Abraham’s Doubts
Read Genesis 16:1–16. What is the significance of Abram’s decision to
go with Hagar, even despite God’s promise to him? How do the two
women represent two attitudes of faith (Gal. 4:21–31)?
When Abram doubted (Gen. 15:2), God unambiguously reassured
him that he would have a son. Years later, Abram is still without a son.
Even after God’s last powerful prophecy, Abram seems to have lost his
faith: he does not believe anymore that it will be possible for him to
have a son with Sarai. Sarai, feeling hopeless, takes the initiative and
urges him to resort to a common practice of that time in the ancient
Near East: take a surrogate. Hagar, Sarai’s servant, is appointed for
this service. The system works. Ironically, this human strategy seemed
more efficient than did faith in God’s promises.
The passage describing Sarai’s relation to Abram echoes the story of
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The two texts share a number of
common motifs (Sarai, like Eve, is active; Abram, like Adam, is pas-
sive) and share common verbs and phrases (“heed the voice,” “take,”
and “give”). This parallel between the two stories implies God’s disap-
proval of this course of action.
The apostle Paul refers to this story to make his point about works
versus grace (Gal. 4:23–26). In both accounts, the result is the same:
the immediate reward of human work outside the will of God leads
to future troubles. Note that God is absent during the whole course of
action. Sarai speaks about God but never speaks to Him; nor does God
speak to either of them. This absence of God is striking, especially after
the intense presence of God in the previous chapter.
God then appears to Hagar but only after she has left the house of
Abram. This unexpected appearance discloses God’s presence in spite of
human attempts to work without Him. The reference to “the Angel of the
Lord” (Gen. 16:7, NKJV) is a title that is often identified with the Lord,
YHWH (see Gen. 18:1, 13, 22). This time it is God who takes the initiative
and announces to Hagar that she will give birth to a son, Ishmael, whose
name means God hears (Gen. 16:11). Ironically, the story, which ends
with the idea of hearing (shama‘ ), echoes the hearing at the beginning of
the story, when Abram “heeded” (shama‘ ) the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:2).
Why is it so easy for us to have the same lack of faith that Abram
had here?