What is Your Hagar?
Genesis 16:1-16
Message #6
In Genesis Chapter 15, we left Abraham “on top of the mountain of faith.” God had (again) promised Abraham that his descendants would be too many to even count, and God crowned that promise with a phenomenal one-sided covenant ceremony in which God himself came down and guaranteed the fulfilling of his promises.
And so, we last left Abraham at an incredible high point in his faith. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12 says,
1 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT)
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
In Chapter 15, Abraham may’ve been at the top of his faith relationship with God. But in Chapter 16, he is about to fall very hard. We keep reminding ourselves that this is whom God used as the Father of the Faith. He has highs and lows in his faith journey. We’re going to see a low one today.
Genesis Chapter 16 is centered around an Egyptian servant girl named Hagar, and there is a ton that we can study and learn surrounding this “event” with Hagar. But today, we’re going to focus on just one thing. We are going to focus on how Hagar represents Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to help God through their own fleshly efforts.
Hagar represents how we tend to try to help God accomplish his promises to us through our own fleshly efforts.
And so, today, if the Holy Spirit brings up in your heart something that you are trying to help God accomplish through your own fleshly efforts, then that is your Hagar today. Is there something in our lives that God has begun by his Spirit that we are trying to accomplish in our flesh? Then that is our Hagar.
It all started with the Father of our Faith asleep at the wheel on his “faith journey” and his wife deciding she needed to help God out.
Genesis 16:1(a) (NLT)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife (both their names will be changed in the next chapter), had not been able to bear children for him . . .
In that time, the ability to bear children was an absolute tragedy, especially since God had given Abraham the promise of having descendants “too many to number.” And it seems to me Abraham may not have been bringing his wife with him to the faith mountain top. Abraham was walking in the “faith clouds,” but maybe he had left his wife Sarah in the “valley of despair” over her barrenness. That, in itself, is a great lesson for all of us husbands.
Sarah is afraid. Maybe she’s heard enough of this “descendants too many to number” that she felt like she had to do something about it. And so, Sarah is going to try to accomplish in her flesh what God had promised to accomplish by his Spirit, and Sarah has her own plan to help God out.
Genesis 16:1 (NLT)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
This “Egyptian servant” named Hagar would have come from Abraham’s first big “faith failure” when he left the Promised Land for the relative ease of Egypt. And when they got run out of Egypt, they returned with an Egyptian servant girl named Hagar.
And Hagar is going to become Sarah’s fleshly attempt to accomplish God’s promise.
Genesis 16:2(a) (NLT)
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children . . .
Why was God waiting to give Abraham and Sarah a child? Hebrews 11:12 says God waited until Abraham and Sarah were “as good as dead” physically before giving them a child so that God would get the glory for the nation that he was going to bring from them. But we often get impatient with God, and so we put our own plans into action in order to accomplish in the flesh what God has begun by his Spirit.
And so, now Sarah becomes God’s “little helper.”
Genesis 16:2(b) (NLT)
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” . . .
In that culture, concubines and children from concubines were normal.
Remember something about the Bible. There are things in the Bible that are descriptive. They describe things that happened. And then there are things in the Bible that are prescriptive that God prescribes to us. Well, this is descriptive. This was normal in the culture. Multiple wives and concubines were never actually permitted by God.
This was not unusual culturally. But this was not God’s plan, and this was not God’s direction. But Sarah just couldn’t wait any longer for God to move, so she came up with her own plan to help God.
And then, the last sentence of verse 2 reminds me so much of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 16:2(c) (NLT)
2 . . . And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.
Sarah thought it up and suggested it, but the blame for this was going to fall on Abraham – this was his fault.
He’s the one who heard the promise of God
He’s the one who witnessed the fiery covenant with God
But there, Abraham makes no stand for God at all, and he just “goes along” with Sarah’s proposal. Plus, there is obviously a “sexual temptation” here that Abraham is too quickly “agreeing to.” Men, we have got to stay awake at the wheel of our spiritual lives. We cannot “doze off,” and we cannot just “go with the flow.” We have got to stay alert and awake and aware of what God’s Spirit is leading us to do and what our flesh is leading us to do.
