God Hears the Boy

This story happens right after Isaac's birth. When Isaac was weaned, Abraham “made a great feast” (21:8). Two sons. Abraham had another son, Ishmael, born years before to Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant (16:15). Ishmael was now a teenager. Years earlier God had named him: “You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has heard your affliction” (16:11). Ishmael means “God hears.” What Sarah saw. “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing” (21:9). The ICB says Ishmael was “making fun of Isaac.” That was wrong, but Ishmael was still a boy God loved. Sarah's demand. Sarah said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac” (21:10). A bondwoman was a servant who belonged to the family. A hurting family. This was a painful moment for everyone. Back in chapter 16, Sarah had given Hagar to Abraham herself, and there had been trouble between the two women ever since (16:4-6). Now that trouble came to a head. Everyone in this family had made mistakes, and every one of them needed God's help.

21:9-10 begins at a feast and ends in a family breaking apart. The occasion. Isaac's weaning (21:8) would have come at about two or three years old in the ancient world. If Ishmael was born when Abraham was eighty-six (16:16) and Isaac when he was a hundred (21:5), Ishmael was probably in his mid-teens. Even so, God's Word still calls him “the lad” and “the boy.” “Scoffing.” The word is metsacheq (say: meh-tsah-KHEK), from the same root as Isaac's name and Sarah's laughter (18:12; 21:6). It can mean laughing, playing or mocking, depending on context. Here Ishmael was making fun of Isaac, and Sarah took it as a threat to her son. It was wrong, but it was one sin in a family where everyone had sinned. The demand. “Cast out this bondwoman and her son” (21:10). Sarah does not use Hagar's or Ishmael's names. Her concern is inheritance: Ishmael “shall not be heir with my son.” Under customs of the time, the son of a servant wife could have a claim to share the estate. The background. The conflict began with Sarah's own plan in 16:1-3. A choice made without waiting on God brought pain to every person involved, including a boy who had no say in any of it.

Isaac was finally born, just as God promised. When he was a little older, Abraham gave a big feast. Everyone came to celebrate Isaac. But Abraham had another son too. His name was Ishmael, and he was much older. Ishmael's mother was Hagar, Sarah's servant from Egypt. At the feast, Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. Sarah was very upset. She told Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son.” She did not want Ishmael to share Isaac's things. It was a hard and painful day for the whole family. Nobody in this family was perfect. But God was still watching over all of them.

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael made fun of little Isaac. Sarah was upset and said, “Send them away.”

“And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son” (21:11). A father's grief. Abraham loved Ishmael. Years before, he had prayed, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” (17:18). Sending him away was painful. God speaks. “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called” (21:12). God had promised that His covenant would continue through Isaac (17:19-21). A promise for Ishmael. Then God adds, “Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed” (21:13). God had already promised to bless Ishmael and make him “a great nation” (17:20). He does not take that back. Not a punishment. God agreeing with Sarah's decision does not mean Ishmael was rejected by God. The covenant line would go through Isaac, but Ishmael was still loved, still Abraham's son, and still under God's care. God gives Abraham a reason to trust Him with a decision that hurt.

21:11-13 shows Abraham torn between love for his son and God's plan for the promise. “Very displeasing.” The phrase is literally “very evil in his eyes” (vayera, say: vah-YEH-rah). Abraham's distress is stated plainly, and it is “because of his son,” not because of Hagar's status. Compare his plea in 17:18. God's word. God tells Abraham to “listen to her voice” (21:12). This does not mean God approved of every motive in Sarah's heart. It does mean He would work through what happened: “in Isaac your seed shall be called.” The covenant promises of 15:4 and 17:19-21 would run through the son of promise. Two promises, not one. 21:13 repeats the promise of 17:20 that Ishmael will become a nation, “because he is your seed.” Genesis 25:12-18 later lists his twelve sons as princes. God's choice of Isaac for the covenant line does not cancel His blessing on Ishmael. Paul and this story. Centuries later, Paul uses this scene to teach about two covenants (Galatians 4:21-31), quoting 21:10 in Galatians 4:30. Paul is teaching about law and grace, not passing judgment on Ishmael as a person. Here in Genesis, God shows great kindness to the mother and the boy, as the next verses show.

Sarah's words made Abraham very sad. Ishmael was his son, and Abraham loved him. He did not want to send him away. Then God spoke to Abraham. “Don't be troubled about the boy and the slave woman.” “Do whatever Sarah tells you.” “My promise will come through Isaac.” But God did not forget Ishmael. “I will also make Ishmael's descendants into a great nation.” “He is your son too.” God cared about both of Abraham's sons. He had a plan for Isaac and a plan for Ishmael. God never forgets anyone.

