Hagar and God's Plan for the Arabic People

I have always loved the story of Hagar found in Genesis 16. She is the Egyptian slave that Sarah gave to her husband Abraham in order to try to fulfill God's promise of a child to them in their old age. Well, Hagar did have a son by Abraham but it was not according to God's plan and it caused tremendous stress and upheaval in the home; so much so that Sarah kicked Hagar out. Hagar ended up wandering in the desert alone, pregnant and unsure of what to do next. 

But then...the Angel of the Lord (most likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ), spoke to her and made this promise, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority. I will multiply your descendants exceedingly; there will be so many that it will be impossible to count them.” And the Angel of the LORD said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,

And you shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael, (it means God pays attention)

Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

He shall be a wild man;

His hand shall be against every man,

And every man’s hand against him.

Living his life at odds with all his kinsmen.” (Gen. 16:11-12)

So what do these promises mean? And are they important in our world today? 

a. I will multiply your descendants exceedingly: God not only implied a promise of protection, He also gave a clear promise of staggering blessing. The unborn son of Hagar would be the father of uncountable descendants. As the promise was fulfilled, Ishmael became the ancestor of the Arab people, just as his later half-brother Isaac would become the ancestor of the Jewish people. This makes the centuries old conflict between Arab and Jew even more tragic: they are brothers and share a common father in Abraham.

b. You shall call his name Ishmael: Ishmael was given a great promise, not only in the number of his descendants, but also in that he was the first one in the Bible given his name before he was born. God had a plan for this boy and his descendants. God doesn’t give a name if He doesn’t have a plan. Now, some people today may think they know God’s plan for the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabic people: God wants to wipe them out because of their hatred of Jews and their persecution of Christians. This reaction is not rooted in the Bible, especially in this passage of Genesis 16. Consider:

· God could have allowed Hagar and her unborn child to die in the wilderness – He didn’t allow it. God specifically intervened so that wouldn’t happen.

· God could have allowed Hagar to live, but to disappear from the life and household of Abraham and Sarah, but He didn’t allow that.

· One may argue that Ishmael’s conception was because of sin and unbelief; but God could have erased him from the story, and God chose not to. This part of the story is God’s doing, not man’s doing.

· God specifically commanded Hagar to go back, to stay in the story. We can know that God’s story for the Arabic people is not finished.

- We should also remember that angelic visitations, Jesus visitations, continue to this day among the descendants of Ishmael. The Angel of the LORD was not done visiting Ishmael.

c. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction: The name Ishmael means God will hear. We may take this as a prompting to pray for revival and spiritual awakening among the Arab peoples, because when they cry out to Jesus, God will hear.

Taken from Enduring Word Bible commentary