Abraham's Learning Curve: Hagar and Ismael

00:00 - James Spencer (Host) where Abraham demonstrates his willingness to fear the Lord above all things. This aspect of God's promises is probably the biggest tension point in Abraham's life. In his view, this is the one thing that's really difficult to see that God is going to do with him. 00:19 - Speaker 2 (None) Welcome to PREPPED, the podcast that equips you to live out God's story, not the world's story. Hosted by James Spencer, phd, each episode bridges the gap between academic insights and everyday life, preparing you to understand the Word of God and put it into practice. Whether you're diving into biblical studies, looking for ministry guidance or aiming to deepen your faith, PREPPED empowers you to think biblically and theologically in a world that encourages you not to Ready to get PREPPED. Subscribe now and transform the way you bring God's story into the world. 00:54 - James Spencer (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to this episode of PREPPED. I'm Dr James Spencer, and this is where we take a closer look at scripture and consider its implications for our lives. Today, in this episode, we're going to explore one of the more challenging aspects of the Abraham story the tension surrounding his heir and the relational dynamics that arise from his decision to have a child with Hagar. Now, Abraham's journey of faith is marked by moments of deep faith, but also some missteps, and I think the promise of an heir given to Abraham and Sarah seemed impossible from a human perspective, and their attempt to solve that problem through the introduction of Hagar creates both immediate and some long-term challenges. And so today, what we're going to focus on are really five areas. Number one the decision to have a child with Hagar and its cultural and theological implications. What are these narratives telling us about God and the way Abraham interacts with him? The birth of Ishmael and the resulting tension between Hagar and Sarah. We'll talk about that. Number three we're going to talk about God's reaffirmation of his covenant promise to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 17, and how this clarifies things and sharpens things so that Abraham and Sarah have a clear path of understanding where they're supposed to go and what they're supposed to do. Four, we're going to look at the relational and covenantal tensions between Ishmael and Isaac that really culminate in Ishmael's departure in Genesis 21. And then, finally, we'll talk about the concept of the firstborn in the ancient Near East and how it sheds light on the dynamics of Abraham family in the ancient Near East and how it sheds light on the dynamics of Abraham family. I don't think that this story is just about Abraham family dynamics. I've often heard it preached that you know, family pain is the worst kind of pain, or you know talking about Abraham a father and how well he did, or something like that. I don't actually think these narratives are built to teach us that much about fatherhood. This is about faith. This is about a man who is learning to walk with God, and if you keep in mind that Abraham really doesn't have that many paradigms to look back on, he probably knows something of the creation story. He probably knows something about God's interactions with Noah and some of those stories that we read about in Genesis 1 through 11. But the reality is that Abraham is just really starting his journey with God and no matter how much he knew about who God was from these previous stories that may have been in the air about who the Lord was. There's a difference between knowing those stories and experiencing it yourself, understanding how to confront the difficulties of life, these really complex situations. How do we wade into those and make decisions that are God-glorifying? 03:31 And we saw last week in the episode on Melchizedek, Abraham the king of Sodom. You know we see Abram making a good decision there. He comes back from war, he's rescued Lot and all the people and he's got all these possessions. He gives a tithe to Melchizedek, who was a priest and the most high God, in recognition that God is the one who gave him the victory in battle. And then, when the king of Sodom comes and offers to allow Abraham to keep all the possessions, Abraham says no, I've already sworn to God that I'm not going to take anything from you so that you can't claim that you made me rich. And so Abraham is making this decision and ensuring that only God gets the glory. If Abraham is going to succeed, if he believes that God is going to prosper him, he wants to make sure that it's clear that God is the one who did it, not the king of Sodom, that Abram hasn't somehow fought his way to prosperity and abundance and has been given favor by these different kings and rulers, but that God really is the one who has built Abram into a successful nation and he's the one who's going to put Abram on the map. In other words, he's going to make a great name for Abram. So we've seen him make this really great decision. 