genesis 16 :: abram and hagar

it’s no wonder why ishmael and isaac were bound to butt heads the way their mothers acted toward one another.

but sarai’s treatment of hagar is obviously beyond reason. she asked abram to do this, and when hagar winds up pregnant, and resentful, sarai doesn’t try to fix the problem. she shows no love or compassion, but rather shows the back of her hand and the fury of her words.

so, understandably, hagar clears out and heads for higher ground. no one wants to be mistreated. nobody can blame hagar for doing hat she did here…after all she was newly pregnant, not feeling so hot, being abused by someone who, we assume, she had a good working relationship with just weeks before (if not better than that) and now she is bearing the brunt of sarai’s anger and frustration. i wouldn’t stick around at that point, and i feel badly for hagar at this point.

so, God lets hagar know in a very real way that He sees what has gone on, and that He will make sure everything goes well in the end. but in doing so, He gives her a difficult command.

“Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”

the last thing she wants to do is go back to sarai, and submission seems out of the question. why would God want her to go back somewhere she is no appreciated, and where she may come to harm? why would He want her to go through that again? where is her dignity? what about her self-esteem? doesn’t he care?

and the answer is, of course, He cares. Gd is watching out for her, and He makes the same promise to her that He made to abram. her son will have innumerable offspring as well, but he will also be a handful. a stubborn, determined man in contention with everyone around him.

strangely enough, this description may have been a source of comfort for hagar. knowing that her relationship with sarai was strained now, and that it may well come to pass that they get booted out, her son would do more than just survive, but that he would thrive and expand and be his own man. her submission today would bring her own son into a life where he would bend to no one. so her suffering today, brought her encouragement.

now, i don’t wish the description of ishmael on my own children. that isn’t a set of descriptors that most parent would gain comfort from, but for hagar, on this day, it may well have been just what she needed to hear.

so, as we see in scripture, she does go back and submits to sarai for several years to follow. and ishmael grows up in a God fearing household, with the world at his fingertips. and that has to make hagar happy.

sometimes God asks us, or tells us to do the exact same thing. sometimes we have times where we must submit our will or desires to someone else. namely in our relationship with God Himself, this is definitely a key component. but in that case, we shouldn’t wonder if we will come under harm from Him or if He will abuse us…we now better than that.

but when it comes to other people that God places us under, for a time or for a lifetime, if they are in a place of authority over us, we must respect that office even if we do not have any regard for the person. this applies to everyone from your boss at work, to the governor of your commonwealth (or state) or the president himself.

sarai had the office of mistress over hagar, and therefore hagar must submit to her. just take a look at the book of philemon. onesimus is going back to his master, philemon. and both as Christians have a role to fulfill in their relationship. but those roles must be played out in a God-honoring fashion.

verse 16 reads like this, “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.”

sometimes we must submit, even when it’s difficult. sometimes, we must remember to have patience and mercy and love as the one being submitted to…everything done in a God-honoring fashion. treating each other not just like a human being, but better, as siblings in Christ Jesus.