Hagar ... alone & broken ... or was she?: Lesson 7 (Final lesson)

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Genesis 12: 4-20; 16:1-15; 21:8-21 (NKJV)

Here we are at the last lesson in our study on Hagar, in lesson 6 we left Hagar and Ishmael lost and wandering in the desert, let’s see how it all ends …

Let’s begin with Genesis 21:15

Verses 15 - 16: When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Do not let me see the boy die." And she sat opposite him and lifted up her voice and wept.

Did you notice in verse 14 that Hagar and Ishmael got lost and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba?  This would explain their water running out.

Here’s another scene that’s just heart retching!  Out of water and desperate, Hagar could not bear to watch her son die of thirst, so she removed herself from his presence.  (Remember, if our numbering is correct, Ishmael is around 17 years of age now.)  He was likely severely dehydrated and weakened to the point of being unable to carry his own weight which means that Hagar would not have been able to carry/help him along either.  What anguish her mother’s heart must have been enduring.  (The area in which they were traveling was a desert which makes Ishmael’s condition more understandable … extreme heat, baking sun, likely on foot and little to no access to water are all ripe conditions for extreme dehydration.)

Verse 17: God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 

God heard … oh, how comforting that thought is!  God heard the lad crying, let that sink in … He hears the cry of His children today, too.  God hears!

God has a question for Hagar … ‘what is the matter with you?’  It’s as if God is saying, ‘have you forgotten how I took care of you before … why are you afraid now?’

It seems that Hagar in her anguish and distress had forgotten … do we do the same thing when our world lays crushed and crumbling at our feet.  It’s hard to hold on to God when the ashes of our lives are smoldering at our feet isn’t it …. this is where Hagar is now, and God meets her there!   Doesn’t that just make you smile!  God meets her there!  God meets us right where we are when we’re at the end of our ropes, too!

Verse 18:  "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him."

God is saying, ‘Get up and go to your son, I have plans for him too!’  Even though Ishmael was not the promised child through which the Messiah would come, God still cared for him and had a plan for him as well.

Today, we know the ‘great nation’ God was referring to as the Arabs.

Verse 19:  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.

Hagar was likely dehydrated and exhausted as well.  Wandering around lost in an unfamiliar area is emotionally draining, not to mention her anguish over seeing the condition of her son.  All of this likely contributed to her not being aware of the nearby well.

When God made her aware of the well, she went and filled the skin with water and gave to her son.  Hagar was once again reminded that God saw and knew and that He had not abandoned them.

Verses 20—21:  God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.  He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

God was with Ishmael …

Ishmael became skilled with the bow and became an archer …

He lived in the wilderness of Paran (located in the Siani Peninsula in modern day Israel ) …

Hagar took a wife for him from Egypt.

In closing:

Mohammed, founder of Islam, was a descendant of Hagar

Arabs are descendants of the Ishmaelites (Ishmael) Hagar’s son.  God fulfilled His promise regarding Ishmael in that he became the father of the Arab nation that we know today.

The seed of all that’s wrong in the middle east conflict has its roots right here in this situation.

Abram and Sarai’s attempt to secure the ‘promised child’ was the result of a lack of faith in God.

One has to wonder if Abraham and Sarah could have realized the consequences of their decision and what it would set in motion, if they would have waited on God’s timing.   Do we think about future consequences of decisions we make?

Scripture doesn’t give us further details about Ishamel or Hagar’s life.

And finally …

What would Hagar tell us today about God if she could?  Would she tell us that …

He is real …

He can be trusted …

He is to be obeyed …

We can do hard things when God is with us …

He sees …

He hears ...

He is there when our situation is not perfect …

He provides …

He is there when choices are taken away from us …  (God doesn’t prevent others nor us from making bad choices even when those choices hurt others.  He gives us all freewill!  When we look at our choices through the lives of others getting hurt, it should cause us to choose differently.)

What would Ishmael tell us:

You can trust God …

God hears our cries …

God loves the rejected …

God provides …

Don't fight God's plan ...

Nothing will deter God’s ultimate plan ...

What would Sarah tell us …

Keep the faith …

Wait on God’s timing …

Trust God’s timing …

Don’t try to help God …

Be patient …

Bad decisions have bad consequences …

It’s not about what I want.

What would Abraham tell us …

Obedience to God must come first …

Even the faithful can stumble …

God knows best …

There are painful consequences to disobedience to God.

