Genesis 21:14 - Meaning and Application

Here is, first, the casting out of the slave woman and her son from Abraham’s family (Genesis 21:14). Abraham obeyed God’s command quickly, likely getting up early the next morning after receiving the instruction in a night vision. His obedience was also humble. This went against his own judgment, or at least against his feelings, yet once he knew it was God’s will, he made no objections and quietly did what he was told, like someone trained in complete obedience.

In sending them away, without servants, on foot, and with only small supplies, Abraham probably followed the directions he had been given. If Hagar and Ishmael had behaved well in Abraham’s house, they might have stayed there. But they brought this on themselves through pride and rude behavior, and so they were rightly corrected. We should note this: when we misuse our privileges, we lose them. Those who do not value their good place, such as Abraham’s household, deserve to be removed and made to learn the worth of mercy by losing it.

Second, they wandered in the wilderness and lost the way to the place Abraham had meant for them to settle. There they were brought to deep distress. Their food ran out, and Ishmael grew weak. He who had once been well fed in Abraham’s house, where he had grown strong and rebellious, now fainted when food was scarce. Hagar wept and was brought low. Now she wished for the scraps she had wasted and treated lightly at her master’s table. Like someone under the burden of fear and guilt, she gave up hope of help and expected nothing but the child’s death, although God had already told her before his birth that he would live and become a great man (Genesis 21:15, 16). We easily forget earlier promises when present troubles seem to deny them, because we live by what we see.

In this distress, God kindly came to help them. He heard the boy’s voice, though we are not told of any words he spoke (Genesis 21:17). His sighs, groans, and miserable condition cried out to mercy. An angel was sent to comfort Hagar, and this was not the first time she had met God’s comfort in a wilderness. She had once thankfully acknowledged God’s earlier care in such a place (Genesis 16:13), and now God visited her again with timely help. The angel assured her that God had heard the boy’s voice where he was, even in the wilderness, for wherever we are, there is still a way open to heaven. So she was told to lift up the boy and hold him in her hand (Genesis 21:18).

This also teaches that God’s willingness to help us in trouble should not make us lazy, but should stir us to do what we can for ourselves. The angel repeated the promise that her son would become a great nation, and that was a reason for her to strengthen herself and help him. We should be more careful with children and young people when we remember that we do not know what God may have planned for them, or what useful work he may do through them. Then God opened her eyes, which were swollen and nearly blinded with tears, and she saw a well of water (Genesis 21:19). Many people have enough reason to be comforted, yet go on grieving because they do not see it. There is a well of water near them in the covenant of grace, that is, God’s gracious promise to save and help his people, but they do not notice it until the same God who shows them their trouble also shows them their remedy (John 16:6, 7).

The apostle says these things about Hagar and Ishmael are to be understood as an allegory, meaning a picture that teaches a deeper lesson (Galatians 4:24). This shows the folly of those who, like unbelieving Jews, try to be made right with God by the law and its outward ceremonies instead of by God’s promise in Christ. They run into a wilderness of need and despair. Their comforts soon run out, and unless God saves them by special mercy and opens their eyes, they are lost. It also shows the folly of those who look for satisfaction and happiness in the world and its things. Anyone who leaves the comforts of God’s covenant and fellowship, and chooses this earth for their portion, ends up with only a skin of water, poor and limited provision that soon runs out. They keep wandering in search of satisfaction and finally stop short of it.

Third, Ishmael was finally settled in the wilderness of Paran (Genesis 21:20, 21), a rough place fit for a rough man, and that is what he was (Genesis 16:12). Those born after the flesh settle for the wilderness of this world, while the children of promise look toward the heavenly Canaan and cannot rest until they reach it. Notice that he had some signs of God’s presence, because God was with the boy, and his outward success came from that. By trade he was an archer, which suggests that skill was his strength and sport was his main concern, just as rejected Esau was a skilled hunter. He also married within his mother’s relatives, and she chose a wife for him from Egypt. Strong as he was with the bow, he still did not think he could make the right choice in marriage without his mother’s advice and approval.