The efforts expounded in chapter 20 to protect the clear lineage and source of this promised “seed” of Abraham finally bear out their importance with the arrival of Isaac in chapter 21. This laughable promise that God has made to not only provide a son for the 100 year old Abraham through his equally aged wife, but also to establish the line through which God will bring blessing to the world, comes true in Isaac, whose name literally means “he laughs”.
This name is no coincidence, of course, as both of Isaac’s parents indeed laughed at this promise when God made it. Abraham unsuccessfully tried to pass off his muffled laughter as if it was worship and Sarah got kind of an awkward, “I don’t know what’s so funny” moment from the Lord who had come to visit when she overheard the angels (and the Lord among them) talking about it with Abraham. Sarah claims to have not laughed (apparently unnecessary and ridiculous falsehood runs in the family, this is about as practical a lie as the sister/wife debacle with Abe and the Pharaoh and Abe and Abimelech.) God calmly corrected that situation with a “No, but you did laugh” which no doubt had an extremely long and awkward pause afterwards, potentially with eyebrows raised and some blinking.
Even so, this birth obviously brings great joy to Abraham’s house. They know that God keeps promises, even crazy ones, and Sarah is certainly right that this wild story will bring laughter (think joyous laughter) when it is told. The child is circumcised (just as Ishmael was) and when Isaac stops nursing a great feast is thrown (unlike Ishmael, notably.) We then get this perspective of Sarah seeing Ishmael laughing and in reaction wants him and his mother sent away.
A few things to note here. First, all Ishmael can be tagged with at this point is laughing. Some translations will use “mocking” here but the verb that makes up that word is the same as Isaac’s name so laughter is the more reasonable way to see it. The point isn’t what Ishmael is doing, it’s who he is. You see, he remains Abraham’s first born and is due to the inheritance, regardless of whether he was born of Hagar. Sarah’s request is to ensure that that which is due to the first born actually goes to Isaac.
This is tough for us to swallow but it is indeed a necessary means for this lineage to be blessed. The harshness of Sarah’s request, though, doesn’t escape Abraham, who was very displeased by it. He doesn’t want to do it. But, God tells him to go ahead and Abraham follows this with the assurance that God will yet make a great nation out of Ishmael. God was behind the promise to begin with, He can be trusted to follow it through (as Isaac’s existence certainly bears out.)
This isn’t the last time we’ll see circumstances circumventing the supposed order of things to accomplish things God has decreed. In fact, this isn’t even the last time a conniving mother is the inertia behind this re-ordering.
Even with God’s promise, we can recognize that Abraham’s provision for Hagar and Ishmael as they are sent away is certainly insufficient. We just had an image of Isaac’s big feast to celebrate this relatively minor life event while Hagar and the boy are sent out with prison rations. As these run out, Hagar desperately abandons the boy, hardly able to stomach the thought of watching him die. She then weeps and cries out.
Hagar has been an innocent pawn this whole time, an unknowing participant in a grand story. She finds her lot tied to the whims of Sarah and Abraham as they struggle to react appropriately to God’s promises. And now, she’s on the other side of one of those promises that was made to someone else, a promise that leaves her child with no food or water, left to die in the bushes.
But God made promises to her, too. The last time she left (chapter 16) it was near a well that she ran into God. That God promised to multiply her offspring and told her Ishmael would grow to be a wild ass of a man. Wild ass men don’t die in bushes. This time in the need of water instead of near it, an angel shows up to Hagar. The promise is still good, grab the child, get it some water from this well that seems to have popped out of nowhere. God promises to be with Ishmael and we learn that he grows up, is skilled with the bow, lives in the wilderness and gets married to an Egyptian woman.
Then the story turns oddly back to Abimelech over some sort of dispute over a well. Perhaps there’s a tie here, God gives Hagar a well, Abraham is still fighting for control over one that he dug in a land that is supposed to be his. The point in this story is likely Abraham’s relationship to those around him. Abimelech and his commander tell Abraham that “God is with you in all that you do.” In this, we see that there God’s blessing upon Abraham is evident even to those who did not witness the promise being made.
They resolve this by agreeing to deal fairly with each other and the well is turned over to Abraham. The number seven plays a prominent role here, with seven ewes being part of the covenant (Beersheba means “well of seven”) as well as both Abraham’s name and Abimelech’s name appear 7 times. This isn’t something that jumps out to us but just note that sevens tend to show up in important events, kind of as a way to call attention to things. Just keep an eye out for them.
