It was just about the worst thing that could happen to a woman in the ancient world. She was barren...unable to conceive...infertile...childless. They had been trying for years to have a baby. Some of you have been there. And this wasn't just any couple. Their names were Abram and Sarai. God had promised Abram that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky! God's promise was slow in coming, and the couple began to question whether God was playing a game with them. After ten years of trying to have a child, they were both impatient. Sarai is particularly distraught, as being a barren woman in a patriarchal world was a fate almost worse than death.
So this childless mother devises a socially acceptable plan. Sarai first tells her husband that it is God's fault that she cannot conceive a child. Then she takes matters into her own hands. She orders her husband to sleep with her Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar, in other words, to use Hagar as a surrogate wife. The normally talkative Abram is silent and does so. Immediately Hagar becomes pregnant. The soap-opera tone of the ancient tale intensifies as jealousy, resentment, and family conflict arise.
This Sunday we begin a new sermon series, STRONG WOMEN OF THE BIBLE, with the message, HAGAR: "A Survivor Who Called God Elroi." Read the parallel stories of Hagar in Genesis 16:1-16 and 21:8-21 in preparation for traditional worship for contemporary people.
Hagar: "A Survivor Who Called God Elroi
Sermon Series: Strong Women of the Bible
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Scripture: Genesis 16:1-16 and 21:8-21
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