Introduction
Abram had long been concerned about not having an heir, and, for awhile, Eliezer of Damascus, a trusted servant, had that status in the eyes of Abram; but the renewal of the promise that a child actually his own would be given had renewed his hope and expectation. However, ten years went by, and the promised son did not arrive. It is against that background of disappointment and hope that the tragic events of this chapter must be understood. Sarai too shared her husband's disappointment and frustration, perhaps even more than Abram, and this led to her suggestion of Abram's having a child by Hagar, her personal maid, a suggestion in which Abram sinfully and unwisely concurred. Under the legal rules of the society of that age, such a child would indeed have been legally Sarai's. Therefore, she and Abram thought that by such a device as this they would HELP God to fulfill His promise! Anyone can understand the rationalism that would have supported such actions on their part, but 3,500 years of hatred, wars and bloodshed attest to the tragic sinfulness of what they did.
Where indeed had Sarai procured the Egyptian maid? Possibly as a gift from Pharaoh while she was briefly in his harem, or if not, certainly Hagar the Egyptian would scarcely have come into Abram's home from any other source than Egypt during Abram's sinful journey into that land. This shows how sin compounds and multiplies. Abram and Sarai brought back with them from Egypt great wealth, including men servants and maid servants. And one of those maid servants would appear to have been the Achilles' heel by which Satan pierced the unity and destroyed the harmony of Abram's home. Moreover, there also came into being a race of people who would spend their entire history (even down to the present time) hating and killing the posterity of Abram!
The faith of both Abram and Sarai was seriously defective, as revealed in the events recorded here. God does not need human help to fulfill His promises. What is required of men is that they trust God no matter how impossible the fulfillment of His Word may appear to be. In time, Abram was to learn that truth in the offering of his son Isaac, but, at this point, Abram faltered. Sarai must share the blame too, for it was at her instigation that the whole ugly chain of events unfolded. This is a rerun of the tragedy of Eden, where Adam heeded the counsel of Eve.
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