Genesis 16–17 — Waiting for God’s Promise: Hagar and the Covenant Sign
Key Scriptures: Genesis 16:1–16; Genesis 17:1–27; Romans 4:16–22; Galatians 4:21–31; Hebrews 6:13–15
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” — Genesis 17:1
Waiting is one of the hardest parts of faith.
God had promised Abram a son. Moreover, He had promised descendants as numerous as the stars.
Abram believed God, and Genesis 15:6 says:
“He counted it to him for righteousness.”
However, believing God’s promise did not mean Abram understood God’s timing.
Years passed.
Abram grew older.
Sarai remained childless.
Therefore, Abram and Sarai faced a temptation familiar to every believer:
Should we continue waiting for God, or should we try to make the promise happen ourselves?
Genesis 16 shows what happens when we run ahead of God.
Chapter 17, however, reminds us that human failure does not destroy divine faithfulness.
God still keeps His promises.
Sarai Had No Children
Genesis 16 begins:
“Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children.” — Genesis 16:1
That statement stood in painful contrast with God’s promise.
God had promised Abram countless descendants.
Nevertheless, Abram and Sarai still had no child.
Sarai was getting older.
Abram was getting older.
From a human perspective, the situation was becoming increasingly impossible.
Therefore, Sarai developed a plan.
Hagar the Egyptian
Sarai had an Egyptian maid named Hagar.
She told Abram:
“Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid.” — Genesis 16:2
The practice Sarai proposed was known in the ancient world. A barren wife could give a servant to her husband so that a child born through the servant could be treated as part of the household.
Culturally, therefore, Sarai’s plan seemed reasonable.
However, cultural acceptance does not make something God’s will.
God had established marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Moreover, God had not told Abram to produce the promised child through Hagar.
Sarai was trying to accomplish God’s promise through human planning.
Abram Listened to Sarai
Genesis 16:2 says:
“And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.”
That wording should sound familiar.
In Genesis 3, Adam listened to Eve and joined her in disobedience.
Now Abram listens to Sarai and participates in a decision that will bring pain into the family.
Abram should have remembered God’s promise.
Instead, he accepted Sarai’s solution.
The result was Ishmael.
Waiting Can Make Bad Ideas Look Good
Abram and Sarai had waited years.
Therefore, we can understand their frustration.
However, impatience can make an unwise decision look reasonable.
We begin thinking:
- “Surely God expects me to do something.”
- “This opportunity must be the answer.”
- “I have waited long enough.”
- “I need to make this happen.”
Certainly, faith is not passive. There are times when God expects us to act.
Nevertheless, there is a great difference between obeying God and trying to do God’s work for Him.
God’s Promise Does Not Need Our Manipulation
Sarai’s plan teaches us an important lesson:
We cannot improve God’s promises by disobeying God’s principles.
If accomplishing our goal requires us to compromise what God has already said, then our plan is wrong.
God’s will never requires us to sin in order to accomplish it.
Therefore, we should never say:
“The result is good, so the method does not matter.”
The method matters too.
Hagar Conceived
Hagar became pregnant.
At first, it may have appeared that the plan had worked.
There was finally a child on the way.
However, almost immediately the household began to unravel.
Genesis 16:4 says that when Hagar realized she had conceived:
“Her mistress was despised in her eyes.”
Hagar’s attitude toward Sarai changed.
Then Sarai became angry.
The plan that was supposed to solve the family’s problem created new problems instead.
That often happens when we run ahead of God.
Our shortcut becomes a detour.
Sarai Blamed Abram
“My wrong be upon thee.” — Genesis 16:5
Interestingly, Sarai had suggested the plan.
Abram had agreed.
Hagar had participated.
Now everyone was hurting, and blame began moving around the household.
Sin often works that way.
First comes the wrong choice.
Then come the consequences.
Afterward comes the question:
“Whose fault is this?”
A better response is repentance.
Instead of asking only who is responsible, we should ask:
“What does God want me to do now?”
Hagar Fled
Abram allowed Sarai to deal with Hagar.
Sarai treated her harshly.
As a result:
“She fled from her face.” — Genesis 16:6
Hagar was now pregnant, alone, and running into the wilderness.
