Today´s Reading:
Genesis 16:1-18:15 ◊ Matthew 6:1-24 ◊ Psalm 7:1-17 ◊ Proverbs 2:1-5
God's Promises - OT:
9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers."Genesis 16:9-12 (NIV)
Here God is promising to produce a great nation also through Hagar's son, Ishmael, just as He would produce a great nation through Abraham's and Sarah's future son, Isaac. Unfortunately, God also prophesied the enmity between the two nations - enmity that very likely is a direct result of Abraham's act of unfaithfulness (in sleeping with Hagar rather than waiting on God to fulfill His promise) and Sarah's act of pride and jealousy (in mistreating the pregnant Hagar).
I find the choice of phrase used by the angel of the Lord to be quite interesting; he commanded Hagar to submit to Sarah, while Hagar was pregnant with Ishmael, from whom would come Islam - a religion predicated upon submission.
One Year Bible Blog
The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.
