Genesis 16:1-6 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 16:1-6 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 16Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, Verse 2and Sarai said to Abram, "You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Verse 3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.
Verse 4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Verse 5Then Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl 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!" Verse 6But Abram said to Sarai, "Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
Devotion
This story depicts Sarai and Abram (Sarah and Abraham) in a less than favorable light. Here we see bickering and cruelty, dynamics often associated with dysfunctional families. Sadly, the intensity of ill will increases as chapter 16 goes on, reaching a harrowing state of affairs as this story continues in chapter 21. It is sobering to realize that some of the giants of the faith were capable of pettiness and harshness. Perhaps that is one of the reasons this story is retained in Scripture. It reminds us that those called and chosen by God are also sinful, whether they are part of the story then or now. There is something bracing about standing shoulder to shoulder with Abraham and Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael as we all might confess: “We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone” (Book of Common Prayer and ELW). All of us, past and present, stand in need of God’s forgiveness.
Prayer
Forgive us, renew us and lead us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.