This is “The In’s and Out’s of Covenant-Justice and Mercy.”

This is the 18th Reading in our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. It is contained in Genesis 21:1-34. But for purposes of this discussion here today, we will focus only on verses 1 through 21.

 

And as always, I will be referencing the Robert Alter Translation of Torah entitled: “The Five Books of Moses.”  

 

There are a number of themes to be found in our reading today that include, but aren’t limited to:

 

• Covenant—We all recognize the stark realities associated with covenant (not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter into the Kingdom. However, we must recognize that there are realities of mercy and justice and grace, love and kindness that exists outside the framework of covenant. And we see this brilliantly and beautifully illustrated in our Torah reading today.
• Justice
• Mercy
• Righteousness
• Carnal or the Flesh
• Spirit
• Sovereignty
• Divine Visitation
• Life (Time of Life)
• The Miraculous 

Let us not overlook that Torah is more than Yah’s instructions in righteousness. Torah also reveals some of Yah’s most astounding, immutable character traits to us and how we must respond to those traits.

___________________________________

 

21.1.  And the LORD singled out Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 

 

21.2.  And Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the set time that God had spoken to him. 

 

21.3.  And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 

 

21.4.  And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had charged him.

 

 

The “just as” phrases peppered throughout our reading. Verse 1: “just as He said…” Verse 2: “Just as He spoke…” Verse 4: “at the festival as God had spoken…” “just as God had commanded him.” These are emphatic points of affirmation that Yehovah, when He says He is going to do something, you can take it to the bank, baby. He is going to do that very thing He promises and declares He’s going to.

 

It is an essential, foundational character trait of Yehovah that every would be child of Yah must become intimately knowledgeable of. Every child of the Most High must live by this critical understanding and must remain unshakable on this understanding.

 

Of this Shaul wrote to the Roman Messianics: “Let Yehovah be true, but every man be a liar, as it is written, That thou mighest be justified in Thy sayings and mightiest overcome when thou art judged” (Rom. 3:4).

 

When brethren, are we going to have this Truth interwoven into our DNA and live by our Faith (Hab. 3:2)? When are we going to stop trusting the foolishness that flows so easily and deceptively from the mouths of the mainstream media and this nation’s government’s officials’ mouths, and start trusting that which comes from the Mouth of Yah. Master declared to hasatan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4).

 

And so, this is what Avraham does when his son Yitzchak is born: He responds to Yah’s keeping His Word by circumcising Yitzchak “just as He (Yehovah) had commanded him.”

 

Torah is not only the primary, central repository for Yah’s instructions for righteousness. It is also the primary, central repository for understanding the Character and Person of Yah. We gain the understanding we need of Who and What Yah is and how He thinks, sees things and behaves. This is vital information if we are to be His elect child. Because we have been chosen to be like Him. He is our Dad and He demands that we become as He is in every conceivable way.

 

 

Yah is about Perfection. For Yah does things with exacting precision and we see this character trait brilliantly enacted in our Torah Reading here today. Yitschaq is born within the year that the message declared he would be born, as recorded in Genesis 18:10: “Most assuredly I (Yehovah) will return at the time of life (this time next year).” Hegg points out that the Hebrew is most meaningfully rendered here: “at the time of life.” The focus is on “the time of life.” The appointed time for the son of promise to be born.

 

Yah is THE Elohim of life. And because of this reality, it is He alone that determines “the time of life.” He alone determines the exact date a child will be born. Thus, Yah is personally involved in every human experience, including every human’s birth.

 

Luke 2:6-7—While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth (I.e., the time of life). And she, Mirian, gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him (Yahoshua) in cloths, and laid Him in a manger (I.e., a sukkah), because there was no room for them in the inn.

 

What has Yah declared over our lives that we are to expect delivery upon? 

