Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 21:14-34
Sometimes as we go through life, we find ourselves in a desperate situation. Perhaps we are out of money, and have more bills than income; thus, we don’t know where our food, clothing, and shelter is going to come from. At those moments, we tend to worry and lose hope. Today’s passage is a reminder that we never need to lose hope in any situation.
When Hagar became pregnant with Abraham’s child, she despised Sarai, and fled when Sarai afflicted her. Yahweh found her in the wilderness and promised she would bear a son who would become too many people to count (see Genesis 16). Hagar returned to Abram and Sarai. When Isaac was weaned about 15 years later, Hagar’s son mocked Isaac, so Sarah demanded that Abraham send Hagar and her son away.
Gen. 21:14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Beersheba was in the southern end of the area known as the Holy Land. Beersheba and the area south of it is mostly desert.
Gen. 21:15 ¶ When the water in the skin was finished, she put the child under one of the bushes.
Gen. 21:16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see when the child dies.” And she sat opposite him and lifted up her voice and wept.
Look at the phrase “when the child dies”. Yahweh had promised that her son Ishmael would become a man, so she should have had some faith instead of assuming her son was about to die (see Genesis 16:11-12). On the other hand, it is understandable why Hagar was pessimistic. The promise about her son had been given 15 years earlier. Much had happened in her life over those years. Perhaps she had forgotten what Yahweh had promised her. Furthermore, her current situation was bleak. She was in the wilderness and had run out of water. That usually ends in death.
Gen. 21:17 Then God heard the voice of the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Notice the question “What is the matter with you, Hagar?” Yahweh scolded Hagar for her lack of faith. Perhaps Yahweh often wants to ask us the same question.
Gen. 21:18 Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”
Gen. 21:19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Hagar had no idea where she would get water for her son, but Yahweh provided the water she needed just in time.
It is easy for us to read this and think Hagar should have known better than to be pessimistic. However, we do the same thing. When we face obstacles in life and find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know where our food, clothing, or shelter will come from, we tend to worry and assume the worst instead of finding comfort in the fact that God promised to supply all our needs (see Matthew 6:33).
Gen. 21:20 ¶ And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and was an archer.
Gen. 21:21 And he lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Paran was in the Sinai Peninsula. Hagar took a wife from Egypt because Hagar was an Egyptian.
Gen. 21:22 ¶ Now it happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do;
Abimelech was the king of Gerar (see Genesis 20:2).
Gen. 21:23 so now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the lovingkindness that I have shown you, you shall show me and the land in which you have sojourned.”
Gen. 21:24 And Abraham said, “I swear it.”
Gen. 21:25 But Abraham reproved Abimelech about the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized.
Gen. 21:26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it until today.”
Gen. 21:27 ¶ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them cut a covenant.
Gen. 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
Gen. 21:29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?”
Gen. 21:30 He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well.”
Gen. 21:31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.
The Hebrew word “beer” is the word for “well”. The Hebrew word “sheba” is the word for “seven”. Thus, Beersheba means “well of the seven”. The seven refers to the seven ewe lambs given by Abraham to Abimelech.
Gen. 21:32 So they cut a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Gen. 21:33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.
Gen. 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days.
It is easy for us to read the story of Hagar and think Hagar should have known better than to be pessimistic. However, we do the same thing. When we face obstacles in life and find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know where our food, clothing, or shelter will come from, we tend to worry and assume the worst instead of finding comfort in the fact that God promised to supply all our needs (see Matthew 6:33). Just as Yahweh was able to supply the water Hagar needed in the middle of the wilderness, so too He is always able to supply our needs, even when it seems impossible.
What is a situation in your past where God may have asked “What is the matter with you?”
What promises from God do you need to rely on right now regarding a current challenge you are facing?
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”