Hagar Cries Out

A Sacred Narrative based on Exodus 21:8-21

Abram and Sarai had no heir. God had promised them great blessings but who would the bounty they were building go to? God promised Abram’s offspring to be a great nation and had already made a covenant with them for the promised land. Abram was to leave his family’s home in Ur and become a nomad, which he did, as Abram was a righteous man who followed God. The life of a wanderer was not easy, Abram and his camp had defended themselves against numerous attacks.

Sarai, Abram’s Wife, was an interesting woman, she’s by far, the most mentioned woman in the bible. She was said to be beautiful, Sarai meaning, my princess. She was incredibly faithful to her husband, a catch for any man, kings had twice tried to steal her from Abram but was protected by God. Sarai trusted Abram’s God to multiply them into a great nation, but there was a problem. She didn’t have any children. She was an old woman at this point, the beauty that had been refreshing in her youth, now, was marked with wrinkles and marks by the sun, the nearly decade of nomadic life, needing to constantly be alert, had taken their toll on Sarai’s face but also on her heart. Month after month, she had been disappointed to not be with child. For decades, and now for 10 years since God had promised them to become a great nation. They had done what God asked of them, where was their reward? Didn’t God know she was now an old woman? Well past her years to bear children. Maybe it was time to be creative?

Sarai had a servant, Hagar, who was still young. She had always been a good servant, obedient, a constant companion since Sarai and Abram had left Egypt. Perhaps, God meant that Sarai wasn’t supposed to personally bear this promised nation, maybe she could outsource it. Sarai told Abram to consort with Hagar, that’s the translation in the Jewish Publication Society bible that I like for the Hebrew portions of the bible, I like it, so that’s the word we are going with here. Abram, who trusts Sarai in all manners of managing the household, pays heed to Sarai’s request and does consort with Hagar. Hagar, conceived a child, all too quickly she conceived. This is what Sarai wanted but the bitterness that had grown and hardened her heart after a lifetime of infertility was now transferred to Hagar. The faithful servant who had been a companion was now a constant reminder of how Sarai had not been blessed. As Hagar’s belly grew, so did Sarai’s jealousy.

Hagar, was no longer just a servant, she was more than that now, she was the sole bearer of Abram’s offspring. Her child would be his firstborn. This change in position did not sit well with Sarai, She complained to Abram. He’s not eager to get in the middle of the affairs of the household, even though Hagar is technically now his responsibility as the bearer of his child. It might be a little late to not be involved, Abram, but he defers all matters of their household, including the status of Hagar, to Sarai’s judgment. He has no reason not to trust her.

Well, the bitterness that Sarai had harbored, took root at Hagar and grew. Sarai became abusive, strongly abusive to Hagar. Hagar, who had been a servant for years, was familiar with the dynamic but this was different. This was not something she could endure. She started to fear for her life, but also, she was having a child whom she feared for!

So Hagar fled. She was traveling back to Egypt. She stopped at a spring to rest where she is met with a holy presence. A presence from God, Abram’s God. The presence confronts her, Hagar, of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? Hagar explains that she is running away. The messenger tells her to go back to her mistress and endure the harsh treatment. Hagar must have had her thoughts show up on her face before the words came out of her mouth, because the messenger goes on.  “I will greatly increase your offspring and they shall be too many to count.” This promise is before Abram’s promises of great offspring with God. God has promised to make Abram a great nation, but there are many ways to do that. God has now made a covenant with Hagar, commanding her to name her child Ishmael, meaning “God hears,” he will be passionate, stubborn must most importantly, the child of this enslaved woman, who’s been abused will mother a great nation who will be free and unable to be restrained.

Hagar immediately feels the weight and promise in these words, she feels the presence of the holy. She is inspired and claims this God as her own. She names God, El-roi, God of seeing, God of my seeing, the God who sees me. The God who sees the abused, sees the marginalized, sees those who bears the burdens of promises not their own. Hagar is the first person in all of our scriptures to name God. Hagar is personally seeing God, the God who sees her. They are now bound to each other in covenant. Hagar returns to Sarai, and bears Abram a child, he was 86 years old.

A few years later, when Abram is 99, God appears to him and then promises Abram many offspring, and announces God’s name to be El Shaddai, God Almighty. God renames them Abraham and Sarah. Abraham questions God and asks if Sarah will bear him a child at 90 years old, El Shaddai, undeterred, says yes, and to name him Isaac. God tells Abraham that God will maintain the covenant with Ishmael even with the promise of Isaac. There is no shortage of blessings with God. God’s blessings are not pie, a piece for someone does not limit the number of pieces for someone else. Sarah does bear Isaac, just as promised, she is overjoyed, she savors every minute with that boy in her care, he’s hers and hers alone for 5 years, she nurses him and raises him. As is the custom, when a child is weaned, they enter into the community as their own person, Abraham throws a party for Isaac to celebrate. His miracle of a son is the manifestation of God’s promises.

