Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness

Sarah saw Hagar’s son mocking and told Abraham to send Hagar and her son away. Abraham was deeply troubled because the boy was his son. But God told Abraham to listen to Sarah in this matter. God said that Abraham’s offspring would be named through Isaac, and that Hagar’s son would also become a nation because he was Abraham’s child.

Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar bread and a container of water and sent her away with the child. She left and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she placed the child under one of the shrubs.

Hagar went and sat some distance away, about a bowshot from him. She said she did not want to watch the child die. Sitting there opposite him, she lifted her voice and wept. The passage speaks honestly about her fear and grief.

God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from the sky. Hagar was told not to be afraid. God said he had heard the boy where he was, and that he would make him a great nation. Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. She filled the container and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Even in this painful separation, God heard the boy and remained with him.