Hagar- Egyptian servant to Sarah. Mother to Abraham's firstborn, Ishmael.
There isn't a lot written about her, but my imagination paints this picture of the beginning of her story:
Hagar sat patiently waiting for Abraham. She had been told by her mistress to bathe and then come to the main tent and wait. Wait for what? Was she in trouble? occasionally Sarah yelled at her for things that really weren't her fault, but most often, Hagar was just another piece of furniture in the room, silent but ready to be called upon when needed.
"Why the special attention now?" she wondered aloud.
"Perhaps because Sarah has a desire that she can't make happen without your help", Abraham said from the doorway. He actually looked apologetic and a little bit sheepish.
All of a sudden, Hagar knew why she was there. She was to become Abraham's concubine so that Sarah could "have" a child. It had been Sarah's desire for many many years to be a mother, but up to this point she was barren. And Sarah was an impatient woman. In this culture, she could have her slave bear a child that would be considered hers.
Slavery had never been as bitter as it was this moment. Not only was she not able to give her love freely to whom she wanted, but she would not be able to be the mother to her own biological child...
Hagar wept silently. She turned to her master in outward obedience as she wondered where her life would go from here. "Oh God, please help me", she whispered as she laid back onto the bed.
Wow! Did you ever write something and not know where it was going until you were done?
Hagar did get to raise her own child, because Sarah did end up having her own son, Isaac.
Hagar's life wasn't a bed of roses, (If you want to read more about it, read Genesis 16 and 21. I'm trying to keep my posts shorter!) but God did help her.
I was doing a bit research a few months ago, and found something that said that after Sarah died, Abraham had another wife named Keturah. Some people think that this may have been Hagar....
Interesting, very interesting.
L
3 comments:
Hagar was sort of the first "surrogate" mom wasn't she? Except Sarah reneged (sp?) on the deal.
Good post - I'm really enjoying your blog! I'm stopping by from the A to Z challenge and I look forward to reading more from you.
Hagar's story is sad, but beautiful to me too. Because through all her pain, God was there for her when she thought she would be left alone.
It would be interesting if Hagar and Keturah were the same person...
:-)
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