EXPOSITION
And the angel of the Lord. Maleach Jehovah, elsewhere styled Maleach Elohim (Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11); supposed but wrongly to be a creature angel, for the reasons chiefly
(1) that the term angel commonly designates a class of spiritual beings (Genesis 19:1; Genesis 32:1; Job 4:18; Psalms 91:11; Matthew 13:41; John 20:12, et passim);
(2) that the ἄγγελος κυρίου of the New Testament (Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:9; Acts 12:7) is always a created angel;
(3) that the meaning of the term מַלְאָךְ, one sent, from לָאַךְ, to depute (Gesenius), one through whom work is executed, from לָאַךְ, to work (Keil), implies a certain degree of subordination, which is afterwards more distinctly recognized (1 Chronicles 21:27; Zechariah 1:12);
(4) that the distinction between the unrevealed and the revealed God was not then developed as in later times, and particularly since the advent of Christ—to every one of which arguments, however, it is comparatively easy to reply (cf. Keil and Lange in loco). With more force of reason believed to have been the Divine Being himself, who already as Jehovah had appeared to Abram (the Fathers, the Reformers, Hengstenberg, Keil, Lange, Havernick, Nitzsch, Ebrard, Steir, Kalisch, Ainsworth, Bush, Wordsworth, Candlish), since—
1. The Maleach Jehovah explicitly identifies himself with Jehovah (Genesis 16:10) and Elohim (Genesis 22:12).
2. Those to whom he makes his presence known recognize him as Divine (Genesis 16:13; Genesis 18:23-1; Genesis 28:16-1; Exodus 3:6; Judges 6:15, Judges 6:20-7; Judges 13:22).
3. The Biblical writers constantly speak of him as Divine, calling him Jehovah without the least reserve (Genesis 16:13; Genesis 18:1; Genesis 22:16; Exodus 3:2; Judges 6:12).
4. The doctrine here implied of a plurality of persons in the Godhead is in complete accordance with earlier foreshadowings (Genesis 1:26; Genesis 11:7) and later revelations of the same truth.
5. The organic unity of Scripture would be broken if it could be proved that the central point in the Old Testament revelation was a creature angel, while that of the New is the incarnation of the God-Man.
Found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. Properly an uninhabited district suitable for pasturing flocks, from a root signifying to lead to pasture; hence a sterile, sandy country, like that here referred to, Arabia Deserta, bordering on Egypt (Genesis 14:6; Exodus 3:1). By the fountain. The article indicating a particular and well-known spring. In the way to Shur. "Before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria" (Genesis 25:18); hence not Pelusium on the Nile (Jos; 'Ant.,' 6.7, 3), but probably the modern Dachifar in the north-west of Arabia Deserta (Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange). Hagar was clearly directing her flight to Egypt.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid. Declining to recognize her marriage with the patriarch, the angel reminds her of her original position as a bondwoman, from which liberty was not to be obtained by flight, but by manumission. Whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go! And she maid, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. "Her answer testifies to the oppression she had experienced, but also to the voice of her own conscience" (Lange).
And the angel of the Lord said unto her—as Paul afterwards practically said to Onesimus, the runaway slave of Philemon (vide Philippians 12)—return to thy mistress, and submit thyself—the verb here employed is the same as that, which the historian uses to describe Sarah's conduct towards her (Philemon 1:6); its meaning obviously is that she should meekly resign herself to the ungracious and oppressive treatment of her mistress—under her hands.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her (after duty, promise), I will multiply thy seed exceedingly (literally, multiplying I will multiply thy seed; language altogether inappropriate in the lips of a creature), that (literally, and) it shall not be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael. "God shall hear," or, "Whom God hears," the first instance of the naming of a child before its birth (cf. afterwards Genesis 17:19; 1Ki 13:2; 1 Chronicles 22:9; Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:13). Because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. Τῇ ταπεινώσει (LXX.), "thy prayer" (Chaldee), of which there is no mention, though men's miseries are said to cry when men themselves are mute (Calvin; cf. Exodus 1:1-2; Exodus 3:7).
