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8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.'" ~ Genesis 21:8-13
Today we return to our study of Genesis 21 where the dynamics within Abraham's family are intensifying due to a decision that Sarah made many years before. Even though God had forgiven Sarah of this sin, Abraham and Sarah still had to live with the consequences of their foolish choice to have Abraham sire a child with Hagar.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned."
In this one verse, we’ve just skipped over three years of the life of Abraham. Once Isaac reached the age of three and was considered fully capable of living on solid food, Abraham threw a real big party to celebrate the fact that little Isaac was now on solid food. This meant that Isaac had a much greater chance of making it through life now that he was not so dependent upon his mother.
This is the second time such a meal is mentioned in the Bible. The first was in Genesis 19 when the two destroying angels appeared at Sodom and Lot invited them into his home. The first feast in the Bible was the result of the outcry of wickedness against a city and it ended in sadness and the loss of life. The second was the result of the happy birth and the growth of the son of promise which led to the long and prosperous life for the son of laughter.
In v.9-10 of today's passage we read, "9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.'"
The "son of Hagar the Egyptian" was Ishmael, and he was not mentioned here by name to show the contrast between a life of faith and a life defined by the flesh. This was also done in order to remind the Israelites they were never to return to Egypt which was a picture of their bondage to the Law of Moses.
In Galatians 4:28-29 we read, "28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now."
The Apostle Paul refers to Ishmael's scoff at Isaac as outright persecution and therefore Ishmael’s laughing was contemptuous at best and possibly threatening toward his younger half-brother. Sarah saw this and was appalled. A seventeen year old mocking her precious baby was enough to upset her. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 15:13 which reads, "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years." It wasn't as if God made Ishmael do this, otherwise God would be guilty of sin. No, the eternal God who knows all things in the instantaneous now knew Ishmael would do this in advance.
This concept of Ishmael persecuting Isaac is critical to understanding the timing of this statement from God to Abraham. From this account, it will be 400 years before the Israelites will be led out of Egypt and from the hard bondage that they had suffered both there and in their time in Canaan. This then was about 30 years after God had given the promise to Abraham. Little details like these, in what are otherwise sentences of relative obscurity, become instrumental in understanding God’s promises, and His faithfulness in keeping them.
The words "cast out" is one word in the Hebrew and it is used elsewhere in the Bible to indicate an actual divorce. This is probably exactly what Sarah was implying. Even though Hagar was called a "bondwoman," she was also labeled elsewhere as being Abraham’s wife. Sarah was asking for a legal and formal declaration that Hagar was out, not just as a slave, but also as a wife of Abraham.
In Romans 4:13-14 the Apostle Paul wrote, "13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect."
From this point onward in the narrative, Isaac will be the center of attention as the son of promise, and the inheritor of Abraham’s estate. In contrast, the older son was still just the son of a maid and was excluded from the spiritual and land promises that God had revealed to Abraham. Ishmael's scoffing occurred during the feast mentioned in the previous verse. At that point in time Isaac was three years old and this is his initiation from being a baby to being a young boy who can feed himself. For whatever reason, Ishmael was scoffing at him. Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior is obviously saved and that includes Hagar and Ishmael if they were of this faith.
In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.'"
Abraham was a truly honorable, non-confrontational, family-oriented man. He took Lot along when he traveled to Canaan. He gave him the choice of choosing what portion of the land to take when they needed to separate. He went after Lot and rescued him when he was taken captive. He pleaded with Lord before the destruction of Sodom for them to be spared if at all possible, certainly because he knew Lot was there.
So, when Abraham heard what Sarah was proposing, it had to be really tough on him. No matter what the situation between him and Hagar was, Ishmael was his son and he had been raised as such for 17 years. And now, Sarah wants Ishmael gone; this was quite a bit for Abraham since Ishmael was his flesh and blood.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
This promise is repeated to Abraham from Genesis 17:20 and it will be confirmed in Genesis 25:16. God told Abraham that Ishmael would have 12 sons and we find out later that he did. Through the sons of Ishmael would come a chain of events which eventually led to the deliverance of the Israelites 400 years later. It was the descendants of Ishmael who bought Israel’s son Joseph from his brothers and then sold him to Potiphar the Egyptian. And, if Joseph had not been sold into slavery in Egypt, he would never have ascended to the right hand of Pharaoh. Every detail of history is carefully and minutely woven together to lead to the fulfillment of God’s marvelous plan of salvation through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
