THE BURDEN OF THE BONDWOMAN
Genesis 21:8-21
By Cleavon Matthews
January 25, 2007
INTRODUCTION
It was a celebratory occasion. It was a time of laughter, delight, and merriment. Abraham made a great feast. Isaac was weaned. He escaped the danger of infantile fatality. There was undoubtedly fabulous food and delicious drink spread on tremendous tables.
But in the midst of this gala there was a grudge. There was a problem at this party. There was a conflict at this carnival. Sarah made a staid and keen observation. She noticed Ishmael now in his late teens ‘scoffing’ at Isaac. Ishmael was the son of Hagar the Egyptian.
Sarah without indecision insists to Abraham that Hagar her Egyptian rival along with her son be cast out. Sarah will not have Ishmael share in or threaten her son’s inheritance. Although heartbroken Abraham must hearken to Sarah’s voice because it is the will of God.
This narrative contains vivid theological analogies and Biblical relevance. This narrative is contained in the Pentateuch which was written to Israel just as they were to enter the land of promise. It has similarities to the struggles and situations of the nation itself. The themes of significance include: promise, faith, seed, heir, Egypt, bondage, sons, and scoffing.
At center stage of this drama stands the bondwoman. Hagar was a maidservant to Sarah. She was under their command. She is playing a part written by another. Hagar was written into this story because Sarah was barren but now she is being written out because Sarah gave birth! In a previous scene she was told to go back but now she is told to get out and stay out!
Centuries later the Apostle Paul uses the story of the bondwoman to preach and defend the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the promised Seed (Gal 3:16; Gen 12:7; 13:15; 24:7). Those who are of faith are sons of Abraham (Gal 3:7). All nations are blessed in Abraham (Gal 3:8; Gen 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). We are sons and heirs of God through Christ (Gal 4:7). Finally Paul contrasts law and the Gospel of grace! Gal 4:21-5:1
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar- for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children- but the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage!
Let’s consider the Burden of the Bondwoman! Paul used this passage to defend the faith against those who wanted to demand that Gentiles be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. It was not Paul’s purpose to vivify Hagar. The hurts and hard times of Hagar also correspond with a large and growing population of people in our society. The Burden of the Bondwoman is being a single mother! Let’s consider her separation, her struggle, and her solution!
I.HER SEPARATION
Genesis 21:14-15 “So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.”
She was sent away. She was kicked to the curve. She was told to vacate the premises. She could no longer occupy the home with all of its surrounding comforts, securities, and blessings. Like the scapegoat she was sent away from the presence of the people. She was to be forgotten and dismissed. Her services were no longer needed. Her presence was no longer tolerable.
She was rejected. She was torn away from everything familiar. Imagine the shame. Consider the hurt and humiliation. She must have felt used and betrayed. She could understand and expect Sarah’s treatment but Abraham was a different story. She bore Abraham’s first son. In her heart and mind Abraham had on many occasions throughout the years affirmed his love and hope for Ishmael.
How could Abraham do this to her? How could he allow this to happen? Didn’t she mean anything to him? How could he put his own son on the street? Wasn’t this a cold and heartless act? He puts her out. Now she and Ishmael are alone and wandering in the wilderness.
She has no where to turn. No parents to find. No siblings to help. This was like a divorce. Hagar at the bequest of Sarai had become Abram’s wife (Genesis 16:3). Divorce is devastating because it tears people apart. Those who experience divorce often go through the stages of grief and bereavement.
• Stage 1- Denial and Isolation
• Stage 2- Anger
• Stage 3- Bargaining
• Stage 4- Depression
• Stage 5- Acceptance
Perhaps this is why God hates divorce. “Then aHe arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again. 2 bThe Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, c“Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this 1precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God d‘made them male and female.’ 7 e‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, f “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
No He does not hate those who have divorced! Could it be because God knows the awful and devastating affects it has on the human heart? It dismantles self-esteem. It inspires hatred. It fuels anger. It agitates animosity. It dismantles hope. It crushes the soul and spirit with the painful weight of shock, rejection, fear, abandonment, and depression. It destabilizes foundations. It’s painful because a union has been broken. Flesh and bone have been severed. I know she was only his wife in a limited sense but a bond had been broken and there was no anesthesia to numb the aching hurt!
Many have wandered in the wilderness of separation. They have been alone and aimless having no community of concerned personalities to share their burden. No one to help them push through their pain. No one to cheer them on to recovery. So they drift in their wilderness of darkness. They roam in the reeds of ruin. They stroll through the stubs of separation. They meander through the mire of melancholy.
