Genesis 16

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Genesis 16

I am reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

In the fiasco that was Abram's time in Egypt a few chapters ago, his household acquired at least one Egyptian slave named Hagar. 

Abram's wife Sarai blames the LORD for having never gotten pregnant, then puts the idea into Abram's head that Hagar should become a surrogate birth mother so that he would be able to father children that Sarai could raise.

This is similar to their time in Egypt in that the LORD had nothing to do with the drama that unfolds. Just as the LORD (higher consciousness or intuition) never told Abram to go to Egypt, and pimp out Sarai to Pharoah, so did the LORD never tell Abram to impregnate Hagar.

In Chapter 15 Abram is said to have believed the LORD that he will father a great nation, but he doesn't have faith in the LORD for the execution of the plan. Abram, following the advice of Sarai, takes the matter into his own hands.

Hagar becomes pregnant, Sarai becomes resentful, and Abram tells Sarai, basically, "She's your slave. Treat her as you want." So Sarai treats Hagar so badly that Hagar flees.

But "a messenger of Jehovah" (YLT) or "the angel of the LORD" (NRSV) visits Hagar and tells her to return to and submit to Sarai; the word that comes to my mind was that Hagar is to "forgive" Sarai.

The promise to Hagar, however, seems mixed. Her son, to be named Ishmael, shall be the father of multitudes, but will also be "at odds with all his kin."

Hagar asks, "“Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?" 

This suggests that seeing "a messenger" or "the angel" of the LORD is the same thing as seeing God. The personage of the angel is the personage of God.

In any case, Hagar obeyed the LORD (followed her higher consciousness or intuition) and returned to Sarai. 

Neither Abram nor Sarai come across as being "good" people. It's hard to imagine how terrible the people of Canaan were if the LORD thought Abram was righteous. It goes back to my suspicion that this is all allegorical. Abram and Sarai represent a consciousness that on the one hand tries to follow the Lord (intuition) but on the other is conflicted by worldly concerns and wants to impose their own "common-sense" solutions.

As the LORD "cursed the ground" after Adam and Eve owned up to eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so it seems that Ishmael's descendants would be a "curse," or thorn in the side, of "all his kin."

All because Sarai and Abram were impatient.

One mistake, one "sin," can have long-lasting consequences. Ishmael probably isn't a real person, but a metaphorical representation of a mistake that is not easily corrected.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)