B10-devotions

Genesis 16:1-6

Devotions for Tuesday 29th July

It is extraordinary that after the amazing faith described in Genesis15, the very next part of the story of Abram describes the great man as showing a complete lack of faith about the very thing he had trusted God for (see 15:1-6). As a chapter, Genesis 16 consists of a single story about the birth of Abram’s son Ishmael to Sarai’s slave-girl Hagar, and it begins with our passage today in which the desperate Sarai gives her slave girl Hagar to Abram so that she might have a son by her husband, by proxy. God is mentioned, but makes no appearance in this part of the story; His response to the whole incident and the actions of Abram and Sarai come in the second half of chapter 16 (7-16). It is very important to read a story like this alongside the other stories of Abram, because each one only gives a snapshot, and we can only gain a complete picture of Abram by knowing the whole picture as painted by scripture. He was a human being like us, for whom God was powerfully close (for example in the vision of 15:1ff), but after that God seemed far away as the years passed and the lack of fulfilment of God’s promise created a big family crisis (16:1-6).

In the wider scheme of things, Abram had entered the Promised Land (12:1ff) and immediately made a mistake by going to Egypt and compromising Sarai by allowing her to be taken into Pharaoh’s harem (12:10-16). After that, it appears that he learned a great deal, and a sequence of three stories each confirmed different parts of the promise God had made to Abram. The military victory over Chedorlaomer and its consequences (ch14) confirmed the promise of Abram’s greatness (12:2,3); the vision (ch15:1-6) confirmed God’s promise of descendants (12:2,3) and highlighted Abram’s faith, and the vision of the Covenant (15:7-21) confirmed the promise of land (12:7,13:16). In the midst of all this there was one obvious and glaring problem with the whole of God’s plan, at least as far as Abram could see. A miracle was required for the promises to be completely fulfilled because Sarai remained incapable of bearing children (11:30,16:1) and providing Abram with the necessary son and heir; indeed, God had remained completely silent on the whole matter for ten years (16:3)! Abram had demonstrated faith and God had counted it as righteousness, but he now had to prove that faith in the matter of having a son (as prophesied by God in the vision - 15:4), and this would depend upon Sarai.

We do not know how much Sarai knew of Abram’s experiences or the promises God had been given him, but it is reasonable to believe that there was a close relationship between the two of them, as of a man and a woman who were ‘one flesh’ (Gen 2:24). Certainly, Sarai came swiftly to the forefront of the narrative in chapter 16 with her own forceful solution to the whole problem, and she was the one who proposed surrogacy, not Abram! However, this solution was entirely normal in Abram’s day, and Abram went along with it. He had sex with Sarai’s maid Hagar, and she became pregnant. The consequences of all this were immediate, and complex (16:5,6); as we shall see in the main Bible study. What happened may have been socially acceptable but it led to domestic chaos, sharp words and considerable unpleasantness, to the point that Hagar, still pregnant with Abram’s child and heir, ran away (16:6).

This is a story in need of some salvation, and it illustrates Abram’s key remaining failings and the lack of faith which was still there between him and the Lord. God did sort out the mess, but the consequences of what happened never went away. Abram’s faith would have to rise to greater heights!

1 Abram's wife Sarai bore him no children, but she had an Egyptian servant-girl whose name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘Look, you can see that the Lord has kept me from having children; so go in to my slave-girl, that I may have children through her.’ Abram accepted what Sarai said. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai, took her servant-girl Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram as a concubine. 4 He went in to Hagar and she became pregnant. When she became aware of her pregnancy, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

5 Sarai said to Abram, ‘You are to blame for this outrage against me! Yes it was I who gave my servant-girl to your arms, but now she is pregnant she looks down on me. May the Lord judge between you and me!’ 6 So Abram said to Sarai, ‘Your servant-girl is under your authority; do to her whatever you wish.’ Then Sarai ill-treated her, and she ran away from her.

To read more about this passage of scripture: go to the Bible study page

To read the questions and discipleship challenges for this text: go to the discipleship page

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see the world of the poor, the neglected, the war-torn and the abused. Help us to appreciate the world not from our own point of view, but from the view of other people; and may we have a big enough compassion and understanding to live in a manner worthy of those who have been called to be Your disciples, the agents of Your Kingdom here on earth. We ask this in Your Name: AMEN

Sing a song of praise to God!

Sing it over and over again,

And let the melody capture your heart;

Feel the joy, let it soar away

In praise of Him who died for all!

Sing a hymn of praise to God!

Let each verse inspire your soul

With radiant happiness, unconfined;

The awesome majesty of our God

Proclaims the liberty of our world.

Sing a psalm of praise to God!

Sing with people wherever you are;

With saints of very age who’ve found

The Word of God within their hearts,

As Christ has drawn them closer still.

Sing a song, a hymn, a psalm,

To Christ, the living God of love!

Weekly Theme: Thanks for Life

Each of us has been born into this world and given our lives and individuality by the Spirit of God. Praise the Lord for the work of the Holy Spirit in making us, and giving us life!

On-going prayers

Give thanks for close friends
Pray for those who are employed to work in extreme conditions
Pray about the politics which lie behind energy production

Going Deeper: (what you will find on the Bible study page)

This story is fairly straightforward, but we can learn a great deal not just by looking deeper at the story itself, but by looking back in the story of Abraham and also back in even older stories of Genesis. As we do this, we will find that we understand even more about how God works through flawed people to do His will, as in Abram and Sarai.

For the full Bible study, click link above,

or for a brief review, scroll page down.