And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.
Hagar and her son are in the desert, and their water is gone. She has laid the boy under a bush to die, and she is the one weeping — yet God hears him, and the answer from heaven comes back to her with her name, a question, and a command not to fear.
God had already rescued Hagar in the desert once before. This time His ear is on someone else.
Years before, an angel had been sent to help her… A second time God steps in by an angel to deliver her. It is remarkable that while the record says she "lifted up her voice and wept," it adds that "God heard the voice of the boy." Ishmael must have been about fifteen years old by now. He had raised his voice for help, since he was dying for lack of water.
Commentators read that raised voice as prayer.
And what of the boy? It seems he too lifted up his voice — not to weep, but to pray. He was to be a wild man (Gen. 16:12), and perhaps he was a "wild boy." But he had not lived all those years with his dear old father without learning something of the value of prayer. And you remember his name means "Heard of God."
This is the boy who had been mocking Isaac. God meets him at the exact spot his own behaviour left him.
But perhaps some little boy may say, "I have mocked, and now I am afraid the Lord will not listen to me." Ishmael did not mock when he was lying exhausted under the shrub with death staring him in the face… Left all alone, Ishmael "cried," and God "heard the voice of the boy." God, who had been so displeased to hear Ishmael mock, was "very gracious" to Ishmael at the sound of his cry… What a good thing it is in all our troubles to cry to God.
The angel's first word to Hagar runs right through Scripture. It comes to people who stand alone under pressure.
This word "Fear not" comes again and again. It is the assurance of the believer who stands alone in the middle of difficulty and distress and the world's hatred. Abraham, Hagar, and Isaac are examples (Gen. 15:1; Gen. 21:17; Gen. 26:24).
God Himself had told Abraham to listen to Sarah and send Hagar away. In the desert she never asked Him for help:
But the God who ordered her expulsion is the God of grace… At such a time, why did Hagar show no faith in God by appealing to Him? But if not, God would still hear the complaint of her son. The legal principle always leaves one to himself and to his own strength, which must fail. But God in grace tells her to rise and lift up the boy, "and hold him fast with your hand." That is, she was to hold him up so he would not fall. Does it not remind us that God, by His grace, holds up every believer — "for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Rom. 14:4)?
God's care did not stop at the well. It reached into Ishmael's future:
She may have forgotten God's promise that a countless multitude would come from her, and that Ishmael would live in the presence of all his brothers. But God remembered him, and declares that He will make him a great nation. So it has been.
God's answer was not a new well but opened eyes. Commentators turn that into a warning:
Is there not a parable for today in this? Ishmael was dying of thirst within a stone's throw of the life-giving water. Many today are going down to spiritual death with the means of spiritual life right in front of them. The trouble is they have no eyes to see it. God opened her eyes, and at once the need was met.
Some read the wandering pair as a picture of a whole nation:
Hagar and Ishmael as wanderers in the wilderness, with the water gone, may picture the present position of Israel. That position is the result of seeking to obtain the blessing under law, and so rejecting Christ, the promised seed… Yet, cast out of the land, Israel is still the object of God's providential care, just as God provided for Hagar and her son.
- Cry — Hagar wept, but the verse says God heard the boy; his raised voice was a cry for help, and his name itself means "Heard of God."
- Heard — God hears him "where he is," not where he should have been. He answers the mocking boy at the spot his own conduct brought him to.
- Fear not — The first word from heaven removes the fear before it supplies the water. It is the standing word to the believer left isolated in distress.
- Held — Law leaves a person to his own strength, and it fails. Grace tells the mother to lift the boy and hold him fast — a picture of the God who holds up every believer.
- Seen — The well was there the whole time. Rescue came by opened eyes. People can die of thirst within reach of the supply God has already given.
Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation.
Hagar's water is gone. She has laid her son under a bush and walked off, unable to watch him die. God's first word to her is not comfort but a command: lift the boy up and hold him, because he has a future.
The angel speaks at the exact point where Hagar has nothing left. One writer notes how long God waited:
God did not sustain Hagar until she was weary and footsore, with an empty water-bottle. She had cast her child under a shrub in the desert and walked away, so that she would not watch him die, and so that she too might die. She had not only come to the end of her efforts, but to the end of herself as well. God then opened her eyes and she saw a well of water in her "valley of Baca" (Gen. 21:14-19). The well had been there, but she had not been able to see it.
The command is physical: she must take hold of the boy she had left to die. One commentator reads it as steadying him, and finds in it a picture of how God holds up every believer:
But the God who ordered her expulsion is the God of grace. He heard the voice of the boy (v. 17), then spoke directly to Hagar: "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is." … The legal principle always leaves one to himself and to his own strength, which must fail. But God in grace tells her to rise and lift up the lad "and hold him with your hand." That is, she was to hold him up so that he would not fall. Does it not remind us that God, by His grace, holds up every believer — "for God is able to make him stand" (Rom. 14:4)? This is true, no matter how distressing our circumstances may be.
Verse 18 answers a cry. It was the boy's cry, not the mother's weeping, that God heard. One writer ties that cry to the meaning of his name:
And what of the boy? He too must have lifted up his voice — not to weep, but to pray. He was to be a wild man (Gen. 16:12), and perhaps he was a "wild boy." But he had lived all those years with his dear old father, and he had learned something of the value of prayer. And indeed you remember his name means "Heard of God."
Years earlier, at a well, God had already told Hagar about her son's future. Now she has forgotten all of it, and God repeats the promise anyway:
Yet it is moving to know God's goodness to Abraham's seed according to flesh. When the mother gave in to despair and laid her son down to die at a distance from her, "God heard the lad's voice"; and His angel tells Hagar to hold him in her hand. Had not Jehovah called his name Ishmael, because He had heard her affliction? Even if she forgot God's promise of a countless multitude to spring from her, and that Ishmael would live in the presence of all his brothers, God remembered him and declares that He will make him a great nation. So it has been.
One writer reads the scene as a picture of a larger story: the son of the slave woman put outside, yet kept alive:
Hagar and Ishmael as wanderers in the wilderness, with the water gone, may picture the present position of Israel. Israel sought to gain the blessing under law, and so rejected Christ, the promised seed. The earthly people of God are cast out of their land and have become wanderers in the world. Yet, as cast out of the land, Israel is still the object of God's providential care, even as God provided for Hagar and her son.
God did not make a new well. What changed was her sight, and one writer turns that into a warning for people today:
Is there not a parable for today in this? Ishmael was dying of thirst within a stone's throw of the life-giving water. There are many today going down to spiritual death with the means of spiritual life right in front of them. The trouble is that they have no eyes to see it. God opened her eyes, and at once the need was met.
- Emptied — God's help came when Hagar had reached the end of her efforts and the end of herself. The empty bottle was the doorway, not the disaster.
- Heard — the cry that moved heaven was the boy's, and his name already said it: "Heard of God."
- Held — "hold him fast" means steady him so he does not fall. God Himself keeps every believer standing the same way.
- Remembered — Hagar forgot the promise. God repeated it without being asked, and has kept it ever since.
- Opened — the well was there the whole time. People die of thirst beside the supply until God opens their eyes.