Shadowland: Beginnings

Shadowland: Beginnings: Week 21

Genesis 16

The Son of the Bondwoman

In the journey from Ur to Moriah, Abram faces many tests of faith. His performance is mixed: here is how I would grade him so far:

½ Leave your country and kindred, and go to a land I will show you.
× Stay in land despite famine
√ Do not covet land
√ Courage to take arms and wisdom to do so with God's guidance
√ Fulfil vow and do not covet spoils of war
½ Trust God's promise of a "seed from your loins"

Abraham exemplifies justification by faith - but is far from perfect. Hallelujah! God's covenant with Abram is unconditional and does not depend on Abram's performance. In chapter 15 he "believed God". In chapter 16 he (and Sarai) "walk according to the flesh".

16:2 "that I may obtain children by her." The Amorite code of Hammurabi provides for surrogate motherhood.
"And Abram hearkened unto his wife." Compare 3:6
16:3 Abram is 85, and Sarai is 75, and it is 10 years since God promised Abram a Seed. They decide that God intends for them to use other means. This decision typifies the "works of the flesh". (Galations 4:23)
"to be his wife" - God does not recognize this "marriage" (16:9,21:13).
16:4 The "work of the flesh" is immediately evident, Galations 5:19-21
16:5 Compare 3:12
16:7 The "Angel of the LORD" is Christ. He finds a woman at a well and changes the direction of her life (John 4). Hagar typifies bondage to the law (Galatians 4:21-5:1), but she is still loved by God as a person and the recipient of His grace.
16:9 Jesus bids her to return to her post, and annuls her "marriage". God himself will set her and Ishmael free after another 13 years of service.
16:11 Ishmael means "God hears"
16:12 "in the presence of" - actually "in the face of", similar idea to "sinners before the LORD" in 13:13. This prophecy is not specifically about Ishmael, but about his descendents.
16:14 לַחַ֖י lahay - "that lives" or "to life". He is the living God, and the God of the living, and לחי is an important symbol in Jewish culture.

Isaiah 54