The God who hears and sees (Gen 16:7-16)

During my student years, I became friends with an emotionally needy fellow student. When we decided to flat together, the details dovetailed so nicely, it seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity. A long-term friend warned me not to go ahead – she thought that the things that gave me some unease were more significant than I appreciated. However, I thought I knew better and disregarded her warning. I soon found myself deeply entangled in my new flatmate’s affairs, emotionally manipulated, and trapped. Too late, I acknowledged that I made a mistake. I desperately cried out to God, and the Lord promised that He would help me. Nevertheless, the situation took a toll on me (as well as my flatmate) and it was a lengthy period before I was able to disentangle myself. Although I had to learn some painful lessons about myself (what made me susceptible to manipulation), what most stayed with me over the years is God’s amazing grace in seeing my difficulty and responding to my cry even when the problem was of my own making.

Caught up in wrong decisions

As I read Abraham’s story, I am reminded of this incident because Abraham, Sarah and Hagar were all caught up in the wrong decisions they had been making. It was Sarah’s ill-conceived plan that went awry and when Hagar eventually bore a son, Sarah was excluded from the joy (note the reference three times that Hagar bore a son to Abraham; Gen 16:15-16). Although Sarah could have insisted that the child was legally hers (cf. Gen 30:1-8), she seemed to have given up on the project in the end. What a bitter pill to swallow that her subordinate could enjoy with her husband what she, the wife, so longed to have! Likewise, Abraham did nothing to protect the mother of his future child and must have suffered the agonies of losing his one offspring and heir when Hagar ran away. Finally, it was Hagar’s contemptuous behaviour that awakened Sarah’s vindictiveness causing her flight. Nevertheless, Hagar is largely a pawn in the story, a slave-maid probably acquired during Abraham and Sarah’s disastrous visit to Egypt (Gen 12:16), used as a surrogate mother and now at the mercy of her mistress, a slave and a foreigner and therefore doubly vulnerable. It is not surprising that she fled towards her homeland in Egypt.[1]

The God who hears

Despite all the wrong done by these three to each other, the Lord is merciful and steps in to salvage the situation. Sarah will have the longest to wait for resolution, but it will eventually come to her too. What is most striking, however, is God’s care for Hagar, an Egyptian woman who is therefore not one of the chosen people. Yet, the Lord gives heed to (literally ‘hears’) her affliction, just as He will later hear Israel’s cry of affliction in Egypt (Gen 16:11; Exod 2:23-25). Likewise, the promise of descendants too many to count mirrors the one given to Abraham (Gen 16:10; 13:16; 15:5).[2] In the Old Testament, election of one people is not ultimate rejection of all others.

Confronting our situation with the God who sees

Nevertheless, Hagar’s encounter with God is a confronting one. As so often, God requires us to face and acknowledge our situation (Gen 16:8; cf. Gen 3:9; 4:9; 1 Kings 19:9). There is no healing and renewal without that. Hagar’s response is the unvarnished truth without excuses. Still, the resolution will not be an easy one. Returning to a vindictive mistress is a fearful thought yet having the protection of a family is necessary at this stage for this pregnant slave-girl. Hagar will have to learn submissiveness and not exploit her position (as the woman in the household with a baby) against her mistress (Gen 16:9). Though not mentioned, Abraham may need to stand up for the mother of his child and Sarah to curb her temper and not take out her frustration on Hagar. Whatever is ahead of her, Hagar responds with obedience, perhaps because her encounter with God assures her that God sees her situation and will provide a way forward for her (Gen 16:13). May we take comfort that even when our mistakes landed us in trouble, we have a God who sees our distress and can enable us to find a way out.

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[1] Shur is in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, where a route running west to east connects Egypt to Canaan through Beersheba and to the King’s Highway in Transjordan. Since shur means ‘wall’, it may refer to Egyptian fortifications in the area. John H. Walton estimates that if Abraham was at Beersheba when she fled then she would have travelled 70 miles (113km) or a week’s journey, while pregnant and on her own, to reach Beer-lahai-roi near Kadesh (Gen 16:14). Genesis, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 448.

[2] While the prophecy that follows is not particularly flattering to our ears, it simply describes a nomadic lifestyle that does not comply with the norms and expectations of a settled population (Gen 16:12).

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