God hears:
(Genesis 21:17, Matthew 18:3-4, and Matthew 19:13-15)
God heard the voice of the boy, this boy was Ishmael a 14-17 years old entering puberty (Genesis 16:16 and Genesis 21:5). God heard Hagar years ago when she was pregnant with him (Genesis 16) and running away from her masters. She was promised by God then, that her son would be taken care of and greatly blessed. Ishmael very likely grew up hearing Hagar speak of the Lord’s promises. What mother wouldn’t share such an event with her beloved son? With Isaac’s birth place secured Abraham listens to Sarah by sending Ishmael away. His own father rejected him. Sending him and his mother out into the wilderness. How hard must that have been for Ishmael to see his mother treated so harshly, how hard would it be for his own heart to know he was the cause of being expelled?
Hagar then leaves her teenage son alone to die, not far enough to be completely abandoned, and then lifts up her voice and weeps to God. Is she testing God’s promise? Is she testing Ishmael’s worthiness? Or a little of both? There is some point in our own children’s life that we have to let go, to give the parental leash some slack. To allow our children to experience the goodness of God for themselves, not just by their own parents’ stories and faith. Perhaps sometimes that means letting them feel lost and alone in the wilderness, watching from afar. But Ishmael was neither lost nor alone, for his earthly mother and his Heavenly Father were both near by. Ishmael gets to see the joy and love God has for him personally. God heard: “Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
This young teenager Ishmael was in a very embarrassing position as an illegitimate son of a highly powerful and respected man, casted out from his family. There may be embarrassing situations where we too might be tempted to think “I am not worthy of God’s promises and love”. God heard Ishmael in his embarrassing situation and assured him the promises God made to Hagar when she was pregnant with him.
We are all God’s children, but sometimes we elevate ourselves to the position of parent. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 18 and 19 that we are to be like children before the Lord, not like parents who judge and discipline. To be children of humility, like a child lost waiting to die in the wilderness as his mother weeps in despair, we come before the Lord. Up! Lift up your hearts and hold fast to Jesus, for the Lord hears our cries and has given us his Son to save and bless us.
מגן השביל 