21 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.1 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.2 10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this3 may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba,4 because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Section Overview
Abraham and Sarah have been waiting a very long time for the birth of their promised son, Isaac. Their road has taken many twists and turns, but finally the promised day comes and Isaac is born, bringing laughter to his parents, as his name suggests (Gen. 21:6). But not everyone’s laughter is in celebration of the new child; Sarah sees Ishmael laughing with scorn at the celebration of Isaac’s weaning (vv. 8–9). He is mocking Isaac and, with him, God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. To Ishmael the excitement surrounding the birth of Isaac is all a big joke.
In consequence Sarah insists that Ishmael and Hagar be cast out of the house (Gen. 21:10). Abraham is reluctant to see them go, because Ishmael is, after all, his son, but the Lord supports Sarah’s demand (v. 12). Ishmael has his own future, but it is through Isaac that the promise will come (v. 12). As long as Ishmael is still present, Abraham has a “Plan B” that means not having to commit fully to Isaac as the child of promise. For the test of Genesis 22 to have its full force, Abraham must let Ishmael go. Meanwhile, God protects Ishmael and Hagar as they pursue their own path.
In sharp contrast to Ishmael’s mockery of Isaac, which leads to his being cast out of Abraham’s family, the latter part of Genesis 21 returns our attention to Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar (vv. 22–34). Abimelech’s earlier encounter with Abraham had evidently made a strong impression on him, for he comes to Abraham and seeks to establish a lasting covenant with him and his descendants (v. 23). The pagan king recognizes the hand of God at work in Abraham, and he seeks to ensure an end to falsehood from Abraham toward him and his descendants (v. 23). This is an implicit rebuke of Abraham for his previous actions, yet Abimelech now wishes to move forward into an amicable future, making a covenant with Abraham and ensuring a future of peace between them.
Section Outline
Response
Hagar and Ishmael experience the blessing of life within the household of Abraham only as long as they show appropriate respect to God and his promises. When Ishmael disrespects Isaac, it is time for them to leave, with implications likely to be negative. Even though the Lord provides for them in the wilderness, their trajectory is away from Israel’s God and not toward him.
The apostle Paul picks up the imagery of this chapter in Galatians 4:21–31, where he uses the story as the basis for an allegory. The servant woman, Hagar, stands for those who depend on their own efforts to please God. They are in bondage to the law, and their standing before God is therefore inevitably temporary and precarious. Sarah, on the other hand, stands for those living by faith on the basis of the gospel. Such people are trusting not in their own righteousness but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, credited by God to their account. They are the children of the promise. Theirs is a liberty that Hagar could never know. Such people enjoy a permanent relationship with God, for they are not merely tolerated but approved.
Hagar and Ishmael must have always lived under the threat of being sent away. They had no established status in Abraham’s household, and so their presence there was always insecure. One careless action could, and ultimately did, cost them their place in the household. So it is also for those who rely on their good works. They can never have assurance of their salvation because they can never be sure they have done enough to please God. But Isaac’s place in the household, along with that of Sarah, is secure. They are family, and so they belong. They are the objects of God’s promise and can never be cast away. Likewise, those who rely on Jesus will never be cast away by God, for we are his adopted children, to whom the inheritance belongs by right. As John puts it, “To all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). It is striking that in Paul’s use of Genesis 21 identification with Ishmael or Isaac has nothing to do with Jewish heritage; Jews who depend on the law become Ishmael, while Gentiles who trust in God through faith become the true Israel of God. It is in our relationship to Christ that we become part of the true Israel, not through human ancestry.
In his interaction with Abraham, Abimelech provides a model of how the kings of the earth should act toward God’s people. Even though Abimelech is identified with the Philistines, the later enemies of Israel in the days of Saul and David, he humbly entreats Abraham for a covenant bond, and the result is mutual blessing for both men. Like the wise rulers of Psalm 2:10–12, Abimelech makes his peace with the Lord and the Lord’s anointed by respecting and dealing faithfully with Abraham. In the process Abraham fulfills his calling to be a blessing to the nations (cf. Gen. 12:3). Indeed, Abraham discovers that the very land about which he had said, “There is no fear of God at all in this place” (20:11), turns out to be a land where, by God’s grace, he can dwell at peace for a long time. This is not Abraham’s heavenly home, but it is a pleasant oasis along his journey.Genesis 21