 

Friends, if there is one thing we should carry away with us in this discussion is the appreciation for Yah’s exacting nature; His inerrant Ways; His justice that is balanced with perfect mercy. We must carry away with us the full understanding that He does not lie and He will always do what He says He’s going to do. (I would encourage you, if you’ve not already done so, to either read or listen to our discussion entitled “Let God be True and Every Man a Liar—A Messianic Discussion of Romans 3:3-4.” There we get into the very heart of this character trait of Yah that every set-apart one must know and embrace.)

 

Yah’s character trait of perfectly balanced mercy and justice is a foreign concept among humanity these days. Today, especially in woke western culture, people have learned to be almost entirely justice oriented or so tolerant that mercy is the only thing they know. The problem with both sides of this woke, western mindset is that Yah’s ways are completely absent from the equation. Man’s woke justice or mercy is based upon humanity’s corrupted ideals of what is right and what is wrong. Today’s western ideals are being fueled by fear, carnal ideology, herd mentality, ignorance, hatred, lust, godlessness, and lawlessness. So, it is impossible for there to ever be a pure, Judeo-Christian judicial system that will administer justice and mercy appropriately. You see, without Yah’s Torah, there can never be true justice and mercy.

 

The beautiful story that rests before us is a perfect example of Yah’s character trait of justice and mercy operating in perfect balance in the universe. Hagar, is a woman possessing absolutely no prospects in life beyond those prospects that naturally come with her slavewoman status. Her son, rejected by the father who should by all human standards, be entitled to a portion of his daddy’s fortune, is also without prospects for future life. And so it is, based upon heaven’s court’s ruling, Hagar and Ishmael are required to leave their home with the Abrahams and face the fates of life in a world that is almost always fatal and unforgiving to unmarried, slave women and orphaned children. What would this be righteous justice? Well, the covenant that Abba cut with Avraham was specific and it had absolutely no room for any other participants at this juncture, than Avraham, Sarah and Yitschaq. The foolishness that Sarah and Avraham devised to rig and certify the covenant promise was a terrible mistake. And although they themselves would endure minimal repercussions for their faithlessness, the innocent victims of this rigging of the covenant, Hagar and Ishmael, would be forced to endure the fullest brunt of the infraction to the covenant. Hagar and Ishmael, in a sense, would stand as the scapegoat for Sarah’s and Avraham’s fractious assault on the covenant. Hagar and Ishmael were in all ways the anti-covenant agents. For their role and presence in this event served to stymie Yah’s perfect plan of salvation, restoration and redemption—the covenant. The covenant that Yah cut with Avraham did not factor in the natural components of Hagar and Ishmael:

 

“And Yehovah said to Avraham, “Let it not seem evil in your eyes on account of the lad and on account of your slavegirl. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for through Yitzchak shall your seek be acclaimed” (21:12).

 

Shaul wrote of this:

 

“(6) It is not as though the word of Yah had failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Yisra’el, (7) and not all of Avraham’s children are his true descendants; but ‘it is through Yitzchak that descendants shall be named for you” (Rom. 9:6-7; NRSV).

 

Despite the fact that Hagar and Ishmael were not direct benefactors in the covenant between Avraham and Yehovah, which rightly-justly excluded them from the Abrahams’ presence and life, Yah’s mercies were able to operate on their behalf unfettered. And thus Yah declares this reality to Avraham:

 

“But the slavegirl’s son, too, I will make a nation, for he is your seed” (21:13).

 

