20250601 Genesis 16 Care for the Immigrant

Genesis 16 is one of the most shocking accounts in the Bible. This is not because of the particular sin, but because it follows Genesis 15. Genesis 15 is an epic and foundational chapter. It teaches that on account of his faith, Abram is declared righteous. It also teaches that God made a covenant with Abram to assure him of all his promises. Then, Genesis 16 happens almost as if Genesis 15 did not.

Like Abram, our lives can go from Genesis 15 to Genesis 16. We may feel like all is well. We are reading the Bible and applying it. We can feel like we have a good rythm with our walk with the Lord. Then, out of nowhere, we blow it. We lose our cool. We become passive-aggressive. We express contempt. We put our needs above others. We sin sexually or drink too much alcohol. When can go from a high with God to feeling shame and unworthiness. Texts like Genesis 16 remind us that Abram is not the hero of the story, God is. God remains faithful to his promises. This is true for us. We are not the hero of the story, God is. Even when we sin, God the hero is faithful to his promises. Genesis 15 did happen so his promises remain true.

This is not a license to sin but a word of comfort for when we do sin. God remains true to himself. His love and care remains. Our unfaithfulness does not change his promises. God is still with us. Christ's work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins is not undone. There may be consequences for our sins, but God remains the same. He remains committed to us.

In Gen 16:1-6 we will look at the people’s care for the immigrant. In Genesis 16:7-16 we will look at God’s care for the immigrant. We will contrast the people’s care and God’s care. The people’s sin and God’s grace.[i]

Gen 16:1-6 The People’s Care for the immigrant: Sin

Gen 16:1-6

Gen 16:1 introduces Hagar. In Hebrew, “Ha-Gar” is the immigrant/the foreigner/the stranger, the sojourner. She was Sarai’s Egyptian servant. Following Abram’s deceit in Egypt in Genesis 12, Pharaoh sent Abram away with cattle, male servants, and female servants. It is likely that Abram and Sarai acquired Hagar at this time.

In Gen 15:4, God told Abram his heir would be one of his own sons. In Genesis 16, Sarai gives Abram her servant Hagar so that she would have a child.

The author tells us this is sinful by his echoes to Genesis 3-4. In Gen 16:2, “Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” Like Adam listened to Eve in Gen 3:17. The point is not that husbands should not listen to their wives, they absolutely should. But this choice of phrase alludes back to the sin of Genesis 3. In Gen 16:3, Sarai took Hagar and gave her to Abram her husband, like the woman took the fruit and gave to her husband in Gen 3:6. What follows is shame and blaming, like in Gen 3. In Gen 16:6 Abram tells Sarai to do what is good in her sight. Those are the same words used for Eve’s perception of the forbidden fruit, it was good in her sight in Gen 3:6.

Abram has two women. He is like Lamech in Genesis 4, the violent polygamist. This is not the Eden ideal. These parallels reveal, Abram and Sarai are like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. God desires to bless the world through Abram's offspring. In this chapter, our agents of blessings are agents of cursing.

Abram and Sarai’s endeavor is successful. Hagar gets pregnant but sin only creates more problems. Sarai wanted to be built up through having children through her maidservant. Ironically, Hagar conceives and looks down on her mistress (Gen 16:4). According to Gen 16:6, Sarai deals harshly with Hagar who flees from her.

Sarai and Hagar represent future Isaac and Ishmael. Their conflict is a repeat of Genesis 4 and the sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel. Like in Genesis 4, the older brother is exiled. Hagar flees.

These first six verses teach us that though Abram was chosen by God to be an agent of blessing to all the families of the world, his actions have brought a curse to Hagar, the immigrant living with him.

Application - Impatience

God promised that Abram would have a son. Gen 16:3 says that after waiting for 10 years, Sarai gave her servant to Abram. This action was a sign that they believed God’s promise, but they no longer trusted God’s timing. They were impatient.

Impatience is something we all struggle with from time to time. We treat impatience like an acceptable sin or a minor character flaw. It is more than this. It is defying God and his timing.