And he will be a wild man. Literally, a wild ass (of a) man; the פֶּרֶא, snarler, being so called from its swiftness of foot (cf. Job 39:5-18), and aptly depicting "the Bedouin's boundless love of freedom as he rides about in the desert, spear in hand, upon his camel or his horse, hardy, frugal, reveling in the varied beauty of nature, and despising town life in every form" (Keil). As Ishmael and his offspring are here called "wild ass men," so Israel is designated by the prophet "sheep men" (Ezekiel 36:37, Ezekiel 36:38). His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. Exemplified in the turbulent and lawless character of the Bedouin Arabs and Saracens for upwards of thirty centuries. "The Bedouins are the outlaws among the nations. Plunder is legitimate gain, and daring robbery is praised as valor (Kalisch). And he shall dwell in the presence of—literally, before the face of, L e. to the east of (Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Tuch, Knobel, Delitzsch); or, "everywhere before the eyes of" (Kalisch, Wordsworth); or, independently of (Calvin, Keil, Lunge, Murphy)—all his brethren. The Arabs of today are "just as they were described by the spirit of prophecy nearly 4000 years ago".
And she called the name—not invoked the name (Chaldee, Lapide), though occasionally קָרָא שֵׁם has the same import as קָרָא בִשֵׁס (vide Deuteronomy 32:3)—of the Lord—Jehovah, thus identifying the Maleach Jehovah with Jehovah himself—that spake unto her, Thou God asset me. Literally, Thou (art) El-Roi, a God of seeing, meaning either the God of my vision, i.e. the God who revealest thyself in vision (Gesenius, Furst, Le Clerc, Dathe, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), or, though less correctly, the God who sees all things, and therefore me (LXX; Vulgate, Calvin, Ainsworth; Candlish, Hofmann, Baumgarten, Delitzsch, Wordsworth). For she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Literally, Have I also hitherto seen? i.e. Do I also still live after the vision? (Onkelos,. Gesenius, Furst, Keil, Kalisch, Rosenmüller, Murphy).
Wherefore the well was called—in all likelihood first by Hagar—Beer-lahai-roi, or the well of him that liveth and seeth me (A.V.); but either
(1) the well of the living one of vision, i.e. of God, who appeared there (Onkeles, Rosenmüller, Lange) or
(2) the well of the life of vision, i.e. where after seeing God life was preserved (Gesenius, Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), or where in consequence of seeing God a new life was imparted (Inglis). Behold, it is between Kadesh (vide Genesis 14:7) and Bered. Of uncertain situation; but the well has probably been discovered in Ain Kades (called by the Arabs Moilahi Hagar), to the south of Beersheba, and about twelve miles from Kadesh (cf. Keil in lees).
And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name—a peculiarity of the Elohist to assign the naming of a child to the father (Knobel); but the present chapter is usually ascribed to the Jehovist, while the instances in which the name is given by the mother do not always occur in Jehovistic sections (cf. Genesis 30:6, which Tuch imputes to the Elohist)—which Hagar bare, Ishmael—thus acknowledging the truth of Hagar's vision.
And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
HOMILETICS
The capture of the runaway, or Hagar and the angel of the Lord.
I. THE FUGITIVE ARRESTED.
1. The agent of her capture. The angel of Jehovah (vide Exposition), whose appearance to Hagar at this particular juncture was doubtless—
(1) Unexpected. Those who flee from duty seldom anticipate the encountering of God in their career (Jonah 1:3).
(2) Instantaneous. The Invisible Supreme, who ever compasses our paths, only requires to either open his creatures' eyes, or veil his uncreated glory in a finite form, to make his presence known (Psalms 139:7; Luke 24:15).
(3) Familiar. Though here mentioned, angelic visitation need not now have occurred for the first time. Hagar probably had learnt something in the patriarch's household of the character, existence, and form of this celestial visitant.
(4) Opportune. Whether regarded in this light or not, the present Divine manifestation to Hagar was highly seasonable, as God's visits to men ever are, in both the world and the Church.
2. The place of her capture.
(1) In the wilderness, a very different locality from Abram's tent. But all regions are equally accessible to God's providence and grace; and God's angel of mercy and salvation can find his way to disconsolate wanderers across the wilderness of a barren world as easily as to eminent saints within the sacred precincts of the Church.
(2) On the way to Shur, i.e. going back to Egyptian worldliness and idolatry. Her chances of reaching the land of Ham were indeed small, considering her bodily condition; but thither was her destination, and hence her arrestment by the angel of the Lord was a special mercy. So Divine grace interposes to prevent those who have been once enlightened from relapsing to their old natural condition of worldliness and sin.
