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Genesis 21 — A 90-year-old has a baby, a mother gets exiled, and God shows up for both
7 min read
nocap.bible editorialGod made a to and that sounded absolutely delusional. A baby — at their age? Abraham was literally a hundred years old. Sarah had been past childbearing age for decades. But God said what He said, and He meant it.
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This chapter is the payoff of one of the longest waits in the entire Bible. The promised son arrives, family drama explodes, and God proves that He sees everyone — even the ones who get sent away.
After years and years of waiting — we're talking DECADES — God did exactly what He said He would. No cap. conceived and gave birth to a son in old age, right on schedule according to God's timeline.
Abraham named the boy (which literally means "he laughs" — remember when Sarah laughed at God's promise? Yeah, God has a sense of humor). Abraham Isaac at eight days old, just like God commanded. The man was a hundred years old watching his wife nurse their newborn. Let that sink in.
"Sarah said, 'God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears about this is going to laugh with me. Who would've EVER told Abraham that Sarah would be nursing children? Yet here I am — I gave him a son in his old age.'"
The woman who laughed in disbelief was now laughing in . God turned her doubt into her testimony. That's what happens when God keeps a promise nobody thought was possible. 💯
grew up and was weaned, and threw a massive celebration. (Quick context: weaning were a big deal in the ancient world — the kid surviving to that point was worth celebrating.) Everything should've been great.
But saw son — , Abraham's through the Egyptian servant — laughing. And that was it. Something about it set her off. Whether it was mockery or just the reminder that there was another potential heir in the picture, Sarah made her move:
"Sarah said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman and her son. The son of this slave woman is NOT going to be heir alongside my son Isaac.'"
This wrecked Abraham. Ishmael was still his son. The text says it was "very displeasing" to him — and that's an understatement. But God stepped in:
"God said to Abraham, 'Don't be distressed about the boy or about your servant. Listen to Sarah in this, because through Isaac your offspring will be named. But I will also make a nation from the slave woman's son, because he is your offspring too.'"
God wasn't abandoning Ishmael. He had a plan for both sons. But the line — the promise that would eventually lead to — ran through Isaac. Sometimes God's plan involves painful separations that don't make sense in the moment.
This section is heavy. got up early the next morning — you know he didn't sleep — took some bread and a skin of water, put it on shoulder along with the child, and sent them away.
Hagar wandered into the wilderness of . When the water ran out, she put her boy under a bush and walked away — about a bowshot's distance. She couldn't watch him die.
"She lifted up her voice and wept."
That's one of the rawest lines in all of . A mother, alone in the desert, out of water, out of options, watching her child fade. No safety net. No backup plan. Just grief.
But God heard. Not her voice — the boy's voice. The of God called to Hagar from :
"'What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not — God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up! Lift him up and hold him tight, because I will make him into a great nation.'"
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water right there. She filled the skin, gave the boy a drink, and they survived. God didn't just save them in the moment — He stayed with . The boy grew up in the wilderness, became an expert archer, lived in the wilderness of , and his mother found him a wife from .
God sees the outcasts. He hears the cries of people who feel forgotten. Hagar wasn't part of the line, but she was never invisible to God. 🫶
Scene change. — the local king — showed up with Phicol, his army commander. These two had been watching , and they couldn't deny what they saw:
"Abimelech said to Abraham, 'God is with you in everything you do. So swear to me right here by God that you won't deal falsely with me, my children, or my descendants. I've been good to you — deal with me and this land the same way.'"
When even the people around you who don't share your can see that God is blessing you — that's a testimony. Abimelech wasn't converting. He was hedging his bets. He saw Abraham's and wanted to make sure he was on the right side of it.
"Abraham said, 'I will swear.'"
Short and direct. A man whose word means something doesn't need a speech. 💯
But before they sealed the deal, had a grievance. servants had seized one of Abraham's wells — and in the ancient Near East, a well was everything. It was survival, livelihood, legacy.
"Abimelech said, 'I don't know who did this. You never told me, and I just heard about it today.'"
Fair enough. So Abraham brought sheep and oxen, and the two men made a . But then Abraham did something interesting — he set seven ewe lambs apart from the .
"Abimelech said, 'What's the deal with these seven lambs you set apart?'"
"Abraham said, 'Take these seven lambs from my hand — they're a witness that I dug this well.'"
This wasn't just generosity. It was a legal receipt. Abraham was making sure everyone knew that well belonged to him. Smart and strategic.
That's why the place was called — "well of the " — because both men swore an oath there. Abimelech and Phicol headed back to the land of the , and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called on the name of the Lord, the God.
Then Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time. Settled. Rooted. Worshiping. The man who had wandered for decades was finally putting down roots — not because he'd arrived at his final destination, but because he'd learned to wherever God planted him. 🙏