When Abraham cast Hagar and Ishmael out of his house, they wandered around the Wilderness of Beersheba. This devotional reading looks at the challenges they faced at that time.
Nuggets
- Abraham agreed with Sarah’s request and was obedient to Jehovah’s direction and sent Hagar and Ishmael away.
- We don’t know how long Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
- Since the water had run out, Hagar and Ishmael were about to die of thirst.
- The last thing Hagar wanted to do was to see Ishmael die.
- Ishmael, so named because Jehovah heard Hagar during the first flight from Sarah, was heard by Jehovah.
- The angel of Jehovah came to Hagar.
- Jehovah is concerned about us.
Things had come to a head in Abraham’s house. Hagar and Ishmael, the firstborn, we’re mocking Sarah and Isaac, the covenant son. Sarah was done with it and had demanded Hagar and Ishmael be driven from the household.
The day had come for Hagar and Ishmael to leave. Let’s see what happened.
Program note: This ran long, so I cut it into two devotions. It wasn’t the best place to cut it, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.
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Devotions in the Abraham the Patriarch series
Sent Away
“So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba” (Gen. 21: 14 NLT)
Sent Her Away with Their Son
Abraham agreed with Sarah’s request and was obedient to Jehovah’s direction and sent Hagar and Ishmael away.
Abraham had to know that Jehovah would not look kindly on Isaac being mocked and Sarah’s authority as mistress challenged. He knew — as hard as it would be on him — he had to act.
We have to understand that, in this one second, Ishmael — and Hagar by extension — went from being wealthy and affluential to poor and homeless.
But Hagar had experienced this before. Her name meant flight and forsaken.
We know Hagar took flight from Sarah’s cruelty. “… Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away” (Gen. 16: 6 NLT).
Jewish tradition — Midrash — believes that Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter. Instead of allowing her to be a princess in her own country, her father gave her to Abraham in the great payoff (Gen. 12: 16), thinking she would be better off there — even if it was as a slave.
I bet Hagar, by the day in question, did feel forsaken.
Gray helped us remember why they were sent away. He wrote, “Servants of the law shall not, as such, divide with the free children the promises and blessings of the gospel; they are for the heirs of Christ, the Son who has made us free.”
Resource
As children of Jehovah, we are to be separated from children of the law. Remember, we are to be in the world but not of the world.
Wilderness of Beersheba
We don’t know how long Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
You may be asking if it is the Wilderness of Beersheba or part of the Negev Desert. The answer would be yes.
The Wilderness of Beersheba is part of the Negev Desert, about 45 miles south of Jerusalem. It was considered the southern border of Israel.
It included wells dug by Abraham and Isaac. One of these wells was called the well of the oath.
It was to this harsh, arid place Hagar fled.
Gray thought Hagar was heading back to Egypt. It doesn’t sound like they made a straight line to Egypt. They wandered around — and in doing so exhausted their supplies.
Resource
We look at a possible cause in the next section.
When the Water Was Gone
“When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. ‘I don’t want to watch the boy die,’ she said, as she burst into tears” (Gen. 21: 15-16 NLT)
When the Water Was Gone
Since the water had run out, Hagar and Ishmael were about to die of thirst.
Hagar had wandered around the wilderness until their water ran out. She was ready to give up.
What? We think Jehovah will never let us walk around until there is no hope? Where is that written in His Word?!?!?
It isn’t.
Babington had a great response to this. He wrote, “… we are not privileged, we have no immunity.”
Resource
We have to remember that Jehovah will test us to see if we will endure. We need to ace that testing.
Let’s connect some dots as to why the water ran, which possibly led to their wandering. We said that the Wilderness of Beersheba included wells dug by Abraham. Wouldn’t Hagar and Ishmael have known where those were at — especially Ishmael if he helped with the flocks?
But we are going to find in a couple of verses that there were some problems with at least one of the wells.
- “Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had taken by force from Abraham’s servants” (Gen. 21: 25 NLT).
- “Then he named the place Beersheba (which means ‘well of the oath’), because that was where they had sworn the oath” (Gen. 21: 31 NLT).
Maybe this was why the water wasn’t available to Hagar and Ishmael.
We are going to assume that, if the water was gone, the bread was gone, too. “And Avraham rose up early in the boker, and took lechem [bread], and a skin of mayim [water], and gave it unto Hagar …” (Gen. 21: 14 OJB).
Don’t Want to Watch Him Die
The last thing Hagar wanted to do was to see Ishmael die.
Remember, Ishmael was probably around 16 years old. He wasn’t a toddler.
I see you jumping up and down over there. Didn’t Hagar remember the prophecy concerning Ishmael?Hagar may have thought the Genesis 16 prophecy had already come true. She may not have known about the Genesis 17 prophecy.
