Hagar at the Well – Genesis 21:1-21

This is part 2 of a series on well type scenes.  To read part one click here.

We’re going to start with Hagar because she comes first, and because she is one of my favorite characters.  Hagar has a lot of first now that I think about it.  She is the first woman to have a child by Abraham.  She is the first woman to have a face to face with God.  She is the first person to name God.  She is also the first well type scene.  Let’s look at the passage and then we will break it down.

Quickly, a type scene is a repeated setting and/or set of circumstances that reveal things to us about the characters involved.

First a little background scripture…

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.   Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.  Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.  When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.  Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.   And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?  Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.  But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.  But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant.  Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.  I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”   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.

To be clear, Hagar was receiving a death sentence.  She is being set into the desert to live alone, with no family for protection, and no way to sustain her and her son.

There is a beautiful phrase here I would be remiss not to point out.  When Sarah sees Ishmael “mocking” Isaac.  The word there is “Isaac-ing”.  Isaac’s name meas laughter.  So Sarah sees Ishmael “Isaac-ing”.  Deep right?  Totally paints the story of drama.  I’m telling you, Genesis is crazy rich with details like that.

Now that you know the background, let’s look at the well scene.

She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.  When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.  Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.”  And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

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.  Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  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.  God was with the boy as he grew up.  He lived in the desert and became an archer.  While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

There are a few things that stick out to me right away:

• Hagar is the tragic victim.  She is helpless.  She did nothing wrong.  But still she suffers.   Can you imagine having to set your kid under a tree and walk away because you can’t stand to see him die?!?!  Wow!  That is intense.
• God is the defender of the weak and suffering.  Notice that He comes when He hears the boy crying.  I think that says a lot about who God is.
• God brings with Him hope.  The first thing He does is promise Hagar a different future.  ”This right here, this is not your end.  There is a different future for you.”
• The next thing He does is provide for her immediate needs.  Hope is great, but it don’t hydrate.
• Finally, there is a beautiful picture of grace here.  Hagar doesn’t deserve the well.  She isn’t important to the story.  This is the last time we will see her in the narrative.  But God provides a well anyway.  He saves not because of who she is or what she did, but rather because of who He is.

Quick devotional thought: If we are to take the imitation of God seriously, than with hope and spiritual healing we must also take seriously peoples immediate physical needs.  We must keep reminding ourselves that, “Hope is great, but hope don’t hydrate.”

In the next post we will compare and contrast this with Abraham’s well type scene which comes immediately following this passage.

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