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4/3/2011. Genesis 16:1-16. What Ever Happened To Ishmael? – Message and Questions

What Ever Happened To Ishmael?

Hagar & Ishmael d

 Link to the Kevin’s Bible Material                   Link to “What ever happened to that person?” series

Genesis 16:1-16; Gen 17:19-27; Gen 21:8-20; Gen 25:6-18; Gen 37:25-27;

Key verse:  Genesis 17:20-21                                                                                   Kevin E. Jesmer 4-3-11

 

“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”

 

    Have you every felt that God put you into the wrong family? This question must have cropped up in his mind. From the beginning, Ishmael felt like an outsider. His mother’s name meant, “Stranger” and he felt like a stranger too, the son of a stranger. His whole life and his position in society were not in his hands. It was bound up in a conflict between his mother and the matron of the clan, Sarah (Sarai). Into this tense home atmosphere, Ishmael was born. As a teenager, he grew outside of the Abraham’s tent village, away from all the friends and family he had ever known. He and his mother etched out a life for themselves in the harsh desert. Despite of the hardships he grew up as a successful man, overcoming a lot, religious, but disrespectful at times and making no decisions of faith. Later in life he was blessed with 12 sons, who became 12 Arab tribes. His descendants became enemies of ancient Israel. Today Ishmael is honored by over a billion Muslims as a spiritual forefather of their faith. We will learn today how to grow up in circumstances that are very trying, but beyond our control. We can learn the importance of how to overcome bitterness and live in God’s unfolding stream of history. We will also learn about God who blesses and who takes the mistakes of others and incorporates them into his plan. Let’s see what all this means.

 

Part l: Ishmael’s Early Years (Gen 16:16; 17:19-27)

 

Prior to his birth, there was a conflict between two women, Sarai and his mother Hagar. Sarai, impatient with God’s timetable, had taken matters into her own hands, deciding to have a child through a surrogate, her servant girl named Hagar. Hagar, because she was a servant, submitted to being used this way. She had no choice. Her pregnancy stirred strong feelings of superiority towards Sarah in her heart. She despised here mistress. Sarah sensed this and mistreated Hagar and young, pregnant and single Hagar fled finding herself all alone into the desert.

 

An angel of the Lord met her personally in the midst of her suffering and comforted her with words that were from God. Look at 16:7-10, “The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ 10 The angel added, ‘I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.’” God was so gracious to the expectant single mother. He was like a true husband to her.

 

In this encounter, God revealed a prophecy concerning her unborn child. Genesis 16:11-12 reads, “The angel of the LORD also said to her: ‘You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility towardall his brothers.’” (We will discuss this prophecy later in the message.) Though it was not a humanly glorious prophecy concerning her son, she accepted it. Hagar’s heart was touched. She met God personally. Look at Genesis 16:13, “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” She did not know the name of God but she was awestruck that the Lord saw her and her misery. She commemorated the well, where she was at, calling it Beer Lahai Roi, in honor of the God who sees her. Later on, whenever Hagar and Ishmael came near this well, Hagar would share her personal faith and encounter with the Lord that occurred there.

 

The Lord told Hagar to go back and submit to her mistress Sarai. God had a plan to bless her and the child. She followed God’s direction. No doubt there were tense feelings between Hagar and Sarah, but they learned to live through them and co-existed. There will be times in life where we must endure “tough” feelings towards others around us as we live out the will of God. But we must not run from these difficult moments, rather overcome by practicing forgiveness and grace.

 

After a few months, Ishmael was born. Hagar told Abraham what the Lord said to name the child and Abraham obeyed God’s direction and gave him the name Ishmael. (16:15) which means, “God hears” in Hebrew. He would forever be reminded of the God who heard his pregnant mother’s cries in that dangerous and lonely desert. It must have been hard for Ishmael to grow up in the tense atmosphere, knowing that his mother was not a fully accepted person in the tribe.

 

Part ll: The Teenage Ishmael (Gen 16:15-17:27)

Ishmael grew up with a huge generation gap between him and his dad. Most of our fathers are 25 to 35 years older than us. I was 30 when Jennifer was born. But Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. That is almost a three generation difference! It was not easy for Abraham to keep up with young Ishmael. Not only that, but Abraham was busy taking care of his tent village of nearly 1,000 people. It must have been hard for Abraham to make time for his son. And so Ishmael grew emotionally closer to his mother, who was probably 18 or so, years older than him.

