COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 46 - WHO CAN KNOW THE MIND OF GOD

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Hagar was pregnant with Abram's first child.  She let this change of events go straight to her head.  Some people do not do well with the way they handle success, especially the first time that they taste it.  She had to brag, and she had to flaunt her new found power over her situation with Sarai.  She had to get into Sarai’s face with it.  She became very legalistic in her thinking.  That was probably Hagar's biggest mistake.  She went from being a sweet, humble, agreeable young servant girl looking up to her mentor to being a prideful, arrogant, boastful, haughty concubine. 

Perhaps Hagar even took every opportunity to embarrass Sarai publicly.   Perhaps she gossiped about her behind her back.  Perhaps she was angry and rebellious in her words and actions toward her.  Perhaps she openly stated to Sarai that she would never be the true mother of her child.  Who knows what could have gone on? Perhaps she threatened Sarai’s life?  Things would have really been easier for Hagar if Sarai accidentally had a fatal fall and never recovered. 

This is all speculation of course, no one really knows everything that went on in those tents during those days.   From everything we have read and studied about Sarai, it is clear that these situations were not common occurrences in her household before Hagar was with child.  

The beautiful, peaceful, joyful atmosphere that surrounded Sarai’s tents as she baked her bread and welcomed her guest with extreme hospitality must have shifted a whole lot during this time.  A different kind of cloud must have settled over the area where these two women dwelt, and Abram must have spent a lot of time looking after the flocks instead of sitting in the tents.   

It is possible, in all of her years as the wife of Abram, that this might have been the first time Sarai had ever encountered pure rebellion, or anyone who hated her.  She must have stewed inside as she considered how to handle the situation that was causing great grief to her once well-run and peaceful household.    

The scriptures tell us that Sarai “humbled” Hagar.   It is the same word used later in the scriptures when the children of Abraham became slaves in the land of Egypt; they too were “humbled.”  Your sins often come back to haunt you even when you are living under grace.  Nothing is ever truly hidden or unseen even when God chooses to give unconditional mercy.   The punishment that Sarai dealt out as she punished Hagar was the same punishment that was many years later used against Sarai’s ancestors in the wilderness. 

  

What this word “humbled” means is not specifically clear; but it was severe enough for Hagar to decide to flee.  She took off for the dessert hoping to make it all the way back home to Egypt.  It was a very dangerous and courageous thing for a young girl expecting a child to do.

As she walked through the hot dessert road on the way to Shur, following the trade route that passed through the Sinai peninsula, a girl who was very thirsty, very tired, emotionally wrought and very pregnant; she cried out to The Lord.   The Angel of The Lord found her and asked her:  “Hagar, slave girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”   Hagar didn't seem surprised to be hearing from an angel.  Apparently  she was already used to seeing angels in the tents of Sarai and Abram.  She looked up and  told him she was running away from her mistress, Sarai.

By the time the angel spoke with Hagar, who had stopped next to a spring of water, she had almost made it all the way back to Egypt.  The angel told her that she would have a child from which would come a nation, but she must first return to Sarai and have the child among the Hebrews.  The angel told her that her son would be named Ishmael because the Lord had "heard" her cries.  The name Ishmael means "The Lord hears."   The angel also told Hagar that her son would become like a wild donkey; that he would be against everyone and everyone would be against him.  

When she received this astonishing advice from The Angel of The Lord and learned that the child she was bearing would become the leader of a nation Hagar named this messenger of God El Roi, “The God Who Sees Me;” and then she took his advice and returned to Sarai; taking comfort in the fact that someone had at least noticed her plight and come to her aid and given her a reason for hope.  She had been heard and she had been seen by God.  This must have given her the courage she needed to go back.  

Despite Hagar’s return, the bad feelings between Sarai and Hagar went unresolved. 

You have to wonder what went on in the mind of Sarai from the time they discovered Hagar was missing until she returned.  Sarai must have wondered if she had dealt too harshly because of the severe punishment she had inflicted upon Hagar.  Do you think she could have repented of this?  Did Sarai regret how harshly she treated Hagar?  She might have wondered how she would be able to face Abram with the news that she had chased off the woman who bore his only child.  Was she going to tell him she had run away for no reason?  Sarai must have been very afraid and confused about what to do.  

Perhaps since both women desired to please Abram it is possible that they never even told Abram what transpired between them.  It is possible that Hagar returned before he even found out what was going on.  Neither woman would have had any good reason to explain to Abram what business had taken place.  Each of their stories would have been different anyway, because both of them had a totally different perspective.  Who would Abram have believed?

The sadness that Sarai had felt from being barren must have paled in the sadness that she experienced in the time of watching another woman bear her husband’s child and give birth.  An intended time of joy must have turned into a sad time of silent, lonely mourning for Sarai, and to make it even worse, she now had no close friend to talk to and share the hard times of her soul.  Her friendship with Hagar was over and Abram would not want to listen to these things without knowing how foolish a choice Sarai had made and what a predicament they had been put into.  She would only make things worse by sharing her feelings with him now.  Her only choice was to grieve alone and without the comfort of a friend by her side to see her through.

Hagar once again took her place in the tents of Abram and concentrated on the fact that her son would one day rule the tribe; since Sarai did not have a child and it appeared that she never would.  Perhaps Hagar taunted Sarai with threats of running away again every time Sarai tried to put Hagar in her place.  Sarai’s actions would have definitely looked selfish to the public, no matter how deserving Hagar might have been.  Perhaps this kept Sarai’s new found emotions under control for awhile.  Perhaps in this time Sarai did what she should have done all along.  Perhaps she turned to God and repented of her mistake.  Perhaps she listened more carefully to hear the voice of God in her life again.  Perhaps she sought solace in the only One who had loved her so perfectly and unconditionally all along.  Perhaps she learned to never take this for granted again.   

   

Hagar, at least to the outside looking in, must have been quieter and more humble, but in her heart, she was not humbled at all.  She still hated Sarai, and she probably became even more determined to replace her.  She was patiently waiting for HER day to arrive.  The older her son became, the more the importance of Sarai would diminish in the tribe and the eyes of Abram.  That may have been in Hagar’s thoughts as she lived out her days with determination.  As we said before, ambition seemed to be Hagar’s strongest characteristic.  Yet, she had seen The Angel of the Lord and this time He had come to Hagar, not Sarai.  Perhaps this had softened the heart of Hagar too.  Perhaps, now that she had experienced a personal encounter with God and was sure that God could see her and cared about her; maybe she too was trying to lean more into listening to the will of God for her life.  Who knows?  It does seem that built into every one of us is the instinct to call on The Name of God when we are at our lowest point and no one else can help us. 

Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

For fourteen years Ishmael was seen as the future heir of Abram.  He was the first born son, which usually assured inheritance.  Hagar and Ishmael both become very comfortable with this whole idea.  They thought nothing at all could rock their world and take away the prospects that their future held.

But there was one thing that could change everything; God had a plan that He had been unfolding despite all this humanity taking place from the beginning of God's plan to the end.  He always keeps His plans and purposes, but not always on our schedule or in the way we think it will happen.  He is outside of time and we are inside of time.  The time we spend inside of time as human beings was made for our growth.    If we are wise we chose to become more like Him during this time.  Some chose this, some do not.  Some chose this some of the time, but not all of the time. 

All of the tents of Abram were waiting and watching Sarai and Abram and Hagar.  What would their choices be from here on out?