8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.REFLECTIONSWritten by Sam DarmoAs I reflect on this story, I am drawn to two things. The first one is that second half of verse 13 where God said, “because he is your offspring.” Earlier, we saw how because of Abraham Lot was saved from the wrath of God on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:29), and in here, we see that because of Abraham, Ishmael was saved from the wrath of Sarah and in both cases God is working through His relationship to Abraham to bring about His saving work. Does this remind you of anything? Through Christ Jesus we have full forgiveness and full protection from the righteous wrath of God as John 3:36 reminds us “36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them”Thinking about Sarah and how she treated Ishmael and Hagar, it is important to notice that God didn’t stop this, but rather, God commanded Abraham to do what she demanded to happen. For although this was a bad situation God used it to affirm the reckoning of the true offspring of Abraham (v12), as children of the free woman and not of the slave, which is how we are seen today through faith in Christ, as children of the freewoman and not of the slave, setting us free from the bondages of the Law, sin and death and making us, like Isaac, children of the promise and therefore through Christ of the new covenant (Gal 4:21-31).The second thing I noticed is how God looked after Hagar and Ishmael who must’ve been a teenager by then. Again for the sake of Abraham (vv 11-13) God heard the voice of the crying boy (v17) and still provided water where there was no water. God did this by opening Hagar’s eyes (v19) and it is amazing to see how God opens our eyes to the source of the living waters who lives in us so we too can live and not die in the wilderness (John 7:38). QUESTIONDo you think Sarah was fair in the way she treated Hagar and Ishmael?ABOUT THE AUTHORSam is an Assistant Minister with our Assyrian and Arabic churches, as well as our Fairfield English Morning Church.