She had become caught in the consequences of other people’s choices as well as her own.
However, Hagar was not alone.
God saw her.
The Angel of the LORD Found Hagar
Genesis 16:7 says:
“And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness.”
Notice the word:
Found.
Hagar was running away.
Nevertheless, God knew exactly where she was.
She may have:
- felt forgotten by Abram.
- felt mistreated by Sarai.
- wondered what would happen to her child.
But heaven had not lost track of her.
God found Hagar in the wilderness.
God Called Hagar by Name
The angel said:
“Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?” — Genesis 16:8
God knew her name.
That matters.
Hagar was a servant.
She was an Egyptian living in Abram’s household.
Others may have viewed her primarily according to her social position.
God saw a person.
Likewise, God sees people the world overlooks.
He sees:
- the lonely.
- the mistreated.
- the frightened.
- the person sitting in a hospital room.
- the widow eating alone.
- the worker nobody notices.
- the person crying where no one else can see.
God knows your name.
The Lord Heard Hagar’s Affliction
God told Hagar that she would have a son.
She was to call him:
Ishmael.
The name means “God hears.”
Genesis 16:11 explains:
“Because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.”
Every time Hagar spoke her son’s name, she would be reminded:
God heard me.
God had not approved every choice that led to her situation.
Nevertheless, He cared about her suffering.
God’s compassion is not limited to people whose lives are uncomplicated.
He meets people in the middle of broken situations.
“Thou God Seest Me”
Hagar responded with one of the most beautiful descriptions of God in Genesis:
“Thou God seest me.” — Genesis 16:13
She called the place Beer-lahai-roi, associated with “the well of him that liveth and seeth me.”
Hagar had discovered something life-changing.
She was not invisible.
Neither are you.
There may be times when no one understands what you are carrying.
However, God sees.
Psalm 139 teaches that there is nowhere we can go beyond God’s presence.
Therefore, when you feel forgotten, remember Hagar’s words:
“Thou God seest me.”
Ishmael Was Born
Hagar returned, and Abram’s son was born.
Abram called him Ishmael.
Genesis tells us:
“Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.” — Genesis 16:16
Abram was eighty-six.
Then Genesis 17 begins when Abram is ninety-nine.
Thirteen years pass between those verses.
For thirteen years, Ishmael was Abram’s only son.
Perhaps Abram concluded that Ishmael would fulfill God’s promise.
However, God was not finished.
“I Am the Almighty God”
Genesis 17 begins:
“I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”
The Hebrew title here is El Shaddai—God Almighty.
That revelation was especially appropriate.
Abram was ninety-nine.
Sarai was far beyond normal childbearing age.
Human strength could not fulfill the promise.
Therefore, God reminded Abram who He was.
Almighty God.
When our ability ends, God’s ability does not.
Walk Before Me
God told Abram:
“Walk before me, and be thou perfect.”
The word “perfect” carries the idea of being whole, complete, or blameless in devotion.
God was calling Abram to live faithfully before Him.
Abram had tried to solve the promise through human means.
Now God called him back to simple obedience.
In other words:
Stop trying to control the promise. Walk with Me.
That remains good advice.
We spend enormous energy trying to control things that belong to God.
Sometimes the faithful response is simply:
Trust God and take the next obedient step.
Abram Became Abraham
Then God changed Abram’s name.
“Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham.” — Genesis 17:5
Abram means exalted father.
Abraham means father of a multitude or father of many nations.
Imagine carrying that name before the promised son had even been born.
Someone asks:
“What is your name?”
“Father of a multitude.”
“How many sons do you have?”
“One.”
And God had just explained that Ishmael was not the covenant son.
Abraham’s new name required him to live every day in light of God’s promise.
God Reaffirmed the Covenant
God said:
“I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant.” — Genesis 17:7
Again, notice the emphasis:
“I will.”
God would:
- establish.
- give.
- fulfill.
The covenant ultimately depended upon God’s faithfulness.
Abraham’s responsibility was to trust and obey.
Circumcision: The Sign of the Covenant
God then gave Abraham a covenant sign:
circumcision.
