Ishmael, Hagar and the Promised Isaac
Question: According to the Bible, when was Ishmael’s birth recorded and when was he considered a “child”?
Google: According to the Bible, Ishmael was born around 2080 B.C., when Abraham was 86 years old.
· When Abraham and Sarah had been married for 60 years without children, Sarah gave Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant, to Abraham so he could have children with her.
· The angel of the Lord told Hagar that her son would be "a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey".
· Hagar called the place where she met the angel "Beer Lahai Roi" which means "The Well of the Living One who sees me".
· Gen 15:1-21 God renews his covenant with Abram at Hebron and promises to give the land between Egypt and the River Euphrates to his descendants.
· Gen 16:1-6 As his wife Sarai is barren, Abram conceives a child by Hagar, his Egyptian slave girl. But Sarai ill-treats Hagar and she flees south into the desert.
· Gen 16:7-16 The angel of the LORD meets Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur (The Way of Shur). He tells her to return to Sarai. Hagar realises that God has spoken to her, so she calls the place Beer Lahai Roi (‘The Well of the Living One who sees me’). Hagar returns to Abram at Hebron and Ishmael is born in c.1842BC.
· Gen 17:1-8 God renews his covenant with Abram (meaning ‘the father is exalted’). From now on, he is to be called Abraham (meaning ‘father of many’) as he will become “the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:3). This promise is to be an everlasting covenant between God and Abraham’s descendants.
· Gen 17:9-27 Circumcision is introduced as a sign of this covenant. Abraham's wife, Sarai, is to be called Sarah as she will become “the mother of many nations” (Genesis 17:16), even though she is already ninety years old.
· Gen 18:1-15 Three visitors to Abraham’s tent at Hebron declare that God will soon bless Sarah and she will give birth to a son within a year.
· Gen 21:1-7 Abraham’s wife Sarah finally becomes pregnant and Isaac is born in c.1829BC. In accordance with God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac will become the father of a nation – the Jews.
· Gen 21:8-19 After Isaac is born, Sarah becomes hostile to his elder half-brother Ishmael and his mother Hagar, Abraham’s Egyptian slave (see Genesis 16:15-16). As a result, Hagar and her son (who is now a teenager aged 13) are forced to leave. Hagar and Ishmael wander in the Wilderness of Beersheba. They nearly die of thirst, but God reveals a nearby well, and promises that Ishmael, like Isaac, will also become the father of a nation – the Arabs. Many commentators date the longstanding hostility between Jews and Arabs to this event, as Ishmael – the elder son and heir – was displaced by his younger half-brother.
· Gen 22:1-8 God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac to the Land of Moriah and to offer him as a sacrifice. Child sacrifice was a common feature of many religions in Abraham’s time, and God is preparing Abraham for a radical move away from the traditional religious practice of his day.
· Gen 22:9-19 Abraham prepares the altar for the sacrificial offering. At the last moment, God provides a ram for the sacrifice and Isaac is spared. Abraham calls the place Jehovah-jireh (meaning ‘the LORD provides’). Child sacrifice is to have no place in worshipping God.
Abraham’s sacrifice
The Mountains of Moriah are now known as the Jerusalem Hills. Subsequently, the rocky summit where Abraham built his altar became the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 3:1), now occupied by the beautiful Dome of the Rock (completed in 691AD) inside which the rock that served as Abraham’s altar can still be seen by visitors today. To Muslims, the Haram al-Sharif (the ‘Noble Sanctuary’) also marks the site of Mohammed’s night journey to heaven in c.620AD.
The story of Abraham’s sacrifice is told graphically on an ancient mosaic dating from 518AD on the floor of the Bet Alpha synagogue near Beit Shean. The beautifully preserved mosaic shows Abraham preparing to offer Isaac on the altar, while his two servants hold the donkey. In the centre of the mosaic, a ram gets caught in a thicket, beneath the hand of God’s providence.
Gen 22:20-24 Abraham’s nephew Bethuel becomes the father of Rebekah (who later becomes Isaac’s wife).
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