04:58 Now, as we move into the Genesis chapter 15, god addresses Abram and he's almost giving Abram this encouragement like hey, I'm going to be your strength and your shield, I'm going to protect you, you don't have to worry, don't fear these things. And Abram comes back and he doesn't seem to be so worried about this. You know God's protective aspect. He's already fought this big battle. He knows he's. You know God is with him there. He's recognized God in doing that. But now what he's concerned with is Lord. You know, I know you're going to be with me. I know you're protecting me in battle. I have a faith that you're going to prosper me. 05:25 I think Genesis 14 really does underscore that aspect, but I don't know who I'm going to pass it on to, because right now Eliezer, who is just sort of one of his servants, probably a high ranking servant within Abram's sort of ecosystem, but is not biologically related to Abram, that's who is going to inherit his household. And so Abram sees this as a problem and he's saying where does all this go, lord? How does this work? And so what we see is that, you know, god takes Abram out and he shows him the stars and he says that your offspring will be as numerous as these stars. And even as distant and as ambiguous as that may seem, abram believes God and it's credited to him as righteousness. This is Genesis 15.6. 06:14 We see this across the New Testament. Paul recognizes that this is something that we find where Abraham is actually justified or made righteous by faith, by belief, and he uses this to show that those who are traced back to Abraham really are traced back to Abraham through faith. But the point is, abram believes God. He believes that God is going to do this now, and when God says that it's going to be your child, abram, who is going to be your heir, not Eliezer, your child Abram, who is going to be your heir, not Eliezer, abram believes him. He believes this is going to happen. But believing that it's going to happen is different than understanding how it's going to happen. And so, as we move into Genesis 16, we're moving into it with this idea that Abram now knows that he's going to have a biological child and that this biological child is going to be his heir. 07:07 But because Sarah is barren, it's unclear how this is actually going to come about. And so Abram and Sarah are looking at this. They're getting older, they recognize that Sarah has not had children, and so there's the idea that she is barren, and now Sarah proposes what is a relatively culturally acceptable solution. We actually see this happen multiple times, even in the Pentateuch. So if we think back, if we think about Rachel, leah and Jacob, as we get into, you know, jacob's story, what we'll find is that Rachel was also barren, and so when she's trying to have children with Jacob, the first thing she does is she gives him her servant so that they can have children through this servant, and those are counted sort of as her children, so she can have sons and kids of her own. So she can have sons and kids of her own. These surrogates were much more culturally acceptable at that time. 08:12 Not really commenting on the moral aspect of this, I think we want to make sure that we don't get caught up in this idea that. Well, you know there's a. You know we shouldn't apply a moral framework that we're bringing into this, into that situation. There, you know, we have the benefit of advanced science so many times. You know, if there's barrenness in a family, some of those things can be overcome through different medical solutions. But back in this time, if you wanted to have a biological child and your wife was barren, this was the solution. And so Abraham and Sarah decide that he's going to have a child with Hagar, who is Sarah's servant. 08:59 Now, the suggestion here reflects the norms of that time, and in the ancient Near Eastern culture a wife could offer her servant as a surrogate to bear children on her behalf. However, while culturally acceptable, the plan also reveals a bit of a lack of understanding of God's timing and God's methods. There's a sense in which Abram is believing God that he's going to give him all these children, but also seeing that he needs to take some action here, that he can't just leave this all to God, that this is not something that he can just depend on God to do. There are these problems that Abram sees that he can't overcome himself Sarah's barren. Well, I can't have children through Sarah because she's barren, so that's an impossibility. So now we move on to Hagar and we have a child with her. 09:52 It really does represent this attempt to fulfill God's promise through his own efforts. He's trying to understand. Okay, god is telling me this I'm supposed to have a child. I don't understand exactly where this is going, and so what am I to do with this? How know I'm supposed to have a child? I don't understand exactly where this is going, and so what am I to do with this? How is this supposed to work? 10:10 I actually think this is a question that we see as we look at the announcement of the virgin birth to Mary in the New Testament, if we see that whenever the angel comes to Mary and says that you're