Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. ² Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰ and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.¹² But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. ¹³ I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹ While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

²² At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. ²³ Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized. ²⁶ But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”

²⁷ So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. ²⁸ Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹ and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

³⁰ He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

³¹ So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.

³² After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. ³⁴ And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

So much of these three stories, and indeed all the stories in the Bible, are unwritten.  This can be cause for confusion and frustration, for sure, but also a chance for our spiritual imaginations to take flight.  Some might find this a dangerous or unsettling process, but I think anything that gets us to reflect on God and the Bible is good.  I had to spend most of the day in the car yesterday, so had plenty of time to ponder this chapter.  I’ll share three very short vignettes with you that I came up with:

 

Sarah smiled down at the baby on her breast.  He had taken to feeding right away and seemed content.  She had been worried about so many things, even though Abraham told her not to be.  One of them was feeding this miraculous infant.  She had seen mothers much younger than her who’s milk had dried up or never been enough for their infants.  Some had supplemented with goat’s milk, some had wet-nurses to help them; but more than anything she remembered one poor woman who, no matter what she tried, could not get her baby to eat, and seemed to whither away as her child did.  But that would not be the case with Isaac, she was determined.  God willing, he would grow to be the man she and Abraham had dreamed of so for so many years.

***

There was not a hint of warmth in the sky when Abraham woke Hagar. There had never been any true love between them, but a shared affection had grown over their son Ishmael, whom Hagar could see Abraham adored.  Which was why she was surprised by his curt words.

“Gather your things, you must take Ishmael and go now,” Abraham said.

“Why? What has happened?” Hagar asked.

“Sarah is displeased, and the Lord has willed that this be so.”

Hagar put her meager belongings in a sack: a comb, two small clay bowls, a toy horse Ishmael had long outgrown but she kept as a reminder of the small child he no longer was. Abraham handed her a loaf of bread and some dried meat wrapped in cloth and a small skin of water. Abraham led Hagar and her son to the door of the tent, and put his hands upon their heads in blessing, “God be with you,” he said, and turned abruptly inside.  Ishmael, still bleary and half asleep, looked at his mother, confused.  Hagar’s anger welled up inside her, and she marched towards the desert, now pink with the rising sun, as if it had been her decision, as it had been years ago.

***

News of the birth of Abraham’s son by Sarah reached Abimelek, and he smiled.  He had fifteen sons by his wives and concubines, and knew the joy of securing a bloodline.  He also knew that now the time was right to summon Abraham for an oath of allegiance.  Was he afraid of Abraham? Abimelek had pondered on this question.  It is true, taking Sarah as his wife had caused great affliction in his court, and it seemed that Abraham was blessed beyond measure in everything he did, and to cross such a blessed man surely would bring no good to Abimelek or his kingdom.  No, he was not afraid of Abraham, as Abraham seemed to have no designs upon his throne.  But still, better now to ally Abraham in official treaty while his spirits were high from the birth of his son.  Yes, Abimelek thought, now is the time.