What is the story of Sarah and Hagar?

Sarah's Egyptian handmaid, given to Abraham, and the mother of Ishmael. When she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes, and on being harshly dealt with, she absconded; but the angel of the Lord bade her return. He would multiply her seed exceedingly. She called His name "Thou God seest me." Fifteen years later, at the feast made by Abraham on the occasion of the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael was seen to mock, and Sarah besought Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son; being instructed by God he did so. Still God protected her and her son, and saved him when she thought he was about to die. Gen. 16:1-16; Gen. 21:9-20; Gen. 25:12.

Son of Abraham and Hagar the bondmaid of Sarah. Before he was born, when Hagar ran away because of the severity of her mistress, the angel of the Lord appeared to her, and told her to return to her mistress: her seed should be numberless, and she was to call her son's name Ishmael, which signifies 'El shall hear.' He would be a wild man, his hand would be against every man, and every man's hand against him. Abraham prayed that Ishmael might live before God, but typically he represents the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, hence though God answered that He would bless Ishmael, and multiply him exceedingly, he should also beget twelve princes, and God would make him a great nation; yet the covenant should be established with Isaac. When Ishmael was thirteen years old Abraham circumcised him, and all the men of his house. In this act Abraham acknowledged in faith that the blessing asked for his natural seed could not be had through the strength of the flesh: all the mercies of God are secured in resurrection.

At the 'great feast' when Isaac, the child born after the Spirit, was weaned, Ishmael mocked, and Sarah besought Abraham to cast out both mother and son. This was grievous to Abraham, but God, having approved the suggestion, he rose early in the morning, and providing them with some bread and a bottle of water he sent them away. The water was soon consumed, and Hagar in despair placed Ishmael under a shrub, and departed so as not to see him die. The angel of God called to her, showed her a well, and the child was saved. God was with the lad, for he was the seed of Abraham; he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. At first he was located in the wilderness of Beer-sheba and afterwards at Paran, a region between Canaan and mount Sinai. His mother chose a woman of Egypt for his wife. His twelve sons are recorded, and their 'towns ' and 'castles,' or encampments, according to their nations, are spoken of. Ishmael was present at the burial of his father and lived 137 years. Gen. 16:11-16; Gen. 17:18-26; Gen. 25:9-17; Gen. 28:9; Gen. 36:3; 1 Chr. 1:28-31.

"And the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw Hagar the Egyptian's son, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. And she said to Abraham, Cast out this maid-servant and her son; for this maid-servant's son shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy maid-servant: [in] all that Sarah saith to thee, hearken to her voice; for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee. But also the maid-servant's son will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a leathern bottle of water and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water from the bottle was exhausted; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went and sat down over against [him] about a bowshot; for she said, I will not look on the death of the child. And she sat over against [him,] and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the lad's voice; and God's angel called to Hagar out of the heaven, and said to her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the lad's voice there where he is. Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand, for a great nation will I make him. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became as he grew up an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt" (vv. 8-21).

It was, indeed, a time of great rejoicing, and doubtless a very great company rejoiced together with Abraham and Sarah, in this their great joy—their own beloved son, Isaac—the child of promise. But there was one present who shared not in their joy, nor cared for the rejoicing. “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.” Why did he mock? Was he jealous of Isaac, and displeased because Isaac was made so much of? Ishmael was by this time old enough to understand that it was God’s will that his brother Isaac should hold a more dignified position than he himself could hold. Isaac, the young Isaac, was chosen by God to be Abraham’s heir. Had Ishmael meekly submitted to this, the will of God, and honoured his younger brother Isaac, he would no doubt have been allowed still to remain in his father’s house. But he did not bow to God’s will. Sarah saw him mocking and demanded of Abraham that both Ishmael and his mother should be “cast out.” This was very grievous to Abraham, for he loved Ishmael much, but God told him to do as Sarah had said. Yes, God had taken notice when Ishmael mocked, and Ishmael was to be sent away; although God still took care of him, and blessed him, for his father’s sake.

The boy grew and the day he was weaned, Abraham made a great feast. That day Sarah saw the son of Hagar, who was perhaps fifteen years old, mocking. So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." Abraham did not like to cast them out, but God said to Abraham, "In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." God then promised to make Ishmael a great nation also.

So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and sent them away. They wandered in the desert; the water of the bottle was gone, the day was hot, Ishmael was very, very thirsty, he could walk no more, and Hagar could not bear to see her son die of thirst before her, so she put him under a shrub and went away from him, a good way off. While Ishmael was under the shrub, what do you think he did? He cried to God. He was a boy of 14 or 15 years old. Do you think God was willing to hear his cry? Yes. He sent an angel to Hagar to say, "God hath heard the voice of the lad;" and he showed her a well of water. Hagar took the water to Ishmael. God took care of Ishmael, and made him live in the desert where he grew and became an archer.

Though Abram was a man of faith, Sarai his wife had not borne children, and she weakened his faith by making a mere fleshly suggestion that he should use Sarai's bondmaid, Hagar, by whom to bear a child for Sarai (v. 2). Abram's experience with the Lord in Genesis 15 ought to have strengthened him to realize that God's promise was sure even though they had had to wait so long for its fulfillment. As to the fulfilling of the promise, Abram did not have to resort to a means, not only merely human, but morally wrong. But he listened to the voice of Sarai rather than undividedly listening to the voice of God.