going to be with child, she asked the angel essentially a logistical question how is this to be? And so I think what she's really asking is so you know, are you telling me that I need to have sex with Joseph? Are you telling me that I need to take action here in order to conceive and have a child? And the angel tells her no, that's not how it's going to happen. You'll be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and so that then becomes the basis of the virgin birth. But Mary's question is a logistical question how is this going to happen? And I think Abram and Sarah are doing the same thing. They're looking at this and saying it will happen. The question is how? What does that look like? 11:07 And so, as Sarah offers, you know, hagar to Abraham, abraham agrees and Hagar conceives a child. But the plan quickly starts to backfire. Hagar's pregnancy really shifts the relational dynamics within the household, and so we have in Genesis 14, 6, within the household. And so we have in Genesis 14, 6, that you know this idea that when she, sarah, saw that she had conceived, she looked or, I'm sorry, when she, hagar, saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And so Hagar sort of gets a little arrogant, a little bit. She begins to see Sarah as less of a human, less of a woman, and there's contempt between her and Sarah, and that contempt really provokes Sarah, who ultimately pushes Hagar out of the relationship between Abraham, sarah and Hagar, abraham, sarah and Hagar. 12:12 This is one of those areas where we see this relational dynamic creating major problems, and I think part of it is. We see this further strife between Ishmael and Isaac, and so there's an eventual departure of Ishmael from the whole family. But this early tension suggests that something is going to have to break here. We've already seen Abram split with Lot because the land just couldn't hold them. These tensions sort of have to press people apart. We'll see it. Throughout the rest of the Pentateuch we see the separation, for instance, of Esau and Jacob. You know, these separations happen an awful lot, and so this tension is not a good thing. 12:49 But I think the decision really does underscore the dangers of trying to accomplish God's plans on our own terms. In other words, what Abram is learning here is he's learning how to go about depending on God to fulfill his own promises. He's not supposed to hear God's promise and go, okay, how can I make that happen? He's supposed to hear God's promise and wait to see how God makes that happen, and so even actions that seem practical or culturally justified can have these unforeseen consequences, and I would say can have these unforeseen consequences, because I don't know that it's this. This is the case every time. What, what? 13:32 What's being looked at here is not, you know, active versus passive pursuit of righteousness, or active versus passive pursuit of of what God has called us to do. We just came off a narrative in Genesis 14, where Abram is very active. He goes after a lot, he's going to protect a lot, and when he comes back he recognizes hey, god needs to make me rich, god needs to be the one who is viewed as giving me prosperity. But now, when he's faced with this tension of the air, abraham sort of misses the idea that he can apply that same logic, this idea that God should be the one to be seen who gets the glory. He can apply that same logic to this situation and instead of acting in a culturally appropriate way, having sex with Hagar and securing an heir, he could have just said I'm going to wait and let God get the glory for this one. 14:33 Again, I don't see that as paradigmatic for every decision we make, but I do think it's one of these areas where we really need to think about it. I don't see that it stems from a lack of faith necessarily in the way that we normally think about it. Again, remember, abram is learning, and so Abram just doesn't understand how all of this is going to work. And so to suggest that this is a lack of faith on Abram's part, I don't think is quite the right way to frame it. What we're seeing is that Abram has to learn that God is going to accomplish these things despite the obstacles that Abram couldn't overcome himself. And in doing so, what's happening is God is going to get the glory for all that happens with Abram. 15:22 As we get into Genesis 22, which we won't discuss now, but that's really you know. We see this in the New Testament as well. We see this sort of merger between Genesis 15 and 6 and Genesis 22 in the book of James, and so Abraham's faith begins to work with his works. And in Genesis 22, which is the near sacrifice of Isaac, abraham is willing to give Isaac over to God. He's willing to sacrifice his son, knowing that, as we read in the New Testament Hebrews 11, that somehow God would resurrect him from the dead, that this isn't the end of the promise, that, even though Abraham doesn't understand why this is happening, what's going to happen next, how exactly God is going to pull this off, that God's promises are sure and that his job is not to figure out some way around this or understand exactly how all the mechanics are going to work. His job is just to allow God to work through his life and to do. And so Abram, all he has to do is obey. So that's sort of where I see this leading. It's a growth in faith, it's a progression, it's a learning process that Abram is going through to learn how to walk with God more faithfully. 