One more thing … we need to answer the question the very title of this study asks … was Hagar, broken and alone, really alone?  I hope by now you can see that she wasn’t, God was with her and provided a way for her.  Was it the way Hagar likely wanted, I feel safe in saying it wasn’t, but God was with her, He didn’t abandon her. 

Let that sink in … there are powerful lessons for us in this study on Hagar and the way God cared for her and Ishmael!  Lessons that we just might need to be reminded of every now and then!

I hope you have enjoyed this study and that you have gotten a closer glimpse of our great God.

As we close out this study on Hagar, our next study is in the works.  I'll let you know when it's ready to start posting ... likely closer to the fall season.

Until then I urge you to spend time in God’s Word daily …

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Clipart from Adobe Stock

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Hagar ... broken & alone ... or was she?: Lesson 6

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is strictly prohibited.

Genesis 12: 4-20; 16:1-15; 21:8-21 (NKJV)

Welcome back to our study on Hagar!  I hope you are enjoying it.  Here’s how we ended lesson 5 …

Oh boy!  Here we go again only this time, it seems that Hagar and her son are being cast out by Sarah’s choice.  Is Hagar going to leave Abraham and Sarah’s home for the second time?  Is Abraham going to let this happen, I mean Ishmael is not a babe in Hagar’s womb anymore?  Abraham has had several years to grow to love his son, is it going to make a difference?

With the above in mind, let’s pick back up with Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21:11 …

Verse 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

Abraham no doubt loved his son and the thought of abandoning him by sending him away was not something he wanted to do.  Oh, how that must have hurt!

Both Abraham and Sarah are reaping the consequences of the choice they made to put Abraham in Hagar’s bed.  If only they had asked God to help them wait on His timing.

Verse 12: But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.

Had it not been for God’s direct command to Abraham to listen to Sarah, I have to believe he would not have sent his son away.  That had to have been an incredibly difficult thing to even think about doing, much less do!

However, when we choose to disobey God, the things required to make ourselves right with Him are always difficult.

In Abraham and Sarah’s situation, Sarah’s misery was the price she paid.  Abraham’s misery and his being told to say goodbye to his son was the price he paid.

Disobedience to God always has a price, regardless of who we are … even for ‘the father of the faithful/Abraham.’

God seems to be saying to Abraham, ‘don’t worry.  Do what Sarah said for Isaac is the promised child through which your descendants will be named.”

Even though Abraham and Sarah hadn’t trusted God and waited on His timing, God was still there and in control.

How many times do we tire of waiting on God and take matters into our own hands?  Oh that we would learn from Abraham and Sarah that God’s timing is the best timing.

Verse 13: "And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant."

Because Ishmael was Abraham’s son, God would make a nation of him also.  I have to pause and wonder about God and Abraham’s relationship.  (That would be a great study!) Their relationship was such that God would honor Abraham in spite of his weak faith and lack of trust in this situation.   God could see what was in Abraham’s heart and acted accordingly … that just makes me smile all over!  Do we ever make poor choices due to weak faith and lack of faith in God’s Word?  I have and it’s one reason I pray for God to strengthen my weak faith and to help me trust His word more.  The fact of the matter is that I need God to help me be what He wants me to be … I simply cannot do it on my own!

Do you think God’s assurance to Abraham that Ishmael would be under His watchful eye as well, helped Abraham be able to send his son away?

 Verse 14: So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Here again Abraham could have ignored God’s instructions and not sent Ishmael away, but this time he obeyed.  Do you think Abraham had learned the very valuable lesson that God knows best?

God’s word is not meant as something that deprives us of fun in life, nor is it meant to be viewed as some sort of punishment, it’s simply to be viewed as the path to Him.  It’s our choice how we view it, as a book of ‘can-do’s and can’t do’s that leads to a boring life or a book that shows us the path to God and an eternal home in Heaven with Him.  We get to choose!

This scene brings to mind all kinds of emotional heartache for Hagar, Ishmael and Abraham.

Hagar was likely in disbelief that Abraham was actually going to send them away … she was probably really angry at Sarah too!

Ishmael was likely confused, hurt and feeling abandoned by his father, not to mention the anger that surely had to be boiling inside of him towards his father … and he was probably angry at Sarah too!

Abraham was likely trying to be strong while falling apart inside.  He was sending away his son, his first-born son and regardless of how it came about, it had to be most difficult!  How was he feeling towards Sarah right about now … human nature tells us that he, even though God had told him ‘to do what she said,’ likely felt some bitterness towards her as well.

