Genesis 16: Two Worlds, One Family

Summary: Abram and Sarai had waited a long time for the Lord to give them a child, and they have not had any children. Sarai has Hagar, her maid, stand in for her. Hagar conceives. There is some tention between Hagar and Sarai. Hagar runs away. The Lord sends an angel to tell her to return, and who prophesies about her son. Hagar bears Ishmael.

Personal Reflection: There is definitely a lot of emotion built up in this chapter. Often, I feel like, at least in the area of polygamy, that there is a lot we don't understand, and there is a lot that is never really commented on in the Old Testament because that's just the way things were in those days.

I'm going to link you here to David Guzik's commentary again. Whether I agree with him or not, I often find his commentary thought-provoking.

Guzik does a lot of talking about sinning in this chapter, about not trusting in God, and about the consequences. While, I agree with him in an abstract sense that sin often leads to unwanted and painful consequences, I'm not convinced that he's write in his specifics here.

First, what Sarai did was a perfectly legitimate practice of the time. I don't know whether God was sanctioning her decision or not, but I don't think she was doing anything way out of line. Perhaps Guzik is right in that Sarai did not trust in the Lord, and therein was her sin.

If we want to continue that line of thought. The contention between Sarai and Hagar may have been caused by this same mistrust. Sarai regretted her decision (I think most women today would feel the same). We never get to really hear Hagar's side of the story, and I wonder if Sarai was more at fault than we are told in their arguments. The Lord is said to have heard Hagar in vs. 11 and she is visited by an angel of the Lord, so I can't believe that she was entirely at fault in this situation.

Also, I tend to disagree with Guzik where he says that the conflict between the Jews and Arabs is all part and parcel of Abram's sin. That's rather rediculous actually. Often the Arabs have treated the Jews much better than Christians have, the present day, of course, excluded.

I think that what we really have in this chapter is a lot of good people, put in a hard situation, where they each make their own mistakes (as human beings are prone to do). In the end, though I believe that the Lord used them, human though they were, to bring about his purposes. I believe that Ishmael too was an integral part of the prophecy that Abram would be the father to children as numerous as the stars.

Note: I'm really excited to get to chapter 17 tonight. Finally I can stop having to catch myself when I write "Abraham" because it will be right.