I wonder if in the age of instant entertainment, instant information, instant shopping, instant messaging we might be more prone to impatience? We have often lost the practice of waiting.

Impatience is severe. In 1 Sam 13:8-14 King Saul grew impatient. He could no longer wait for Samuel’s arrival to offer the burnt offering and did it himself. This impatience led to disobeying God and his rejection as King. In Exod 32, Israel built a golden calf, because they had become impatient. They were done waiting for Moses to return and asked Aaron to create a visible god to lead them.

Impatience is unspiritual. It reveals our desire to take over for God and be God. Impatience reveals pride and our need to control things. Impatience is lack of faith in God’s timing.

Impatience is the gateway to other sins. It can lead to anger, reckless decisions, disobeying God’s commands. Impatience can lead to judging the people who are the source of delays. Impatience can lead to grumbling, sowing discord within relationships. Impatience leads to miscommunication, interrupting, and not listening. Impatience can lead to poor financial investments to get rich quick. It can lead to impulsiveness. Impatience can lead to unwise marital decisions (like marrying an immature person or an unbeliever).

We must rid ourselves of our impatience. First, we recognize our impatience and confess it. Then, we turn to God and remind ourselves that we live to serve him. Living to serve God leads to Hope, Faith, and Love the three cures of impatience. If we Hope in God and not our agenda, we become patient. If we have faith and trust in God, we obey his commandments and trust in his providence. If we focus on love and care, our concern for the wellbeing of others will make our concern for time disappear. Love is patient (1 Cor 13:4). Patience part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).

Gen 16:7-16 God’s Care for the immigrant: Grace

Genesis 16:7-16

This story about Hagar is complicated. She was a slave in Egypt and was sent to be a slave of foreigners. Then she is given to her mistress' husband to have his child.

A modern reader would be quick to note the power difference between Abram and Hagar. We assume she did not have much of a choice and so we would call what happens in this text sexual assault. A modern reader could also focus on the wickedness of slavery. From another perspective, we could look at the Ancient Near Eastern context. We could note that the practice of turning to a servant to bear children was a common practice in this context. All these elements have their place, but they are not the author's focus.

Until Gen 16:6, the author does not present Hagar as the victim. Rather, Gen 16:4 highlights her sin. She looked at Sarai with contempt when she conceived. It seems that Hagar was happy with how things have turned out. She went from being an anonymous servant girl to the mother of her master’s child. Her mistreatment begins in Gen 16:6, Sarai deals harshly with Hagar who flees from her.

Now we see God’s posture towards Hagar. In Gen 16:2, 5 Sarai refers to her as “my servant.” In Gen 16:6 Abram calls her “your servant.” They dehumanized her by not using her name. This changes with God in Gen 16:7. The angel of the Lord found her in the wilderness. The angel asks, “Hagar servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” To God she is more than a slave, more than a means to children. She is a person. She has a name, Hagar.

The angel finds her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. She is heading back home to Egypt! The spring of water can remind us of Eden so blessings are about to follow. The angels words, "where have you come from and where are you going?" remind us of God's words to Adam following the first sin. These words invite Hagar to reflect. She finds herself in a place of fleeing from her mistress.

Then, we need to take v.9 and 10 together or v.9 will sound like horrible advice. In verse 9 the angel of the Lord says, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” In verse 10, he says “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered.”

The angel sends her back but with part of Abraham’s blessing. According to Gen 16:11, both the angel and Hagar see the son she bears as a blessing from God. The Lord tells her to give her son one of the most beautiful names in the Bible, “Ishmael.” Ishmael means God listened because God listened to her affliction. In Gen 16:13, Hagar responds to the good news calling God, “You are a God of seeing” and she says, "truly I have seen him who looks after me.”

Application

I find that these are some of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. Hagar, a servant was dealt harshly by her mistress. She flees. Then the Lord finds her. She is in affliction and the Lord hears her. He sees her and looks after her.

