The story of Sarah and Hagar speaks to me on many levels regarding waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. There are times in our lives when God speaks to us of a promise He has for us. It could be a calling, or a dream but between the promise and fulfillment, there is almost always a period of waiting.
God promised Abraham and Sarah they would have numerous descendants but as the years went by and Sarah passed the age of childbearing, it seemed that God’s promises failed. So, Sarah came up with a plan to give her slave-girl, Hagar, to Abraham saying “perhaps I can build a family through her.”[1] Some would say she took matters into her own hands, but is it possible that Sarah legitimately thought God would fulfill His promise through Hagar? This would be reasonable for several reasons. First, God’s promise did not specify that the promised son would come through Sarah. God spoke to Abraham regarding descendants several times and only after Ishmael did He say his son would come through Sarah. Second, her plan to use Hagar as a surrogate was common in the Ancient Near East as a legitimate means to have a child. Ancient laws of Sarah’ day “allowed a barren woman to give her maidservant to her husband as a surrogate wife in order to secure children for herself.”[2] Sarah knew, as was their custom, that any child born to Abraham through Hagar would be considered Sarah’s child. It is conceivable that Sarah simply thought the fulfillment of the promise might look different than they were expecting.
During our time of waiting, we often face seasons of discouragement and doubt, tempted to give up hope that what we heard from Him will come to pass. Inevitably there will be some who would remind us, “It might not look like you think.” Or “It might be different than what you’re expecting.” There is some measure of truth to this counsel, but we should keep in mind that when we “encourage” someone with these words, we may actually be tempting them to give up on Isaac and settle for an Ishmael.
Approximately ten years ago, I received a promise, a call, from God and pursued it with passion, and walked through seasons when it seemed imminent only to have the door slammed shut. The last time this happened seemed final so I decided to pursue something that would involve aspects of the promise because I thought maybe it would look different. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was settling for an Ishmael, wondering if there would ever be an Isaac.
Our Western mindset in a world of constant Arab-Israeli conflict gives rise to the view that Isaac is the path to God’s blessings and Ishmael is the problem created by those who lose faith and take matters into their own hands. It is true that Isaac was God’s redemptive plan for the world but it is also true that God blessed Hagar and Ishmael. When we read Hagar’s story, we realize she is also the object of divine favor and revelation.[3] Absent any covenantal context, God’s promises to Hagar concerning Ishmael were nearly identical to His promises to Abraham regarding Isaac. Maalouf posits, “If one is inclined to see an inclusion of Hagar’s seed in the promise given to Abraham concerning his own numberless seed, the promise to Hagar was a development of one aspect of the Abrahamic covenant.”[4] God’s interactions with Hagar and His blessing of Ishmael is great comfort to those of us who feel that God’s promises have failed and, because of human actions and choices, we are left with Plan B. Just as God blessed Hagar and Ishmael, He continues to bless us today even if we wonder if we are settling for an Ishmael.
[1] Genesis 16:2b, NIV
[2] Tony Maalouf, “Hagar: God Names Adam, Hagar Names God” in Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalizes Women of the Bible, ed. Sandra Glahn (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications), 173.
[3] Maalouf, Vindicating the Vixens, 179.
[4] Maalouf, Vindicating the Vixens, 181.