Was Ishmael an Ishmael?

31 Aug Was Ishmael an Ishmael?

Going through Genesis in detail this year for the Bible videos caused me to visit a question of curiosity.

Abraham is promised a son by God, and before he is divinely given Isaac, he fathers Ishmael with a slave wife.

The way it is sometimes preached is that Abraham interpreted God’s words a certain way and tried to bring them about himself, and the result was Ishmael.  The logic is that Ishmael was not God’s plan and that a certain amount of chaos has come from it historically.  An Ishmael then is something we bring about in our own attempt to obey God, but outside of God’s plan, and which can have unexpected consequences.

So according to that definition, was Ishmael an Ishmael?  A lot of people would say yes.

However it seems clear in the Bible that Abraham did not know that the son would only come from Sarah, until after Ishmael was born.  In Genesis 12 the Lord promises that he would be a great nation and have offspring, and in Genesis 13 the promise of offspring is repeated.

In Genesis 15 Abraham is more detailed with the Lord in conversation and the Lord promises that a son from his own body would inherit what he has.  So he knows there will be at least one son, but it is not specific how that son will come, or who the mother will be.  And so it is the very next chapter where ‘a son’ is born to Hagar, a slave wife.

It is in Genesis 17 that the Lord now becomes specific.  This is what it states in verses 19-21.

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.  I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 

Abraham was not aware that the son was to be from Sarah until after Ishmael was born.  This is important because Ishmael plays a very important role theologically, or to be more specific it is the two mothers who have a role in the letter to Galatians.  One is the free woman and the other is the slave woman.  These two women represent two covenants.

The Lord intended for Ishmael to be born because he was to illustrate key ideas that help us understand law and grace and other things.

So Ishmael is not an Ishmael – at least not according to the definition above.

God had a plan with Ishmael and no doubt he is still working it out.  We also note in Genesis 16 that God gave promises to Hagar for Ishmael and in Genesis 17 God blessed Ishmael.  So we turn to prayer to see the fullness of those blessings play out in time and history.