Who Would You Meet?

(c) Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) 1591 – 1666

Last week I pulled Max Lucado’s “God Came Near” off my bookshelf. It was a birthday gift to me from a friend in 1997. I loved the book at the time, but don’t think I’ve opened it since. So the writing is new to me all over again and I was excited to discover it has study questions!

The other day I read the chapter, “Twenty-five Questions for Mary”. I had thought of quite a few of those questions myself in regards to Jesus being a little boy.

One of the study questions is, “If you could talk with one person from the Bible, other than Jesus, who would it be? Why? What questions would you ask?”

We all say we want to talk to Peter, Paul and Moses when we get to heaven, but I wanted to really think about my answer before I just gave that standard one.

And I hate crowds. Since everybody wants to talk to them, I’d be standing in line, quite possibly, literally, forever. No thanks, I’ll get back to them later.

As I’ve pondered this question for a couple of days, and watched the news of continued clashes in the Mid-East, my answer came to me. I want to talk with someone who I’m not even sure is in heaven. But she’s from the Bible, and that was the question.

I want to talk to Hagar.

I don't know how old Hagar was when Sarah sent Abraham to her to bear “God’s promised” son. Hagar could’ve been a teenager. Maybe she was what we now call “mid-life”, in her 40s.

After Ishmael was born, Sarah hated Hagar.

Abraham was 86-years-old when Ishmael was born. (Genesis 16:16) He was 100-years-old when Isaac was born. (Genesis 21:5)

When Ishmael was about 14-years-old Sarah insisted that Hagar be sent away. Abraham complied.

Read the story in Genesis 16 and 21.

My questions are these:

What was it like to bear a son to such an old man?

How did it feel to be hated by Sarah?

Why did you despise Sarah yourself?

How did it make you feel when Sarah mocked you?

Were you fearful when Sarah insisted you be driven out? How did you deal with the feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty?

How scared were you when you thought your boy was going to die in the wilderness?

What was it like to be sent away, knowing your son would never see his father again?

How did you deal with Ishmael’s anger? God even tells Hagar that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him”. (Genesis 16:12) I cannot imagine knowing that about my son before he was even born. How discouraging. But how much anger must Ishmael have had to live his life like that?

Did you try to teach forgiveness to Ishmael so he would forgive Abraham for what he did to his mom and himself? Or did you feel that same anger and hatred toward Abraham for the situation you were in?

What was it like living, and trying to survive, in the wilderness?

Did you hate men the rest of your life?

Were you ever able to find a man who truly cherished you?

I’m curious how she raised Ishmael. Did she contribute to his hatred and vindictiveness with her own feelings? Or did she try her hardest to love God and follow Him, despite her wild donkey of a son?

Was God’s promise to “greatly multiply [her] descendants so that they shall be too many to count” any comfort? Even though God’s promise of numerous descendants was in reference to Isaac, because Ishmael was also Abraham’s son, God honored His promise to that descendent as well. (Genesis 21:13)

My heart feels compassion for this woman. I hope that she lived her life trusting God because of all that He did for her.

The next person I want to talk to is Sarah.

How about you? What Bible person would you most like to talk to and why?