Genesis 21:17 Do not be afraid, God has heard

     So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

The Repudiation of Hagar

Steen, Jan Havicksz. (1626-1679). Painter

Around 1655/57

Dresden Gallery, Old Masters, Germany

     When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said: “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

     And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hands, for I will make a great nation of him.”

    Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.                                                  Genesis 21:14-19 NRSV

     

     The story of Hagar and Ishmael can be found in Genesis 15-21, with a brief interruption for the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in parts of chapters 18 and 19.

     The first time she leaves Abraham’s and Sarah’s tents, pregnant Hagar felt compelled to flee. She left without permission or notice, an act forbidden by law. The angel of God found her, and in the act of justice sent her back to be submissive to a bitter and jealous mistress. God does send a soothing promise for her wounded spirit. Ishmael might not be the Child of Promise as Isaac will be, yet he would be the child of a promise made to her. She names the well Beth-laharoi: the well of Him that lives and sees me.

     For fourteen years Hagar and her son live with all the tension and bitterness Sarah’s impatience brought about. Then after Isaac’s birth Hagar and Ishmael begin to manifest their jealousy. When Ishmael begins to maltreat Isaac, Sarah has Abraham ostracize, repudiate, and expel Hagar and her son to certain death in a barren wilderness with only as much water and bread as she could carry. Hagar’s extremity becomes God’s opportunity. Abraham gave her a bottle, God gives her a well.

adapted from “Hagar” in All the Women of the Bible 

by Herbert Lockyer.  

     The life and experiences of Hagar teach us:

• ·         The temptations incidental to a new position;
• ·         The foolishness of hasty action in times of trial and difficulty;
• ·         The care exercised over the lonely by the all-seeing God;
• ·         The Divine purpose in the life of everyone not matter how obscure or friendless;
• ·         How God works out His gracious purposes by seemingly harsh, but just, methods;
• ·         And the strength, comfort, and encouragement that accompanies the hardest experiences of               His children.

adapted from “Hagar and Ishmael” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 

by Dr. James Chrichton. 

Recall a time in your life when you felt invisible to the world. Abandoned. Alone. Isolated. 

In the comment section below, share what happened that caused you to know you had not escaped God’s notice. 

Tell how God saw you – right where you were. 

How did you experience God’s freedom and grace, instead of the justice you deserved?

Snakes: Lent, Week 4, Sunday, Year B

Through Jesus Christ our Lord; who was in every way tempted as we .are, yet did not sin; by whose grace we are able to triumph over every evil, and to live no longer unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose again. 

Numbers 21:4-9                              Ephesians 2:1-10                          John 3:14-21

 I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas.  Just beyond our house was a vacant lot.  By late July or early August the grass was tall, dry and rattled in the hot, dry wind.  But, at the back of the lot was a small concrete slab shaded by an elm tree; perfect for playing marbles.  I knew I wasn’t supposed to go there. I was barefoot. Watching for sticker patches.  Watching for red ant beds.

I became irritable and cross.  I felt something slither across my foot.  There was the rattler end of a diamondback disappearing into the grass.  My next step would put me in a rattlesnake nest filled with hatchlings, small but many, and poisonous.  I screamed.  Daddy came.  I expected a spanking. I got picked up and embraced with incredible love.  Saved.

The children of Israel were up to their stiff necks in deadly snakes.  God suddenly had their full attention.  Suffer your consequences but “look up and be healed.” (Numbers 21:4-9 MSG)

The Ephesians were up to their necks in disobedience. “It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy … he embraced us … made us alive in Christ.”  (Ephesians 2:1-10 MSG)

Jesus said to Nicodemus “In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert…it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up – and everyone who looks up to him…will gain a real life, eternal life.”  (John 3:14-21 MSG) Saved.  

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen