What about Ishmael?

The story of Ishmael, found in Genesis 16 is often used as an example of what not to do. But it also raises some interesting questions for all of us. As we look into the story, the first thing we must do is establish a little of the background against which is it played out. In Genesis 12:7 and 13:15 God had told Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. In Genesis 15 Abraham, who was somewhere between 75 and 85 years old, told God that he had no descendants, only slaves, and suggested that one of his slaves would have to serve as his “heir.” God’s response to this was as follows:

“This man will not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body…”

This is an important statement, as we shall see shortly. As the story of Ishmael opens in Genesis 16, we are told that Sarai suggested that Abraham sleep with her Egyptian servant Hagar in order to bear children. As strange as this may seem to some of us today, this was not an uncommon practice and at this point in the story, it’s difficult to find fault with her suggestion.

Furthermore, since all God had told Abraham up to this point was that he would have a son from his body – not necessarily through Sarah – its hard to find fault with Abraham for following her suggestion. Put yourself, for a moment, in Abraham’s shoes. You’re 85 years old, and your wife, who has been barren all her life, is 75. You recently had God tell you that you would father a son. Certainly from Abraham’s perspective what Sarai proposed made good sense!

But this is where the difficulty comes in. If we look back a little further into Abraham’s history, we find that Hagar was almost surely one of the “female servants” that Pharaoh gave him in 12:16. We also find that Pharaoh did this based on a lie Abraham had told about Sarai being his sister. So we see that this lie that got him out of momentary trouble years ago, was now coming back to haunt him so to speak.

The real problem with this incident was that Abraham was seeking a natural solution to a supernatural promise. Had he chosen, like Isaac would later do (26:21) to pray and continue to trust God to heal his wife’s barrenness, he would have almost surely have saved both himself and many others a good deal of grief in the years to come.

The real lesson this story teaches us is that “good” solutions are not always God solutions. Both Abraham and Sarai were ready to have a child. They had waited and tried for many years with no results. When at last a plan emerged that would and did give them a child, it was hard not to see it as a good thing. But while God’s plans are always good, good plans are not always God. And regardless of what the short-term may produce, when all is said and done, the only plans that are going to work out well in the long run are God’s plans.