Tag: Ishmael

Those Who Wander

Posted on by jovial_cynic
I think we’re meant to understand that the characters in Genesis know the previous stories in the text. Noah likely knows about the Garden of Eden; Abraham knows about the Flood.

And I think Sarah kicks Ishmael out because she knows the story of Cain and Abel. She’s afraid.

I think this is also a cipher. The text points back, not just to give us some extra character detail, but to tell *us* to look back at what is happening.

Ishmael and Isaac are linked to Cain and Abel.

We wonder about Cain’s offering and how God feels about him, but the text isn’t clear. We know that Cain left the face, or presence, of God, and God placed a mark of protection on him.

Does God love Cain? Is Cain in God’s heart, despite Cain’s wandering?

Perhaps this story of Ishmael’s exile gives us a clue.

Hagar and Ishmael are גָּרַשׁ (garash) “driven out” from Abraham’s household. It’s this same word in Gen 3:24 when Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden. It’s also the same word Cain uses when he wanders in Gen 4:13.

If these stories are linked, the way God treats Ishmael tells us how he viewed Cain and how he viewed Adam and Eve.

God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:17-21 (NASB)

And perhaps how he views us when we wander.

The Firstborn Son

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Do you remember the time Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, but God prevented him from dying and promised that he would be a great nation?

No, not Isaac. I’m talking about Ishmael.

Abraham knew sending Isaac and Hagar out meant their death, but God spared them.

Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael.
Genesis 21:9-11 (NASB)

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. And of the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.”
Genesis 21:12-13 (NASB)

The God who Sees and Hears

Posted on by jovial_cynic

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesisi 16:13 (NIV)

Everyone notices that Hagar calls God “El Roi,” which is “God sees,” but it’s important to note that she is told to call her son Ishmael, which means “God hears.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
Genesis 16:11 (NIV)

We worship a God who sees our affliction and hears our cry. He will avenge us.