Every male in Abraham’s household was to be circumcised.
Genesis 17:11 says:
“It shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.”
Circumcision did not create the promise.
God had already made the covenant.
Instead, circumcision became the outward sign identifying Abraham’s household with that covenant.
Later, Scripture would emphasize that an outward sign without inward faith is not enough.
Paul writes:
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.” — Romans 2:28
God has always been concerned with the heart.
Sarai Became Sarah
God also changed Sarai’s name.
She would now be called:
Sarah.
Then God said:
“I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her.” — Genesis 17:16
Now there could be no misunderstanding.
The promised son would come through Sarah.
Not Hagar or another woman.
Sarah.
God had not forgotten the original promise.
Human impatience had complicated the family.
However, human failure had not changed God’s plan.
Abraham Laughed
Abraham fell upon his face and laughed.
He thought:
“Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?” — Genesis 17:17
The promise sounded impossible.
Abraham even said:
“O that Ishmael might live before thee!” — Genesis 17:18
In effect, Abraham was saying:
“Lord, I already have Ishmael. Can’t You fulfill the promise through him?”
Again, Abraham offered God a practical solution.
God answered:
No.
“Sarah Thy Wife Shall Bear Thee a Son”
God said:
“Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac.” — Genesis 17:19
Isaac’s name means laughter.
The child who seemed impossible would become a living reminder that God can turn unbelieving laughter into joyful laughter.
God continued:
“I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant.”
Isaac was the promised son.
God Did Not Forget Ishmael
God chose Isaac as the covenant son.
However, He did not abandon Ishmael.
God told Abraham:
“As for Ishmael, I have heard thee.” — Genesis 17:20
Remember what Ishmael’s name means:
God hears.
God had heard Hagar.
Now God heard Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael.
God promised to bless Ishmael and multiply his descendants.
Nevertheless, the covenant line would continue through Isaac.
This distinction is important.
God’s choice of Isaac did not mean God had no concern for Ishmael.
God remained gracious to both.
Abraham Obeyed That Same Day
Genesis 17 ends with Abraham obeying God’s command concerning circumcision.
Abraham did not wait several months.
He did not negotiate.
Abraham did not modify the command.
Genesis 17:23 says that Abraham acted:
“In the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.”
That is significant.
Genesis 16 showed Abraham trying to help God fulfill His promise.
Genesis 17 ends with Abraham simply obeying God.
He was learning.
Faith does not need to manage God.
Faith needs to obey Him.
The Difference Between Ishmael and Isaac
Ishmael represented what human planning could accomplish.
Isaac would represent what only God could accomplish.
Ishmael was born through natural human ability.
Isaac would be born when human ability had reached its end.
Therefore, Isaac’s birth would make one truth unmistakable:
God fulfilled the promise.
Paul later uses Hagar and Sarah illustratively in Galatians 4 to contrast bondage and promise.
The larger principle remains clear.
We cannot accomplish God’s saving purposes through human effort.
Therefore, we must depend upon His grace.
What Genesis 16–17 Means for Us
1. Waiting Is Part of Faith
Abram and Sarai had to wait many years.
Likewise, God’s timetable may differ from ours.
Therefore, delay should not automatically be interpreted as denial.
2. Do Not Run Ahead of God
Sarai and Abram tried to make God’s promise happen.
As a result, they created conflict and pain.
We should never use disobedience to accomplish something we believe God wants.
3. Human Solutions Can Create New Problems
Hagar’s pregnancy initially looked like a solution.
However, it quickly produced jealousy, anger, and division.
Shortcuts often become long detours.
4. God Sees the Forgotten
Hagar discovered:
“Thou God seest me.”
Therefore, no believer should assume that loneliness means God has forgotten them.
5. God Hears the Afflicted
Ishmael’s name means “God hears.”
God hears cries that other people never notice.
6. Nothing Is Too Hard for Almighty God
God introduced Himself as El Shaddai.
Abraham and Sarah could not produce the promised child through their own strength.
However, God could.
7. God’s Promises Depend Upon God’s Faithfulness
Abraham failed.
Sarah failed.
Nevertheless, God did not fail.
