ofwgen21

OUR FATHER'S WORD

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 119:105

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Genesis

A Message For The End Time

by Jim Lisenby

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CHAPTER 21

Isaac Comes, Ishmael Goes

In going through these chapters on Abraham's life, I have wondered at times about Sarah. It almost seems that she could be pretty self-serving. In this chapter she maneuvers around to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael which she perceived as a threat to her and Isaac. This literally tore Abraham apart because he loved Ishmael very much as you will see, and I feel certain that he loved Hagar also. It seems that his family life reads like a daytime soap opera at times.

Gen. 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

What He does here is not specified, but she was past her childbearing years so it obviously had to do with restoring her fertility in some way.

Gen. 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

Gen. 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

Gen. 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Circumcision is a controversial practice and performing it on the eighth day is a curiosity. The practice is widespread today but it is a medical procedure usually done soon after birth at the hospital, except within the Jewish community where it is done on the eighth day in a special ceremony. I won't comment further because there is a lot of information regarding circumcision on the internet. Do some research on it if you are so inclined.

Gen. 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

Gen. 21:6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

This is a play on words concerning Isaac's name which means "he laughed".

Gen. 21:7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

Sarah is ecstatic with her new son. And why not? She is 90 years old and has her first child which is truly amazing.

Gen. 21:8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

The age of Isaac is not given when he was weaned, but children in those days suckled longer than they do today. At least, longer than they do in America today where I live.

Gen. 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

Ishmael was now in his mid teens. He was 14 years old when Isaac was born, and depending on how long it took to wean Isaac, he would now be about 15 years old, or perhaps slightly older.

The word mocking here may not be a correct meaning. Consider the following definition of the Hebrew word used in the text, which is taken from my Logos 2 Enhanced Strong's Hebrew Lexicon.

6711 tsachaq { tsaw-khak’}

a primitive root; TWOT - 1905; v

AV - laugh 6, mock 4, sport 2, play 1; 13

GK - 7464 { qj'x;
1)    to laugh, mock, play
1a)    (Qal) to laugh
1b)    (Piel)
1b1)    to jest
1b2)    to sport, play, make sport, toy with, make a toy of
Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

Was Ishmael laughing, mocking, sporting, jesting, or playing with his baby brother? Decide for yourself.

Gen. 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

The firstborn son was the principal heir in those days and Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn. Abraham was over a hundred years old now and Sarah was getting worried. Jealousy was rearing its ugly head.

Gen. 21:11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

Abraham loved Ishmael very much and this thing was like a stone in his heart. He may have even been developing hard thoughts toward Sarah. Who knows? They were not living together when Sarah died, and I have always wondered about that, as have others. We will take a closer look at that situation later in Genesis.

Gen. 21:12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

God steps in to straighten out the situation. Abraham's relationship with his wife Sarah may have been reaching critical mass by this time. It had to be serious for God to personally intervene.

Gen. 21:13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

God had already told Hagar that Ishmael would become the progenitor of hordes of people and Abraham had to be aware of that promise already, but He restates it to Abraham here to salve over any hurt feelings. Abraham implicitly trusted God and His promises, and so he conceded, sadly. Abraham is the father of those people called Arabs, because they are that nation that God promised here. Most Bible historians agree that the Arabs sprang from Ishmael.

Gen. 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Can you imagine how hard it was for him to do this. It had to be tearing his heart out, and it was gut wrenching to say the least.

Gen. 21:15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

They were in an arid wilderness and their water was depleted. Ishmael was suffering and Hagar couldn't stand it, so she placed him in the shade under a shrub and walked several hundred feet away so that she couldn't see him. She had given up hope.

Gen. 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Things were now looking desperate for Hagar and Ishmael. Wow! This would be great material for a movie.

Gen. 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Gen. 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

This same Angel of God had promised her earlier in chapter 16 that she would be the mother of a innumerable multitude through Ishmael, but apparently she had forgotten that. Her faith had failed her temporarily in her life or death situation here. Hey, it can happen to any of us, and it does sometime.

Gen. 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

There is something more about this well, as you will soon see.

Gen. 21:20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

There was more to this young man's life than this simple sentence reveals. For instance, how he learned to be an archer is not stated, but learning to be proficient with the bow takes training and no small amount of time. He had help.

It is interesting to note that a horde of Asiatics who later became known as the Hyksos were filtering through that part of the world about that time. Some historians have avered that they actually were Hebrews. And, guess what? They were masters of the bow, and they also introduced the chariot to Egypt.

