Isaac and Ishmael
1. The story of Isaac and Ishmael begins with a promise from God. He tells Abram that he would have a son. Abram believes God, but his wife Sarai doubted God’s promise. Sarai convinced Abram to sleep with her body slave, Hagar, who conceived a son named Ishmael.
Sarai grew jealous of Hagar and exiled her to the desert. While there, Sarai meets God, who tells her to return to Abram and Sarai. God also tells Hagar that Ishmael will become a great and powerful man, a father of nations.
God again meets with Abram, and tells him that Sarai would conceive a son named Isaac. Sarai doubts God once again, since she is past her prime years of childbearing. Sarai becomes pregnant and gives birth.
2. Sarai mistreated her servant. Although Sarai virtually owned Hagar under local customs, she exiled a woman who became pregnant because of Sarai’s actions to an almost certain death in the wilderness.
Abram erred because he wasn’t strong enough to resist his wife’s jealousy. He allowed Sarai to cast Hagar out while she was pregnant with his child. Sarai mistreated Hagar and Ishmael throughout their lives, but Abram didn’t defend them.
3. Sarai, through her mistreatment, and Abram, through his indifference, violate three pillars of social justice. The Life and Dignity of the Human Person is violated, as a pregnant woman is cast into the wilderness. Abram ignores the Call to Family as his unborn son is threatened by death. Sarai mistreats her servant, denying her care and affection, forces her to sleep with a man, and casts Hagar out. Sarai clearly exploits a Poor and Vulnerable Worker.
6 comments:
I did not think of that the story of Isaac and Ishmael was connected to the family pillar until you brought that up. It was a very good way of looking at this story. Good job!
This group does a good job tieing there opinions in with the 7 pillars.
i like how this group used the social freedoms. it was very clever to show ho they didnt use the social freedoms
Kevan,
You make some interesting points about our "first family in faith!" Abraham was a man of GREAT faith, but was a NOT the power-broker in the marriage - Sarah "wore the pants" in that family! It is hard to truly understand these stories because the laws and customs were so very different. I agree with two of your three conclusion points, and would need more pursuasion on the third. Certainly Sarah is guilty of violating Hagar under at least the two Pillars that you mentioned - probably more. My contention is on the point of Abraham. While he does appear to "waffle," it is clear in the scripture accounts, that Abraham loved and cared for Ishmael throughout his life. Abraham's sin was in allowing Sarah to run rough-shod over him. I doubt that he knew they were "dying" in the desert after Hagar ran away. He takes them back and cares for them both for the rest of their lives -yes - even after Hagar & Ishmael were so-called banished the final time when Ishmael was a teenager. The story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael & Isaac is a fascinating one. It was, by our standards, a totally dysfunctional family. But for their time, it probably was common and certainly acceptable, moral and legal. You put a lot of thought in this. Good work.
You made an excellent point of showing that everyone had faults. I don't think of Abram as being a man of such little faith but he truly doubted God in the beginning. Nice work.
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