| Subject: Genesis 21 vss. 15-21 Post 112 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:35:27 08/25/09 Tue
Genesis 21:15-21 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
`Hagar sets her face toward Egypt and becomes lost in the wilderness. She and her son wander until the water runs out and they become weak with dehydration. Her son evidently is less able to stand the heat less than she. He weakens until he is unable to go on. In despair she lays her son in the shade under a bush and walks off a "bowshot" (I would guess no more than 200 yards) away from her son and sits down, waiting for him to die. As she sobs for her son and the situation she finds herself in she hears a voice from above calling her name.
The voice is one of soothing comfort as opposed to a harsh demanding voice and it calms her fears with the words "fear not". Notice the following statement is that God has heard the voice of Ishmael and not the voice of Hagar. Evidently the boy is either crying or praying. I would assume, being raised by Abraham that Ismael is praying to the God of heaven and earth for deliverance for him and his mother. God then tells Hagar that He would make of Ishmael a great nation. This is re-iterating the promise that God gave to Abraham (vs.13).
Hagar never had reason to fear for the lad. God had promised and it was as sure as sunrise that He would deliver. God could not have fulfilled His promise to Abraham through a dead Ismael. The narrative disregards Hagar's fears and sorrow and focuses on Ishmael and his voice. The deliverance was not because of Hagar nor of Ismael but because of the promise to Abraham. This cannot be overstated as this is also the reason for the deliverance of Israel time and again. It was all because of the promises to Abraham and God cannot lie. God said it and He would do it regardless of the merit of the one or ones receiving the blessing of the promises.
When Hagar has heard the voice of the Angel of God, he then shows her the well of water that is nearby. She was blind to this before God's appearance but now she sees it clearly and takes of the well and gives Ishmael to drink. The well of water is full of symbolism. It time and again points to deliverance and life. This is the second time Hagar has had an angel speak to her next to a well of water. In Genesis 16:7 it is called a "fountain of water" and then in verse 14 it is called a well and named "Beerlahairoi". (God seeth me) It is at this fountain or spring of water, if you will, that Hagar receives comfort to go on with her life. It was at this second "well" that she and her son were given physical restoration.
Moses meets his wife at a well (Ex. 2:15-21). Isaac's wife is first found at a well (Gen. 24:10-20). Jacob finds Rachel at a well (Gen. 29:1-12).
Wells were life giving and sustaining sources of water for the nomads in a dry and thirsty land. It is only fitting that God has chosen wells and fountains as symbols of His grace, mercy and Holy Spirit. It was by a well (Jacob's well) that Jesus met the woman of Samaria and told her that if she had asked water of Him He would have given her water that would quench her so thoroughly that she would never thirst again. This water was to be a well of water within her springing up into eternal life (John 4:3-14). Every person can now take of this water as a gift of God by simply receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour. The "well of water" is the Spirit of God that will spring up in you into everlasting life. You will never have to thirst for salvation again.
With the water to refresh them Hagar and Ismael continue on their journey going south toward the wilderness between Egypt and Arabia. This would be in the area of the Red Sea. Hagar takes Ismael a wife from Egypt. This would make his early descendants mostly Egyptian with a Hebrew mix as Abraham was a Hebrew and Hagar was Egyptian. Being next to Egypt and Arabia it is easy to see how the Arabians are now so in the line of Ishmael.
Verse 20 tells us that Ismael dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. By the mention of being an archer we can assume that he became very skilled with a bow. He would be a hunter and a warrior (see Gen. 16:12). The first archer according to lore and not the Bible was Nimrod. His symbol is a man with a bow and many early woodcuts picture him with a drawn bow . Nimrod was a type of anti-Christ and we find the anti-Christ pictured with a bow in Revelation 6:2. Esau was a might hunter with a bow (Gen. 25:7 with Gen. 27:3).
Each of these picture enemies of Israel and details of their lives fill in pieces of the puzzle of the coming anti-Christ and his war against Israel. Also from the sketches we are given we can see the historic enemies of Israel as they began.
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