Genesis 21:22-34 Abraham and King of Southern Palestine

To summarize verses 1-22 in Genesis 21: Isaac is born
to Sarah.When Isaac is weaned, and Ishmael teases him, he
is the object of wrath for Sarah.


(I made a promise to myself that I would take no
more than 2-3 days on any weighty chapters, but,
then run smack into chapters like in Revelation
21, and Genesis 21... I guess promises to ourself
can be broken occasionally. )

The first 21 verses in 21 deal with Abraham, Sarah,
Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac. We have a glimpse of their
few years as a blended family. Sarah sees Ishmael
teasing little Isaac, and demands Hagar and Ishmael
go.

Go where? They were theirs. They belonged to
Abraham as much as Isaac and Sarah, from their
justifiable view. Ishmael was not a bastard,
he was a son. He lost his inheritance in Abraham
because he teased his little brother.

Abraham sent Hagar, and his beloved Ishmael, into
the wilderness, with a loaf of bread, and bottle
of water. They were being sent out of the safety
of the affluent bedoin camp, into the wilderness
to die. It's far worse to imagine, his wrenching
pain, sending Ishmael away, than if one of us
sent our beloved dogs or cats into the desert.

Through his pain, of sacrificing Ishmael,
did God know that Abraham was his prophet.


This causes endless examination, over and over
again, through the centuries, through the ages.


God told Abraham to obey his wife's shrieking
voice. The LORD had Sarah's back, but, then again,
it was He who had prevented her from conceiving
until she was quite old. God showed his natural
power over all natural forces and flesh, during
these days, to put his fear into heathen kings,
like Abimelek, who though Pharoah, in Abraham's
time, was honestly a man who feared God.

The final 12 chapters of Chapter 21, deal with
something that is also heavy with symbolism and
original foundation. We see Abraham and Abimelek,
making a peace pact, over a well.

Our faith in God is that well. In the first
half of Genesis, Abraham is forced to send
Ishmael out into the wilderness, with Hagar,
a freed slave. God appointed the Angel of the
LORD to direct her to a well, where none was
previously. This saves their lives.

Wellsprings in the wilderness are literal life.
In a spiritual sense, the wellspring, fountain
of live, water of life, etc., is a very beautiful
spritual allegory, repeated often.

It's a privilege to discover God's hidden secrets
in these words, word upon word, line upon line,
reading them again, and again. Each time, there
is something new waiting.