with the eventual birth of their own son Isaac. We will cover this later. I just didn’t want you to think I was crazy.
IIWAC Create A Nation: God Sees And Provides For Hagar
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Another example of trying to solve the problem of barrenness without fully relying on God and His plan. Let’s talk about the Biblical diferences between servants and slaves.
“Slave” is the Greek word “doulos”. The two words are distinctly different. A servant in Bible times was one who voluntarily chose to serve another. A slave was one taken against his will and forced to serve.
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
He could have objected if he wanted to be faithful, but she was his wife. Hagar was a slave and had no say in what happened to her at the moment. Things would get better though.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Polygamy causes unnecessary jealousy. Probably why it wasn’t part of God’s original design for marriage.
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
God is with Hagar, in the midst of the entire frustrating situation. He makes a promise that from her will come another nation. Abraham would eventually become “father” of the Israelites (Not to be confused with the Israelis of today, who occupy the same strip of land. That’s a different thing). Hagar and her son Ishmael start up the groups of people who live in Egypt and the Arabian peninsula.
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,[a]
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward[b] all his brothers.”
God even has a plan for Hagar, and all women for that matter. None of this is taking Him by surprise. God also foreshadows the conflicts that would happen in this part of the world, to this day, even though the countries and allegiances have changed significantly. The Israel of now is not the Israel of Bible times after all.
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi[d]; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Scripture Discussed: Genesis 16
I should briefly explain something else. I’ve been using the names Abraham and Sarah to describe these two people. These are the names God gives to Abram and Sarai after He changes their destiny and their names with the eventual birth of their own son Isaac. We will cover this later. I just didn’t want you to think I was crazy.