Our last article looked at the last words of Lot. We were reminded that God always knows best and we must trust Him implicitly. We also had an insight into the work of the angels, who worked with Lot, modifying their plan as necessary, based on his requests. This may give us a wonderful insight into our work in the Kingdom, where we will have to exercise our discretion and make decisions while administering the affairs of the mortals.
The last recorded words of Sarah are found in Genesis 21:10: “Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.”
Sarah is often maligned for her harsh treatment of Hagar. She is portrayed as a jealous mistress, acting out of frustration, initially because of her own barrenness, and then her own son’s “second-born” status. Nothing could be further from the truth! Sarah acted consistently from a godly perspective in her dealings with Hagar. The promises of God were foremost in her mind. Nurturing and caring for the promised seed surpassesd all else in her life!
Firstly, when Hagar became pregnant as a surrogate for Sarah, it was Hagar who acted inappropriately by trying to usurp Sarah’s rightful place as matriarch. Genesis 16:4 (RSV) states that after Hagar had conceived, “she looked with contempt upon her mistress.” It was Sarah who tried to right the situation, instructing Hagar to submit to the divinely appointed order in the family. Genesis 16:6 says, “Sarah dealt hardly with her” in the KJV, and that then Hagar “fled”. This wording is misleading. The same word for “dealt hardly” is used in verse 9 by the angel when speaking to Hagar. Here she was told to “submit” herself to her mistress. So God endorsed the words of Sarah, and Hagar listened this time, and returned, submissively. Sarah was not physically, verbally or emotionally abusive of Hagar — she was trying to restore order to the family. Hagar was in the wrong.
In this second incident, Sarah was right to insist that the promised seed (Isaac) have the preeminence over the son of the bondwoman (Ishmael). It was Ishmael that had been “mocking” Isaac (Gen. 21:9), perhaps at the prompting of his mother, and perceiving his own status threatened by Isaac. The harmony of the family unit was again at risk and Sarah’s solution of “casting out” Hagar and Ishmael, although grievous to Abraham, was the right thing to do. This is clearly seen since God again endorsed Sarah’s words (v. 12).
In fact, Paul picks up Sarah’s last words in Galatians 4:30, to make a very important point. He summarizes his point in verse 31, by saying, “So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
Hagar and Ishmael represent fleshly thinking and bondage to sin and death. Ishmael is not the promised seed, but the seed of the serpent. The lesson from Sarah’s “Famous Last Words” is that we must “cast out” all the things in our life that will cause us to stumble. These things bring disunity and disharmony to our family and ecclesial life. It is imperative that we put our house in order, and make God’s ways a priority in our lives. We must be merciless in these situations — Jesus said “If thy right hand offend thee (cause thee to stumble), cut it off, and cast it from thee…” (Matt. 5:30). However grievous such actions seem at the moment, eternal life may be at stake!
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One