Ishmael - Genesis 21:1-13

21:1-8 - Maybe it’s because I had taken such a long break because of work, but I forgot that earlier the Lord had given Sarah a specific timeline, within a year, that she would have her son. I also want to point out that while she seemed skeptical at first, obviously they had enough faith that they kept having sex so that when the Lord’s time was right, she could conceive. At this point, it’s been a year since the Lord made this promise and Sarah became pregnant. I have a few questions about this whole “giving a timeline” thing. God told Sarah specifically 1 year, God told the Nephites that 600 years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem, the Savior would be born, and Samuel prophesied that within 5 years Jesus would be born. My question is this, why did the Lord give such specific timelines to people anciently, but here we are sitting with “the day of the Lord is at hand,” and 200 years later, we are all just kind of sitting around looking at each other. I recognize that God didn’t always give the people a set in stone time table, but it’s happened often enough in the scriptures that it makes me think. Sarah becomes pregnant “and bare Abraham a son in his old age… and Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, who Sarah bare to him, Isaac.” Abraham obeys the commandment set forth previously and circumcises Isaac at “eight days old.” Sarah rejoices and praises God, and when Isaac was weaned “Abraham made a great feast the same day.” I didn’t understand why there would have been such a celebration when Isaac was weaned, but some articles I read about it pointed out that child mortality was so high anciently and babies usually nursed until they were at least 2-3 years old. When a baby was still alive when they were old to rely on solid foods for nutrition, it was a good indicator that they would live to adulthood. 21: 9-13 - This is where I start to have issues with this story. Sarah “saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking,” and Sarah demands that Abraham “Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” Let’s circle back, around to this for a second. Hagar was Sarah’s servant, and it was Sarah’s idea to have Hagar have a baby with Abraham. I have three nephews who are super cute and fun and they love me, and my son was 12 when the first one was born, and he doesn’t like the boys and I understand. He’s 15 now and he hates me, maybe not really but he is really mean to me, so I like being around my nephews because they are always happy to see me and they are always nice. My son doesn’t like them because they are noisy and messy and just want to play with him all the time and I think there was definitely some jealousy when they were first born. So I can see this Ishmael and Isaac situation playing out like it does with my son and my nephews, they are annoying, he’s older and not to mention the fact that Ishmael had been an only child up to that point and had garnered all the attention and now there is not only another child to share the attention with, but this child is the chosen one because God made all these promises for this child and he’s the son of their father’s favorite wife. Of course Ishmael messed with Isaac, it’s what brothers do, and add all the extra issues on there, and I just think it’s really unfair that Sarah was like “ok I have my own baby now, get rid of the spare child.” I’ve been the child that no one wanted, I’ve been the “wife” that no one wanted, I know what that’s like and so my heart breaks for Ishmael and Hagar to feel what I have felt, only a hundred times worse. Abraham wasn’t very happy about Sarah’s request either, in fact “the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.” But God steps in, like he does for all children and discarded women, and tells Abraham “hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall be thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.” The Lord steps in a says, “for whatever reason, it’s best is Ishmael and Hagar don’t stay with you right now, but don’t worry, I will take care of them and Ishmael will have the blessings pledged to him as your son.” I think it’s also important to note here that Arabs consider Ishmael the father of Islam, and while scientific evidence might say that he was not the progenitor of all Arabs, it is still what Muslims believe and that’s what matters, just like when we say we are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, maybe not literally, but in belief. So while we might consider ourselves the chosen people, it’s important to remember that a significant portion of the world’s population are also descendants of Abraham and given blessings by God as such.