16:32 Now, once Hagar's pregnancy really does mark this turning point in the narrative, and as Sarah's bitterness grows, she ends up dealing harshly with Hagar. So Hagar is still under Sarah's power, and this causes Hagar to flee into the wilderness. Yet even in that moment of conflict, god is going to intervene, and so he sends an angel, lord Hagar, offering comfort and instruction, and he tells her to return to Sarah and promises that her son, ishmael, will become the father of a great nation. And so again, we see God's faithfulness here. He's not just going to allow the challenges, the mistakes we could say that Abram and Sarah are making as they're learning to walk with him. He's not going to allow those to have negative consequences for Hagar and her son. He's going to make sure that they are cared for as they go forward. 17:21 And I think that divine encounter is really significant because it confirms God's care for Hagar and Ishmael, even though they're not part of the covenant line. The name Ishmael means God hears, and it reflects God's attentiveness to Hagar's suffering. However, the angel of the Lord also foretells that Ishmael will live in conflict, and the angel says he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him. And so, when Ishmael is born, abraham's around 86 years old. And so for over a decade, it seems as though Ishmael might be the promised heir. Abraham doesn't know what's going to happen with Ishmael. He doesn't really understand that this isn't his heir. He sees this as this is my son, this is my biological son, and, yeah, there's some tensions here, there's some conflict here, but this is the guy, this is the promised heir that God has given me. 18:15 Yet I think the relational tensions between Hagar and Sarah are going to persist, and they create this undercurrent of discord in the household. But that tension mirrors the larger theological question Can God's promises be fulfilled through human ingenuity or must they rely entirely on his power and his faithfulness? Now, I think this section of the narrative calls us to reflect on the relational consequences of decisions made outside of God's will. Hager's story also reminds us of God's compassion for those on the margins, demonstrating his ability to work through complex and broken situations. So what we find is that and again, I'm hesitant to say that this is a sin that Abram has committed here, not because I think that what he did was morally acceptable, but because the Bible doesn't really frame it as sin. What the Bible frames it as is that Abram has figured out a solution that isn't God's solution, and he's starting to depend on it, and so what we're working our way toward is, I think, is we're working toward a moment of decision where Abram is going to have to be willing to let go of something that he's come to depend on in order to trust in God. That's, I think, the sort of arc of the narrative. 19:29 So when we look at Genesis 17, this is where things start to get a little hard. Abraham's been dealing with the controversies at home. He's been dealing with the conflicts you know, hagar and Sarah. It seems like Hagar may have been calmed down a bit after her encounter with God. She's been promised that Ishmael is going to be okay, and she's returned to Sarah. 19:48 But now, 13 years later, so Abram is 99 at this point in Genesis 17, god is going to reaffirm his covenant with Abraham, and this chapter is really a turning point because God clarifies that the promised heir won't come through just Abraham, but Sarah as well. Through just Abraham, but Sarah as well. That Hagar's son, abraham's son that he has through Hagar, is not going to be the heir. And so he changes Abram's name to Abraham, meaning father of a multitude, and introduces circumcision as a sign of the covenant. And, most importantly, he declares I will bless her, sarah, and, moreover, I will give you a son by her. She shall become nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her Now. And, moreover, I will give you a son by her. She shall become nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her Now. 20:32 The interesting part here is that in Genesis 15, what we see is that God tells Abram that it's going to be his child. Abram doesn't interpret that as it's going to be his child and Sarah's child, and in Genesis 17, god is going to give further clarity for this. But notice the time that has passed here. Abraham's had Ishmael for a very long time. 20:53 At this point, abraham himself and Sarah are much older than they were when he heard the original promise in Genesis 15. And so Abraham's going to respond and he's going to reveal the way he's struggling to comprehend what God's plan is here. And so he laughs and says shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child? And Abraham even suggests that Ishmael might be the fulfillment of the promise, saying, oh, that Ishmael might live before you. And so he's not quite ready. He doesn't fully grasp what God is doing, but God is resolute in what he's doing. He affirms that Sarah will bear a son, isaac, through whom the covenant will continue, and at the same time he promises to bless Ishmael, making him into a great nation, but clarifies that the covenant line will be established through Isaac. And that reaffirmation really does underscore the distinction between God's covenant purposes and human plans. Ishmael's blessing demonstrates God's care and generosity, but Isaac's birth will testify to his power and faithfulness. 