Part C on Galatians Study

Genesis 16:1-2
"Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai."
Now when we share this we like to make the point, who is totally lacking in this conversation? Well God is. God hasn't said a word yet. All God has said back in chapter 12 was:

Genesis 12:2a
"And I will make of thee a great nation,"
Now all this had to start with a son. But here in this conversation in chapter 16, God hasn't said a word, and that's why when we get back to Galatians this whole scenario of Hagar and Ishmael is called, "after the flesh." This is after the flesh, or in mans sufficiency, works and when Isaac comes along it will be the, "promise of God." For is spiritual because he is the one promised to Abraham and then to Sarai. Can you see the difference? God isn't involved here at this time at all. Now we know sovereignly He is. We know that the Sovereign God had to be somehow or other controlling the flow of all these events, but nevertheless so far as the text is concerned God has nothing to say about having a child by the slave woman after the flesh. Now don't forget that. Lord knows we've all had our Hagars and Ishmeals. Now verse 3.

 Genesis 16:3-4
"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. (so that she could have a child by him, and of course she does in verse 4.) And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes."
Now in verse 5, we have to understand the female of the species, and under the customs of the day, and according to the laws of the old Babylonian czar, if a wife could not have a child physically then it was perfectly moral and upright in their culture to have a child then by a servant or slave girl, and that's what they practiced here. They were not going against morality of their day, but on the other hand God has not told them to do it this way. To do this their stepping outside the pure family boundaries. So they did it in the energy of the flesh, and now is with child, and look what happens in verse 5.

Genesis 16:5
"And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom: and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised (that enters into the make-up of the species) in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee."
Now all of a sudden Hagar was literally making a fool out of Sarai, simply because Hagar was able to bare a child and Sarai wasn't. It just infuriated Sarai and she said, "the LORD judge between me and thee." Now verse 6.

Genesis 16:6
"But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand: do to her as it pleaseth thee. (and bingo, what happened? Sarai kicks her out. Let's just put it in plain English.) And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face."
Because after all Sarai was the boss we'd say, she was the mistress of the house, and so Hagar the Egyptian slave girl fled. Now remember Hagar hasn't had her child yet. Now verse 7. 

Genesis 16:7-9
"And the angel of the LORD (this was Christ or God the Son in His Old Testament appearance) found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands."
Now that was a command from God. "Go back to Sarai and Abram." No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Now verse 10.

Genesis 16:10-11
"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, (that is coming out of Ishmael, twelve tribes it would be) that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction."
So Hagar goes back to the tent of Abram or Sarai, and allow us to explain that. We saw a documentary a few years ago where the film crew were visiting a Arab Sheik (I hope I'm pronouncing that right) out in the desert of the Negev, it was a very interesting situation. He served them in what he called his tent, and there really wasn't much there. But out behind his tent were 4 smaller tents. While he was making coffee for them and they were sitting there on the ground, all of a sudden here come 24 of the prettiest little kids you can imagine. They were all pretty much the same size, and they just about smothered the crew. They tried to get the rings off their fingers and were looking at their hair, and they were just having a ball, and all of a sudden the old fellow just made one bark like a dog and those kids were gone. Well, after they had their coffee and were able to roam around a little bit they saw those 4 tents out behind his tent and they found out that those were his four wives. So if you divide 24 X 4 then they had an average of 6 kids. But it just immediately set the setting for this lesson here. 


Now when we speak of Hagar coming back and dwelling with Abram and Sarai, they weren't in the same tent. The women had their own individual tent out behind Abram's (and that's evident when you read a little later when the Lord comes and says that they're going to have a child). Then Sarai was standing in her tent door as the Lord was dealing with her. You know the account. Just picture that in your mind. Now come on over to chapter 21. Ishmael is now nearly 14 years old, a typical teenager.

Genesis 21:1-3
"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. (now remember Sarah is 90 and Abraham is 100) And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac."
Alright, do you see the difference? This child is a result of God's promises. God has said you're going to have a son, and you're going to call his name Isaac which means laughter. So now we find that the promised child is finally making his appearance. The child of the flesh, Ishmael, is still with them, because that's where God told Hagar to go, but now you see it's coming to a head. Now reading on.