Some of Abraham's chickens come home to roost today, as the saying goes. He made some mistakes earlier in Genesis that are about to boomerang back onto him. He lied about Sarah's identity to Pharoah when they went to Egypt, causing Pharoah to lavish him with gifts in order to obtain Sarah's hand in marriage. One of those gifts was an Egyptian slave girl named Hagar. This is the same Hagar who was later used as a surrogate mother by Sarah and Abraham. In our passage today, Hagar's son Ishmael becomes the fly in the ointment of Sarah's happy new life as a mother, and she decides she wants Hagar and Ishmael gone.
We begin with a celebration being thrown for Isaac, the son of Sarah and Abraham. "The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast." (Genesis 21:8) In those days it was typical for a mother to nurse a child until the age of three while at the same time gradually introducing more and more solid foods until the child's diet consisted entirely of solid foods. I don't know whether it was a custom to throw a party on that day or whether Abraham simply wanted to celebrate this milestone in his child's life. But he and his wife call all their friends and neighbors to a huge party for their son.
"But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, 'Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.'" (Genesis 21:9-10) Ishmael is at least sixteen years old by this time, because the Bible told us in Chapter 17 he was thirteen and that was before Isaac was ever born. I think it's possible Ishmael is already seventeen or maybe almost eighteen. He was almost at the age to be considered a grown man and to start being trained by his father about how to manage the estate.
We don't know exactly who or what Ishmael was mocking. I don't know whether he was making fun of Isaac or whether he was displaying a disrespectful attitude toward Abraham and Sarah or whether he was just being a typical teen who thought having to attend a party for a small child was boring and "lame". Some scholars believe Ishmael was jealous of Isaac, because until Isaac was born Ishmael was the only child and the heir apparent of Abraham's estate. He may have felt pushed aside in favor of the young child. It could be that Ishmael sees the handwriting on the wall on the day Abraham throws this lavish party for Isaac. Perhaps Abraham has never thrown a party for Ishmael, and it's at this point that Ishmael realizes Isaac is being presented to the community as Abraham's favorite son and chosen heir.
As a woman I can understand Sarah's resentment of Hagar and her son, although this situation is Sarah's own fault. It was her idea to adopt a pagan custom in which a barren woman could give a slave woman as a second wife to her husband in order to bring about the birth of a son. The child would belong to the first wife and her husband, since the slave woman also belonged to them, and in this way the couple could provide an heir for themselves. Sarah regretted her decision as soon as she found out Hagar was pregnant and she's regretted her decision ever since. But she's tolerated Hagar and Ishmael. Now though, as she mingles among her guests, looking flushed and happy and proud, she spots Ishmael acting up. She loses her temper. Pulling her husband aside, she whispers angrily to him that he must get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. Up til now she may have made her peace with the idea that Ishmael and Isaac would share their father's estate upon his death, but now she can't stand the thought of Ishmael being in her life for another minute. She wants her son Isaac to inherit everything, not have to share it with the young man who is standing in the corner making fun of the festivities.
Abraham is not happy with this turn of events. "The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son." (Genesis 21:11) I am sure Abraham loves Ishmael. He's concerned for his firstborn son. He doesn't want to do what Sarah is telling him to do, even though he understands where she's coming from. I think in his heart he feels a lot like Sarah does; he wants Ishmael to be his primary heir. But I don't think he ever intended to cut Ishmael out of the inheritance altogether. I think he would have provided amply for Ishmael in his will.
I imagine several days may have passed while Abraham wrestled with this problem. Perhaps he tried to convince Sarah to change her mind. Maybe he tried to talk to Ishmael about changing his attitude. He may have presented various solutions to the problem which no one accepted. But during this time I believe he took the problem to the Lord in prayer because we find the Lord telling him what he should do. "But God said to him, 'Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of a slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.'" (Genesis 21:12-13)
The child of the promise is to be the heir, not the child Abraham obtained by getting ahead of God and trying to fix his problem on his own. The child who was born by miraculous means will be one of the patriarchs of the nation of Israel and will be the ancestor of the Messiah. The son whom Abraham gained by worldly means will not be the one from whose line God's own Son will come. While it may not seem fair to us that God says it's alright for Abraham to cast Ishmael aside as his heir, it was never God's will for Abraham to conceive a child with Hagar in the first place. Ishmael was begotten because Abraham went down a path God never intended him to go down, but the Lord is going to be gracious to Ishmael. Though this young man will never be Abraham's heir, the Lord will watch over him and bless him. He will do great things for him. Naturally Abraham doesn't want to be separated from his son or be unable to personally watch over him, but the Lord promises to be with Ishmael and to watch over him. Those of you who are parents know you can't always be with your children to protect them. I'm sure it must be a comfort to know that the Lord is with them when you can't be, and this is what comforts Abraham in regard to Ishmael.
Join us tomorrow as Abraham regretfully and sadly does what he's been told to do.
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