His covenant remained sure.
8. Faith Obeys
Genesis 17 ends with Abraham obeying God’s command that same day.
Faith trusts God enough to do what He says.
When God Seems Slow
One of the hardest lessons in Genesis 16–17 is learning that God’s delay does not mean God’s neglect.
Thirteen years pass between Ishmael’s birth and God’s appearance to Abraham in Genesis 17.
That is a long time.
We read thirteen years in a few seconds.
Abraham had to live them one day at a time.
So do we.
When we wait for God, we do not experience years as paragraphs.
We experience Monday.
Then Tuesday, Wednesday, then another week.
Another month and another year.
Therefore, waiting requires daily faith.
Don’t Settle for Ishmael When God Promised Isaac
Abraham loved Ishmael.
Naturally, he wanted God to fulfill the covenant through the son he already had.
But God said:
“Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed.”
Sometimes we become so attached to our own solution that we struggle to receive God’s better plan.
We say:
“Lord, bless what I have arranged.”
God may instead say:
“Trust what I have promised.”
Therefore, we must hold our plans with open hands.
The God Who Sees Is the God Who Keeps His Word
Genesis 16 gives us a woman alone in the wilderness.
Genesis 17 gives us an old man facing an impossible promise.
Their situations were different.
Yet both needed the same God.
Hagar needed the God who sees.
Abraham needed the Almighty God who keeps His promises.
Fortunately, they were the same God.
And He is still the same God today.
When you feel invisible:
God sees you.
When you feel unheard:
God hears you.
When God’s promise seems impossible:
God is Almighty.
When waiting becomes difficult:
God remains faithful.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jesus Christ
The promise of Isaac also moves the story of redemption forward.
God had promised Abraham:
“In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” — Genesis 12:3
That blessing would continue through Isaac.
Then through Jacob, Israel, and David.
Finally, through that covenant line would come Jesus Christ.
Therefore, God’s insistence that Isaac would be the promised son was not a minor family detail.
God was preserving the line through which the Savior would come.
Human plans could not replace God’s redemptive plan.
Wait for God
Genesis 16–17 gives us both a warning and an encouragement.
The warning is:
Do not run ahead of God.
The encouragement is:
Your failure cannot make God unfaithful.
Abram and Sarai made a painful mistake.
Nevertheless, God continued working.
He:
- met Hagar.
- blessed Ishmael.
- reaffirmed His covenant.
- renamed Abram.
- renamed Sarai.
And He promised:
Isaac is coming.
The situation looked impossible.
But impossible circumstances are no obstacle to Almighty God.
Therefore, when God asks you to wait, wait with faith.
When He asks you to obey, obey promptly.
When your plans fail, return to Him.
And when the promise seems impossible, remember Who made it.
El Shaddai—the Almighty God.
WIM Takeaway
Genesis 16–17 teaches us that impatience can tempt us to run ahead of God, but human failure cannot destroy God’s faithfulness. Hagar discovered the God who sees and hears, while Abraham learned to trust Almighty God for an impossible promise. Therefore, instead of trying to force God’s plan, we should trust His timing, obey His Word, and depend upon His power.
Questions for Reflection
- Why did Sarai suggest that Abram have a child through Hagar?
- What does their decision teach us about the danger of impatience?
- Have you ever tried to force a solution because waiting became difficult?
- What do the words “Thou God seest me” teach us about God’s care?
- Why is the name Ishmael significant?
- Why did God reveal Himself to Abraham as “the Almighty God”?
- What was the purpose of circumcision as a covenant sign?
- Why did God insist that the covenant son would come through Sarah?
- What does God’s treatment of Ishmael teach us about His compassion?
- What is the difference between trying to accomplish God’s plan and simply obeying God?
- Is there something in your life that you need to stop trying to control?
- Where do you need to trust God’s timing today?
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Dr. Alan Holden has served in pastoral ministry for more than 35 years, preaching and teaching the Bible in churches across the United States. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary and a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Through What’s It Mean?, he seeks to help readers understand the meaning of Scripture and grow in their walk with Christ. He is currently the pastor of Lake Saunders Baptist Church in Tavares, FL.