Hagar: The Mother of a Nation

We talked about Hagar in the article about Sarah, but Hagar has her own story too. In the story of Sarah, she is a slave used to meet Sarah’s agenda, but Hagar also had a strong will. Her perseverance in the midst of injustice led her from slavery to Hagar, the mother of a nation.

Hagar Was Raped

Hagar’s story begins when Sarah tells Abraham to go into her handmaid, Hagar, and conceive a child. The story records that Hagar was angry about this. Essentially, though it may not have been considered so then, Hagar was raped. As a slave, she had no right to say no. This rape was made even more heinous by the fact that another woman had ordered this treatment. Can you imagine ladies? We count on our fellow women to protect us, believe us, and restore us, but Hagar had been betrayed by her fellow female. I believe this is why verse 16:4 tells us that when she realized she was pregnant Hagar despised Sarah, not Abraham.

Running Away

Did Sarah apologize? No. The text says she treated Hagar harshly. Hagar then, being the strong woman she was, fled from her abuser. But where could she go to protect herself and her child? She was stranded in the desert alone, but she found a spring. There an angel appears to her and tells her to return to Sarah and do as Sarah says. The angel promises her that if she does this she will have offspring too numerous to count.  Many of us in this position might have said what kind of angel are you to send me back to my abuser? That is the Sarah in us, doubting G-d’s plans and making our own, but not Hagar. She accepted G-d’s command and returned to Sarah, where she bore a son named Ishmael.

When her son was older and Sarah had also bore a son, Sarah demanded that Abraham throw Hagar and her son into the desert. Hagar wonders with her child till they run out of water. Then she places him in the shade and cries out to G-d. An angel again appears to her. He shows her a well and promises again to make a great nation of her son.

Hagar: The Mother of a Nation

Ishmael grew up in the wilderness, and Hagar found him a wife in Egypt. Indeed, Ishmael’s offspring grew into the great nation of Islam, we know today. Hagar became the mother of a nation.  Through perseverance, unwavering trust in G-d, and a strong will, Hagar left slavery behind her. She made her own way in the hostile land of the desert, raised her son, and became the mother of a nation.

Let us always remember to be like Hagar and trust the voice of G-d, even in the most hopeless of situations. May we remember that if we trust G-d, our position or status in life cannot hold us down.  We too can go from slave to the mother of a nation. Let us find her strength to survive against all odds. Let us always remember the mother of a nation, Hagar.

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