"Genesis and Other Things"
Lesson Twelve - Ishmael and Isaac
Moderated by Bob Huddlestun
An Anxious Father - Genesis 16
The LORD had promised Abram, "A son coming from your own body will be your heir" (Genesis 15:4). How
could this be? His wife Sarai had always been barren and now, in her mid-seventies, was well beyond the age where
pregnancy was even a possibility. Can you imagine the conversation in the tent that night? Poor Sarai. For many
years she had carried the guilt of not being able to provide an heir for Abram, now this fact is thrust on her again. Abram
had probably been very patient and understanding with her all these years, but now the LORD's will was involved. What
could she do? Her only answer, and probably a very difficult one at best, was Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid. This might
have been a common practice among their neighbors, but with Sarai and Abram, after all their years together, it had to
be tough. There seemed to be no other answer.
So Abram, at the urging of his wife, lays with Hagar and she conceives. Bad move. Hagar, apparently proud of her
new favored position with the head of the household, refuses to obey her mistress and flaunts her condition before her.
Now it's "poor Abram". Sarai, angry and probably jealous, lashes out at him. "Now look what you've done. It's all your
fault," and "May the LORD judge between you and me" (verse 5). In other words, "Either she goes or I go, Buster."
What's a man to do? Wisely he avoids the issue by stepping out from between the two women.
Now the full brunt of Sarai's anger, hurt, and frustration falls on Hagar. Hagar, knowing she has no recourse, flees,
probably heading back home to Egypt. On the road an angel of the LORD appears to her and convinces her that in her
condition she is much better off under the protection of Abram than wondering in the wilderness. Assured of God's
concern she humbly returns and obediently resumes her tasks as handmaid to Sarai. The child is born and peace is
restored to the household - - for a while.
Question: What lessons are to be learned from this account besides "a man hasn't got a chance where
two women are involved"?
Just a hint - Have you considered the word patience? Also, though mistakes can be forgiven the
results of those mistakes often stick with you, sometimes for generations.
The Child of Promise - Genesis 17:15-22; 18:1-15; 21:1-7.
Fifteen years later, when the LORD appeared to him, Abraham was shocked and amused to hear that Sarai (now
called Sarah) would bear him a son. Unbelievable! He was now a hundred years old and she ninety. Up till now he had
assumed that Ishmael would be his heir and continue the blessings. Not so. Abraham would have a second
son. He would be the one to receive the covenant promises first given to Abraham. (Note this because an important pattern is
emerging). A second son, his name was to be Isaac, which means laughter since both Abraham and Sarah had to laugh
when they first heard the news and because Isaac was the joy of their later years, the son they had given up even
dreaming about.
Trouble on the Home Front - - Again - Genesis 21:8-21.
Ishmael was in his middle teens by now. Another son had come into the household, a boy that was obviously favored
by his father. Ishmael's reaction was a very normal sibling response to such an interloper. Sarah caught him mocking
Isaac., scornfully making sport of him. We would probably refer to it as teasing today, but in a hurtful manner. She
would have none of it. She saw Ishmael as a threat to her son and demanded that Abraham get rid of him and his mother.
Cruel? Perhaps. They were the words of an overprotective mother. But, they also fit into the plan of God.
Abraham was torn. Both boys were his sons. He felt responsible for them and he obviously loved them both.
Once again God spoke to Abraham, reassuring him while instructing him to do as Sarah asked. "It is through Isaac
that your offspring will be reckoned." i.e.: It is through Isaac that the covenant promises of the land and a people
would continue. (The Apostle Paul saw an even deeper meaning to this phrase. See Romans 9:6-9). God further
consoled Abraham by informing him that Ishmael would also become a nation. Thus comforted Abraham provisioned
Hagar and her son and sent them off to make a life for themselves.
What is the point of this narrative? We spoke earlier of some moral lessons to be gained from it.
There is much more.
1. Genesis is a book of beginnings. It's an interesting study to note all of the beginnings
chronicled in this book, from the beginning of the world and life through the beginnings of the
Children of Israel. In this tragic yet marvelous story we see another tragic beginning, the
beginning of tension and hatred between the peoples of the Middle East. Many Arab people
trace their ancestry back to Abraham through Ishmael. Ishmael, that "Wild donkey of a man;
(whose) hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, (who) will live in
hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12). The history of the many Arab nations is
one of continuous hostility and mistrust between them, yet, when Israel is involved, they are
united in a common hostility and desire to destroy her and reclaim what they believe to be
their right as the firstborn. The scriptures indicate that at the end of this age those nations
will make one last valiant effort to do so, but God will intervene "because it is through Isaac
that your offspring will be reckoned."
2. Earlier I mentioned an important pattern emerging, i.e. the blessing continuing through
the second son. In Genesis 4 it was Abel's offering that was accepted. Later, in Genesis 27,
Jacob gets the blessing and in chapter 48 it is Ephraim, the second son of Joseph, that receives
the greater blessing from Jacob. The Apostle Paul sees in this the right of God to choose
whom he will to bless (Romans 9:10-21).
It seems to me there is another purpose for this. In John 5 Jesus states, "You diligently study the Scriptures because
you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify of me" (verse 39). Later in the
chapter he says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me" (verse 46). Thus, the Books of
Moses contain testimony about Jesus, yet there is no direct reference to him in any of these books. Where is that
testimony? It's hidden to the Jew and many others in types and shadows, to be discovered by the seeker.
The genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 concludes with "Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was
the son of Adam, which was the son of God" (verse 38, K.J.V.). Thus, it is not through Adam, the first son, but
through Jesus, the second son of God, that the promises and all other blessings come.
We'll be pointing out other "types" as we continue through this book.
Bob Huddlestun
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