Hagar’s despair
Laura Digan
September 08, 2022
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Genesis 21: 1-21 (NRSVA)
1 The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Now Sarah said, ‘God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ 7 And she said, ‘Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’
8 The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10 So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.’ 11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named after you. 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.’ 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, ‘Do not let me look on the death of the child.’ And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’ 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Reader note: This week Laura takes us through the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar with some hard-hitting monologues and reflections that explore some darker and more sensitive themes of the stories of these complex characters.
HAGAR: “I don’t understand how a mother can cast out another mother along with her child. A child fathered by her very own husband. A child who grew up in her own household. A child who she cradled when he was a baby, played and laughed with as a toddler, a child she saw grow, a child loved by his father.
Yes it was Abraham who sent us out here, out here into the desert. Yes it was Abraham who sent us but it was Sarah who ordered it. Sarah who demanded her husband send me and his son away to die.
And we will surely die for there is nothing here. Nothing but scorching heat and parched dusty ground. There is no food, no water, nothing.
I’ve tried to protect the boy from the heat but his cries torment me. I can do nothing for him. Only God can save us now.
And then…just as I was about to give up all hope…I heard a voice from high above…calling my name…”
PRAYER:
Father God
You hear the cries of your children
Protect those who suffer around the world
Soften hardened hearts of decision makers
Soften hearts hardened by 24 hour news reels
Use us to feed the hungry
Quench the thirst of the thirsty
Deliver the forgotten
And care for the orphans
Make us your hope
In the name of your son Jesus
Amen
ACTION:
Consider the countries who are feeling the effects of climate change and ask God in prayer what practical action you can take to help.
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