Fourteen years prior to this event, Yah revealed Himself to Hagar, no doubt in that same wilderness region. And recall that Yah alerted Hagar to the fact that he had indeed heard her cries and that regardless what happened to her, He had her back, and that she was to return to Sarai and suffer or endure under her mistress as was her duty and she would indeed give birth to a son who would become the father of a nation in his own right. And here we have Hagar and now the teenage Ishmael once again having an encounter with the Elohim of Avraham and receiving certification that Yah would take of them both. So, Yah opens her eyes, shows her a water source, and He begins the process of making Ishmael a great nation. Crazy as it sounds, Ishmael is not in covenant with Yehovah. Ishmael is not part of the historic Avrahamic covenant. Ishmael is a beneficiary of Yah’s mercies and eternal sovereignty. This benefit is available to any who Yah chooses to bestow those unbelievable mercies upon. And in this case, Yah chose to bestow those mercies upon Ismael and Hagar for the simple fact that Ishmael was of Avraham’s seed. The mantle of blessings and mercies indeed would flow from Avraham down to Ishmael. Indeed, by the court of heaven, Hagar and Ishmael were innocent victims in the Avraham’s tomfoolery. But by the court of heaven, Yah would make things right for them, as Yah does much of the whole of humanity in accordance with His perfect Will and Plan. And as hard as covenant membership may seem to our western sensibilities—that is Yah chooses who will be His and He excludes those who will not be His within the framework of covenant—covenant membership comes only by virtue of Yah’s sovereign-based Will and Plan, as the flesh has nothing whatsoever to do with covenant membership.

 

“…it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of Yehovah, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants” (Rom. 9:8; NRSV).

 

When this hard reality comes to Avraham’s attention when Yah instructs him to hearken to the instruction of his wife Sarah, that is to send the “slavewoman” and her son packing, Avraham has to acquiesce in favor of the side on which his spiritual bread was buttered: His son had to go. He was not to be a part of the covenant. Only Yitzchak.

 

But Abba shows that He was indeed sympathetic to Avraham’s human, fatherly inclination towards his flesh and bone son Ishmael. Yah indeed could have been hard and not brought Avraham into the loop. But Yah, realizing the pain that Avraham was in in having to send his family packing—albeit because of his and his wife’s foolishness years ago—He lovingly let’s Avraham know that Ishmael would be fine and he need not be worried about the wellbeing of his child.

 

Yah’s ways are not our ways on every conceivable level of existence. And this foundational Truth is something that we must always factor into how we conduct ourselves before Him. Yah will always fulfill His Will and Plan. Unfortunately, Yah will always fulfill His Will and Plan in ways that from time-to-time may seem completely crazy or inexplicable to us. This is where trusting faith comes in as it relates to how we conduct ourselves. When these things happen in our lives, we are compelled to “live by our faith” (Hab. 2:4). Yah knows what He is doing.

 

 

21.5.  And Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

 

21.6.  And Sarah said, “Laughter has God made me, Whoever hears will laugh at me.” 

 

21.7.  And she said, “Who would have uttered to Abraham—’Sarah is suckling sons!’ For I have borne a son in his old age.”

 

What’s in a Name?

 

Yitzchak’s Hebrew name bears a very positive, happy connotation with it. It bears the connotation of joyful laughter. Yitzchak’s name is about innocent, spontaneous laughter that would be born out of a natural absurdity. No child would ever be born to a couple so advanced in age as Avraham and Sarah were. To conceive of that, much less experience such a thing, is surely laughable, but laughable in a joyful and celebratory way.

 

But somewhere in the equation of personal human interactions, Ishmael turned that joyful, innocent laughter into something evil. The laughter that Ishmael brought was evil and of a very carnal nature.

 

 

The other thing to take note of here is the act of laughter that is enacted for purposes that either wittingly or unwittingly mock.

 

Rav Shaul definitively wrote to the Galatian Messianics:

 

“Be not deceived; Yah is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (I.e., justice and judgment)” (Gal. 6:7-9).

 

To mock Yah and or to cast doubt upon His Word (again, either wittingly or unwittingly) is to engender His wrath upon one’s self.

 

Whether we buy into the literary thinking that Ishmael involved himself in some carnal act towards Yitzchak or not, the bottom line is that Ishmael’s laughable actions (so to speak) got him and his mom kicked out of Avraham’s camp. When we enter into foolishness, knowingly or unknowingly, trying to be cute or somehow trying to be the life of the party, whatever, thinking we know better than everyone else; all eyes on me; and in our foolishness we somehow mock Yah and His Ways or His Plans, we will invariably find ourselves on the outs. It’s not a good place to be, as Ishmael and his mom soon found out.

