Genesis 16

Impatience again.

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Genesis 16

I am reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

In the fiasco that was Abram’s time in Egypt a few chapters ago, his household acquired at least one Egyptian slave named Hagar.

Abram’s wife Sarai blames the LORD for having never gotten pregnant, then puts the idea into Abram’s head that Hagar should become a surrogate birth mother so that he would be able to father children that Sarai could raise.

This is similar to their time in Egypt in that the LORD had nothing to do with the drama that unfolds. Just as the LORD (higher consciousness or intuition) never told Abram to go to Egypt, and pimp out Sarai to Pharoah, so did the LORD never tell Abram to impregnate Hagar.

In Chapter 15 Abram is said to have believed the LORD that he will father a great nation, but he doesn’t have faith in the LORD for the execution of the plan. Abram, following the advice of Sarai, takes the matter into his own hands.

Hagar becomes pregnant, Sarai becomes resentful, and Abram tells Sarai, basically, “She’s your slave. Treat her as you…