And here, Abraham takes Sarah’s suggestion to go with the leading of the flesh.
Genesis 16:3–4 (NLT)
3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife (a Concubine). (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.
Sarah did not see this coming in her plan to get God’s promise moving. And when Hagar became pregnant, which Sarah could not do, Hagar began to treat Sarah with contempt.
Proverbs 30:21–23 (NLT)
21 There are three things that make the earth tremble - no, four it cannot endure:
22 (1) a slave who becomes a king, (2) an overbearing fool who prospers,
23 (3) a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, (4) a servant girl who supplants (replaces) her mistress.
Number four is what is happening here, and Sarah is about to make the earth tremble. Hagar was now acting like the queen bee, strutting her little round belly all around camp, all the time looking down at Sarah with contempt.
And so (as Proverbs 30), Sarah makes the earth tremble.
Genesis 16:5 (NLT)
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
Sarah realizes the fault here lies with Abraham even though the idea was her concoction.
He was the head of the household
He was the patriarch
God had spoken to him
And he was responsible for this mess.
And right here, Abraham could have started making things right with some repentance and some apologies and doing something to work this all out. But he doesn’t – again, he goes with the flow, and Abraham side-steps his spiritual duty.
Genesis 16:6 (NLT)
6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
Instead of taking responsibility and instead of making right what he had made wrong, Abraham avoids the whole mess and says to Sarah, do whatever you want with her.
What a strange, disconnected response from Abraham. I wonder if Abraham somehow felt all along that this was not how God was going to bring his promise to pass. And so, when it all goes bad, Abraham shrugs his shoulders and brushes it off. Sarah brings on the wrath of a “woman scorned,” and Hagar finally runs away.
But God is not uninvolved – God sees. God is here with Hagar, and God sees Hagar, and God sees us. God knows the situation we are in, and so Hagar is running away.
And so, we read in Genesis 16, verse 17,
Genesis 16:7 (NLT)
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur.
Shur is on the way back to Egypt, where Hagar is headed.
Genesis 16:8–9 (NLT)
8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.”
We may say, why is the Angel of the Lord sending Hagar back to Sarah and Abraham? And we may even be more perplexed when we read verse 10.
Genesis 16:10 (NLT)
10 Then he added, “I will give you (which implies this Angel of the Lord may’ve been the Lord himself) more descendants than you can count.”
Whoa! Wait a minute! The Lord is saying this to Hagar? Six times God says the same thing to Abraham. But here, God also says it to Hagar. But Hagar is not in the same lineage of people as Abraham and Sarah, and this is the only promise like this that God ever made to anyone other than Abraham.
And then prophecy gets even more detailed.
Genesis 16:11 (NLT)
11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
And then, a prophecy that is still coming true today of Ismael and his descendants.
Genesis 16:12 (NLT)
12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
Ismael and his descendants will become a parallel to Israel.
They will always be there
They will always be near Israel
And they will always be against Israel
And today, the descendants of Ishmael primarily make up the Arab and Muslim peoples, many of whom are still living today in open hostility to their distant relatives of Israel. What we call the Arab-Israeli conflict today started right here, in this verse.
Why? Why did God do this? I don’t know.
I have no idea why God created an entire people group right here who still live today in open hostility to the People of Israel. I’m sure I could do a six or eight part series trying to answer that question.
But I do know this. Hagar responds here in genuine faith.
Genesis 16:13 (NLT)
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
Hagar is the only person in the Bible that gives the Lord a name. In every other place (about one hundred and twenty names of the Lord) in the Bible, it is God giving the name. Hagar is the only person in the Bible that says from now on, I’m going to call you this.
The reason this is important, especially to women, is that women need to know that they are seen by those who care for them. Husbands, your role is to see your wife. God sees you, and he knows where you’re at, and he knows what you’re going through.
El Roi – the God who sees me (I could do another mini-series here, Lisa has.)
