Abraham is back in Canaan after his brief stay in Egypt but he needs to move on.
Why?
Because he needs to find new pasturelands for his flock of animals.
He gathers his clan and eventually settles in a fertile desert oasis called Beersheba.
Understand that at this point in time, Sarah still had not given Abraham a child.
I can only imagine what was going through both Sarah and Abraham’s minds.
The Lord had promised Abraham He was going to turn him into a great nation.
But how in the world was that going to happen if he didn’t have any children?
On top of that, Sarah was very old and way beyond her child bearing years.
God’s promise seemed literally impossible.
Feeling desperate, Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands and she gives her maidservant Hagar to Abraham so that she will be impregnated by Abraham and give birth to a child on her behalf.
This incident reveals volumes in terms of how God views sexual relationships as well as the culture of those times.
FIRST, Sarah giving her maidservant to Abraham so that he could get her pregnant was a completely normal practice in those days (around 2000 B.C.).
We don’t see God stepping in and accusing Abraham and Sarah of sexual immorality at all here.
SECOND, according to Jewish tradition, Hagar was not only an Egyptian but she was also a daughter of the Pharaoh.
Recall the run-in Abraham had with the Pharaoh during his stay in Egypt when he lied about the true identity of his wife Sarah.
Jewish tradition says that Hagar was probably one of the gifts that Pharaoh gave to Abraham as a peace offering so that Abraham’s God would not harm him.
Onward.
Things go according to plan and Abraham impregnates Hagar.
However, this causes Sarah to become insanely jealous and as a result she treats Hagar so horribly she decides to run away.
God goes to Hagar where she has hidden herself, comforts her and tells her to go back to her master.
The Lord also informs her that she will soon give birth to a son.
Hagar obeys God and returns to Abraham.
And shortly after she gives birth to Ishmael.
Abraham is overjoyed because he now believes that through Ishmael the great nation the Lord had promised him will come about.
However, we will soon see that Abraham could not have been more wrong.
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