Ishmael

Genesis 21:15 - "And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs."

And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Genesis 21:8–21 describes the painful departure of Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham's life. Now that Isaac is born, Sarah furiously demands that Abraham cast them out. He is greatly displeased, but is told by God that Ishmael will be protected and blessed.

So Abraham obeys the Lord and sends them into the wilderness. God steps in and saves the mother and child. He renews his promise to make Ishmael a great nation in his own right. Ishmael grows up in the wilderness, eventually marrying an Egyptian woman.

The Lord did as He had promised. Sarah, now 90 years old, gives birth to Isaac, the long-awaited child. Her joy sours, though, over a fear that Isaac might have to share an inheritance with Ishmael. In obedience to the Lord, who promises to safeguard Ishmael, Abraham sends him and his mother, Hagar, into the wilderness.

God rescues them and renews His promise to make Ishmael a great nation in his own right. Meanwhile, Abimelech, king of Gerar, approaches Abraham to make a permanent treaty between them and their descendants. The agreement includes Abraham's possession of a well, at a place which will become known as Beersheba.

We're told the pair wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Abraham had given them bread and a skin of water. If the skin was a goat skin, as was apparently common, it could have held about 3 gallons, or 15 liters, of water. That wouldn't last two people very long in the desert, and now it was gone.

The pair were likely quite dehydrated. From a human perspective, they probably felt they had little hope of survival. Hagar found some bushes and put Ishmael under one of them in the shade. Ishmael was likely about 16 years old.

This verse is part of the larger narrative of the story of Hagar and Ishmael, which takes place after Abraham and Sarah's attempt to fulfill God's promise by having a child through Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. The tension between Sarah and Hagar eventually leads to Hagar being sent away with her son Ishmael.

As they journey through the wilderness, their supplies begin to dwindle, and they find themselves in a desperate situation with no water to drink.

The verse captures the harrowing moment when Hagar, having given up hope, is forced to confront the reality of her son's impending death due to their lack of water. This desperate situation pushes her to the breaking point, and in a moment of despair, she places her child under a shrub, unable to bear the thought of watching him die.

The story of Hagar and Ishmael is a complex and deeply human narrative that touches upon themes of desperation, abandonment, and divine intervention. It is a story that speaks to the pain and suffering of those who are marginalized and have been cast out, as well as the unwavering faithfulness of God in the face of human frailty.

The context of this verse is crucial to understanding its significance. Hagar, a foreign Egyptian servant, has already faced rejection and mistreatment at the hands of Sarah, her mistress. Now, she and her son are exiled into the desert with limited resources and no clear path forward.

Their plight reflects the vulnerability and powerlessness of marginalized individuals, who are often at the mercy of those with more privilege and influence.

The symbolism in this verse is profound and multi-layered. The image of the water running out in the bottle serves as a powerful metaphor for the depletion of hope, resources, and sustenance. It also symbolizes the struggle for survival and the relentless challenges faced by those who are cast out and marginalized.

The act of casting the child under a shrub represents a moment of surrender and desperation, as Hagar confronts the devastating reality of their circumstances.

Ultimately, this verse is a testament to the profound and unwavering faithfulness of God, even in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations. As the story unfolds, we see that God hears the cry of the desperate and intervenes to provide for Hagar and Ishmael.

He opens Hagar's eyes to a well of water, ensuring their survival and promising to make Ishmael into a great nation.

This narrative serves as a powerful reminder of the compassion and providence of God, who sees and hears the cries of the marginalized and oppressed. It also challenges us to consider our own role in extending compassion and assistance to those who are in desperate need.

Genesis 21:15 is a poignant and emotionally charged verse that captures the desperation and despair of Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness. It is a story that speaks to the pain and suffering of those who are cast out and marginalized, as well as the profound and unwavering faithfulness of God in the midst of human frailty.

It reminds us of the need to extend compassion and assistance to those who are vulnerable and in need, and to trust in the providence of a God who hears the cries of the desperate.

So back to the main thrust of the story of what happened to Hagar and Ishmael. Hopefully today we can look at the story from yet another perspective and a different pair of spectacles yet again. Poor Hagar! I know she is a woman who lived and died thousands of years ago, but of all the people in the Bible, not counting Christ Himself, she must have had one of the roughest injustices in the whole of the biblical narrative.