 

21.8.  And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 

 

21.9.  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.

 

The issue here at hand not was that of Ishmael (who is unnamed at this point in the narrative) somehow making folly of either or both Sarah and Yitzchak, but the very mere mention of Ishmael somehow encroaching upon her biological son Yitzchak’s inheritance brought a major contrast to the boy’s name that means to cause one to laugh. To Sarah, this was no laughing matter. Alter suggests that possibly Sarah saw Ishmael attempting to play the role of Yitzchak, “child of laughter, presuming to be the legitimate heir.”

 

21.10.  And she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slavegirl and her son, for the slavegirl’s son shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac.”

 

Sarah does not dignify either Hagar nor her son by referring to them by their names. Instead, she boxes them into their social titles and roles: “slavegirl.” These remain nameless in Abraham’s house.

 

“Tzachak” is to laugh.

 

Now, another form of the verb is metzachek, which means to “play around.” It is this form or context of the verb that denotes intimacy: “to fool around” (21.9), which is what the text seems to describe Ishmael’s actions were towards Yitzchak.

 

We see this same context noted in Genesis 26 involving Yitzchak, his wife Rebecca, and once again, Abimelech, King of Gerar:

 

“When the men of the place asked about his wife (Yitzchak’s wife Rebecca), he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,’ thinking, ‘the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” (8) It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was “caressing” his wife Rebekah” (verses 7-8; NASB).

 

Caressing here in the Hebrew is metzachek, which means, fooling around to borrow from our modern vernacular.

 

So, back to our reading here, as it relates to metzachek, Sarah may have seen Ishmael fooling around with her son Yitzchak, and it was this act that got Ishmael kicked out of the house. In other words, Ishmael was molesting Yitzchak, and that’s why Ishmael got kicked out of Avraham’s house (21:9). This is one of a few traditional rabbinic understandings as to why Ishmael was booted from Avraham’s home.

 

I personally do not buy fully into the molestation explanation for Ishmael’s expulsion.

 

21.11.  And the thing seemed evil in Abraham’s eyes because of his son. 

 

21.12.  And God said to Abraham, “Let it not seem evil in your eyes on account of the lad and on account of your slavegirl. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for through Isaac shall your seed be acclaimed.

 

According to ancient rabbinic traditional thought, Yitschaq means “will laugh.” Sarah declared, “G-d has made laughter for me, so that who hear will laugh with me.’

 

Ishmael is 14-years of age when Yitschaq is born.

 

Rashi contends that this verse teaches us that Sarah was superior to Avraham in prophecy.

 

 

21.13.  But the slavegirl’s son, too, I will make a nation, for he is your seed.” 

 

21.14.  And Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, placing them on her shoulder, and he gave her the child, and sent her away, and she went wandering through the wilderness of Beersheba. 

 

21.15.  And when the water in the skin was gone, 

 

21.16.  she flung the child under one of the bushes and went off and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away, for she thought , “Let me not see when the child dies.” And she sat at a distance and raised her voice and wept.

 

A brilliant literary pre-reference to Ishmael’s ultimate vocation as a hunter.

 

The other thing that gets somewhat confusing here is the narrator’s use of the term “child” to refer to Ishmael. The irony here is that at this point in the narrative, Ishmael is no less than a teenager, most likely close to 16-years of age. He in reference to our western sensibilities, Ishmael is no child by any stretch of the imagination.

 

The term child, however, is the same Hebrew term used to describe or refer to Yitzchak in verse 8. However, it is the malek’s referral to Ishmael as a lad, which is more accurate in aging the boy.

 

21.17.  And God heard the voice of the lad and God’s messenger called out from the heavens and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the lad’s voice where he is.

