Loved ones, in our last study, we witnessed the pinnacle of Abram’s faith. We saw God walk through the pieces of the sacrifice alone, taking the full weight of the covenant onto His own shoulders. Abram believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. It was a moment of profound spiritual certainty.
But faith is rarely a steady climb; it is a battle fought in the trenches of time. Genesis 16 reminds us that the greatest enemy of the promise is often our own impatience. Ten years have passed since Abram entered Canaan. The stars God told him to count are still there, but his house is still silent. No child has been born. In this vacuum of waiting, human wisdom rushes in to “help” God. The result is a domestic disaster that echoes the Fall in Eden and introduces a conflict that will haunt redemptive history for millennia.
Genesis 16:1-16 records the attempt by Sarai and Abram to fulfill God’s promise through human effort, the resulting conflict within the household, and the revealing of God as “El Roi”—the God who sees the afflicted.
Verses 1-3
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
The Voice of Compromise
The narrative opens with the cold, hard fact that has dominated the story since Chapter 11: “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.” She has a female Egyptian servant named Hagar—most likely a “gift” acquired during their ill-fated detour to Egypt in Chapter 12. The sins of the past often provide the tools for the temptations of the present.
Sarai proposes a solution rooted in the legal customs of the day: “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”
Here, the text demands that you listen for the echoes of Genesis 3. Just as Eve took the fruit and gave it to her husband, Sarai takes Hagar and gives her to Abram. And just as Adam failed to protect the garden, we read the tragic line: “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” This is almost a direct quote from God’s rebuke to Adam (Gen. 3:17). Abram, the man of the covenant, stops listening to the Voice of God and starts listening to the voice of human expediency. He seeks to obtain by the “flesh” what God promised to give by the “Spirit.”
Verses 4-6
4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
The Fruit of the Flesh
The plan “works” according to the world’s logic: “And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived.” But the fruit of this union is not joy, but bitter strife. “And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.”
The hierarchy of the home is shattered. Hagar, now carrying the heir, mocks the barrenness of Sarai. Sarai, in turn, blames her husband for the very plan she devised: “May the wrong done to me be on you!… May the LORD judge between you and me!”
Abram’s response is another abdication of leadership: “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” He hands Hagar over to Sarai’s resentment. “Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.” This is a dark picture of the covenant family. Instead of a blessing to the nations, they are a source of cruelty to the vulnerable.
We should pause to note the specific gravity of Abram’s failure here. Later in Scripture, we read that while God regulated polygamy under the Old Law, He never endorsed it. However, under His regulations, a second wife—in this case, a concubine, which was a wife without inheritance rights—had a right to the love, provision, and protection of her husband. Her rights to these things were to be equal to the first wife’s (Exodus 21:10). By allowing Sarai to deal harshly with Hagar, Abram was not only abdicating his leadership; he was actively failing to protect his wife and his pre-born son.
Verses 7-12
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lordsaid to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
The Angel in the Wilderness
Hagar flees toward Egypt, but she is stopped by a divine intruder. “The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness.”
This is the first appearance of the “Angel of the LORD” in Scripture. As we see in the following verses, this is no mere created angel; He speaks as God and receives worship as God. This is a Christophany—the pre-incarnate Son of God coming down to a runaway Egyptian slave.
He asks a penetrating question: “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” He reminds her of her station and her responsibilities, commanding her to “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”
But He also gives her a promise. “I will surely multiply your offspring… You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.” Ishmael means “God hears.” However, the promise is also a warning: “He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone…” The child born of the flesh will live a life of restless conflict.
Verses 13-16
13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
The God Who Sees
Hagar’s response is one of the most beautiful confessions in the Bible. “So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.'”
Hagar, an outsider and a servant, discovers that the God of Abram is not a local deity confined to a tent. He is El Roi—the God who sees the invisible, the God who tracks the runaway, the God who cares for the afflicted. She names the well Beer-lahai-roi (“Well of the Living One who sees me”).
The chapter ends with the birth of the child: “And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son… Ishmael.” Abram was eighty-six years old. He has a son, but he does not yet have the Son.
Conclusion
Genesis 16 is a sobering warning against “helping God.” When we try to manufacture the promises of God through the methods of the world, we always produce an “Ishmael”—a source of contention and grief. As the Apostle Paul explains in Galatians 4, Hagar and Sarah represent two covenants: one of slavery (the flesh) and one of freedom (the promise).
But even in our folly, God’s grace is active. He does not abandon Hagar, and He does not abandon the covenant. He sees the mess we make, and He remains the God who “looks after us” even when we are fleeing from the consequences of our own sin. He is patient, waiting until the flesh is completely exhausted so that when the true heir arrives, all the glory will go to Him.
Key Terms
- The Flesh vs. The Promise: A central New Testament theme (Galatians 4:21–31) rooted in this narrative. “The flesh” refers to human effort and wisdom trying to achieve what only God’s “Spirit” and “Promise” can accomplish.
- Angel of the LORD: A unique figure in the Old Testament who is often identified with God Himself. Many Reformed theologians see these appearances as “Christophanies”—pre-incarnate appearances of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ.
- El Roi: The Hebrew name meaning “The God of Seeing” or “The God who sees me.” It emphasizes God’s omnipresence and His particular care for the marginalized and afflicted.
- Ishmael: Meaning “God hears.” While he was not the son of the covenant promise, he was a child of God’s providence, and his name served as a constant reminder to Abram that God hears the cries of the suffering.
- Submission: The command given to Hagar to return to Sarai. In this context, it highlights that God’s grace does not always mean an immediate escape from difficult circumstances, but often provides the strength to endure them under His watchful eye.