Ishmael was religious but not spiritual. Once, God told Abraham to renew his covenant with him. Part of the renewal meant that he and all the males in his household needed to be circumcised. There must have been 500 men in the little village of his. But they were all convinced to undergo that painful procedure…even Ishmael. Genesis 17:26, “Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.” Ishmael was a teenager, in his mid teens. It is not easy to get a 15 year old boy to do certain things especially to be circumcised. Ishmael must have submitted to the religious life of those who worshipped the God of Abraham. But there is no indication that he had faith in God. Just submitting to a painful and humiliating religious ritual does not mean that a person has faith. It does not mean that they have faith in the Creator God. Ishmael was religious but not spiritual as we shall see in the some of the decisions he made later in life.

 

Part ll: Ishmael And His Mom…A Hard New Life Together (Gen 21:8-21)

 

Ishmael’s spiritual blindness was eventually revealed after 15 years. Disrespect towards what God was doing through Isaac was shown. Look at Genesis 21:8-9, “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,” Mocking in this passage is a little more serious than just poking fun at someone. The definition of mocking is “to attack or treat with ridicule, contempt, or derision.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mocking) Galatians 4:29 reveals that Ishmael’s mocking was something a little more serious. It reads, “At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.” Ishmael persecuted Isaac. Why? He was bitter at the birth of Isaac. He might have been bitter about how his mother was treated and about his family’s life’s circumstances. Isaac was weaned at the age of two or three. Ishmael was fifteen. But his behavior at the weaning ceremony revealed that Ishmael was not supportive of what God was doing nor was he repentant of his bitter feelings. His spiritual eyes were not opened. He could not control his hatred nor his jealousy. He managed to hold it all in, quietly, for 15 years, but now it was coming out and he was pouring out his aggression on a little child. What did this baby ever do to him? Have you ever seen an adult give a child a hard time because of unrepentant issues in their own hearts? It is not pretty. In doing so he was creating a bad atmosphere for little Isaac to grow and to prosper as a man of faith. But Ishmael did not care about his spiritual influence. Maybe he had adopted his mother’s own personal sentiments and was playing them out. And why didn’t Hagar try to stop him?

 

Sarah saw a problem and wanted it solved. Look at Genesis 21: 8-10, “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 slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.’”Sarah knew that there would be a problem having Ishmael around Isaac. As Isaac grew his older brother could have verbally abused him, year after year, saying, “You’re not the blessed one. You never were and you never will…looser!” Ishmael’s persecution could have continued on forever. Some kids develop ticks, like blinking constantly or grimacing in order to overcome. If there is bitterness in our hearts and we don’t repent of it, then these feelings can last, ten, twenty or thirty years, yes…even a lifetime. We can even pass down our bitter feuds to the next generation or more. Think about the Hatfields and the McCoys. It has happened in our family. Sarah knew this and knew that Ishmael needed to be sent off to make a life for himself elsewhere so Isaac could grow unhindered.

Abraham did not want to send his son away. After all it was his son. He loved him. He watched him grow for 15 years. The sight of his boy growing up infused new life into his weary bones. But God was behind this plan. What God was asking Abraham to do was not without a word of promise. Look at Genesis 21:12-13, “But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspringwill be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.’” Abraham accepted this as God’s will. He knew that he needed to create and maintain the best spiritual environment for the child of the promise to grow. He knew the Ishmael was not going to stop and Hagar was not stopping him either. And so he made the difficult decision. Look at Genesis 21:14, “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.”  He provided of their physical needs and sent them off. He must have been crying as he saw them walking off over the horizon. There are times when we need to make the tough decision to send things away in our hearts, sometimes, seemingly innocent things, that are hindering the growth of the seed of faith that God is trying to blossom in your life.

We are tempted to blame Abraham and Sarah. But remember it was God who told Abram to send him away. Abraham still concerned about their welfare when he gave them food and a skin of water. The Bible says that he even gave gifts to the children of his concubines.

Hagar and Ishmael suffered a lot initially. More than we can imagine. We can see their suffering in 21:14b-17a, “…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 nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, ‘I cannot watch the boy die.’ And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.  17 God heard the boy crying …” They were wandering in then parched desert. They were thirsty. Their water was gone. The teenage boy was so weak that his own mother had to help him keep walking. They had lost all hope and felt like they were going to die. All they could do is cry. There are times in our lives when we feel that we are at the end of our ropes and there is no more hope to carry on. We are just waiting to die. But God had a plan to reveal himself in a very personal way to Hagar and Ishmael. He was going to reveal himself to Hagar once again. Indeed, it is more likely that we will meet Jesus personally in our times of extreme suffering, rather than our times of prosperity. (Psalm 78a) Is there a time in your life now that God is leading you to himself?  I will wager that it is through a time of adversity.

God indeed revealed himself to them. Look at Genesis 17-18, “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.’” God would bless Ishmael on account of Abraham. He would become a very prosperous person, with many sons and at least one daughter and his descendants would form twelve tribes. His name would be perpetuated throughout history.

Not only that, God took care of their immediate needs. Look at verse 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.” Our God is a merciful God who takes care of our needs.  Our greatest needs are spiritual needs for eternal life and salvation, but he also cares about our physical needs. Matthew 6:33 reads, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be given to you as well.”  I don’t think that they were seeking God and his kingdom, but God still took care of them.

Ishmael never went back to live with his dad in the Promised Land. He remained in the desert with his mom. Look at verse 20, “God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While living in the desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.” He found his career path. He would be an archer. Archers are used in battle and to hunt game. He found his profession. This would make any parent happy when their child finds out their career path and has success in it.

I am inspired that Hagar cared about her son’s marriage. She saw her son’s need to marry. To marry someone is good. Proverbs 18:22 reads, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” The fruitfulness of your life is influenced by who you marry.His wife may not have been a spiritual woman, but she was fruitful. They had at least 13 kids. Julie and I need to concern over our kids future marriage. Not that we are going to tell them who to marry, but we need to pray for them and counsel them about the Biblical standards of marriage. May God raise up parents who really care about their kids marriages and dedicate themselves to pray for them.

Ishmael had enough faith to marry. That is important. He also had enough faith to have kids. His wife bore him 12 sons and at least one daughter. Our young people today need enough faith to marry and our married couples should not be afraid to have kids. I thank God for Jesus who helped me and Julie to marry in our 20’s and plant enough faith in our hearts to begin building our family. We were dirt poor and I was in nursing school. People told me marry after nursing school and not have five kids. They were planting fear in my heart. We are living on the edge financially. But God blessed our marriage and our kids. It was all through faith in God.

Part lll: Ishmael’s Later Life (Gen 25:6,9… Gen 28:9)

There were no signs of bitterness between Isaac and Ishmael and Abraham later in life. Genesis 25:6 and 9 read; But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. …..9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,”. Abraham sent gifts to Hagar and Ishmael. He still provided child support. Ishmael is seen going to his fathers’ funeral along with his half brother, Isaac. If he was bitter he would have boycotted the funeral. Ishmael also provided a wife for his nephew, Esau. We read in Genesis 28:9, “so he(Esau) went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.” I wonder what kind of person Ishmael was in order to give his own daughter in marriage to an ungodly person like Esau. I would never agree to that. It shows you once again that Ishmael lacked some spiritual sense.

Part lV: Ishmael’s Legacy (Gen 25:12-18; Gen 37:25-27)

 

Ishmael died at the age of 137. (25:17) He lived his life outside the Promised Land. The Bible gives an account of his descendants. Genesis 25:12-18 reads, “This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17 Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward[a] all their brothers.” Ishmael had twelve sons who became twelve tribal chiefs throughout the regions from Havilah to Shur (from Assyria to the border of Egypt).His children are listed as follows: Nebaioth , Kedar, father of the Qedarites (A northern Arab tribe that controlled the region between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula) Adbeel, (whose people established a tribe in northwest) Arabia, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, associated with Adummatu (a tribe that is described as “a fortress of Arabia” in Saudi Arabia) Massa, (father of a nomadic tribe that inhabited the Arabian desert toward Babylonia or modern Iraq), Hadad, , Tema Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah, Mahalath or Bashemath, a daughter who married Esau. (Wikipedia) In the time of Joseph they traded using camel caravans and bought and sold slaves.

His descendents were fighting continuously against Israel. Gideon fought a battle against them. Judges 8:23-24 reads, “But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.’ 24 And he said, ‘I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.’ (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)” Apparently they wore gold earrings. And the Ishmaelite soldiers’ earrings generated a significant plunder. They were allies with other enemies of God’s people. Psalm 83:5-8, “5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you— 6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Gebal,[a] Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. 8 Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.” The prophecy, “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility towardall his brothers.” (16:12) came true throughout the centuries. God blessed Ishmael on account of Abraham. And he used Ishmael’s descendants in order to train ancient Israel to grow strong as a nation, through their continuous harassment.

What about Ishmael today? Today Judaism has generally viewed Ishmael as wicked though repentant.  Ishmael is recognized by Muslims as the ancestor of several prominent Arab tribes and the forefather of Muhammad. Muslim scholars state that it was Ishmael, and not Isaac, who was the son that Abraham almost sacrificed. Islamic traditions hold that the Kaaba, in Mecca was first built by Adam and that Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba on the old foundations. The Qur’an states that Abraham dreamed he was to sacrifice his son. The son is not named in the Qur’an (Qur’an 37:99–113) and so, in early Islam, there was a controversy over the son’s identity. However the belief that the son was Ishmael prevailed.  In some Christian biblical interpretations, Ishmael is used to symbolize the older—now rejected—Judaic tradition based on the Law. Isaac symbolizes the new tradition of Christianity with its faith in Jesus Christ and his perfect sacrifice.  

In conclusion we found the Biblical Ishmael as a quiet, but bitter teenager, estranged from his father and close to his mother. He grew to be a hard working and successful man who was supported and encouraged by his mom. He was very fruitful humanly, etching out a life for himself in the desert. But there are no signs of faith in Ishmael. He made decisions to work hard and succeed but no decisions to support what God was doing right before his very eyes. We can learn from him to work hard and find a good wife and a career, and you can succeed even in a harsh environment. This is good advice in a worldly sense. But we can also learn from what he failed to do. We learn to not hold bitterness in our hearts. We learn to not mock the work of God, but to recognize it and support it. We also learn to think about whom you are marrying and your influence on your own future generations. May it be an influence that pleases God and perpetuates his work.

Part l: Ishmael’s Early Years (Gen 16:16; 17:19-27)

 

  1. What was the circumstances of Ishmael’s birth? Who was his mother and what was her social situation? What was the prophesy concerning Ishmael? (16:11-12) What was the faith of his mother? (16:13) What does Ishmael mean? Why did she give that name to her son? (16:15)
  2. How old was his father, Abram? (16:16) What was it like for a young boy to grow

up with such an old father? What struggle would he have to go through? What

shows that Ishmael shared in the faith of his father? (17:26) How do you think

Ishmael felt about his place in the family for the first 13 year of his life?

 

Part ll: Ishmael And His Mom…A Hard New Life Together (Gen 21:8-21)

 

  1. What happened when Isaac was weaned? How did Ishmael feel about the birth of his new brother? (21:8-9; Gal 4:29) What did Ishmael fail to recognize? (Romans 9:7-9)

 

  1. How did Abraham and Sarah react? (21:10-11) What was God’s direction and promise towards Ishmael? (21:12-13) How did Abraham provide for Ishmael and his mother, Hagar? (Gen 21:14) How old was Ishmael? How do you think he felt?

 

  1. Describe the suffering that they endured? (21:14b-17a) How did God reveal

himself to them at this time? What was God’s promise? (21:18) What shows his

mothers’ dedication? (21:16, 19, 21) What career path did Ishmael take?

(21:20a)

 

Part lll: Ishmael’s Later Life (Gen 25:6,9… Gen 28:9)

 

  1. What shows that their was a good relationship between Ishmael and Isaac

and even his nephew, Esau, later in life? (Gen 25:6, 9; 28:9) What does the fact that he gave his daughters in marriage to Esau reveal about him? (28:9; 36:3)

 

Part lV: Ishmael’s Legacy  (Gen 25:12-18; Gen 37:25-27)

 

  1. When did Ishmael die? (Gen 25:17) What was his eternal destination? What is said about the descendants of Ishmael? (25:12-18) How was the prophecy given to him, just before his birth fulfilled? (25:18) What were his descendants like? (Gen 37:25-27; Judges 8:23-24; Psalm 83:5-8)
  2. How is Ishmael viewed today? Think about the various viewpoints of world

religions?




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