 

Our text mentions only the lad’s or Ishmael’s audible weeping. Yet the malek or messenger asserts that Yehovah had indeed heard Ishmael’s cries. And it is actually Ishmael’s cries as opposed to his mother’s cries that draw the Creator’s attention and response here. And as before in chapter 16, we once again receive confirmation that Yehovah is a God that hears the distressing cries of certain souls with no doubt certain hearts that capture the Father’s ear.

 

According to ancient rabbinic thinking, this verse teaches us that a person’s prayer for himself is preferable to others’ praying for him and as sooner to be accepted [for though the verse speaks of Hagar’s weeping, it tells us that it was Ishmael’s cry which G-d heard]. (Midrash Rabbah; Rashi)

 

Genesis 21:17—”For G-d has heard the voice of the lad where he is.” The ministering angels hastened to indict Him exclaiming: “Sovereign of the Universe! Would you bring up a well for one who will one day kill your children with thirst?” “What is he now,” asked G-d. “Righteous,” said the angels. Said G-d: “I judge man only as he is at the moment.” (Midrash Rabbah; Rashi)

 

 

21.18.  Rise, lift up the lad and hold him by the hand, for a great nation will I make him.” 

 

21.19.  And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the skin with water and gave to the lad to drink. 

 

21.20.  And God was with the lad, and he grew up and dwelled in the wilderness, and he became a seasoned bowman. 

 

21.21.  And he dwelled in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took him a wife from the land of Egypt.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Extra biblical Records on this Reading

 

Josephus’ The Antiquities of the Jews Chapter 12.

 

Yehovah maintained the purity of Sarah such that the Son of Promise would descend undefiled (e.g., the events of Egypt and Abimelech).

 

“Do not fear the corruption of your wife’s chastity” Abimelech says to Avraham: a very profoundly heavy statement of prophetic significance, especially as it relates to the covenant (1.12.1.209).

 

No doubt the enemy would have sought to sully the line that was associated with the covenant. But Yah checkmated that move before it had the chance to come to fruition.

 

Josephus mentions the Arabians circumcising their sons at age 13, as opposed to the 8th day as was Yitzchak, because Ishmael was not circumcised until that age of 13 (1.12.2.214).

 

Ishmael is given to marry an Egyptian, who bears him 12 sons (1.12.4.220). The Ishmaelites go on to inhabit the region from the Euphrates to the Red Sea, a region referred to as Nabatene. These descendants Josephus refers to as Arabian. These were proud descendants of Avraham.

 

The Ancient Book of Jasher, Chapter 21

 

Yehovah visits Sarah. As the text denotes, Yehovah remembered Sarah, as He had promised.

 

Avraham circumcises Yitzchak on his 8th day. Avraham is noted to have been 100 years of age, and Sarah, 90.

 

On the day Yitzchak was weaned, Jasher notes that Avraham throws a lavish feast that was attended by such notables as:

 

• Terah, Avraham’s dad.
• Nahor, Avraham’s brother
• Abimelech, King of Gerar.

 

At the birth of Yitzchak, Ishmael is noted to be 14 years of age.

 

According to Jasher, when Yitzchak turned 5, Ishmael, by now drawn to hunting, drew his bow and arrow towards Yitzchak. Of course Ismael never followed through with the act, but Sarah upon learning of this near tragedy, became outraged and sent the boy and his mother packing with loaves of bread and a bottle of water, into the wilderness.

 

Ultimately Hagar and Ishmael are said to have settled in Egypt where Hagar ends up choosing an Egyptian woman for her son, by the name of Meribah. Meribah is said to have bore Ishmael 4 sons and 2 daughters. Years later, the entire family, headed by Ishmael, leaves Egypt and settles in the Arabian desert.

 

Jasher concludes this account with Ishmael accumulating great wealth in cattle because he was a son of Avraham.

 

Jubilees Chapter 16 

 

Upon the messenger returning to Avraham and Sarah and announcing Sarah’s pregnancy to the couple, Avraham celebrates the very first Feast of Sukkot for 8-days.

