Genesis 21:1-34

Genesis 21

In the story of Hagar and Ishmael, we notice:

I. The outcast. As Abraham is the father of all the faithful, so the Arab Ishmael is the father of all our outcasts. He was an impudent boy, who mocked his betters, and became "a wild ass of a man," whose hand was against every man. Do not despise the poor outcast children of our cities. Respect them for their sorrows; take them into your pity; let them find a home in your heart. For are we not all outcasts, the children of Adam the outcast? Are we not the followers of Him who makes the outcasts of earth the inmates of heaven?

II. The God of the outcast. The highest kindness is to be personally interested in us and to meet our wants. And God showed such kindness to Ishmael. Notice, it was the voice of the lad,not of the mother, that God heard. God pities most those who most need pity; and so should you. When Ishmael is before you, try to be godlike.

III. The angel of the outcast. It is part of angels' work to cheer and save the outcast. A church near Dijon contains a monument with a group of the Bible prophets and kings, each holding a scroll of mourning from his writings. But above is a circle of angels who look far sadder than the prophets whose words they read. They see more in the sorrows than the men below them see. The angels see the whole of the sins and sorrows of the young, and so rejoice more than we can do over the work of God among them. The orphans of society are cast upon the fatherhood of God, and He wishes them to be the children of the Church and the children of our adoption.

IV. The allegory of the outcast. Look at that lad in the desert perishing of thirst and a fountain at his side. Are you not a spiritual Ishmael to-day, a wanderer upon life's highway, perishing of thirst at the side of the fountains of living water? Earth is a sandy desert, which holds nothing that can slake your soul's thirst. But Jesus Christ has opened the fountain of life, and now it is at your very side.

J. Wells, Bible Children,p. 19.

References: Genesis 21 F. W. Robertson, Notes on Genesis,p. 50; R. S. Candlish, Book of Genesis,vol. i., p. 346; M. Dods, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.Genesis 21:6. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,p. 167. 21:0-12. R. S. Candlish, Book of Genesis,vol. i., p. 356. Genesis 21:14. Parker, vol. i., p. 231.Genesis 21:20. Homiletic Magazine,vol. xiii, p. 25.