22:00 The contrast between Ishmael and Isaac highlights the difference between what humans can achieve and what only God can accomplish, and I think this passage also highlights God's ability to reaffirm his promise in the midst of human doubt. Abraham's laughter reminds us that faith sometimes grows through questioning and dialogue with God. Now, when Isaac is born in chapter 17, god is going to fulfill the promise that he gives to Abraham in Genesis 17. But it also intensifies the tensions within Abraham's household. So we had the tension between Sarah and Hagar, but now we're going to have another player in this mix, we're going to have Isaac. 22:42 And so Sarah's joy at Isaac's birth is really accompanied by a renewed awareness of Ishmael's presence. And so when Sarah sees Ishmael mocking Isaac during a celebration, she demands that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, saying cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, isaac. And this request gives Abraham, as Ishmael is his son, and this request gives Abraham, as Ishmael is his son, you know, a bit of indigestion. Abraham doesn't really want to do it, but God reassures him, saying look, through Isaac shall your offspring be named and I will make a great nation of your son, of the son of the slave woman, also because he is your offspring. And so we continue to see that God is going to bless Abraham and those connected to Abraham, even though they're not part of the covenant line. But I think here we should really understand what's going on. 23:36 In this part of the narrative, abraham's being asked to send one of two sons away. He's very old. At this point I think he's concerned that he's going to lose his. You know I hate to put it this way, but the spare that Isaac is young. Isaac is obviously promised to be the covenant heir, but to set aside this other son to leave himself with no other options is a fairly liminal thing for Abraham. Abraham doesn't have a lot of children. This is not Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons and one daughter, and so Abraham just has the two, and then he's down back to sort of the people in his household becoming his heirs. 24:17 And so there's a tension here that I think Abraham is wrestling with whether or not to actually send Ishmael away. So God gives him the confidence to do just that, and in the wilderness we see Hagar and Ishmael face some dire circumstances. But once again God is going to intervene. He provides water, he reiterates his promise to Ishmael to make him into a great nation, and then in that moment God really underscores his faithfulness and his care for those outside the covenant line, those who are connected to Abraham even if they're not central to the covenant process. And I think the separation of Ishmael and Isaac reflects the broader theological theme of distinction within God's plan, within God's family. We could say, while both sons are blessed, only Isaac is going to represent the covenant promise, and that distinction is not about favoritism, but about God's sovereign choice to accomplish his purposes in his way. It challenges us to trust that God's plan, though sometimes difficult to understand, is always good. Now this gets us into a little bit of where we probably need to understand. 25:23 What does it mean to be the firstborn? In the ancient Near East, and I think, to fully grasp the tension between Ishmael and Isaac, it's helpful to consider the concept of the firstborn. In many cultures, the firstborn son held a special status as the primary heir, and that status, often referred to as the birthright, included leadership within the family and a double portion of the inheritance. There were benefits to being the firstborn, but there were also obligations, and so the firstborn was to be that person who's going to carry on not just with the possessions of the family, but they're really going to carry the cultural and, in our case, theological freight for the family. This is going to be the next representative of the covenant. This is going to be the one that demonstrates all that Abraham learned as he walked with God. He's going to continue that process of walking with God. 26:13 However, I think in the biblical narrative, god often subverts this cultural expectation surrounding the firstborn son or the son that was born first. So Ishmael is Abraham's son who was born first. Right Might've been expected to inherit the birthright, yet God chooses Isaac, the younger son, to carry the covenant promises. And this pattern of divine selection over cultural norms appears throughout scripture, with examples like Jacob and Esau. Cultural norms appears throughout scripture, with examples like Jacob and Esau. We see this with Ephraim and Manasseh, where Israel at that time Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel swaps his hands and blesses the younger over the older, and so we just see this recurring throughout the biblical narrative. 