Abraham may not have said anything. That may have set Sarah off even more.
But beyond that, Hagar was probably frantic and scared. There was a lot at stake here — their lives.
Don’t we want to hang on to our loved ones — especially our children? Even when we know they have asked Yeshua to be their Savior and have received eternal life, we sometimes hang on.
Plus, not everyone is good in a crisis. What had been a decent life had gone downhill quickly.
But God Heard the Boy
“But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, ‘Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants’” (Gen. 21: 17-18 NLT)
God Heard the Boy Crying
Ishmael, so named because Jehovah heard Hagar during the first flight from Sarah, was heard by Jehovah.
So, the last time, Jehovah heard Hagar. This time, He heard Ishmael crying.
Does it surprise us that Jehovah heard Ishmael even though he was uncontrollable? It shouldn’t.
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Ps. 56: 8 NLT)
Jehovah holds all human life in high regard. Yeshua will judge all to determine if we have made Him Lord and Savior of our lives.
Vaughan didn’t come out and say it, but I think he thought Ishmael was praying. I don’t know.
Resource
Maybe the crying was a prayer. The Hebrew does implies more than that. “And Elohim [Jehovah] heard the voice of the na’ar [boy, servant, retainer] …” (Gen. 21: 17 OJB).
I wouldn’t characterize crying as a voice. A sound, yes. Voice, no.
Was Ishmael asking for forgives for the way he had treated Isaac? Or was he just pleading for his life?
Angel of God
The angel of Jehovah came to Hagar.
Remember Hagar’s first flight away from Sarah’s cruelty? Jehovah Himself came to Hagar. “And the Malach Hashem [the Lord is, was, and always will be King] found her by a spring of mayim [water] in the midbar [wilderness], near the spring on the road to Shur” (Gen. 16: 7 OJB).
This has different wording. “And Elohim [Jehovah] heard the voice of the na’ar [boy, servant, retainer]; and the Malach Elohim [messenger of Jehovah] called to Hagar out of Shomayim [heavens, sky], and said unto her, Mah lach [What is happening to you], Hagar? fear not; for Elohim hath heard the voice of the na’ar where he is” (Gen. 21: 17 OJB).
However when I google both — Malach Hashem and Malach Elohim — this time it says both are messengers — angels — of Jehovah.
But if it is just an angel, why does it read, “Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants” (Gen. 21: 18 NLT emphasis added). Why wouldn’t it say I in verse 17? “… God has heard the boy crying as he lies there” (Gen. 21: 17 NLT emphasis added).
I can see the messenger giving the message word for word and not changing the pronoun.
What’s Wrong?
Jehovah is concerned about us.
How many times is it so easy for us to stay focused on our troubles? We close our eyes to the obvious workings of Jehovah going on around us.
Hagar had herself all worked up. She thought Ishmael was going to die. She was so focused on her troubles instead of God’s promise.
That fear may have pushed out any anger Hagar had at being forced to leave her home. It would have taken her focus off getting home to Egypt.
Brown told how that was understandable. He wrote, “If she had had another boy, it would have been bad enough, but poor Ishmael — if he was gone, her all was gone. No other hope. Lose him, and she had lost everything.”
Resource
But think about it. This was the second time that Hagar was in the wilderness. And the first time she talked to “… the God who sees me …” (Gen. 16: 13 NLT).
Hagar should have drawn from the faith she established then.
As moms, don’t we feel like we have to have all the plates spinning and juggling all the balls? Whatever needs fixing, we should be able to fix it.
Hagar couldn’t fix this.
But Hagar wasn’t running around like a chicken with her head cut off. She had given up. Quiet reigned — except for Ishmael’s crying.
We would say that Hagar was crushed with her grief. Brown said she was so crushed that she couldn’t even pray.
Thank You, sweet Yeshua, for sending the Holy Spirit to us! When we are so crushed with grief, guilt, or whatever, the Holy Spirit can translate our pain into a prayer for us. He speaks for us in groans, providing comfort as He aligns prayers with the Father’s Will.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believer in harmony with God’s own will” (Rom. 8: 26-27 NLT).
We focuse on our problems until Jehovah opens our eyes. It was there all along — right there. We just have to have faith to really see it.
Yes, sometimes, Jehovah has to open the eyes of our hearts. Sometimes, He has to open our physical eyes.
But this wasn’t just about Ishmael. Look at the direction Jehovah gave Hagar. “Go to him and comfort him …” (Gen. 21: 18 NLT).
Instead of feeling despondent, Jehovah gave her a specific task to do.
Father God. We know why we must be separated from worldview people, but at times it hurts. They can be our family and friends. Help us to be a witness to them of Your great love for us. Amen.
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