Genesis 16:14-16 (NLT)
14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
There is so much that can be studied and taught in this chapter of Genesis, but this is our focus today. Sometimes when we try to “help God” “in our flesh,” we can make a long-lasting mess. When we take God’s plans and God’s promises into our own hands, and we try to make them happen by our own means, we can create some long-lasting consequences.
Sometimes we take God’s plans into our own hands, and we end up with long-lasting consequences.
God will still accomplish his plan and his purpose, but it will be in spite of our fleshly help – certainly not because of it.
And so, can I ask us all a question today?
Let’s get real here because here is the deal. Here’s the problem. We think we’re right. That is the problem. That is the number one problem in our lives – we think we’re right. That’s the definition of pride. We think we’re right. And so, for me to challenge you with this is something to reflect seriously on.
Is there something in our lives that we have been trusting God for that we have decided to take into our own hands? Is there something in your life right now that you’ve been anxious for God to accomplish? And maybe it’s not happening fast enough, and so you want to help God, and you have a plan to help him.
Is there something that God has begun by his Spirit that we are trying to accomplish in our flesh? You know that this is what God has called you to, you know this is God’s plan, but it’s not happening fast enough. And so, you just can’t wait any longer. That is your Hagar. You’re trying to finish God’s work in your flesh.
Don’t get ahead of God.
A thousand years is a long time to us. It’s one day to God.
Do what God has called you to do. But do not take the wheel from God.
You do what’s right. You do what God has called you to do but don’t take control. Don’t try to get the outcome to be what you want it to be or even what you feel like you know it should be because you think you’re right – you’re not.
George Mueller says ninety-five percent of knowing God’s will is crucifying your own.
Give the wheel back to Jesus.
Do not get impatient. Do not employ your own fleshly ideas.
Don’t employ your own tactics to accomplish what God has led you to or revealed to you. He doesn’t need you. He just needs you to be obedient and just take one step at a time.
Do your part as God guides you, but stay out of the driver’s seat.
Let God drive your life. So, there is a role. You do have a role; it is in obedience, but don’t take over for God.
Do not take over for God, which is what Sarah and Abraham did with Hagar. Hagar was an attempt in the flesh to do what God had promised to do by his Spirit.
Are we attempting to accomplish in the flesh what God has promised to do by his Spirit?
If so, then that is our Hagar.
And so, we last left Abraham at an incredible high point in his faith. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12 says,
1 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT)
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
In Chapter 15, Abraham may’ve been at the top of his faith relationship with God. But in Chapter 16, he is about to fall very hard. We keep reminding ourselves that this is whom God used as the Father of the Faith. He has highs and lows in his faith journey. We’re going to see a low one today.
Genesis Chapter 16 is centered around an Egyptian servant girl named Hagar, and there is a ton that we can study and learn surrounding this “event” with Hagar. But today, we’re going to focus on just one thing. We are going to focus on how Hagar represents Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to help God through their own fleshly efforts.
Hagar represents how we tend to try to help God accomplish his promises to us through our own fleshly efforts.
And so, today, if the Holy Spirit brings up in your heart something that you are trying to help God accomplish through your own fleshly efforts, then that is your Hagar today. Is there something in our lives that God has begun by his Spirit that we are trying to accomplish in our flesh? Then that is our Hagar.
It all started with the Father of our Faith asleep at the wheel on his “faith journey” and his wife deciding she needed to help God out.
Genesis 16:1(a) (NLT)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife (both their names will be changed in the next chapter), had not been able to bear children for him . . .
In that time, the ability to bear children was an absolute tragedy, especially since God had given Abraham the promise of having descendants “too many to number.” And it seems to me Abraham may not have been bringing his wife with him to the faith mountain top. Abraham was walking in the “faith clouds,” but maybe he had left his wife Sarah in the “valley of despair” over her barrenness. That, in itself, is a great lesson for all of us husbands.
Sarah is afraid. Maybe she’s heard enough of this “descendants too many to number” that she felt like she had to do something about it. And so, Sarah is going to try to accomplish in her flesh what God had promised to accomplish by his Spirit, and Sarah has her own plan to help God out.
