Abraham, Sarai, Hagar, Ishmael
Genesis 16:4 He slept with Hagar, and she
conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You
are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms,
and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge
between you and me." 6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with
her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from
her. 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it
was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant
of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running
away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD
told her, "Go back to your mistress and
submit to her."
10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be
too numerous to count." 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are
now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the
LORD has heard of your misery. 12 (KJV) And
he will be a wild man; his hand will be against
every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence
of all his brethren. 12 (NIV) He will be a wild donkey of a man; his
hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will
live in hostility toward all his brothers."
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who
sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 14 That is
why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh
and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael
to the son she had borne.
Genesis 25:12 This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's
maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen
from Radin also warned about the curse of "wildness" on Ishmael:
"The holy Torah tells us regarding Ishmael that
he is a 'pere adam,' a wild beast of a man. It is known that our Torah
is eternal, and if it says about Ishmael that he is a wild beast of a man,
then Ishmael will remain forever a wild beast of a man."
(Return to
Beliefs#Ishmael)
BUT GOD HAD ANOTHER HEIR IN MIND
Genesis 17:15 God also said to Abraham, "As
for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be
Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will
bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will
come from her." 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself,
"Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child
at the age of ninety?"
18 And Abraham said to God, "If only
Ishmael might live under your blessing!"
19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you
will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting
covenant for his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will
surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his
numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into
a great nation.
ISHMAEL'S QUARRELSOME NATURE PROVOKED SARAI INTO DOING EXACTLY WHAT GOD
(OF ISRAEL) WANTED:
Genesis 21:9 But Sarah saw that
the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne
to Abraham
was mocking.
10 And she said to Abraham, "Get rid of
that slave woman and her son, for that
slave woman's son will never share in
the inheritance with my son Isaac.
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly
because it concerned his son.
12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed
about the boy and
your
maidservant.
Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because
IT IS THROUGH ISAAC THAT YOUR OFFSPRING
WILL BE RECKONED. 13 I will make
the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is
your
offspring.
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some
food and a skin of water and gave them
to Hagar.
He set them on
her shoulders and then sent
her off with the boy. She went on her
way and wandered in the desert of
Beersheba...17 God heard the boy
crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,
"What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying
as he lies there.
Genesis 25:12 This is the account of Abraham's
son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to
Abraham. 13 These are the names
of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the
firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve
tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17 Altogether, Ishmael
lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and
he was gathered to his people. 18 His descendants settled in the area from
Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they
lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
SPIRITUAL APPLICATIONS OF THE COVENANTS
Galatians 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham
and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many
people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is MESSIAH.
17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced
430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by
God and thus do away with the promise
Galatians 4:24 These things may be taken
figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from
Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia
and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery
with her children
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit
that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.
And by him we cry, <"Abba"> Father.
(Return to
Beliefs#Ishmael)
ISHMAEL WANTS THE
INHERITANCE
Jeremia 12:14 This is what the LORD says: "As for all my wicked neighbors
who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from
their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. |