Sarai should surely have realized that a child born in this way would not be hers at all. Sarai could never be attached to the child in the same way that his mother would be. In fact, her giving her maid to Abram is expressed in verse 3 as giving her to Abram “as his wife.” Therefore the child could not possibly belong to Sarai. Hagar knew this, and when she had conceived she despised Sarai because Hagar had achieved what Sarai could not. What could Sarai do now? She becomes so distressed that she blames Abram for her dilemma: “My wrong be upon you” (v. 15). How much better it would have been if she had accepted the blame for her own mistake and humbled herself before the Lord to ask His forgiveness.

In blaming Abram for the situation that arose after Hagar's conception, Sarai asks that the Lord should judge between her and Abram, no doubt because she felt that Hagar was virtually robbing her of her husband. Abram did not remind her that the whole matter was her suggestion, but he made it clear to her that he had no intention of considering Hagar his wife. He tells Sarai that Hagar is her maid and she may do with her as she pleases. Sarai took advantage of this permission from Abram, and made life hard for Hagar, as countless numbers of employers have kept their employees in virtual misery by their cruel oppression. Understandably, Hagar became a runaway, not knowing where she was going, but going anyway.

But the Lord still had a good and kindly interest in Hagar. The angel of the Lord comes to her in her lonely distress as she is by a spring of water. At least she could find water, but it was a different matter to find food and shelter. The angel asked her where she had come from and where she would go. She could answer the first, but had no answer for the second. Though fleeing from her mistress, where could a pregnant woman go, specially when having no relatives or friends to contact?

The next chapter presents the closing scene in this series. The child and heir of promise is given; the child of flesh is dismissed. All now is settled according to God. Whatever inconsistent with His grace had been allowed before must disappear. Hagar the slave must depart, and the child that was not of promise must be gone. Jehovah can no longer tolerate that the child of flesh shall be with Isaac and Sarah in the house of Abraham.

The initiative sprang from Sarah, and to cast out Hagar and Ishmael was very grievous to Abraham. This feature too we may apply to ourselves. To give up all hope of blessing on the ground of law, and to dispossess the flesh is not something that naturally pleases us, but the reverse. Still it is the course that is according to God. Sarah may not have had much thought of God in her demand, nevertheless God endorsed it. God said in effect to Abraham, You have got the promised seed in Isaac so let not the departure of Ishmael be a grief to you. We see the same thing in principle in 1 Samuel 16:1, where the prophet is bidden to stop grieving over Saul, whom God had set aside, for there was a far better king in view, even David. God takes away the first, "that He may establish the second" (Heb. 10:9). If Christ the Second Man fills our vision, the first man and the covenant of law, that applied to him, are set aside.

Bidden thus by God, Abraham acted with decision. Early in the morning he rose up and dismissed the bondwoman and her son, giving them bread and water for the start of their journey. True to her name the poor woman became a wanderer in the wilderness and soon all their slender resources were gone, and the lad was brought almost to the point of death. The Apostle James tells us in connection with Job, that the Lord is "very pitiful, and of tender mercy." We see it exemplified here. Though Hagar and Ishmael had this unhappy allegorical significance, and personally belonged to the world rather than the house of faith, they were needy creatures, and as such objects of mercy.

Years before an angel had been dispatched for her succour. Now again poor Hagar is at the end of her resources and weeping in her misery. A second time God intervenes by an angel for deliverance. It is rather remarkable that while the record runs that she "lift up her voice and wept," it adds that, "God heard the voice of the lad." Ishmael must now have been about fifteen years old and he had raised his voice for help, since he was dying for lack of water. The deliverance came in a simple yet unexpected way. God opened Hagar's eyes so that she saw a well of water. It was there all the time but she had not had eyes to discern it.

Is there not in this a parable for today? 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 before them. The trouble is they have no eyes to see it. God opened her eyes and immediately the need was met. We need to pray for men, that no longer may the god of this world blind their minds to the light of the Gospel, as indicated in 2 Corinthians 4:4.

Thus Ishmael was granted life in spite of the fact that his descendants would be inimical to the people of God. And not only that, but God was with him, enabling him to maintain himself in the wilderness by his skill as an archer. His mother came from Egypt, and out of Egypt she took a wife for him. In this we see the stamp of the world riveted upon him.

At this time Sarah saw Ishmael the son of Hagar mocking. Being the son of the bondwoman, we have seen that he is a type of Israel after the flesh, under bondage to law. When Christ was preached in the book of Acts, this caused contemptuous opposition on the part of the religious Jews who were zealous for the law of Moses. Sarah demanded of Abraham that he should drive out the bondwoman and her son, for she insisted he was not to have any part with Isaac as heir (v. 10).

Abraham found this extremely hard to do, because, after all, Ishmael was actually his son (v. 11). Therefore God Himself intervened to tell him not to be grieved in acting on Sarah's word. However he felt about it, his feelings were not to rule in this matter. The reason for his putting Hagar and Ishmael out is plainly told him, “For in Isaac your seed shall be called” (v. 12). Again we are given the clear message that grace and law cannot be mixed. In fact, when Galatians 4:30 refers to this matter, Sarah's words are said to be “scripture:” “What does scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.'” In other words, it was God who put those words into Sarah's lips.

But another sight of the family of faith is next vouchsafed to us. "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed" (vers. 8-13). Of this incident, which our light hearts might quickly pass over, the Holy Ghost makes a great deal in the two Epistles of the New Testament, which either assert or vindicate the fundamental truth of justification by faith.