ABRAHAM SERIES: HAGAR THE SURROGATE

I am now sharing the story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, Sarai’s maidservant, which is found in Genesis 15; however. I want to remind you that in the previous chapter, God told Abram that he would have a child who would come forth from his bowels. The scriptures do not indicate that Abram shared this word with his wife, Sarai, or whether he asked God if she would be the one to bear him a child. This left me with questions about Abram’s actions in chapter sixteen.

After being married to Abram for numerous years and living in the land of Canaan for ten years, Sarai, who suffered from barrenness, came up with what she felt was an acceptable solution. If Abram was willing to comply, she would use Hagar, her handmaid, to bear them a child, and after it was born, she would raise the child as her own.

When presented with this proposition, Abram complied and had sexual encounters with Hagar. Consequently, when Hagar realized she was pregnant, she treated Sarai with contempt. As to be expected, tension and conflict arose between Sarai and Hagar, and Sarai blamed Abram for the animosity she was experiencing. She said, “My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.” Wanting peace with his wife, Abram told Sarai she could punish Hagar, and with his permission, Sarai abused Hagar, which caused her to run away.

It was by a spring in the desert on the road to Shur that an angel found Hagar and questioned her about her actions and plans. When she told the angel what she had done, the angel instructed Hagar. “Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.” He also revealed to Hagar that she would bear a male child, whose name was to be Ishmael, and that he would have many descendants. Ishmael would have a warlike disposition, live a turbulent life as a nomad, and continue to have confrontations with others.

This encounter with the angel was extremely meaningful to Hagar, for after it occurred, Hagar acknowledged that God saw her when she was feeling hopeless. She also named the well that lay between Kadesh and Bered “Beerlahairoi,” which means “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” Hagar returned to Sarai and bore Ishmael, Abram’s firstborn son, when Abram was eighty-six years old.  

Historically, surrogacy is not a modern practice, for it was a common legal practice in the ancient Middle East. Women who lived during that time were stigmatized for their barrenness and treated with disdain by family and neighbors. Having children, particularly males, was a wish of all the women, as it gave them honor and built their esteem and self-worth. If, over time, a wife was unable to bear a child, the husband could take his wife’s handmaid or a concubine to fulfill the need for a person capable of bearing a child, and when born, the child would be considered the child of the mistress. Thus, we have Sarai’s suggestion. Commentators believe that Hagar was possibly given to Abram by Pharaoh when the family went down to Egypt during the famine, and Abram gave Hagar to Sarai as a handmaid. There was probably a congenial relationship between Sarai and Hagar; therefore, she was chosen as the surrogate.

Genesis 16:7 is the first mention in Scripture of an angel meeting with a human, and in verse 11, Ishmael was the first baby named before his birth. Equally important, he is considered the father of the Arab nation.

Here are the nuggets I gained from Genesis 16:

Longing makes you susceptible to poor judgment.

Being unfruitful does not give you the right to use others to produce what you could not.

Giving in to fleshy desires can lead to a life of regrets.

The solution to your problem should not be to follow the customs of your day.

Failure to ask essential questions can cause misguided actions.

When God speaks something to you, when in doubt, ask for clarification.

Rather than second-guess the will of God, ask Him for needed insight.

Own up to your mistakes.

God does not need your intervention to bring His promises to fruition.

Poor decisions can impact you for the remainder of your life.

God sees and hears those who are in despair.

God will seek out the forsaken, and He will send a word to sustain them.

Though you may not understand, God has a plan for your life.

Sometimes, you must revisit an undesirable situation.

Sometimes you have to live with your regrets.