Trusting God’s Promise in Your Suffering — Genesis 16 Daily Word

Discover how God’s promise to Hagar in Genesis 16 reveals the importance of obedience and submission. Learn why returning to her place was essential for God’s plan to multiply her descendants.

Genesis 16:12-16 Daily Word

1. [Scripture]

[12] He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” [13] So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” [14] Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. [15] And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. [16] Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Gen 16:12-16, ESV)

2. [Daily Word]

# God asks Hagar, “Where have you come from, and where are you going?”

When Hagar said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai,” God replied, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her authority.” This was a call for her to return to her original place as a servant, take up her cross, and remain in the blessed position she had been given. The reason for this was to ensure the fulfillment of the promise of descendants: “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they cannot be counted for multitude.” There is a clear reason why God reached out to Hagar, who had fled from the household He had established.

That reason is found in the name of her son Ishmael in verse 11: “The LORD has listened to your affliction.” God heard Hagar’s cry in her suffering and came to comfort her. God hears the prayers of those who cry out to Him. [3] Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jer 33:3, ESV)

# God prophesies about the future of Ishmael.

In verse 12, the Scripture says, “He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” The son Hagar would bear is described as being like a wild donkey and one who would strike against all people. The wild donkey is described in [5] “Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, [6] to whom I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place? [7] He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver. [8] He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing. (Job 39:5-8, ESV) as follows: 5. Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey? 6. To him I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place. 7. He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver. 8. He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.

Ultimately, this means that Ishmael’s descendants would become a people who love conflict. This is how Ishmael became the forefather of the Arab peoples.

In response to these words of blessing, Hagar confesses that God is “the God who sees me”—the God who watches over and observes all things. This is her expression of gratitude that God had looked upon her sorrow and suffering. While she had been working in Abram’s household, she had not felt God’s care, but now, alone and forsaken in the middle of a desolate wilderness, she encountered the Lord—and His grace must have been overwhelmingly astonishing to her. And so she gave thanks, saying, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

# God calls sinners to repentance and uses the weak to do mighty things.

[12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt 9:12-13, ESV)

Hagar, overwhelmed by the boundless grace of God, was filled with great joy and named the spring where she had been “Beer-lahai-roi,” which means “the well of the Living One who sees me.” The text also records that this spring was located between Kadesh and Bered.

Looking beyond the geography, however, these names carry deeper meaning: Kadesh means “holy,” while Bered means “defiled” or “spotted.” Thus, the place where Hagar encountered the Lord stood at a crossroads — a midpoint between the kingdom of God and the ways of the world.

# Hagar returned to her place and bore Abram a son.

She must have shared everything that had happened to her in the wilderness with Abram and Sarai. In response, Abram named the son that Hagar bore Ishmael. And so, at the age of eighty-six, Abram received this precious son.

Yet the apostle Paul speaks to this very matter in [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. [23] But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. (Gal 4:22-23, ESV). Through these words, Paul makes clear that Ishmael was a child born according to the flesh.

By the customs of the time, the child born to Hagar should have been regarded as Sarai’s child. Yet verses 15 and 16 record the son specifically as “the son that Hagar bore.” Ultimately, this demonstrates the fulfillment of God’s prophetic blessing spoken over Hagar, and it makes unmistakably clear that this child was not the one God had promised to give to Sarai.

Sarai’s plan for an heir seemed to have succeeded on the surface. However, the fulfillment of God’s promised word had not yet come. We can see that Abram’s son Isaac would not be born until another thirteen years had passed.

From this, we receive a lesson: when we have faith that believes we have already received what God has promised, we will indeed receive it. And if that faith is not yet present, we will receive it when faith arises within us. Therefore, my hope is that today would be a day when we are awake before God and walking as people of faith.

Hagar’s flight, God’s guidance, staying in one’s place, the blessing of descendants, spiritual obedience

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com