Something to Think About May 10, 2020

SARAH and HAGAR

One of the stories of the Old Testament, widely known, is that of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Sarah, although advanced in years and barren, had been told, along with Abraham, that she would bear a child. Not believing God, Sarah arranged for Abraham to sleep with Hagar and from that liaison came a son, Ishmael.

It was about twenty years later, when Sarah was over 90 years age, that she conceived and bare a son, Issac, as God had promised.

Now as Issac grew older, Ishmael began to mock him and bully him so, that Sarah had Abraham cast both Hagar and Ishmael from their midst. And as the story continued in Genesis 21, both Hagar and Ishmael are in the desert with no water and with Hagar trying to shield her son as best she can until God intervenes and supplies water for both them.

The above is only a very brief summary of the story in Genesis but I relate it here for two reasons. It is in part allegorical in that Sarah and  Abraham represent the results of a divine covenant and with Issac as the result of that covenant; whereas Hagar and Abraham are the result of man made planning and thus as is Ishmael. As it is said in Galatians 4:22-24 Abraham had two sons, one by a bondmaid and one by a freewoman, one after the flesh and one after the promise, one representing the Covenant of the law [Hagar] and one the Covenant of Grace [Sarah].

And the law is always in conflict with grace, hence the taunting of Issac by Ishmael at the start and the prophecy that later Ishmael would be “a wild man, his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him” [Genesis 16:12] 

But, in addition to the allegory between law and grace as depicted in this story, there is one additional aspect to be considered. In both cases, the mother’s love then, as now, for her son is evident. Sarah’s for Issac in trying to protect him from the taunts of Ishmael by having Hagar and Ishmael sent from the camp; and also Hagar’s in doing her best to protect Ishmael from the lack of water in the desert and her weeping when she thought of his impending death.

Grace or law, love is the same under both and while we need the Grace of God rather than the law, we need love just as much, and on this Mother’s Day that’s something we need to continue to think about.