God's Way Restores Relationship: Genesis 16:7-16
God intervenes and His intervention chases away both sin and guilt. Who can stand in the presence of the Lord? Who can continue in disobedience when the Lord reveals the error of our ways?
When Sarai mistreats Hagar because Hagar treated her with contempt, the Lord finds her. It’s hard to know Hagar’s plan, but she may well have been headed back to Egypt to a culture she knew. The Lord comes to Hagar and does what nobody else in the story chose to do. The Lord steps up and tells Hagar to do the right thing.
Hagar shouldn’t have treated Sarai with contempt, but she did. Sarai shouldn’t have mistreated her servant, but she did. Abram shouldn’t have removed himself from the role of head of household, but he did. The main players in this story all make mistakes and God comes to Hagar to set His plan into motion to correct the mistakes.
Through an angel, God tells Hagar to go back to Sarai and submit to her. This might seem like a hard ask, given Sarai’s earlier mistreatment, but God is asking Hagar to do something harder. God is telling Abram to return to Sarai and not treat her with contempt. God tells Hagar to return and be the servant she was called to be.
God knows that while Abram, Sarai, and Hagar are all responsible for choosing their own actions, the root of the trouble was Hagar. Had Hagar not looked scornfully upon Sarai, this situation wouldn’t have happened. God isn’t asking Hagar to go live under Sarai’s abuse, God is asking Hagar to go back to Sarai and submit as a servant should. God knows that if Hagar returns and resumes the role of a servant, Sarai’s anger will abate. God fixes the problem when nobody else did.
The neat part of this story is that God chooses to bless the child of Hagar, even though he was not originally part of the promise to Abram. God takes Sarai’s human attempt to bring about an heir and blesses the outcome. In the act, God sees Hagar and meets her need.
God likely gives this lesson to help Hagar return to Sarai. In giving her the promise for Ishmael, God tells Hagar the situation will resolve. Ishmael may not be the easiest child to raise. Ishmael may be at odds with his brothers. But Ishmael’s line will be a success, they will be numerous, and they will have a role to play in the history of the world.
Hagar obeys because she feels she has been seen. The Lord met her where she was and guided her steps. The Lord forced her to take ownership of her actions. The Lord convinces her that nothing is ever solved by running away. Hagar returns, patches things up with Sarai, gives birth the Abram’s son, and Abram names him Ishmael. God intervenes and His intervention chases away both sin and guilt.
