Genesis 16:1 - Meaning and Application

We have here Abram’s marriage to Hagar, his secondary wife. Some excuse may be made for him, but he cannot be justified. From the beginning it was not so, and even when such a practice did exist, it seems to have come from a wrong desire to build families quickly and fill the world, and the church, faster. This must not be so now. Christ brought marriage back to its first design, one man and one woman only.

The one who arranged this match, surprisingly, was Sarai herself. She said to Abram, “Please, go in to my maid” (Genesis 16:2). Satan often tempts us through our nearest and dearest relations, or through friends we trust and love. A temptation is most dangerous when it comes through a hand we suspect least. So our wisdom is to pay attention not so much to who is speaking, but to what is being said.

God’s commands protect our peace and honor far better than our own schemes do. It would have been much better for Sarai if Abram had stayed with God’s rule instead of following her foolish plan. Yet we often do harm to ourselves.

The reason behind this plan was Sarai’s barrenness. Sarai had borne Abram no children. She was very beautiful (Genesis 12:14), a good and dutiful wife, and a partner in his great wealth, yet she remained childless. God gives his gifts in different ways. He loads us with blessings, but not so many that we have no trouble at all. Some hardship is allowed to keep great joy from becoming too heavy.

The gift of children is often given to the poor and denied to the rich. It is often given to the wicked and denied to good people, even though the rich have more to leave behind, and good people would usually care best for their children’s upbringing. God does as he pleases in this.

Sarai also acknowledged God’s hand in her trouble. She said, “The Lord has kept me from having children.” When children are given, it is God who gives them (Genesis 33:5). When they are withheld, it is God who withholds them (Genesis 30:2). This trouble is from the Lord. We should admit that, so we can bear it rightly and learn from it, as an affliction arranged by him for wise and holy purposes.

She used this trouble as an argument with Abram to marry her maid, and he was persuaded by it. When our hearts are set too much on any earthly comfort, we are easily drawn into crooked ways to get it. Strong desires often lead to wrong efforts. If our wishes are not held in submission to God’s providence, our actions will hardly stay within the limits of his commands.

We go out of the path of duty because we do not trust God’s promise firmly, and we do not wait patiently for his time. “The one who believes will not be in a hurry” (Isaiah 28:16). Abram’s willingness to go along, as we can tell, came from a serious desire for the promised child, the heir through whom the covenant would continue. God had told him that his heir would be a son of his own body, but had not yet said clearly that the son would be by Sarai. So Abram seems to have thought, “Why not by Hagar, since Sarai herself suggests it?”

Bad temptations can wear very convincing clothes. They may be wrapped in what sounds reasonable. Fleshly wisdom, by rushing ahead of God’s time, also pulls us out of God’s way. This could be avoided if we asked God for guidance through his word and prayer before doing anything important or doubtful. Abram failed here. He married without God’s approval. This persuasion did not come from the one who had called him.