Genesis 21:8-21
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 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.”
The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 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 the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
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.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
The scenes above take place years after what we read yesterday as Hagar’s story continues. And let’s set a few interpretive ground rules before we go on. Hagar is never the enemy. She is not a villain who took something that wasn’t hers. According to what we know about the social structures in place during Abram’s life and what scripture tells us, she did not act immorally or unethically. Hagar and Ishmael are not the antagonists in this story. It’s morally and theologically irresponsible of us to land in an “us” vs. “them” place with these verses.
Nor should we justify Sarah’s destructive response based on what God says to Abraham. While there are many lessons to be gleaned through this story and many concerns to work through, we are meant to and invited to enter into all of the brokenness and desperation that is present.
The hardest thing to do with these passages is to be passively present, yet we must. While the social justice soapbox is clear and available, the work we must first attend to is within ourselves. As with the oxygen masks on the airplane, we must put ours on before others.
Look at Sarah. See where her jealousy leads. Once, Hagar had a name. Now, she’s property. Look at the harm it has done to her, to her relationship with Abraham, and to Hagar and Ishmael. And remember that the whole thing was her idea. So we hold that, too. We hold the pain she must be feeling. We hold the sense of deep inadequacy that she’s carried all this time. We see that borne out against people.
Look at Abraham. He’s ready to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promise. He’s on cloud nine until he gets wind of the depth of his wife’s darkness. It spreads to him. It consumes him. She was a member of the family. She was a legal lover and Ishmael a legitimate son. And now Abraham has to send them away.
Look at Hagar, again in the desert. Again, she’s cast out. This time, to watch her son die.
If we can be honest, we know them well. Maybe not to this extent, maybe past it. We’ve all felt jealousy, desperation, and entitlement. We’ve all been caught between people, between loyalties. We’ve all had to meet demands we don’t believe in or make decisions we deeply disagree with. We’ve been the object of these. We’ve been rejected and discarded, sometimes for doing what we were supposed to do. We’ve been where all seems lost and we’re not completely sure how we got there. Or we are sure how we got there and might even think we deserve it. We’ve been there. We know them well. And we must first attend to what is within ourselves.
Reflect:
On the brokenness in these verses that you’ve left unattended. On the existence of the same in yourself.
Journal:
On the ways you’ve extended that brokenness to others. On how God has been present amidst all of it.
Pray:
To sit with God in it. For patience, compassion and grace for yourself and for others. For awareness of the extent. For strength to mend what is torn.