As the day for the celebration approaches, Sarah realizes that now, Isaac will be set his inheritance. Her son, her perfect and miracle child should absolutely not have to share his inheritance with that slave woman’s son. He was little more than a mistake made years ago. So Sarah, remembering Abraham’s promise that the household is hers to deal with, Ishmael, as a teenager, is still part of her household. She goes to Abraham and demands that he cast Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. Abraham is a little beside himself. Ishmael is his son, he had intended to bless him and raise him into part of the nation that God had promised Abraham. Abraham goes to bed and sleeps fitfully. God comes to Abraham in a dream and assures him, Abraham is to turn Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. So the next morning, revering Sarah’s request, he goes to Hagar and Ishmael, and provides them the limited water and bread that Sarah would spare from her household provisions, not even enough for a day.

Hagar is beyond distressed. How could Abraham do this? Sarah would not send them even enough supplies to get back to Egypt? Get anywhere besides the middle of nowhere? She had sent them only enough to die in the desert away from the camp, where no one would save them. When the water runs out, Hagar knows what will happen. She’s been dreading and bracing herself for it. She had hoped for a miracle but all she was seeing was their immediate fate. Where was this great nation that she had been promised? She had gone back to her abuser and endured for some 17 years for this? She had raised this boy, almost to manhood and now they will die in the desert. She places Ishmael, in the shade, sheltered under a bush, he’s weak and tired from thirst and travel. She is able to get herself a couple hundred feet away, where she can see him but not be a witness to his death. In a last grasping of hope, she cries. El roi hears her, Ishmael, the one who is heard, his needs are heard by her God, her El roi. El roi’s presence returns and asks why she is troubled? Tells her to go to Ishmael and remember the promises that have been made to them. God opens Hagar’s eyes and she sees a well. The presence of God stays with Ishmael, he grows, became a great bowman, his mother beside his side. She takes charge of his building estate, she, not Abraham, Hagar on her own, gets Ishmael a wife and he is the father of a great nation.

Hagar is often overlooked in our bible study, she’s not part of the story that we should really like to talk about, she is a clear indication that our early patriarchs and matriarchs are not perfect. They were people, people like us, who sometimes let their emotions cloud their judgment. Sometimes let the hard parts of the world leave us callous, uncompassionate, and even vengeful. Like Abraham, sometimes, we just go along with what we are asked to do, even if we know it’s not quite part of God’s plan for us, but it certainly seems fun at the time. Like Sarah, sometimes, we see those around us who are weaker than we are, and instead of lifting them up, we exploit them for our benefit.

The story of Hagar is one that was fairly new to me, I love this story though. It’s a story for the outsiders. It’s a story where God provides for everyone. Not just God’s chosen in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Israelites, but also Hagar and Ishmael. This is a story about a liberating God, who keeps their promises. It’s the story of a woman who sees a holy presence and responds in worship, adopting and claiming Them for herself.

I’ve felt like an outsider like Hagar. I’ve certainly missed a well in the desert because I was worried and distraught. The stories that we all know from scripture are about real people, not just ancient people who are completely removed from anything that we deal with. The human emotions of rejection, jealousy, hope, and love, are all the same. The human dynamics are all the same, this story could be a modern soap opera. Scripture is timeless this way. The witness to God in scripture is also timeless in the same way. We can look for ourselves in these stories. We can look for the ways that God can be present for us, promise-keeping for us, hearing us like Ishmael, seeing us like Hagar.

Hagar saw a well that saved her and her child in the desert. Maybe your well is quitting a job that is draining you dry. Maybe your well is ending a relationship with family that is toxic. Maybe your well is trusting yourself and your talents to try something new. Your well might be going back to school, mine certainly was. Your well might be just asking for help. Maybe your well is just not losing hope, not seeing the future but seeing a well that gives you water for now – hope for now, even in uncertainty.

We worship a God who invites us to name Them. We worship a God who will and has adopted us as family and made us promises. Just like Abraham. Just like Hagar. Hagar invites us to trust in God’s promises and not miss out on the provisions for our journey. Open our eyes and see the wells right in front of us. Hagar invites us to trust our inner wisdom and craft our own sacred stories.

Exodus 21:8-21 NRSV

21:8 The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
21:9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.
21:10 So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac."
21:11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.
21:12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you.
21:13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring."
21:14 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 about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.
21:16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
21:17 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? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
21:18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him."
21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.
21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.