26:58 By choosing Isaac, god demonstrates that his plans are not bound by the human conventions, and that choice reinforces the principle that God's blessing and purposes are matters of his sovereign will, not human merit or tradition. And the tension between Ishmael and Isaac. That serves as a reminder that God's ways are higher than our ways and his plans are often challenging to our own assumptions. I think understanding the cultural weight of the firstborn helps us appreciate the radical nature of God's actions. His choices here are often going to upend human expectations and they reveal his power to work beyond societal norms and expectations. 27:37 So, as we reflect back on this story and I've covered a lot of chapters. We've basically gone from 15 to 21 in Genesis. There's a lot more there that I didn't cover, but this idea of Abraham's heir is really the tension. I think that carries the Abraham story forward. If we look at chapter 22 as sort of the culmination of the story of Abraham, where Abraham demonstrates his willingness to fear the Lord above all things, this aspect of God's promises who will be Abram's heir is probably the biggest tension point in Abraham's life. 28:15 In his view, this is the one thing that's really difficult to see that God is going to do with him, really difficult to see that God is going to do with him. And so I think the story of Hagar, ishmael, sarah and Isaac is one of tension, of faith, of God's unwavering faithfulness, and it reveals the complexity of human relationships and the challenges of waiting on God's timing, understanding what God is supposed to do and patiently waiting for God to do that, versus understanding when we are supposed to act in order to bring about a situation that we know God wants to have happen. And I think Abraham's decision to have a child with Hagar introduces this strife, but it also becomes an opportunity for God to demonstrate his power, his provision and his ability to work through imperfect people. Where I see this story really going, and what maybe the lesson we need to learn here is, is that when Abram looks out at the landscape of the situation he's looking at and he sees the impossibility of having a child with Sarah because of her barrenness, he automatically assumes that he needs to come up with a way around in order for God's promises to be fulfilled, and so his understanding of how this would work is that he needs to sort of combine and figure out the pathway to get to the promises of God, and what I think God is trying to show Abraham is that, no, this is not the way this is supposed to go. What you're supposed to do is recognize that I am infinitely more relevant than any other actor or factor you may face. I am the one you respond to within any given situation, and so if you're concerned about this, don't be Wait for me. Let me reaffirm things to you. Let me keep my promises to you. 30:01 Again, it's not a passivity. That's not what the text is advocating for. What it's advocating for is for us to be obedient, even when obedience doesn't make any sense. It's to wait, even when waiting seems like it won't accomplish what we want to have accomplished. It's about a leaning back on God's promises in a fairly radical way, and so, for us today, this narrative really does challenge us to trust God's promises, even when they seem delayed or impossible. 30:32 It reminds us that trying to accomplish God's plans in our own strength is often going to lead to conflicts and heartache not always, but often. And yet it also assures us that God's grace and faithfulness extend to everyone, even in the midst of our mid-steps. Hey, thanks for joining me on this episode of Prep Podcast. If this discussion has been helpful to you, please share it with others and subscribe for future episodes. Let's continue to grow in faith and obedience together, trusting that God's plans are always good and his timing is always perfect. Until next time, stay grounded in his word and his promises. I'll catch you on the next episode of PREPPED. 31:09 - Speaker 2 (None) Thanks for tuning into PREPPED. If today's episode helped you view the world through a God-centered lens, be sure to hit subscribe so you're always prepared for what comes next. Don't forget to rate and review us on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more believers eager to live out God's story. Share this episode with a friend, family member or loved one, and together let's keep challenging the world's narratives. Until next time, stay grounded, stay inspired and continue living out God's plan. See you soon on our next episode of PREPPED.