Abraham was very sad. He loved his son Ishmael very much. God said, “I will take care of him.”

“So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away” (21:14). Into the wilderness. Hagar “departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.” The word “wandered” tells us she had no clear place to go. A skin of water was a bag made from an animal skin. The water runs out. “And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs” (21:15). In the desert, without water, a person can survive only a short time. A mother's despair. “Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, ‘Let me not see the death of the boy.’ So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept” (21:16). A bowshot is as far as an arrow can fly. Nothing left. Hagar had done everything she could. The bread and water Abraham gave her were not enough. She could not find water on her own. All she could do was cry. Things were as bad as they could be. But God was closer than Hagar knew.

21:14-16 tells how Hagar and Ishmael were sent away and nearly died in the desert. The provision. Abraham “rose early in the morning” (21:14), the same phrase used before he obeys God in 22:3. He gives “bread and a skin of water,” a chemet (say: KHEH-met), a waterskin. It was meant to last until Hagar reached a settlement, perhaps on the way to Egypt. Wandering. She “wandered” (ta'ah, say: tah-AH), a word that can mean to go astray or be lost. The Wilderness of Beersheba is the dry country of the northern Negev. The end of resources. “The water in the skin was used up” (21:15). The verb (kalah, say: kah-LAH) means finished or exhausted. Human provision has run out. She places the boy “under one of the shrubs,” the only shade available. A bowshot away. Hagar sat “about a bowshot” away. She was close enough to see him, but far enough not to watch him die. “Let me not see the death of the boy” (21:16). Her grief was real, and God did not scold her for it. The bowshot also points ahead to 21:20, where the dying boy becomes an archer. Whose cry? 21:16 says Hagar “lifted her voice and wept.” But 21:17 says “God heard the voice of the lad.” Both were crying out, and God answered the boy whose name means “God hears.”

Early the next morning, Abraham got up. He gave Hagar some food and a leather bag of water. Then he sent Hagar and Ishmael away. They walked into the desert near Beersheba. The desert was very hot and dry. Soon all the water in the bag was gone. There were no rivers and no streams. Ishmael was too weak to keep walking. Hagar put him under a bush for shade. Then she went and sat down a short way off. She was afraid her son would die. She could not bear to watch. So she sat there and cried.

Hagar and Ishmael went into the desert. The water ran out. Hagar was afraid, so she sat down and cried.

“And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is’” (21:17). Where he is. God did not wait for Ishmael to get somewhere better. He heard him “where he is,” lying under a bush in the desert. God meets us in the place we are, even the worst place. Get up. “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation” (21:18). God gives Hagar something to do and a promise to trust. Eyes opened. “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink” (21:19). The well was already there. Hagar could not see it until God showed her. God was with him. “So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer” (21:20). He lived in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother found him a wife from Egypt (21:21). Years before, Hagar had called God “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees” (16:13). Now she learned He is also the God who hears.

21:17-21 is the turning point: the God whose name is in Ishmael's name acts. “God heard.” The verb shama (say: shah-MAH) is the root of Yishma'el (say: yish-mah-EL), “God hears” (16:11). It comes twice in one verse: “God heard the voice of the lad… God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.” The name given before his birth comes true in his worst hour. “The angel of God.” In 16:7 “the Angel of the Lord” found Hagar by a spring. Here “the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven.” Only once more in Genesis does a voice call from heaven like this, at Moriah (22:11, 15). Both sons of Abraham are rescued from death by a voice from heaven. “Where he is.” Ba'asher hu sham (say: bah-ah-SHER who SHAHM). God does not require the boy to be elsewhere, or better, before He hears. He heard Ishmael in the place of his need, and He hears us the same way. We do not have to clean ourselves up before we call on Him. Eyes opened. God did not create a new well in 21:19. He “opened her eyes.” The water was near; Hagar simply could not see it. Compare 2 Kings 6:17, where God opens a servant's eyes to see what was already there. The future. “God was with the lad” (21:20) is covenant language, used elsewhere of Isaac (26:3) and Joseph (39:2). Ishmael becomes an archer, settles in Paran, and marries an Egyptian, keeping his mother's people. The promise of 21:13 begins to be kept.

God heard the boy crying. Then God's angel called to Hagar from heaven. “What is wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid!” “God has heard the boy crying there.” “Help him up and take him by the hand.” “I will make his descendants into a great nation.” Then God showed Hagar a well of water. It had been there all along! She filled the bag and gave Ishmael a drink. God was with Ishmael as he grew up. He lived in the desert and learned to shoot a bow. Ishmael's name means “God hears.” And God really did hear him.

God heard Ishmael crying. God showed Hagar a well close by. Ishmael had a big, cold drink of water!