Genesis 16:1-16
Sarai is jealous and behaving very badly. So a pregnant Hagar, wanting relief from her awful situation, runs away into the wilderness. Next thing you know, the angel of the Lord appears to Hagar and instructs her to return and submit to Sarai (that had to be hard to swallow). But the angel also gives Hagar some hope by giving her a preview of her son's future. Hagar obeys, and then we see this statement "You are a God of seeing. . .Truly here I have seen him who looks after me" (Genesis 16:13). I have to say, I was impressed by Hagar's response here.
So what did you learn from Hagar? How has God been "a God of seeing" for you? Tami W.
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I never noticed this instruction that the Lord gave in this passage before (to return and submit to the mistreatment Hagar had endured). I always thought God did not approve of a relationship that was of this nature, yet here He is, telling her to return ... a VERY hard thing to do. It makes me question the choices I've made to 'run' from situations I did not feel valued in.
What messes we make in our lives when we take things into our own hands. I can surely relate to Sarah bad choices and the consequences of those choices. The encouragement is God's faithfulness. Sarah is highly regarded in scripture in spite of her actions here. Her heart was good. also luv Cynthia's insight.
what ive learntis that dispite what you are goin thru theres a light at the end of the tunnel as long as we trust God.So the angel of the Lord teling Hagar to go back , its kinda hard for her but the Angel had already givin her a promise and that was , in (v 10), and the God who sees; is just tellin us no matter what we do God always sees us.and this is the same in Hagar;s situation.
I never noticed before that Sarah blamed Abram for Hagar treating her badly.
Hagar's actions and attitudes are a few of the emotional landmines that resulted from the polygamous family arrangement of Abram's family. Two wives was one wife too many for Abram. It seems to me that Sarai's idea was fuzzy thinking to say the least. Why would she think that children born of another wife would be her children. It seems that nobody thought this through carefully but they were guided by their emotions rather than by God.
Not sure Will, but I think it was common in those days to have a surrogate if you couldn't bear children. I think it also makes me think about our choices and who we listen to. Even if a trusted friend or family member encourages us to do something against God's will-we need to be very careful to listen to God .
We are all of us nervous when dealing with the angel of the Lord. Such beings can see that we are looked after by God.Because He is not a disembodied consciousness (Buddhism) when He sees, it registers as something on our "inner screen", sometimes difficult and sad
Hager's example show us that Jesus is a loving & forgiving God, if we cry unto HIM in sincerity (I John 1:9).
Hi Tammi,
God just reconfirm that no matter what we go through He will us through. But we also have a part to play if it means to submit to leadership even if they ill treat us. Humility and obedience is the key.