Abraham named
his son Isaac, which means “he laughs.” Abraham and Sarah both had
laughed to think they could have a son at this state in life. Abraham
was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90. All of those
who had laughed at Sarah during the boyhood of Ishmael now laughed WITH her
after the birth of Isaac. God had kept his promises.
On the day that Isaac was weaned
Abraham celebrated by giving a great feast. Abraham and Sarah wanted the world to
join in their celebration of the fact that the birth of Isaac had brought such
great joy to them.
Yet
this birth had ironically brought a sense of sorrow and disgust to Hagar and
Ishmael. Their arrogant false-
confidence had been squashed with the birth of Isaac. Although, in those days The Code of
Hammurabi stated that the son of a slave woman had a legal claim on his
father’s property:
"If his
wife bear sons to a man, or his maid-servant have borne sons, and the father
while still living says to the children whom his maid-servant has borne:
"My sons," and he counts them with the sons of his wife; if then the
father dies, then the sons of the wife and of the maid-servant shall divide the property in common. The son of the
wife is to partition and choose."
Abraham,
until the birth of Isaac had said to Ishmael “my son.” He had stopped saying this to him when
Isaac was born, yet we know that Abraham loved Ishmael and was always thinking
of him, wanting to provide for him too. Abraham
was in a very hard place in his heart concerning Ishmael, a place where God
would have to intervene to bring about the desired results
It was
obvious that Ishmael was not supposed to be the one to inherit Abraham’s place
among the people. Hagar’s
dreams and ambitions were crushed. Ishmael was very jealous as this had
crushed many of his dreams too. He had been so sure of his future, now he
was not so sure. He resented Isaac in his heart.
Perhaps
Sarah saw a legal fight coming which she wanted to head off at the pass. Sarah looked out at her
son on this day of celebration and saw Ishmael mocking Isaac and she became
very angry about it. The
wording of this passage that speaks of “mocking” could mean two things; either
Ishmael was mocking Isaac, or Ishmael was playing with Isaac. It could also mean BOTH things. Some think that Ishmael, who was
already an excellent marksman at 16 was shooting arrows all around Isaac, and
they were landing just short of hitting him. That would certainly bring a reaction
from most mothers!
Whatever
he was up to; Ishmael was probably about 16 years old now, and he was old
enough to know better. Sarah
was tired of his wild, selfish, dangerous ways. Sarah talked to Abraham and told him
to get rid of Hagar and her son so that this slave woman’s son should never be
able to interfere with Sarah’s son’s inheritance. Sarah was basically asking
Abraham to disinherit Ishmael; to make it legal and binding so that Isaac would
always be considered the only heir.
At
first Abraham was distressed and concerned about this request of Sarah, but God
spoke to Abraham and said: “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.” God reassured Abraham that He would
make the son of the slave into a nation also, because of the fact that he
was Abraham’s offspring.
So it was that Abraham harkened to
the voice of God and granted Sarah’s wish to send Hagar and Ishmael away. He gave them food and water to take
with them and they began to wander in the dessert of Beersheba.
It wasn't long before their water ran out and Ishmael became very weak. Hagar laid him under a bush and went off the distance of about a bow shot away from him because she did not want to watch him die. She sat down and began to sob
We are told that the Angel of God
heard the boy crying (not Hagar’s tears, but Ishmael’s) and called out to Hagar. He told her not to be afraid, to go to
the boy and take him by the hand, that God would make him into a great nation. God opened the eyes of Hagar and she
saw a well where she filled the flask with water and gave the boy water to
drink.
Have your eyes ever been opened to
see a well in the middle of the desert? Where
death and desolation was all Hagar could see just one minute before; now she
sees hope. Hope is always
the beginning of something better. God
promises a future for Ishmael and God provides the sustenance they need to
survive.
And Ishmael's life as a young man started right there under
a bush in the dessert where Hagar lay Ishmael to die. How strange and
yet, how fitting! I can think of another incident of hope that started
under a bush in the dessert, it was a burning bush and the person was Moses,
but that is yet another story.
So
Hagar and her nearly-grown son began a life in the wilderness of Paran.
God
was with the boy as he grew up and he thrived in the dessert. This location seemed to be in the
northeast section of the Sinai peninsula southwest of Edom and south of the
wilderness of Zin, near the Judean mountains but as far north as Kadesh or even
Beersheba.
Ishmael grew to manhood in the
desert and became a very skilled archer; no doubt killing small animals that
provided clothing and food for them. When he was older, Hagar returned to her
native Egypt and found a wife for her son.
Though there are legends and tales from the
Oral scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures hardly speak of Ishmael again
until the time when he is 73 years old and Isaac and Ishmael are once again
spoken of together in the day when they bury Abraham, indicating that they did
keep up with one another off and on over the years, and were probably aware of
each other’s lives.
Ishmael had
twelve sons who became tribal leaders living in the land from Havilah to Shur,
near the border of Egypt as you go toward Ashur. Ishmael lived to be 137 years old.
