Genesis 21:17-34 Click here for Bible Verses
Hagar in the Desert
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 21:17-34. Let’s go!
Genesis 21:17 (NIV)
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
On verse 17: Ishmael’s name means “God hears”. Just as God heard the cries of Hagar when she was first pregnant with Ishmael, so God was now hearing Ishmael’s cry. God is a God who hears the cries of His people.
Genesis 21:18 (NIV)
18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
On verse 18: This verse shows me that every child needs two things: support (“lift the boy up”) and leadership (“take him by the hand”). As a parent, teacher or leader, if all you give to your child is gentle support but no pressure to improve, the child may never grow. And if all you do is give your child is pressure to improve but no support, the child may crack under the pressure. What a child needs is both forward-moving pressure and gentle support.
Genesis 21:19 (NIV)
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
On verse 19: In the desert of Beersheba, with her skin of water emptied (see verses 14-15), Hagar was desperate to find water for herself and her son. God opens her eyes to see a well of water. Likewise, spiritually the world we live in is “a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). But God sent Jesus Christ to be our well in the desert, from Whom we can draw living water to satisfy our thirst.
Genesis 21:20-21 (NIV)
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.
21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
On verses 20-21: Ishmael grew up without an earthly father by his side, but “God was with the boy” (v20) while he grew up living in the desert and becoming an archer. Likewise, you may not have a close relationship with your earthly father, but you have a Heavenly Father who cares for you and who is always watching over you (Matthew 6:26).
Also, Hagar finds a wife for Ishmael from Egypt, which makes sense since Hagar herself was Egyptian (Genesis 16:1).
Here, even in the desert, God was providing for Ishmael. What can we learn from this? God provides for us even in our desert seasons when things feel colder, dryer or more lifeless than we might like (see Matthew 6:30-34).
Genesis 21:22-32 (NIV)
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.
23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized.
26 But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty.
28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29 and Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.
32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.
On verses 22-32: Here we see Abraham moving on after having to let go of his maidservant Hagar and Ishmael their son. A dispute breaks out between Abraham’s men and Abimelech’s men (led by Phicol) over a well that both groups laid claim to. Rather than escalating the dispute, Abraham settles the dispute with Abimelech by offering him seven ewe lambs in exchange for undisputed ownership rights of the well. Abimelech accepts Abraham’s offer and Abraham calls that place Beersheba, meaning “well of seven” or, perhaps more likely, “well of the oath” since verse 31 says that Abraham and Abimelech “swore an oath there”.
The fact that Abimelech required Abraham to swear an oath (v23) may be a slight rebuke of Abraham, suggesting perhaps that Abimelech did not trust Abraham (since Abraham had not been honest with him earlier in Genesis 21). Thus he needed Abraham to swear an oath. It’s a reminder that we want to be men and women of our word, trustworthy, dependable people who keep our promises.
What can we learn from this? Instead of settling disagreements with violence and going to war, seek to settle matters peacefully in a mutually agreeable way.
For me Abraham offering seven ewe lambs to Abimelech for the well reminds me of how God paid the highest price, offering His Son the lamb of God, so that He could ransom us and have undisputed ownership over us.
Genesis 21:33-34 (NIV)
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
On verses 33-34: Why did Abraham plant a tamarisk tree in Beersheba? While some scholars say that the planting of a tamarisk tree may have been a symbol for expecting or hoping for a child, it was clear that Abraham was worshiping the Lord. Wherever you go, make it your goal and your priority to worship the Lord.
Jesus, thank You for being our well in the desert, that we can always draw from You and be renewed. Thank You for being the one who provides for all of our needs in every season. I pray I would be a trustworthy person, someone others can count on, and that my priority would always be to worship You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
