If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.
5 January. Genesis chapters 16-18
In this part of the story, first of all we see an angel appearing to the badly treated slave Hagar – made pregnant by her master as he and Sarah despaired of God’s promise of a son coming true, then thrown out of the house, and collapsed (no doubt very hungry, thirsty and in tears) by a roadside spring. But does the angel comfort her and rescue her? No, she is sent back to her mistress (where presumably she would continue to be mistreated) and told that her son will live a difficult life. The only good news is that his tribe will be very numerous. It’s not what we expect, but as so often I need to remind myself that I’m reading about a very different culture from more than 3000 years ago, with a very different understanding of God as well as of human rights.
In the presence of God, a second covenant is then made with Abraham, that of circumcision as a sign of commitment to him by all Abraham’s household and their descendants, including the foreigners and slaves – we sometimes think of the Jews as a pure “race” but in fact they include others who have opted in to the faith. Only now, 13 years after Ishamael was born does God make it clear to Abraham that the covenant will be realised through a son of Sarah’s, not Ishmael. Finally, “three men” appear, to confirm the promise in the presence of Sarah herself – we don’t know whether Abraham had shared his earlier encounter with God with his wife, but I get the impression that he had not. It has often been remarked that Abraham addresses these three in the singular – “my Lord”. Some people see here a hint of the Christian belief in God as one being in three persons (creator, word and spirit) rather than the Jewish understanding of God as a single (undivided) person. But that’s a whole other debate…