Hagar's Miracle.

     Let us begin this message from Genesis chapter twenty-one, starting at verse fourteen and ending at verse twenty-one.

     In verse fourteen we see Abraham's act of obedience to God in sending away his concubine, Hagar, and his son Ishmael. Hagar's and Ishmael's slave status was made quite clear in Abraham's act. He did not give them even a donkey to make their journey easy. All they got were bread and a bottle of water.

     Hagar surely did not know what to do but to keep on moving. In her distress and plight she ended up in the wilderness of Beersheba. Note that the wilderness was not in Arabia. It was in Palestine (or Canaan).

     Next, in verse fifteen, all her water was used up. Apparently, she was very weak after this, and her son was unable to walk. It is important to note that Ishmael was not a baby when this event took place. He was just over fourteen years old.

      In that terrible situation, with her son facing death, she dumped him under one of the shrubs.

     Verse sixteen gives a picture of what took place next. Hagar could not bear to look at her son as he was dying. She expected him to die. She saw death for herself. She went to sit opposite him at a distance she considered to be out of sight. The distance is given as a bow shot. Then she began to cry.

     In verse seventeen, God entered the picture. See what happened when God acted. Sarah acted previously to get Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son. Abraham acted in obedience to God and sent Hagar and her son away. Now it was God's next move to bless Abraham's descendant as He had promised Abraham.

     When God heard Ishmael's crying, moaning or groaning, He sent an angel to speak to Hagar. The angel did not descend to the Earth but spoke from Heaven. One statement that the angel made was, "fear not". Death causes fear. The voice of an angel can cause fear. God cared how he sent His message. "Fear not", is a message from Abraham's God that we all need to hear sometimes.

     The message from God continued in verse eighteen. Hagar was told to get up and lift up Ishmael. She was told to hold on to her son. The angel also spoke of the particular blessing of making a nation of Ishmael. That blessing was given to Abraham. The blessing was not given to Hagar and Ishmael because of their personal faith in Abraham's God. We can see that throughout her ordeal, before the angel spoke to her, Hagar did not call upon God in faith. Ishmael,likewise, did not know how to call upon God in faith.

Hagar's Miracle. cont'd.

     In verse nineteen Hagar got her miracle. The miracle was not the well of water appearing next to Ishmael or even close to where Hagar was sitting. The water was elsewhere all the time. The problem was not the availability of water. The problem was that Hagar did not know that water was some distance away.

     If we go back to read the instructions that the angel gave Hagar, we will see that in order for her to find the available water she had to get up. Then she had to go to the shrub where she left Ishmael. In doing so she had to position herself in a particular direction. Next, she could not change that position too soon, so she had to hold on to Ishmael to give him support. God opened her eyes only when she was in the right position to see the well. She could not see the well with her natural vision, so God gave her a miracle. God caused her to SEE the well of water by that miracle. Read the conclusion in verses twenty to twenty-one, and the last part of verse nineteen.

     Do you know that Jesus referred to Himself as the source of living water? Do you SEE Him as the water of life? Do you need to get into a location where God can open your eyes to SEE Jesus? Are your eyes closed because you are looking at other religions? Why not seek to make friendship with Abraham's God? You can find Him only through His son Jesus.

     This message is brought to you by A. Nizamuddin by the authority of God's Son, Jesus. Sinners, Jesus is not willing that you perish. However, you must do your part and believe in Him.

     Thank you for learning with me.

     Abdool N.

About the Author

    The author is a born again Christian. His spiritual offices are Pastor and Prophet. Abdool's ministry is to the body of Christ wheresoever the Spirit of God leads him. Two of his web sites are Nizamuddin's Blogs Central and Spiritual Slavery. This blog may be republished for the cause of Jesus Christ. It must be published without charge. The links may be removed, but the rest of the resource box must remain with the blog. Copyright 2006. Abdool Nizamuddin