 

Yitzchak is circumcised on the 8th day according to Torah. And upon Yitzchak being weaned, Avraham throws a grand celebration. It was during that celebration that Avraham’s heart became overjoyed over him finally having 2 sons in his presence. Yet Sarah became jealous at this sight and ordered Avraham to send Hagar and Ishmael packing. Sarah’s position was that Ishmael would have no share in Yitzchak’s inheritance. This of course grieves Avraham.

 

However, Yehovah instructs Avraham to obey the voice of his wife Sarah, for according to Yehovah, Sarah’s counsel was indeed spot on: Ishmael was not to be part of the covenant He had cut with Avraham. Nevertheless, Yah instructs Avraham to not concern himself over Ishmael’s wellbeing on account of Ishmael being his son, Yah would prosper him greatly.

 

The remainder of the Jubilee account aligns pretty straight forward with that of the Genesis account.

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Thoughts and Reflections—Practical Messianic Halachah

 

Do we see in this story an example of Yah’s love and mercy for the father of the Arab nations? 

 

We have laid before us here in this story, a treatment of interpersonal relationships that involve themes and concepts of mercy; forgiveness; justice. These concepts are often played one against the other in our Faith, yet it poses some of the most unpleasant spiritual debates in the minds of Yah’s elect. Recall back just 3 or so readings ago when Avraham enters into a debate for the lives of innocent Sodomites. The question at the heart of that critical debate was whether Yah would be considered a righteous judge if He were to destroy the innocent (aka righteous) along with the guilty. And despite the general spiritual knowledge held by Avraham that there is no one righteous man on earth, for him, it was a question of Yah extending mercy to those who may not have been caught up in the evil that was Sodom, in particular Avraham was concerned about His nephew Lot and his family. And what came out of that debate was a complex understanding of the merciful side of Yah that must work in perfect balance with His Perfect Will, sovereignty, plan of salvation, restoration and redemption and justice. The cries of the victims of Sodom, Yah declared to Avraham, had risen to Yah’s attention and He was on a fact-finding mission to determine the accuracy of those cries. And even this fact finding mission proves to be a perfect balance of mercy and justice. Yah always makes room for forgiveness and repentance and teshuvah. Yah always, as we will see time and time again throughout the course of Torah and the Tanach, “upholds both (forgiveness and justice) equally and with divine purpose.

 

 

Yah will always protect His covenant and His people from all enemies foreign and domestic. In that sense, He places a hedge or wall of protection around His people.

 

Hasatan recognized this reality when in counsel with the Eternal:

 

“(8) Yehovah said to satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing Elohim and turning away from evil.’ (9) Then satan answered Yehovah, ‘Does Yob fear Yah for nothing? (10) Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land’” (Yob 1:8-10; NASB).

 

So no matter how hard the enemy may attempt to railroad the covenant promises that exists between Yehovah and His people, his efforts will come to naught. For Yah is always playing 3-D chess in this realm while the enemy is struggling playing checkers.

 

In our readings over the last few weeks, the enemy attempted to railroad the covenant that Yah cut with Avraham. The most glaring attempt to siderail that covenant was by way of the Hagar and Ishmael event. The other attempts involved Sarah’s chastity being potentially compromised by an Egyptian Pharaoh and Abimelech, king of Gerar. At every turn, Yah protected his covenant and cemented the eternal force of His Plan of Salvation, Restoration and Redemption. In every event, Yah’s justice and mercy worked in perfect balance to ensure the covenant remained intact and to provide those who found themselves on the wrong side of the covenant promise with the opportunity to live and even prosper according to Yah’s sovereignty and mercy.

 

Hagar and Ishmael in our reading here today, found themselves on the wrong side of the covenant. Unfortunately, Yah’s justice required that they be punished (not in the way we humans might think) and set aside of the covenant. However, it was Yah’s gentle mercies that provided Hagar and Ishmael life and even prosper despite them not being sanctioned members of the covenant. Yah sees and hears and responds.

 

Shabbat Shalom and Shavuatov.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________