If only Sarah had waited on God and His timing, if only Abraham hadn’t agreed to her plan … lives destroyed, deep emotional damage done, and events that would change the world set in motion … all because they didn’t trust God to do what He said He would do!  I think there’s a lesson in that for us too!

Before we move on, let’s talk about the ‘bread and skin of water’ Abraham gave to Hagar for their sustenance.  That meager amount seems harsh and not in keeping with what we know about Abraham nor God.  Remember, Abraham loved Ishmael, and we know that God did.

I read a few commentaries, and they all seem to agree that Abraham sent them away with much more and that the ‘bread and skin’ of water was what Hagar personally carried.

That makes sense, doesn’t it?  God said send them away, He didn’t say send them away with nothing.  In this situation, God’s love for Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael would have prohibited total abandonment.

So much pain that didn’t have to be …

Meet me back here next Thursday and when we’ll not only bring the study to a close, but also look at some things that Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael might tell us about God.

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Clipart from Adobe Stock

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Hagar ... broken & alone ... or was she?... Lesson 5

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is strictly prohibited.  

Genesis 12: 4-20; 16:1-15; 21:8-21 (NKJV)

Welcome back to our study on Hagar!  Last week we watched Hagar have her first encounter with the Lord.  He told her what He wanted her to do, did she obey?  That’s what we’re going to find out in today’s lesson.

Let’s pick up with Genesis 16:15 …

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Hagar obeyed God and returned to her mistress.  She bore Abram his first-born son and named him Ishmael, just as the ‘the Angel of the LORD’ had commanded.

Even returning under the strength of the LORD along with her encounter with the LORD, how hard do you think this would have been for Hagar?

Did the tensions between Sarai and Hagar that had been there before return?  I think it’s likely, after all nothing had changed except Hagar’s relationship with God.  Sarai had to live with the reminder every day that Ishmael was her husband’s son by another woman, a woman that she had once felt somewhat close to, but now despised, and as we’ll soon see, Hagar wasn’t completely innocent either!

Fast forward some 13—14 years, Abram is 100 years old, and Sarai is 90.  God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah (Genesis 17:5, 17). 

Abraham, concerned about Ishmael’s future, says to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!’ (Genesis 17:18).  Is Abraham making a plea to God that Ishmael be the ‘promised child’ or is Abraham, out of love for his son, requesting God to bless him also?  We don’t know, but what we do know is that God tells Abraham that Sarah would bear the promised son.  (Up until this time, it hasn’t been specifically stated in scripture that God had said the son of promise would be born of Sarah.  Could that have been the reason Abraham went along with Sarah’s plan to involve Hagar in helping God keep His promise?) God even goes so far as to tell Abraham the name he was to give to the promised child he and Sarah would have. (Genesis 17:19)

Let’s move over to Genesis 21 and continue our study there …

The events in this chapter take place some 25 years after Abraham and Sarah’s sojourn in Egypt.  They were now living in the area of Gerar or maybe Beersheba.

Verse 8:  So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

The child referred to here is Issac, who was possibly around 3 years old, the time when children were weaned at this time in history. His weaning signified his ability to eat solid food and his transition from infancy to a young child.  The feast Abraham gave was a celebration of this milestone in Isaac’s life.

Verse 9:  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.

According to the Greek Lexicon, the word scoffing means:  to laugh, to mock, to play, to jest, to laugh outright, to sport, to ridicule, to scorn.  Wonder where Ishmael learned that?  Could it have come from observing the way his mother and Sarah interacted with each other.

If we are calculating everyone’s ages correctly, this would have put Ishmael around the age of 17.  Seventeen-year-old Ishmael was making fun of 3-year-old Isaac!  Ishmael should have known better!

All the years of watching Abraham interacting with Ishmael and seeing their relationship grow deeper and deeper, likely came to the surface when Ishmael scoffed at Issac.  That was probably the last straw!  The mama bear in Sarah came out in full force ...

Verse 10: Therefore, she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 

According to the laws and customs of that time, Sarah had the right to do and make this
decision.

Oh boy!  Here we go again only this time, it seems that Hagar and her son are being cast out by Sarah’s choice.  Is Hagar going to leave Abraham and Sarah’s home for the second time?  Is Abraham going to let this happen, I mean Ishmael is not a babe in Hagar’s womb anymore?  Abraham has had several years to grow to love his son, is it going to make a difference?

Meet me back here next Thursday and we’ll see how this scene plays out.

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Clipart from Adobe Stock

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley