( Genesis 16,1-16 ) - [ Afrikaans ][ Deutsch ]
What is meant by a prophecy? To prophesy something to someone, to promise, to foretell, to hold out the prospect. Word of honour, assurance, pledge, vow, guarantee, oath
Prophecy is a biblical-religious term that describes an announcement of a positive event. The author of the promise is always God.
God promises us something. There are approximately 365 promises of God in the Bible. God promises you closeness, comfort, help, support, answering your prayers and much more.
Their fulfillment is often only recognized in retrospect, sometimes even generations later.
Many of us know the biblical couple, Abraham and Sarah. Together they leave Ur in Chaldea and follow the promise to a land that God will give them. Associated with this is the hope of having offspring. The path to the promised land is a difficult one for people and animals; it is a path through strangers and lawlessness. Things happen that seem quite strange to us today. Abraham is considered the father of faith. Abraham means father of many. But God's promise in the Bible is also addressed to Sarah, whose name means princess. That is why we can call Sarah and Abraham archparents.
Abraham and Sarah show how people behave in certain situations.
The experience of people exploiting each other is already reflected in the lives of the archparents.
Genesis 16:1-16
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.l But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;
2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,v” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 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, slave 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 increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkeyi of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.j”
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.”
14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
What kind of story are we being drawn into here?
What we are told here is a family drama that is perfect for a film. Broken family relationships that nevertheless begin with good intentions - as is often the case... The theologian Eberhard Jüngel once said: “Sarah means well, Abraham thinks it’s good, and Hagar does it well.” Everyone does something that they think solves a problem. But as it happens, good intentions are usually better than the people who carry them out.
Abraham and Sarah are considered role models for faith. Although they are elderly and have no children of their own, God promises them abundant offspring. The years go by - and the two are still waiting for fulfillment.
Clearly Sarah and Hagar are the focus of this text. Sara drives the story with her impatience: tired of waiting and hoping for fulfillment, she reverses her childlessness by making a plan and starting to act. At Sarah's instigation, Abraham makes Hagar a surrogate mother.
Her husband Abraham, otherwise so strong in faith, who received the prophecy in Gen 15 that he would have his own biological son, remains extremely pale in this action. Has he forgotten the promise? Doesn't he believe in it? Does he just want his wife to stop whining in disbelief? The Bible is silent on this. Abraham fathers a child with the slave Hagar. Her position means that she has no choice and must submit to her mistress's instructions. She cannot free herself from her predicament.
What Sarah didn't expect is that Hagar would develop a strong will of her own.
With pregnancy, the relationship structure changes dramatically. Now Hagar drives the story forward by feeling superior to the old, barren Sarai. The text makes it clear that it is not Sarah who suddenly becomes jealous, feels inferior and regrets her plan, but rather that Hagar is taking advantage of her new position: she finally has a trump card in her hand - or under her heart. Action follows reaction: Sarah, as Abraham's wife, ensures that Hagar has to go, and in doing so she even invokes God as judge. Having just emerged from the lowly position of a maid, Hagar falls into great distress. Both women are victims and perpetrators, both exploit their position, both can only be understood through their fate. . . One time Hagar escapes, the other time she is sent away. But she goes her way to the end. There she learns that she is not alone. God saw and heard her with her child. She receives new strength. Later in the story it is revealed that the child is not welcome in Abraham's family. Sarah sees Hagar and Ishmael as competition and wants to get rid of them. Abraham doesn't object. He shamefully abandons Hagar - and later actively participates in her expulsion. He also sends his son Ishmael to destruction with her. What is exciting is that neither Sarah is reprimanded by God for her treatment of her servant nor Hagar for her reaction. In the end, fulfillment happens to both women.
Sarah and Abraham are not only role models in faith, but also an example of little faith. Their life is under a great promise. But they are completely overwhelmed by it.
Instead of being a blessing to others, they remain trapped in their selfish thoughts.
In her behavior towards Hagar, Sarah only cares about herself. And why doesn't Abraham seek a confrontation with his wife Sarah? The two of them ultimately have to learn the painful way what trust in God means. It almost gets to the point where Abraham and Sarah end up childless again. Then they realize that their fate is entirely in God's hands. God cares not only for Sarah and Abraham, but also for Hagar and Ishmael.
The story of Sarah and Abraham shifts our focus from our own desires and thoughts to the will of God. Our life plans are of course very important to us. But there is more than our wishes and thoughts. Salvation can also happen in our lives.
Sarah and Abraham should be a blessing for all people. We too can be bringers of blessing.
We also need courage to walk the path of faith. We encounter it ourselves - and that means: the good and bad in people. But we cannot do this on our own, only with Gods help. Angels can also visit us,.where we no longer have hope for ourselves and the world, in view of the huge challenges facing the future.
We can be there for each other. We can trust that God will help.
Abraham, Sarah and many others preceded us in this faith. We too can live out of this faith: God is alive among us – when we welcome him.
We depend on being helped. God promises us his blessing.
God ensures that good comes from bad. We are called to believe - and yet we struggle with our little faith throughout our lives. Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised. Other times we encounter unexpected difficulties. Things often turn out differently than we think.
How far do we manage to follow a path we have taken, to remain true to a conviction? What space do we give to our desires in life? Do we become discouraged when our desires do not match reality? Or, on the contrary, does it spur us on to achieve something that doesn't yet exist?
We can acknowledge each other and share what we have with others. Where we are indifferent, the desire for justice can arise. Let's take a look, let's get involved, let's talk!
In hopeless situations we can practice patience. Where there is no help at all, we can still hope and not give up. Ultimately, what we do without God doesn’t get us anywhere. That's why we can let God do it. How does it work? Abraham and Sarah are one of the three sets of archparents, great role models from whom Israel derives its history. Not heroes and heroines or even saints, but people with all their strengths and weaknesses, ups and downs in their interpersonal relationships. They reach old age, a symbol of a fulfilled life and a sign of God's faithfulness.
Weak people, like the later disciples of Jesus, come to the point where they testify to God's love. The path of faith is revealed as we walk it. God sees and hears us, God calls us by our name. We are bearers of his promise.
The sentence comes from D. Bonhoeffer: “God does not fulfill all of our wishes, but he does fulfill all of his promises”. God's people also need patience to live with the things they don't want: childlessness, singleness, illness, or even difficult jobs. And yet knowing that his promise is valid: he is for me, he sees me and can use me, accompany and bless me with what I lack and what he gifts me with. God also sees us with and in our weaknesses
It feels like we have to travel a long way to meet God. And then we learn that God is already there, right in the middle of our everyday lives. We are saved and can repent.
Let us use Misericordias Domini (Mercy) Sunday to reflect on this need and this feeling. Where do I find security? Who can I convey security to and how do I do that? Do I also feel God's mercy in my life? Can I rely on him?
The so-called Shepherd's Sunday uses various texts to depict the image of a caring God who gives his life for those who follow him faithfully.
God is also with us on our journey, God's promises are also fulfilled for us. Amen
