GENESIS 16: Sarai Had No Children

In the previous chapter we read about the Covenant God made with Abram to confirm his promise: he would give the Promised Land to his descendants.

Abram was already in the land, but he did not have any children. Years went by and the promised son was not born yet. Every year that passed it was less likely that the promise could be fulfilled. Chapter 16 begins by stating this “adverse circumstance”…

(Genesis 16:1)   Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.

The promise had been made to Abram, but was it for Sarai also? It is very likely that this question arose and they started looking for an alternative. Since Sarai was barren, she thought about doing something that was a custom at that time: she would have a son through a “surrogate mother”.

(Genesis 16:2)   And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

The Hebrew word translated in this verse as “obtain children” is “Banah”, which literally means “to build".

The Hebrew word for “son” is “Ben”, which also comes from the verb Banah: to build, to construct. By having children the following generation is raised up and built.

The question is if God wanted to “Guild” Abram’s generations through Agar the Egyptian woman or through Sarai, Abram’s legitimate wife. During biblical times it was socially acceptable for men to have as many wives as they could support. Nevertheless, Abram only had his wife Sarai. That was amazing since he was very wealthy, even more so given the fact that she could not have children. Abram only had one wife, in line with God’s regulations. When the Lord made that promise to Abram, it was also directed to Sarai;  because as husband and wife they were one (Matthew 19:4-6).

“HELPING” GOD

As the promise delayed, doubt began to emerge. Ten years had gone by since they returned from Egypt. Maybe they even thought that Sarai was the only obstacle for Abram to receive his promise. That is why Sarai proposed a way to offset that problem, yet would still include her indirectly in the plan: she would have a son through her servant.

(Genesis 16:3)  So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

Given the fact that the promise was not being fulfilled by the conventional method, Sarai decided to “help” God. But, does God need help? Even when God wanted our participation, he would never ask us to do anything against his regulations and principles.

ABRAM LISTENED TO THE VOICE

The idea of having a child with the servant came from Sarai, not from Abram. Nevertheless, Abram accepted it. The text says that Abram “listened to the voice of Sarai”

There is nothing wrong with a husband listening to his wife, since her words may bring wisdom. But the words of a spouse should never be taken as a substitute for the words of God. Abram’s mistake was to listen to the voice of Sarai instead of seeking the will of God.

The same thing happened to Adam. He paid more attention to his wife’s words that to the command God had given him (Genesis 3:6). Later God called him to account for what he had done; however, Adam gave excuses, blaming Eve and ultimately blaming God, who had given him the woman as a companion.

(Genesis 3:11-12)  He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  (12)  The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 

In God’s eyes Adam had no excuse. God considered him to be responsible and he punished him for his bad deeds:

(Genesis 3:17-19)  (17)  And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  (18)  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  (19)  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Man must learn to distinguish between good and evil, but above all, he must learn to hear God’s counsel. At the end, he will be held responsible before God for his decisions as head of the family.

Returning to Abram’s story… it is evident that Sarai’s suggestion was not in accord with God’s plans. However, later in the story we will see that Sarai will be in agreement with God; that is why the Lord tells Abram to pay attention to what his wife tells him.

(Genesis 21:12)  But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

The problem is not “listening to the woman” but rather it is “not listening to the voice of God.”

In this first instance, Abram paid attention to Sarai’s voice, without seeking God’s voice, without following his divine direction. He heeded his wife’s advice, which was wrong on this particular occasion. This bad decision cost Abram and his whole family dearly, and the consequences can be seen even today…

HAGAR

Who was Hagar? The Bible points out that she was an Egyptian servant (16:1). She may have been one of the servants Pharaoh gave Abram as a dowry for allowing Sarai to be in the royal palace.

(Genesis 12:16)  And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

… And the consequences of his journey to Egypt, which was a deviation from God’s will, keep emerging.

COMPLICATIONS

When man puts his hands in the things of God, everything gets complicated instead of settled.

(Genesis 16:4)  And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

No doubt Sarai’s intention was to “build” a generation for Adam, and she used her servant for that. But in God’s Kingdom the end does not justify the means. Sarai’s good intention did not justify having used her servant in such a way. As it usually happens when we act incorrectly, things got complicated. The servant changed her attitude towards Sarai, and she began to raise Abram’s firstborn as her own – not Sarai’s.  

This was not what Sarai had in mind. Her wish was to have a son for Abram, in whichever way was possible, to become a part of the promise. But Hagar’s attitude was messing up “her plans”, therefore she asked Abram to get involved and make things right.

(Genesis 16:5)  And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!"

Was Sarai’s request fair? Was it not she that caused this situation? That was exactly what Abram thought.

(Genesis 16:6)  But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Sarai asked her husband to take matters into his hands, but Abram did not take responsibility, just like Adam did when he blamed Eve for his sin (Genesis 3:12). It surely was Sarai’s idea, but in God’s sight Abram was responsible as head of the household.

Sarai’s manipulation cost her dearly. Not only did she not achieve what she set out to, but she complicated matters further and brought consequences that her descendants are suffering even today, as we will later study.  

On our next lesson we will read what happened to Hagar and her son…