Genesis Chapter 16

¹ Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

² And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

³ And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Abraham had to wait 25 years after the promise given to him by God to receive the promised son with Sarah. Sarah was tired of waiting for the son of promise, so she sent in Abraham to Hagar to produce a son for her. Hagar’s son was not the son of promise, even though he was the son of Abraham.

⁴ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Hagar was now pregnant with the child of Abraham and because she was carrying the child of Abraham where Sarah hadn’t been able to, Hagar started looking down on Sarah and treating her with contempt.

⁵ And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

Sarah went to Abraham and complained about Hagar’s disrespect.

⁶ But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

When Sarah asserted her authority and dealt with the contempt Hagar was showing to her, Hagar ran away from Sarah.

⁷ And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

⁸ And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

From this it seems that Sarah was super hard on Hagar, enough that Hagar realized she was not in control simply because she was pregnant with Abrahams child. Perhaps Hagar thought that Abraham would now hold her, the mother of his child, in higher esteem than his wife who hadn’t given him children yet and when she was humbled by Sarah with the permission of Abraham, she became fearful because of how she had been acting. She realized her position was still that of a servant.

⁹ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

The Angel of the Lord told Hagar to go back and submit herself to Sarah. Hagar was wrong for her behavior, Sarah was right to correct it….and while Hagar was running away from Sarah, the Lord still showed her mercy even in her error.

¹⁰ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

Ishmael means, God will hear. Ishmael is the father of Islam. It seems that Hagar was truly repentant for her behavior towards Sarah and the Lord heard her and blessed her.…and also, even if Ismael was born of a servant, this child was also Abrahams. He wasn’t the promised child, but he was his child.

¹² And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

All these thousands of years later, this is still true. Islam is a false belief that goes against both the Jewish beliefs and the Christians core beliefs.

¹³ And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

El Roi- God sees me

¹⁴ Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Beer Lahai Roi-The well of him that lives and sees me
I read about the times when the Angel of the Lord or Jesus came down and spoke with a person, and rarely give how the event may have shaken the person a thought. I think I have it in my mind that all the people in the Bible were used to this kind of thing happening… but they weren’t at all. No more than we are today. So it stands to reason that Hagar was so touched and moved by this visitation, she named the well after it and called God- El Roi (God sees me). I bet she told everyone about this experience throughout her lifetime…. I know I would have.

¹⁵ And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

¹⁶ And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.