Living in the Image of God M04S15
Abraham-Sarah succumbed to temptation to seek their child of promise through maidservant Hagar. After Hagar became pregnant from Abraham, she desired more and sought to disrupt the Abraham-Sarah union. In honor and support for Abraham as head of household, Sarah called on him to resolve the issue of Hagar. In response, Abraham delegated to Sarah his authority over Hagar and, thus, honored and supported Sarah leadership of their relationship with Hagar. The Abraham-Sarah union was more important to them than Hagar’s pregnancy, notwithstanding that her pregnancy could be their last chance to receive fulfillment of God’s promise. Abraham-Sarah bonding resulted from a long period of caring for, respecting, and honoring each other.
This bible study continues a series to understand the individual responsibility regarding family leadership, based on bible examples of husband-wife interactions and relationships. We begin with a summary of what we have learned so far.
The series started with a discussion of the Shunammite couple, where we learned that the couple was blessed abundantly through their honor and support for family leadership. The Shunammite woman honored and supported her husband as overall leader of the household, whereas the husband supported his wife as spiritual gateway of the family and leader in specific matters. Proceeding with Adam and Eve, we learned from the account of their creation that God created marriage to combine a man and woman to form a union of seamless complements, that is adequate for the mission of representing him among all creation. He created man first but found him inadequate. Then he created woman as comparable companion and helper from within.
The series has continued with a study of the Abraham-Sarah union, which we have divided into four segments to focus enough on the details. The first of the four segments discussed the call of Abraham-Sarah, where we see that God called the union by speaking to Abraham. Based on the interactions, we can surmise that he relied on Abraham’s leadership of the union and seamless communication with Sarah to ensure that Abraham-Sarah shared the information and commitments seamlessly.
The current study discusses interactions between Abraham-Sarah and their maidservant Hagar that began with Abraham-Sarah seeking to address childlessness by having a child through the maidservant. They expected that having a child through Hagar would help God fulfill his promise of a great offspring expansion for their union. The attempt started successfully in that Hagar became pregnant through Abraham. However, she desired more and attempted to disrupt the Abraham-Sarah union by despising Sarah. Abraham-Sarah called on the strength of their union and their honor and support for family leadership to defeat the attempted disruption by Hagar. We discuss their history briefly to understand that their bonding resulted from a long period of caring for, respecting, and honoring each other.
Hagar Temptation
Sarah offered her maidservant Hagar to Abraham, so they could have a child through her: “So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife” [Genesis 16:3]. Abraham and Sarah were about eighty-five and seventy-five years old, respectively, at the time. They had difficulty believing they could still have a child. They believed that having a child through Hagar was a way for God to fulfill his promise of a great expansion of their offspring. Also, they expected Hagar to remain loyal and subservient to Sarah, even while bearing a child for Abraham-Sarah.
Abraham accepted and impregnated Hagar: “He slept with Hagar, and she conceived…” [Genesis 16:4]. However, after Hagar became pregnant from Abraham, she desired more from the relationship and sought to disrupt the Abraham-Sarah union by despising Sarah: “…When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress” [Genesis 16:4]. Instead of being a wife to Abraham through Sarah, she sought to be “wife to Abraham” superior to Sarah.
In summary, Abraham-Sarah succumbed initially to temptation to seek the child of promise through Hagar. Having become pregnant for Abraham, Hagar decided to take advantage and sought to disrupt the Abraham-Sarah union.
Responding to Hagar Disruption
In honor and support for Abraham leadership of the household, Sarah appealed to him to address the challenge from Hagar [Genesis 16:5]: “Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.’” In response, Abraham delegated to Sarah his authority over the affairs of Hagar [Genesis 16:6]: “‘Your slave is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’”
By delegating to Sarah his authority over Hagar, Abraham honored and supported Sarah leadership of their relationship with Hagar. Sarah treated Hagar harshly until Hagar fled from the household: “Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her” [Genesis 16:6].
Abraham-Sarah, therefore, chose to save their union from disruption, in preference to having the child of promise through Hagar. They succumbed initially to the temptation of seeking a child through Hagar because they believed that Hagar’s pregnancy could be their last opportunity to receive fulfillment of God’s promise. However, they let Hagar leave with the pregnancy, instead of disrupting their union. In the decision process, Sarah honored and supported Abraham’s authority as head of household while Abraham honored and supported Sarah as leader of their relationship with Hagar. Their honor and support for family leadership led them to defeat Hagar’s attempt at disrupting their union.
Abraham-Sarah Bonding
Let us discuss excerpts from the Abraham-Sarah history to understand the strength of their union better. Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister and later became his wife. They had known each other for seventy-five years prior to the interaction with Hagar, as husband and wife during most of the time. Abraham was eighty-five years old and Sarah seventy-five at about the time Hagar became pregnant. Let us discuss aspects of their history based on selections from Genesis 12, 16, 17, and 20; to understand the strength of their bonding.
Based on Genesis 12, we see that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left Harran with his wife Sarah. He was known as Abram and his wife Sarai at the time [Genesis 12:4–5]: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.”
Next, based on Genesis 16, we can deduce that Abraham was at least eighty-five years old at the time of the interactions with Hagar: “So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife” [Genesis 16:3]. Because Abraham was seventy-five years old when they left Harran and they had been in Canaan for ten years after an unknown period of travel from Harran to Canaan, we can estimate he was “at least eighty-five” at the time of this interaction with Hagar.
Furthermore, based on Genesis 17 and the previous passages, we can deduce that Sarah was sixty-five when they left Harran and at least seventy-five years old during Hagar’s pregnancy [Genesis 17:17]: “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’” This verse conveys the information that Abraham was ten years older than Sarah.
Finally, we learn that Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister based on an interaction in Genesis 20 [Genesis 20:11–12]: “Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.’” Therefore, Abraham had known Sarah as baby sister or wife, and Sarah had known him as big brother or husband, for at least seventy-five years at the time Hagar became pregnant. Their bonding resulted from a long period of caring for, respecting, and honoring each other.
Summary of What We Learned
Abraham-Sarah succumbed to temptation to seek their child of promise through maidservant Hagar. After Hagar became pregnant from Abraham, she desired more and sought to disrupt the Abraham-Sarah union. In honor and support for Abraham as head of household, Sarah called on him to resolve the issue of Hagar. In response, Abraham delegated to Sarah his authority over Hagar and, thus, honored and supported Sarah leadership of their relationship with Hagar.
The Abraham-Sarah union was more important to them than Hagar’s pregnancy, notwithstanding that her pregnancy could be their last chance to receive fulfillment of God’s promise. Abraham-Sarah bonding resulted from a long period of caring for, respecting, and honoring each other.