(3) By a fountain of water, beside which it may be imagined she had cast herself in sheer exhaustion; an emblem of those springs of refreshment, or wells of Bach, which God has prevailed for the spiritually disconsolate, and one of which was being opened by Jehovah's visit for the comfort of the unhappy bondmaid.
II. THE FOUNDLING INTERROGATED.
1. The question of the angel.
(1) The designations used, Hagar, Sarai's maid, reveal the minuteness of the Divine knowledge. God is acquainted with the names and the homes, the conditions in life, and the constituent elements in the history of all men (Psalms 139:1-19).
(2) The reference to Hagar's original condition of servitude implies disapprobation of her union with Abram. No transaction can be safely passed as blameless until it has been reviewed and judged by God.
(3) The inquiries addressed to Hagar were designed to convict her of sin. Whence had she come? From Abram's house, where the name of God was worshipped; from the presence of Sarai, who had a lawful claim upon her service; from the land of Canaan, the inheritance of Abram's seed, of which, as she fondly hoped, she was about to become the mother—in all which she was clearly committing wrong. Then whither was she going? Back again to Egypt, as the ultimate goal of her flight, while in the mean time she was exposing herself and her unborn child to serious peril. Doubtless these and other considerations of a similar sort arose within the breast of Hagar as she listened to Jehovah's questionings. When God examines souls they are truly, minutely, and completely searched.
2. The answer of Hagar.
(1) Promptly given. There was no sign of hesitancy or reluctance. The utmost frankness and cordiality should characterize a sinner's dealings with God.
(2) Briefly expressed. "She was fleeing from the face of Sarai her mistress." Comprehensive brevity should signalize our responses to God's interrogations.
(3) Honestly declared. She had run away. If it was wrong, she made no attempt at concealment. Guileless acknowledgment of sin is a true mark of contrition.
III. THE WANDERER DIRECTED.
1. To return to Abram's house. The tent of Sarai, though to Hagar's quick Southern blood a place of humiliation, was nevertheless for her the true place of safety, both physically and spiritually. The first counsel that God's word and spirit give to those who flee from duty, forsake the company of saints, and venture out upon perilous and sinful courses is "to stand in the ways, and ask for the old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16).
2. To submit to Sarah's yoke. Her alliance with the patriarch could not in God's sight alter her original position as a slave. Though soon to be the mother of Abram's seed, she was still a bondwoman, whose duty was submission, however galling to her hot blood, and however unreasonable it might seem in the case of one whose child might yet inherit Canaan. God's people are required to abide in those stations in life in which they have been called, until they can be honorably released from them (1 Corinthians 7:20-46), and to endure those afflictions which God in his providence may impose, rather than impetuously and sinfully endeavor to escape from them (Matthew 16:24).
IV. THE DISCONSOLATE COMFORTED.
1. The richness of the offered consolation.
(1) A gracious assurance—that she was an object of the Divine regard, as this very sit proved; of the Divine observation, since the Lord knew her condition; and of the Divine compassion, for already he had heard her affliction—than which no sweeter consolation can be offered to either penitent backslider or dejected sufferer.
(2) A comfortable promise—that she should live to be the mother of Abram's seed, that her unborn babe should be a son, and that her son should develop into a bold, courageous, and prosperous man, and that through him she herself, an Egyptian slave-girl, should become the ancestress of a numerous and mighty people. God is able, even in respect of material and temporal benefits, to compensate for life's sorrows and tribulations, and to make up in one direction for what he takes away in another.
(3) An important instruction—to name her child "Ishmael" when it should be born; partly as a memorial to herself of the Divine mercy, and partly as a reminder to her child of the sure Source of prosperity, both personal and national, temporal and spiritual. God's people should remember the right hand of the Most High (Psalms 77:10), and seek advancement from him alone (Psalms 75:6, Psalms 75:7).
2. The efficacy of the offered consolation.
(1) Adoring gratitude. Hagar was amazed at the Divine condescension in permitting her to see God and yet live—a mercy denied to Moses on the mount (Exodus 33:20); and the Divine grace which had imparted life and hope to her soul through this celestial visitation.
(2) Mercy remembered, Hagar called the well Beer-lahai-roi, i.e. the well of seeing and living. The Divine loving-kindness is worthy of memorials, which also should be written on the tablets of the heart when they cannot be expressed in words or enshrined in deeds.