Because they were masters of the bow, and because they had chariots, they were able to subdue much of Egypt, especially the east portion of the Nile Delta and much of middle Egypt. They were the prime rulers in Egypt when Joseph was brought there. We will get to his story soon in Genesis, but as you probably already know, they treated him and his family, the children of Israel, very well. One very good thing that they did for Israel was give them the land of Goshen to live in. It was very fertile and the Israelites grew strong and healthy there. The Hyksos eventually lost control in Egypt and the children of Israel were then not treated so well, but they still retained the wonderful land of Goshen in the Nile Delta. Isn't it interesting how things evolve around sometime?

Gen. 21:21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

She took him a wife out of Egypt? That probably required at least some wealth, so it seems that she and Ishmael were doing okay. Was that grand old man Abraham secretly looking after them, and providing for them? I think so, with confidence.

Actually, since she had belonged to Sarah and she sent her away, she probably was not considered a bondservant any longer. Who Ishmael's wife was, or more correctly, what she was, is not stated except that she was out of the land of Egypt. She may have been a descendant of Mizraim of the Hamitic line, or she may have been of the Semitic line. There is even some possiblity that she was of the Hyksos group, but in any case I am confident that she was Adamic.

Why do I say that? You will see later in Genesis that Abraham was aware of God's prohibition against crossbreeding and hybridizing. He would have taught his son Ishmael and Hagar concerning it, and it is likely that they would have believed in and followed that rule.

Gen. 21:22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

Where they met is not stated but Abimelech was accompanied by his top cop and the commanding officer of his army. It is not inconceivable that they also had some armed men with them. Abimelech seemed to fear Abraham and that may have been justified. As stated, he obviously knew that God was with Abraham from what had happened to him when he took Sarah. Also, he had to know the story of how Abraham had destroyed the armies of the four Babylonian kings earlier, so he knew that Abraham was a very capable man when it came to fighting.

Gen. 21:23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

This was no ordinary social visit. Abimelech wanted reassurance from Abraham in the form of an agreement that he would not cheat him or attack him.

Gen. 21:24 And Abraham said, I will swear.

Abraham complies with his request.

Gen. 21:25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.

So, Abraham turns it back on him. He complained about some of Abimelech's men seizing a particular well from him by force. Water was precious in that area back then just as it is today, and a well was a very valuable piece of real estate, and apparently some of Abimelech's men just took it over.

Gen. 21:26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

Evidently Abimelech was caught by surprise with this information, or at least feigns surprise.

Gen. 21:27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

Abraham was also a good diplomat, and they made a peace agreement. But one has to wonder, was he paying some kind of tribute here? Abimelech was the king, and Abraham was sojourning in his country. Was there a price to be paid by way of tribute?

Gen. 21:28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

Gen. 21:29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

You will see what they mean shortly.

Gen. 21:30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

Here we are back to the well thing, but again one has to wonder, was Abraham paying Abimelech for it in this way? These female sheep were probably prize ewes, but this well was very important to Abraham. Why? Remember the well that Hagar saw after God spoke to her? I believe this to be that very same well.

Gen. 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

Beersheba means, well of the sevenfold oath, hence the mention of the seven ewe lambs in verse 30 above.

Gen. 21:32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

Gen. 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

Now, I want to make a point here. Verses 22 through 33 are telling the story of how the well got there, and by whom. And verse 33 also reveals the fact that there was a grove there, meaning an oasis. It is very conceivable that although Abraham did this thing, God may have instructed him to do so for Hagar and Ishmael, in advance.

Abraham and his men had at some time in the near past had dug the well and planted the grove. When Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, I feel very confident that he instructed them to go to this oasis that he had created earlier, because he knew that they would survive there. He didn't simply send them away, he provided for them in advance. In addition, his men were in the neighborhood to keep an eye on them, and there is some chance that he may even have maintained personal contact with them. Who knows?

But before he sadly sent them away, he supplied them with enough food and water to get to the well and oasis in Beersheba okay, even though they got very thirsty, famished, and totally discouraged before they got there.

Notice the last clause of verse 14 above. Abraham probably pointed them in the right direction, but it says that they wandered. And no wonder, because they had to feel rejected and very disoriented. When people are utterly dejected, they do tend to wander aimlessly. I've done it. Perhaps you have also. In any case, they wasted too much time and God had to intervene and point them toward the well and oasis.

Good for Him, good for them, and good for Abraham.

Gen. 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.

As you can see, the writer of Genesis calls the area where Abraham was staying, the land of the Philistines. Once again, let me remind you that the writer of this verse lived hundreds of years later and he knew that area as the land of the Philistines. If I were writing about that same area today, I would call it the Gaza Strip. Get the point? Abimelech may not have actually been a Philistine, but then again, maybe he was.

God bless with understanding of His word.

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