Genesis 21:11: “The matter gave great pain to Abraham—after all, Ishmael was his son.”* [*The Message]
The Lord remembered Abraham and Sarah and made good on His promise. Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy little boy. Abraham named him Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day – the sign of God’s covenant that would be established through Isaac and his descendants. Sarah was on a pink cloud for weeks and months to follow; but with growing resentment she eyed the servant girl Hagar and her teenage-son Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn. In ancient Middle Eastern fashion, everybody knew that the firstborn legitimately inherited the parent’s main estate, in preference to his other siblings. “Over my dead body”, Sarah said to herself. It was time to bring up the issue with Abraham – better now before it was too late.
And so Sarah met with Abraham and demanded – her voice as cold as ice [Genesis 21:10]:
“Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
Abraham was deeply offended by Sarah’s attitude. “You have engaged our servant Hagar as your surrogate mother,” he replied, “and now you want to discard of her? What kind of cruel joke is this? You may not like it, but Ishmael is just as much my son as Isaac is.” Briskly, Abraham turned away from Sarah and left.
Whenever he was upset, Abraham retreated into the wilderness. The uncluttered desert terrain was his friend. Less people and less noise helped him to simmer down. After a while God spoke to Abraham and said [Genesis 21:12-13]:
“Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
It was one of the hardest things Abraham had ever done, letting go of his own flesh and blood. He fiercely questioned Sarah’s motives in this matter, but he would not question the Lord. God’s infinite wisdom had spoken and so, with a heavy heart, he followed through. Early the next morning he prepared food, filled a skin with fresh water and handed both to Hagar and Ishmael. He would never forget the look of hurt and pain in their faces. Hagar didn’t tell Abraham goodbye since they were not meant to see each other again. Instead she hugged her son and said, “Let’s get going”; and in a matter of minutes they disappeared from Abraham’s sight. His heart broke as he stood there and watched them walking away.