STAND UP AND TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
(Genesis 21:14-21)
Genesis 21:14 (NKJV) So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting [it] on her shoulder, he gave [it] and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from [him] at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite [him], and lifted her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he [is]. 18 "Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation." 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Hagar had always been the victim of someone else’s choices. She didn’t choose to leave Egypt with Abraham and Sarah, she was a gift given to Sarah by Pharaoh. She didn’t even get to choose the father of her child; it was a decision made by Sarah when she gave Hagar to Abraham without even asking how Hagar felt about it. Staying with Abraham and Sarai wasn’t her idea, but an act of obedience to the Angel of the Lord (16:9). Now, when Hagar and her son needed the security of Abraham’s protection and provisions, she is told she must leave.
THE PROVISIONS
"So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away…." (Genesis 21:14, NKJV)
Hagar is brought to the edge of the Wilderness of Beersheba, given a skin of water and some bread, and sent away. After all she has been through is this how it’s going to end? Is this how a rich Bedouin Sheik deals with his son’s mother? Are these meager provisions all Abraham is going to give to Hagar and Ishmael? Maybe Isaac was to be his heir, but would it have bankrupted Abraham to give Hagar and her son a horse pulled wagon loaded with supplies?
THE PROBLEM
"….Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot; for she said to herself, ‘Let me not see the death of the boy.’" (Genesis 21:14, 15-16, NKJV)
Hagar walks into the wilderness with three gallons of water, a few loaves of bread, and no sense of direction.
The Wilderness
The text tells us that she "wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba," a vast desert region on the southern border of Palestine. She had no map or sense of direction, so it wasn’t long before she was lost in the wilderness.
The Water
How long would these meager rations last? The human body can live for days without food, but without water and bereft of shelter from the heat of the wilderness sun you’re dead in three days. How long would three gallons of water satisfy the needs of two people lost in a hot barren desert? If they each drank 16 ounces of water per day, the 3 gallons of water would have run out in 12 days. I am sure that Hagar allowed Ishmael to drink whenever he was thirsty and that would have been often. Scripture tells us that eventually, "…the water in the skin was used up" (21:15).
The Weakness
Weakened by dehydration and hopelessly lost Hagar collapsed under the weight of Ishmael’s lifeless body. He was still alive, but barely. After placing Ishmael in the shade of a large shrub Hagar found a place where she could die without watching Ishmael draw his last breath. Ladies dressed in fine clothing take great care in how they seat themselves, but Hagar deposited her emaciated frame on the desert floor as though she were discarding a worthless sack of garbage. Weak, hopeless and alone she began to cry.
THE PASSION
"…So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept." (Genesis 21:16, NKJV)
At first it was a silent facial contortion, but then the sound began to emerge from deep within her soul.
Ted Koppel was interviewing Morrie Schwartz
for the second time. Morrie, then 78 years old, was dying of Lou Gherig’s disease, but was showing tremendous courage as he faced the end of his life. Mr. Koppel asked Morrie if he had received any letters as a result of the first interview. Morrie indicate that he had received hundreds of letters. One was from a schoolteacher who taught a class of 9 to 10 year old children each of whom had lost a parent by death. Mr. Schwartz indicated that he had written that teacher telling her that he wished he had had that kind of support when he lost his mother. As he related the story to Mr. Koppel, he tearfully told how his mother had died when he was 8 years old. Mr. Koppel, being sensitive to Morrie asked an interesting question. He inquired why Morrie had cried over something that happened seventy years ago, but didn’t seemed to be that concerned about a disease that was taking his life. It was a great question that addressed what seemed to be an emotional paradox. Morrie Schwartz’s reply was priceless. I can’t remember his exact words, but they went something like this. "Sometimes I cry for all the pain in the world. Sometimes I just cry for me, but sometimes I cry for a lot of things all at once."
I think that’s where Hagar was. I think she was crying for a lot of things all at once. She was crying for the loss of her dreams. She would never have a husband who loved her or be the most important woman in his life. She wept over the abuse she had experienced at Sarah’s hand. She lamented the loss of her virginity in the tent of an old man she didn’t love. She grieved over the fact that her son had been rejected by his father and would have no inheritance. She wept because her son was dying and there was nothing she could do to save him. And when she could do nothing else, "she lifted her voice and cried" (21:17)
THE PRESENCE
"And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation." (Genesis 21:17-18, NKJV)
God hears
It is interesting to note that though God speaks to Hagar, it is the voice of the "lad" that He responds to—"God heard the voice of the lad." There is no indication that Ishmael said anything audible to the human ear, but God heard his heart. He responds, not so much to our words as He does to our hearts. God hears the faintest cry. The Talmud says, "When the gates of prayer are shut in heaven, those of tears are open." Surely the Psalmist had this in mind when he wrote, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Ps. 19:14). This should motivate us to plead for a pure heart that is undivided in its allegiance to God.
God Helps
God knew what was ailing Hagar, so the question is not asked for the purpose of gaining unknown information. The question suggests a genuine interest in her plight. God doesn’t wait for an answer, but seeks to dispel her fear by telling her God has heard and is attending to her and the lad. His commands to her are simple—stand up, lift up the lad, and hold him up. This suggests a NEW STANCE, a NEW STRENGTH, and a NEW STAMINA. God has a purpose for the lad and Hagar is strengthened to support him.
Like Hagar, some have given up on seeing their promise fulfilled. They have lovingly placed it in the shade of a shrub and found a spot where they can die without being reminded of what might have been. Their cry is not one of faith, but one of hopeless despair. God’s word to them is get on your feet and get a new grip on the promise. You’re in a rough place and that not by your own choice, but the God who hears is with you.
THE PROVISION
"Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt." (Genesis 21:19-21, NKJV)
Hagar had given up only inches away from the precious water that she needed to sustain her life and the life of her son. Not only did God give her a NEW STANCE, a NEW STRENGTH, and a NEW STAMINA, He also gave her NEW SIGHT—"God opened her eyes." She was so blinded by her problem that she could not see the provision until "God opened her eyes." Like the one who wept inconsolably for her Lord, till her eyes were opened, and He was before her. (See John 20:16.) Like the travellers who mourned the loss oftheir Master, till "their eyes were opened, and they knew Him" (Luke 24:21). Gifted with sight she fills the skin with water and shares the water with her son. God’s provision was such that Ishmael grew and dwelt in the place—the wilderness—that was designed to end his life.
CONCLUSION
God’s provision was such that Ishmael grew and dwelt in the place, the wilderness, where he almost died. God has come, not to get you out of your environment, but to impart to you the strength, stamina, and sight you need to thrive in the place that the enemy meant for your destruction—"
he grew and dwelt in the wilderness."
This is not the time to give up, it is time to
STAND UP AND TAKE ANOTHER LOOK.Instead of giving up we need to stand up and take another look at our finances, our marriage, our business, or our health.
Listen to the words of Paul.
2Cor 4:8 (NKJV) [We] [are] hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; [we] [are] perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--
2Cor 1:8 (NKJV) For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver [us],
2Cor 3:4 (NKJV) And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as [being] from ourselves, but our sufficiency [is] from God,
© copyright 1998, by Louis Bartet - All rights reserved.
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