“We Have a Choice: To Be an Obstacle or a Blessing”

Genesis 21:14 - 32

 

We are reading through the book of Genesis. We read the first part of Genesis 21 last week, which focused on Hagar and Ishmael. The second half of this chapter continues with Hagar and her son, but then goes into another round of interactions between Abraham and Abimelech. 

 

On first glance, one might wonder, 

Why are these stories next to each other and 

What do these two stories have to do with each other? Actually, they are set together in order to illuminate each other so that we might understand both better. 

 

Last week we left off with Abraham receiving the divine command to give into Sarah’s evil intent. He was to get rid of Hagar and his firstborn son. 

So Abraham gets up early in the morning and he sets some bread and a skin of water on Hagar’s shoulders and sends her and the boy off. Take note, this is significant, because this will come up again later. They manage to wander to the desert of Beersheva, which in Hebrew means, “The well of seven.” Again, a significant name that needs to be remembered because it too will come up again. 

 

As they travel through the wilderness, their water runs out. Not enough water in the wilderness? We’ve been here before. At this point, Hagar places the boy under the bushes and goes the distance of a shot of an arrow from a bow away, so she doesn’t have to see the death of her child. There she sat, weeping. This should hyperlink us back to the Cain story. Hagar is convinced she and her son are about to die there in the wilderness. Remember what Cain said, in Genesis 4, 

 “I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 

 

With Cain, it was the blood of Abel rising up that God heard. In this story we have the mother sobbing, but in the verse 17 we read, 

“God heard the boy crying,”

 

Both of these stories remind us that God hears the voice and the cries of the victims. 

 

A messenger of the Lord comes and what does the messenger say, “Fear not!” That’s what they always say to humans. The messenger tells Hagar that God has heard the boy’s crying and that she needs to go get the boy. The messenger assures the mother that God will indeed make him into a great nation. 

Next we read, verse 19, 

 

“Then God opened her eyes…”

 

Her eyes get opened? Hyperlink! Remember back in Genesis 3, they ate the fruit and their eyes were opened? What did they see back in chapter 3? Nakedness.

But here, 

the victim whose cries rose up to God, 

when God opens her eyes, 

she doesn’t see nakedness that leads to death, 

she sees water that leads to life. 

She sees a well of water and she fills up the skin with that water and she gives water to her son. 

 

We read that Elohim was with Ishmael and he grew up to be big. Just like his half brother Isaac who had grown up to be big in the previous chapter. 

Ishmael will be growing up in the wilderness where he becomes skilled as an archer. That is someone who is skilled using a bow. 

 

Let’s review some of the motifs that present themselves in this story. 

> Genesis 4 - God has mercy on the murderer and gives him a sign of protection

 

> God has mercy on Ishmael, the banished and non-chosen who was facing death - God gives him protection

 

> God provides creation out of un-creation, Hagar is convinced they will die, yet God gives re-birth in the wilderness through the water of life

 

> Check out Ishmael’s skill, the use of a bow - when was the last time a bow appeared? In the clouds! God’s sign that He would not allow too much water to appear again. What a clever allusion. God is master of the waters, whether there is too much or too little. 

 

> Remember where this is all taking place? Beer Sheva, the Well of Seven. That’s the segue. 

 

Verse 22, 

“At that time”  or “Back at the ranch,” This was happening.

 

King Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his forces, were meeting with Abraham. So whenever a king and the captain of his army show up to have a discussion you can trust it’s going to be intense. They begin with recognizing that Elohim is with Abraham and with everything that Abraham does. Then the king asks Abraham to swear an oath, in the name of his God, Elohim, that he will never deal falsely with him again. And, he asks to extend that to his descendants. He also manages to remind Abraham just how well he had been treating him. 

Do you get the sense that Abimelech doesn’t trust Abraham, but he does trust Elohim? 

 

This has happened before, remember, some Canaanite kings made a covenant with Abraham and joined his little Eden up on the hilltop, they too managed to get in on the Eden goodies. 

 

Abraham agrees to the oath, but seems to be empowered because he takes an opportunity to bring up a matter of dispute. It seems some servants of Abimelech had stolen Abraham’s well of water. Abimelech pleads ignorance and to settle the matter, Abraham took sheep and oxen and the two men made a treaty. 

 

Here’s the twist, a flipping of the Cain and Abel story and the Sarah and Hagar story. 

 

Within the family of God, there are two ways that the family of God can relate to the people around them. They have a choice: 

They can be an Obstacle or they can be a Blessing. 

We now have both examples. 

> The chosen ones can take their chosenness for granted and use it to drive away or 

> They can become a genuine blessing to those around them in such a way that those around them say, “Wow! I want some of that, let’s be at peace with one another. I want to experience the goodness of the covenant and enjoy the blessing with you.” 

 

Normally some things would cause a war, but instead, because we are in a covenant with each other, we are committed to working things out in peace. 

 

Look back at how God makes peace with an evil humanity. He made a covenant, with the sign, the rainbow. 

 

Take Abraham’s two covenant stories: 

> Abraham’s unbelief and doubt leads to the first covenant, it’s his sin with Hagar that leads to the covenant of circumcision. 

> Abraham’s life of blessing was so intriguing, that rather than conflict with him, this pagan king desires to resolve them with peace. 

 

This is where the narrative gets so intricate. What’s the name of the place where the peace between these men happens? 

“Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.”

Back to “Beersheba” the well of seven. 

 

Get it! 

 

At this very well, these two stories reveal: 

 

1 - The portrait of the chosen one, who chooses arrogance against the non-chosen, yet, Hagar and Ishmael are taken care of.

 

2 - The portrait of the chosen one becomes a blessing to those around them. 

 

Both events happened at a well in the desert, with sevenfold waters coming out of it, an Eden image. 

 

Check in time.

 

Being an Obstacle or Being a Blessing

 

Within the family of God, these two ways still exist. 

 

We have a choice. 

 

Let’s pray.