A Journey through the Bible with Tiglath
3. Continuing our journey through Genesis Chapters 16 to 21
As Sarai was becoming old and had borne Abram no children, she suggested
that he found a family through her Egyptian slave girl who was named Hagar.
This was quite a common custom at that time and marriage contracts could
have contained such a provision. Once the child was born it would become the
wife's. Hagar must have mocked Sarai, who complained to her husband.
Abram told her to deal with her slave girl as she wished. Sarai ill-treated
Hagar who ran away into the desert. There the angel of the Lord found her.
The angel instructed her to go back to her mistress; also, he told her that her
descendants would be too many to be counted. Later, Hagar bore Abram a son
who was given the name Ishmael.
In Chapter 17 God makes a fifth covenant with Abram.
'You shall be the father of a host of nations. Your
name shall be Abraham' (Father of a Multitude). God
also changes the name of Sarai, which means
'Mockery', to Sarah, which means 'princess'. God
Astonishes Abraham and Sarah by telling them that
she is going to bear a son. As, according to the Bible,
Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah ninety, one can
understand their disbelief. To celebrate the covenant
Abraham circumcises all the males of his tribe.
Circumcision was the outward sign that God owned
the people on whom it was performed. At that time
it was commonly done in tribes of the Middle East to
signify that a boy was being admitted to adult status.
Before Sarah gives birth there are two interesting stories in Chapters 18 and
19. In Chapter 18 Abraham has three visitors.
They arrive during the afternoon siesta. True to the tradition of Middle
Eastern Hospitality, Abraham provided a lavish meal. Women did not eat with
the men, but Sarah was outside the tent listening to the conversation. She
certainly pricked up her ears when she heard one of the strangers tell Abraham
that next year his wife would bear a son. Sarah laughed to herself at this but;
unknown to her, the stranger who spoke was the Lord God who asked why she
laughed and who also said ‘Is anything impossible for the Lord?’ What a text for a sermon! Sarah was very frightened
and denied that she had laughed, but the Lord knew that she had. The second
part of the chapter finds Abraham and the strangers overlooking the Jordan
Valley where there were two wicked cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord
states that he intends to destroy them and it is very interesting to read how
Abraham pleads for cities to be saved. His pleading was in vain. Lot, his
nephew, lived in Sodom and he was visited by two angels. Chapter 19 verses 5
to 11 tell of the reaction of the citizens of Sodom to the visit of the angels. The
angels instructed Lot and his family to leave at once and not to look back. The
Lord rained fire and brimstone and destroyed the cities. Lot's wife, however,
looked back as they fled and was turned into a pillar of salt. This pillar is
supposed to be still there.
In Chapter 21, as foretold by God, Sarah has a son whom she names Isaac. In
our next episode, we shall discover what happens to Hagar and Ishmael now
that Sarah has a son of her own. A little later, Abraham's faith is severely
tested by God.