First, application is that we have "El Roi," a God who sees

We have a God who meets people where they find themselves. He transforms affliction into blessing. It does not come across in our translations, but God has different names in the Bible. The God who sees is one of them, El Roi in Hebrew.

We will all go through hardship. One of the hardest parts of hardship is the loneliness we feel going through it. We have a God who sees. Even when he does not remove the affliction, he is with us through the affliction. If we believe in this God, the God who sees, “El Roi,” we know suffering is not abandonment or divine indifference. We can experience God’s awareness, his presence, and his compassion to help us endure.

Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed from the shoulders down in an accident. She has suffered for decades and experienced despair. Her testimony is one of experiencing the God who sees, El Roi. God with her given her a sense of purpose. She started a ministry called “Joni and Friends.” She provides help to disabled people worldwide. Her ministry and care for people displays the love of God. It displays, El Roi, the God who sees.

How would you answer God's question: "Where are you coming from and where are you going?" Christ is Immanuel, God with us. Through the Holy Spirit God is always with us and in us no matter where we go. Divorce, Death, Depression are hard to face.

God is with us and he gives us his church to embody tangibly his presence. The church is a family. We are an orphanage. We are a spiritual hospital. We are an education center. We are the body of Christ. We edify each other. We pursue each other, we speak words of blessing based on the gospel of Christ to each other. Hardships do not just go away, but God’s blessing always surpasses any trial. Through a firing, a breakup, an injury, messy family situations, God is the one who hears our cries (Ishmael). He is the God who sees (El Roi), the one who looks after us.

A second application comes from the parallel between Genesis 16 and the Exodus story

In both accounts Hagar and the Exodus, we have Egyptians, affliction, fleeing to water, and God hearing people in their affliction. Gen 16:6 reads, “Sarai oppressed Hagar.” In Exodus 1:11 the Egyptian taskmasters oppressed the Israelites. It is the same word in Hebrew.

In Gen 16:11, the angel tells Hagar, “the LORD has listened to your affliction.” In Exod 3:7, LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings.”

There is too much overlap for it to be a coincidence. Any Israelite familiar with the Exodus story will read Genesis 16 and know that in this story, they are Hagar. They are “Ha-Gar” the immigrant. The afflicted foreigner who flees in the wilderness whom God saw, heard, and knew. In Genesis 16, Israel oppressed the immigrant. In Exodus, Israel was the oppressed immigrant. In both cases God sides with the oppressed immigrant. God loves the stranger, the foreigner, the immigrant. God’s people must love the stranger. The five books of Moses are one book that fits together. For the people living in the promised land, Genesis 16 is more than fun historical facts. It is a call for all of God’s people to love the stranger. Deut 10:19 reads, "Love the sojourner (Ha – Ger), therefore, for you were sojourners (Gerim) in the land of Egypt."

This is the God we worship. The God who blesses the immigrant in her affliction. She is pregnant and alone when she flees. Abram is alarmingly passive through this incident, but God blesses Hagar.

We need to be careful with nationalism. It is never Christian. We must seek the welfare of the place we live in (Jer 29:7). Christians need to have a global perspective. We are first citizens of heaven and part of God's global church. Any kind of love or appreciation for country must fall far behind love for human beings. Some of us may be scared of immigration, and I’m sure there are valid concerns. I’m not advocating any kind of policies. Our God calls us to compassion for the immigrant.

Conclusion

Remember Hagar’s words, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” These can be our words when we are distressed. God looks after us. The Christian experience is of seeing him who looks after us.

Most ultimately his love and care was demonstrated for us on the cross. While we were his enemies, Christ died for us. He took our sins. He reconciled us to God. He caused us to be born again. He secured our blissful destiny with him forever. We can all know that in our affliction we have a God who hears, sees, knows, and cares. As the church, the body of Christ, we are made up of people who have been heard, seen, known and care for by God, we are a people who hears, sees, knows, and cares for the afflicted among us, in God’s name.

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[i] While Genesis 15 included Genesis 2 themes and vocabulary, now Genesis 16 alludes particularly to Gen 3, and also Gen 4 and 6.