Genesis 16:1 (NLT)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
This “Egyptian servant” named Hagar would have come from Abraham’s first big “faith failure” when he left the Promised Land for the relative ease of Egypt. And when they got run out of Egypt, they returned with an Egyptian servant girl named Hagar.
And Hagar is going to become Sarah’s fleshly attempt to accomplish God’s promise.
Genesis 16:2(a) (NLT)
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children . . .
Why was God waiting to give Abraham and Sarah a child? Hebrews 11:12 says God waited until Abraham and Sarah were “as good as dead” physically before giving them a child so that God would get the glory for the nation that he was going to bring from them. But we often get impatient with God, and so we put our own plans into action in order to accomplish in the flesh what God has begun by his Spirit.
And so, now Sarah becomes God’s “little helper.”
Genesis 16:2(b) (NLT)
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” . . .
In that culture, concubines and children from concubines were normal.
Remember something about the Bible. There are things in the Bible that are descriptive. They describe things that happened. And then there are things in the Bible that are prescriptive that God prescribes to us. Well, this is descriptive. This was normal in the culture. Multiple wives and concubines were never actually permitted by God.
This was not unusual culturally. But this was not God’s plan, and this was not God’s direction. But Sarah just couldn’t wait any longer for God to move, so she came up with her own plan to help God.
And then, the last sentence of verse 2 reminds me so much of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 16:2(c) (NLT)
2 . . . And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.
Sarah thought it up and suggested it, but the blame for this was going to fall on Abraham – this was his fault.
He’s the one who heard the promise of God
He’s the one who witnessed the fiery covenant with God
But there, Abraham makes no stand for God at all, and he just “goes along” with Sarah’s proposal. Plus, there is obviously a “sexual temptation” here that Abraham is too quickly “agreeing to.” Men, we have got to stay awake at the wheel of our spiritual lives. We cannot “doze off,” and we cannot just “go with the flow.” We have got to stay alert and awake and aware of what God’s Spirit is leading us to do and what our flesh is leading us to do.
And here, Abraham takes Sarah’s suggestion to go with the leading of the flesh.
Genesis 16:3–4 (NLT)
3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife (a Concubine). (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.
Sarah did not see this coming in her plan to get God’s promise moving. And when Hagar became pregnant, which Sarah could not do, Hagar began to treat Sarah with contempt.
Proverbs 30:21–23 (NLT)
21 There are three things that make the earth tremble - no, four it cannot endure:
22 (1) a slave who becomes a king, (2) an overbearing fool who prospers,
23 (3) a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, (4) a servant girl who supplants (replaces) her mistress.
Number four is what is happening here, and Sarah is about to make the earth tremble. Hagar was now acting like the queen bee, strutting her little round belly all around camp, all the time looking down at Sarah with contempt.
And so (as Proverbs 30), Sarah makes the earth tremble.
Genesis 16:5 (NLT)
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
Sarah realizes the fault here lies with Abraham even though the idea was her concoction.
He was the head of the household
He was the patriarch
God had spoken to him
And he was responsible for this mess.
And right here, Abraham could have started making things right with some repentance and some apologies and doing something to work this all out. But he doesn’t – again, he goes with the flow, and Abraham side-steps his spiritual duty.
Genesis 16:6 (NLT)
6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
Instead of taking responsibility and instead of making right what he had made wrong, Abraham avoids the whole mess and says to Sarah, do whatever you want with her.
What a strange, disconnected response from Abraham. I wonder if Abraham somehow felt all along that this was not how God was going to bring his promise to pass. And so, when it all goes bad, Abraham shrugs his shoulders and brushes it off. Sarah brings on the wrath of a “woman scorned,” and Hagar finally runs away.
But God is not uninvolved – God sees. God is here with Hagar, and God sees Hagar, and God sees us. God knows the situation we are in, and so Hagar is running away.
And so, we read in Genesis 16, verse 17,
Genesis 16:7 (NLT)
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur.
Shur is on the way back to Egypt, where Hagar is headed.
Genesis 16:8–9 (NLT)
8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.”
We may say, why is the Angel of the Lord sending Hagar back to Sarah and Abraham? And we may even be more perplexed when we read verse 10.