II.HER STRUGGLE
Genesis 21:16 “Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.”
Hagar’s struggle rises like the sun from the devastation of her separation. She struggles because the separation left her homeless and broke. She was provided nothing but bread and water and it didn’t last long. Abraham was “very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2) but Hagar saw none of it. No trust fund for Ishmael. No child support payments. No alimony. No livestock, silver, or gold for Hagar.
Hagar had no resources. Hagar had no recourse. Hagar the Egyptian hit rock bottom. The struggle took the fight from her spirit. Hagar was down to nothing. Her son was suffering. She could not feed him. She couldn’t protect him.
Have you ever been down to nothing? Have you ever reached your breaking point? Have you ever sunk so low all you could do was lift your voice and weep? You couldn’t sing if your life depended on it. There was no hint of laughter or celebration! This day in the wilderness of Beersheba Hagar lifted her voice and wept! She sobbed the slobbering sounds of sorrow. She cried the tears of despondency. She moaned the miserable melody of misfortune. She blubbered and bawled the noise of betrayal.
Hagar reminds us of Israel when they struggled in their separation from Jerusalem being taken into Babylonian captivity. The Psalmist captures the scene in the 137th division.
1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who aplundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land?
How can we sing the Lord’s song when….?
Despair has drained our determination
Rejection has ripped away our rejoicing
Sorrow has shattered our spirit
Heartache has hung our heads in the gallows of grief
Separation has stupefied our souls
Struggle has strangled our supplies
At times like this all we can do is lift our voices and weep!
Weeping is an emotional baptism. It cleanses us. Weeping is a mental form of catharsis. Weeping is the physical expression of what can not be verbalized. Weeping is the universal display of human catastrophe. Contrary to some weeping is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of humanity! It is humanity at one of its best moments because it often reveals genuine love and concern. In our moments of weeping the iconoclast armor surrounding our hearts is unlocked for others to gain a glimpse of our greatness! No our greatest does not lie in moments of pride and power. Our greatness lies in moments of weakness. Our true strength lies in our weakness (2 Cor. 12).
III.HER SOLUTION
Genesis 21:17-21 “And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.”
When she needed it the most and when God was sure to get all the glory, her solution arrived. God was not late. The Lord was right on time. Notice the Lord responded to Ishmael’s voice.
Hagar discovers during her pain God has a plan! The struggle sets up the solution. Our pain creates a window of opportunity for the King of Glory to come charging into our situation. Our incredulous moments of impossibility are banished into eternal exile because God calls from heaven with the words of assurance.
The Lord lovingly questions us. He provokes the pondering of our spirits. He asks, what ails you? What troubles you? What has created us a panic within your spirit? What has broken you down? What has gained a foot hole on your psychological and cognitive reasoning? Then we begin to understand! There is nothing ‘ailing’ me that cannot be solved by the Lord Almighty!
He kills
He makes alive
He wounds
He heals
He calls those things that are not as though they were
He is able to do exceedingly abundantly
He is able to make all grace abound
He is able to supply all my needs according to the riches of His grace
But then He calls me into action. He calls me to arise. He calls me to lift up the lad. He calls me to hear the promise of His word. Then He causes my eyes to open! Here is the dualism. He calls me and then He causes me!
He calls me to hear then He causes me to understand
He calls me to act then He causes me to be able
He calls me to serve then He causes me to sing
He calls me to love then He causes me to live
He calls me to believe then He causes me to behave
He calls me to forgive then He causes me to forget
He calls me to give then He causes me to grow
He calls me to worship then He causes me to work
He calls me to walk then He causes me to witness
He calls me to prayer then He causes me to praise
He calls me to faith then He causes me to fellowship
He calls me to covenant then He causes me to commit
He calls me to repentance then He causes me to relate
CLOSING
Our burdens often give birth to our blessings!
Our pain gives birth to praise
Our problems give birth to prayer
Our trials give birth to testimonials
Our fears give birth to faith
Our agonies give birth to assurance
Our sorrows give birth to satisfaction
Our weakness gives birth to worship
Our banishment gives birth to believe
Our oppression gives birth to obedience
Our criticism gives birth to courage
Our hurts give birth to hope
Our misery gives birth to mercy
Our suffering gives birth to salvation
Our winter gives birth to spring
Our bondage gives birth to boldness