(3) Cheerful submission. Hagar returned to Abram's house, submitted to Sarai's hand, and in due time gave birth to Ishmael. The best evidence that grace has comforted the human heart is prompt compliance' with the will of God.
See in the angel's appearance to Hagar—
1. An adumbration of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. An illustration of God's care of those who are within his Church.
3. An indication of the kind of people that most attract the Divine notice and compassion.
4. A revelation of the tenderness with which he deals with sinners.
5. A proclamation of God's gracious readiness to forgive the erring.
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS
Wells in the wilderness.
1. God provides them for the rest and refreshment of pilgrims.
2. God visits them to meet with wear), and afflicted pilgrims.
3. God dispenses from them life and hope to all repenting and believing pilgrims. Compare with the angel of Jehovah and Hagar at the fountain of Shur, Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well (John 4:6).—W.
Glimpses of the Godhead.
1. Divine condescension. God visits men as the angel visited Hagar.
2. Divine omniscience. God knows men as the angel knew Hagar.
3. Divine compassion. God pities and comforts men as the angel did Hagar.
4. Divine wisdom. God instructs men as the angel directed Hagar.
5. Divine grace. God pardons and accepts men as the angel did Hagar.—W.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
God pleading with wanderers.
"Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?" She knew not, cared not. Undisciplined, smarting under effects of her own willfulness (Genesis 16:4), she thought only of escaping pain—a type of those weary, yet unconverted (cf. Jeremiah 51:13; Jeremiah 5:3). But God saw her. The Shepherd sought her (cf. Genesis 3:9; Luke 15:9). Though not of the chosen race, and having no claim upon his care, of his own mercy he calls her (cf. Psalms 145:9; Ephesians 2:4; Titus 3:5). The angel of the Lord; in Genesis 16:13 called the Lord; the messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1)—sent to carry out the Father's purpose (of. John 3:17; Luke 4:18). The same who speaks in the voice of awakened conscience, that he may give peace (cf. Matthew 11:28). "Hagar, Sarai's maid," expresses God's full knowledge of her (cf. Exodus 33:12; John 10:3). The name distinguishes the individual. She a stranger, a slave, a fugitive; yet God's eye upon her; all her life before him (cf. Psalms 139:1-19). A word for those following their own ways, feeling as if hidden in the multitude. Nothing glaring in their lives; men see nothing to find fault with; will God? (cf. Psalms 94:7). He knows thee altogether; thy whole life, the selfishness underlying a fair profession, the unconfessed motives, the little duplicities, the love of worldly things; or it may be thy spiritual pride and self-trusting. He sees thee through. But wilt thou seek to escape the thought of him? For what does he search thee out? Is it not to bring thee to peace? A word of comfort to him who is cast down because of weakness in faith, little progress, want of spirituality. He sees all (cf. Luke 19:5). Not as man—men see the failures; God Sees the battle, the longing desire for better things, the prayers (Psalms 28:1; Psalms 130:1), the searching of heart, the sorrow because of failure. Even in the wilderness he is present to help (Galatians 6:9).
I. "WHENCE CAMEST THOU?" Is the wilderness better than the home thou hast left? (cf. Isaiah 5:4). Thou hast left safety and plenty (cf. Numbers 21:5), impatient of God's discipline. A goodly possession was thine—the place of a child (1 John 3:1), the right always to pray (Luke 18:1; John 15:7; Hebrews 4:16; James 4:2), the promise of guidance (Psalms 32:8; Isaiah 30:21). For what hast thou given up all this? Is thy present lot better? In deepest love these questions are asked. God pleads by providence (Psalms 119:67), by the entering of the word (Psalms 119:130; Hebrews 4:12), by the "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit.
II. "WHITHER WILT THOU GO?" How many have never really considered. Hast thou renounced thy heavenly portion? God forbid. Then is thy life heavenward? Are thy sins blotted out? Hast thou accepted the free gift of salvation? I am not sure of that. And why not? Is it not that thou hast not cared enough to entertain the question as a practical one? (cf. Ezekiel 20:49; Ezekiel 33:32). Meanwhile thou art not standing still. The day of grace is passing away (cf. Jeremiah 8:20). Still Christ pleads (Revelation 3:20). But day by day the ear becomes more dull, and the aims and habits of life more hard to change. "Return," was the Lord's word to Hagar. Take again thy place in God's family (cf. Luke 15:20). Fear not to bear thy cross. There is a welcome and joy in heaven over every returning wanderer.—M.