There was no help for her. There were no Government benefits offering her lodgings, or money for food. The lady who a little before had thought she had given Abraham his heir, and was living in considerable luxury, if not ease because of her relationship with Sarah, found herself and her boy penniless, asset-less and homeless, wayfarers in the desert, fearing for her life and her son’s future.

To lose her way to her own native Egypt ( due south. “Just walk that way Hagar!”), suggests that she had run out of water, gone delirious, and just wandered around and around until the point of her own, as well as her son’s, collapse.

Their one need was water; they little knew it was so near. That’s what makes me think she was delirious. There was no need to dig a new fountain, but simply to open their eyes.

So let’s do a little devotional thought here and apply it to our lives and modern living in New Testament grace.

Many people today are lost in a lonely desert, delirious with lack, and just like Hagar, have completely given up on life, and hope of a future. Wherever you are in the world, whatever your need, just follow my logic.

First, there is a well nearby; you just haven’t seen it yet. We need the eyes of our understanding opened to see that there is a way out of hopelessness. Jesus Christ has provided that way. We need to know that the well of the finished work of Christ is very near to you in your desert of life, as this well in the desert was near where Hagar was, in her misery.

What Christ has provided for mankind through His death and resurrection is not only the forgiveness of sins, but healing for broken lives, vision for those with lost hopes, and a bright future for those whose past has – like Hagar’s -almost driven them to delirium and visions of death.

We are not required to add to it one tear, or prayer, or vow. God cares not one jot how bad one’s sins are, or how deep one’s hurts are. “It is finished,” is what He cried with almost His last breath. That means the well of saving water has been dug, is springing, and is free to all who would drink.

To go to heaven to bring Christ down, or to the deep to bring Him up, is alike superfluous – utterly unnecessary. All we need is the opened eye to see what Jesus has done, and recognize that it is all that was demanded to meet the claims of God.

“Come and Drink” is what He calls to you.

Second you do not have to prepare, or sort yourself out before you drink. This water, this saving grace, this healing virtue, this balm for broken hearts and lives, is completely and totally freely given to us of God. If God wanted you to be clean, decent, and sin free, hurt free, and full of purpose before hand, why on earth would Christ have had to die.

Come to Christ just as you are. God has given us in Jesus, all things that are relevant to life and godliness. There is no possible gift, healing, vision or forgiveness in which we are deficient, it is all stored in Christ, in whom the fullness of God abides. But we are, like Hagar, blind in seeing where the life saving water is.

The eyes of our hearts have not been opened to see the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance, and the greatness of God’s power. God is in full view for all who want to see Him. Like Hagar, if we knew these things, or glimpsed them with our spirits, we would not, even if deranged, miss the water, or leave it and die. God’s well is right by your side as you read this meditation.

Thirdly, Water and a relief from sorrow do not seem compatible. However, let me tell you that once Hagar saw the water, and drank, and gave to others (in the person of her son Ishmael), her mind returned, her strength returned, her health returned, her son, previously given up to die, had returned to boisterous life, and both of them fulfilled their destiny.

The dying, suffering, thirsty young teenager, became a mighty chief and the progenitor of a huge nation. So we all need to be aware, that drinking the waters of life in Christ is not just some, “religious” act that will make us a little more decent. Knowing Christ is life changing and life building.

One drink of water, that was almost missed, in the desert and life was totally changed. God pours out incredible healing alleviations which He provides against excessive sorrow. Hagar’s anguish, as Mary’s at Christ’s sepulchre in after years, blinded her to the available comfort. When Mary was asking the gardener, “Where is my dead Lord, my broken dreams, my shattered heart and my lost vision?”

The well had been dug and the risen Lord was looking at her. She was seeking the dead Christ whilst looking at Him, risen and resurrected. In the same way, for millions of people in the world today, grief puts a bandage over our eyes. Life is sad, and lonely, and dark, but God is near and is a well of Life reaching out to you.

Just drink of Him. Christ is the living water that will change your sad circumstances. There is no desert without its springs; no dying child without the angel of the Lord.

Fourthly. It is God who needs to reveal where the water is for you. The Angel of the Lord always points to Christ, in circumstances, or even spoken words. Do not miss out on God’s gift of life eternal, and eternal life in the here and now.

WHAT’S THE POINT? Wherever you are, God is looking for you, to show you where the water of life is.