Right off the bat, before we go anywhere with this, I have to say… Genesis 21 is, for me, one of those “things that make you go hmm.” Then again, I’m not God. As strange as this whole chapter is, the image of God’s mercy toward one blows my mind. As many times as I’ve read Genesis 21, verses 17 and 18 never stood out to me the way they did this time. God loves everybody. A whole, whole lot more than we can grasp. And He’s merciful. A whole, whole lot more than we can grasp.
Genesis 21:17-18(GW)–God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. “What’s the matter, Hagar?” he asked her. “Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes. Come on, help the boy up! Take him by the hand, because I’m going to make him into a great nation.”
Let’s face it. Abraham screwed up. Royally. As in big time. As in, “What in the world were you thinking?” And yet he is still considered faithful. Okay, right there, I’m already floored by God.
But here we have Hagar and Ishamel, sent out into the desert to die. Ishmael. The result of a man-directed attempt to fulfill God’s promise. The result of a certain lack of faith move on his father’s part. But let’s not forget… He was the innocent one here. He didn’t ask to be born, didn’t ask to be a rival of the favorite son. He was a victim of circumstance here… until he chose to mock his brother. Now that wasn’t nice. And you have to wonder, based on the reaction of Abraham and Sarah, if this was an ongoing heart problem with Ishmael or if Sarah just finally, jealously lost it. We don’t know enough to say.
But what gets me here is God’s actions. See, he could have let Ishmael die in chapter 21, right where he lay under a bush in the desert. That would have been the end of Ishmael’s story. To boil it down to very, very overly simplistic terms, some traditions believe Ishamel to be the patriarch of Islam. And had Ishmael died right there… Well, history would be very different.
But God didn’t let him die. Instead, He saved Ishamael and promised to make him a great nation too. In fact, Ishamel had twelve sons. Sound familiar?
I won’t bog down in the question of “why” God did that. Only God knows. But I feel certain God loved Ishmael. God saw that young man simply as who he was as he lay there on the ground. And despite knowing everything that would happen, God loved Ishamel, who was born into a definitely crazy dysfunctional situation if there ever was one.
God loved Ishmael. God loves every single person on this earth, whether they are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, or whatever flavor of religion they are chasing today. His greatest desire is to be right there with them, for them to believe Him and love Him, no matter what. And He gives them every chance, just like He gave Ishmael. That’s why we are to love as well, and it breaks my heart when we hate “in the name of Jesus.” Because, mind you, I’ve seen it happen. And that’s just as much a sin as the sin of those we are so busy hating.
Is it a fine line to walk, that one between love and tolerance? Yes. We don’t tolerate sin. At all. But we love each other, no matter what. And that’s the line we have to find. That’s the way we walk like Jesus. Lord, help us find that line and walk it with purpose.
So, for you… what in the Bible makes you go… hmmmmm?
-JB
Jessica R. Patch says
We are so on the same page on our blogs today! But then, that doesn’t surprise me!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!! A big big love on this post, Jodie! 🙂
Jodie says
Thanks, girl! That means a lot! Loved yours today too. Never thought of me and the dog being alike before… especially when he strows garbage, you know, EVERYWHERE.
Jennifer Slattery says
I’ve always loved the account of Hagar and how, though rejected by man, she’d been loved by God. I read she was most likely one of the handmaidens given to Abraham by the Pharaoh in Egypt. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like.
Beautiful post, Jodie.
Jodie says
She and Ishmael were both caught up in circumstances beyond their control. It would be no wonder if either of them wound up bitter. But I also wonder about heart issues. She was not always nice to Sarah. And Ishmael wasn’t kind to Isaac, apparently. Were those isolated incidents or mentions of bigger problems? Then again, Abraham and Sarah clearly had their own issues. Guess God doesn’t want us judging, huh? 🙂
Dawn Lucowitz says
Like last week’s verse, I am right here with you. What struck me reading your post though is where I want to expand a bit. It’s something that has really got me thinking a lot right now, especially about some of the people in my life. Clearly Hagar and Ishmael got a raw deal here. How true is this in the world. There are people that get dealt a bad had all the time. Look at children in third world countries for a poor, and extreme example. Another example can easily be seen in the military world. We see many soldiers get a bad deal because they worked for a poor leader or their branch made an “unfair” decision, or whatever. What is important is how we respond and act out of our “bad deal.” Just because life doesn’t seem to treat you fairly, that doesn’t give you the right to act out. You can’t go around mocking (like Ishmael). It doesn’t give people the right to steal or break laws. It doesn’t give people the right to take out their bad moods on others around them. Maybe they had no hand in their situation being bad, but they do have a hand in how they respond and behave out of it. Hagar went back to Sarah in submission because that is what God wanted her to do. She had every right to stay away, or go back and be a horrible maidservant, but she didn’t. She chose to live the way God wanted her to, even though in this society we would say she has every right not to.
Jodie says
Ooh… I like that thought. Our sense of entitlement today leads us to think we can behave badly when we’re treated badly, and that only leads to more trouble. We’re “entitled” to what we want, therefore we can act out like children when we don’t get it. You’re right. Hagar did the right thing, even though she didn’t “have” to. There’s way more to that story than we think there is.