Genesis 16:10 (NLT)
10 Then he added, “I will give you (which implies this Angel of the Lord may’ve been the Lord himself) more descendants than you can count.”
Whoa! Wait a minute! The Lord is saying this to Hagar? Six times God says the same thing to Abraham. But here, God also says it to Hagar. But Hagar is not in the same lineage of people as Abraham and Sarah, and this is the only promise like this that God ever made to anyone other than Abraham.
And then prophecy gets even more detailed.
Genesis 16:11 (NLT)
11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
And then, a prophecy that is still coming true today of Ismael and his descendants.
Genesis 16:12 (NLT)
12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
Ismael and his descendants will become a parallel to Israel.
They will always be there
They will always be near Israel
And they will always be against Israel
And today, the descendants of Ishmael primarily make up the Arab and Muslim peoples, many of whom are still living today in open hostility to their distant relatives of Israel. What we call the Arab-Israeli conflict today started right here, in this verse.
Why? Why did God do this? I don’t know.
I have no idea why God created an entire people group right here who still live today in open hostility to the People of Israel. I’m sure I could do a six or eight part series trying to answer that question.
But I do know this. Hagar responds here in genuine faith.
Genesis 16:13 (NLT)
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
Hagar is the only person in the Bible that gives the Lord a name. In every other place (about one hundred and twenty names of the Lord) in the Bible, it is God giving the name. Hagar is the only person in the Bible that says from now on, I’m going to call you this.
The reason this is important, especially to women, is that women need to know that they are seen by those who care for them. Husbands, your role is to see your wife. God sees you, and he knows where you’re at, and he knows what you’re going through.
El Roi – the God who sees me (I could do another mini-series here, Lisa has.)
Genesis 16:14-16 (NLT)
14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
There is so much that can be studied and taught in this chapter of Genesis, but this is our focus today. Sometimes when we try to “help God” “in our flesh,” we can make a long-lasting mess. When we take God’s plans and God’s promises into our own hands, and we try to make them happen by our own means, we can create some long-lasting consequences.
Sometimes we take God’s plans into our own hands, and we end up with long-lasting consequences.
God will still accomplish his plan and his purpose, but it will be in spite of our fleshly help – certainly not because of it.
And so, can I ask us all a question today?
Let’s get real here because here is the deal. Here’s the problem. We think we’re right. That is the problem. That is the number one problem in our lives – we think we’re right. That’s the definition of pride. We think we’re right. And so, for me to challenge you with this is something to reflect seriously on.
Is there something in our lives that we have been trusting God for that we have decided to take into our own hands? Is there something in your life right now that you’ve been anxious for God to accomplish? And maybe it’s not happening fast enough, and so you want to help God, and you have a plan to help him.
Is there something that God has begun by his Spirit that we are trying to accomplish in our flesh? You know that this is what God has called you to, you know this is God’s plan, but it’s not happening fast enough. And so, you just can’t wait any longer. That is your Hagar. You’re trying to finish God’s work in your flesh.
Don’t get ahead of God.
A thousand years is a long time to us. It’s one day to God.
Do what God has called you to do. But do not take the wheel from God.
You do what’s right. You do what God has called you to do but don’t take control. Don’t try to get the outcome to be what you want it to be or even what you feel like you know it should be because you think you’re right – you’re not.
George Mueller says ninety-five percent of knowing God’s will is crucifying your own.
Give the wheel back to Jesus.
Do not get impatient. Do not employ your own fleshly ideas.
Don’t employ your own tactics to accomplish what God has led you to or revealed to you. He doesn’t need you. He just needs you to be obedient and just take one step at a time.
Do your part as God guides you, but stay out of the driver’s seat.
Let God drive your life. So, there is a role. You do have a role; it is in obedience, but don’t take over for God.
Do not take over for God, which is what Sarah and Abraham did with Hagar. Hagar was an attempt in the flesh to do what God had promised to do by his Spirit.
Are we attempting to accomplish in the flesh what God has promised to do by his Spirit?
If so, then that is our Hagar.