The expulsion of Ishmael.
I. THE CAUSE.
1. The persecution of Isaac. "Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian mocking." That this was no mere sportive pleasantry may be inferred from the deep feeling it aroused in Sarah, the summary chastisement it brought on Ishmael, and the' severe language in which it is characterized by Paul. The emphasis laid by Sarah on the heirship suggests the probability that Ishmael's offence partook of the nature of wicked, irritating laughter at the position and prospects of Sarah's son, springing partly from envy and partly from unbelief.
2. The apprehension of Sarah. That Sarah was actuated by personal dislike of Hagar's boy, or inspired solely by maternal jealousy, is a gratuitous assumption. It is more satisfactory to ascribe her seemingly harsh counsel to the clearness with which she recognized that Isaac alone was the Heaven-appointed heir, and that nothing must be allowed to either damage his position or endanger his prospects.
3. The commandment of God. Considering the patriarch's former experience of "hearkening to Sarah," his acquiescence in her counsel on this occasion would in all probability have been problematical, had not God interposed to recommend its adoption. It would both secure the happiness of Isaac and remove temptation from the path of Ishmael; while it would serve to educate the patriarch himself for the coming sacrifice on Mount Moriah. To facilitate the patriarch's compliance with the Divine injunction, the promise of future greatness to Ishmael is renewed, and in the end Hagar and her boy are dismissed.
II. THE MANNER.
1. With pain to himself. "The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son." Parental affection must have urged him to retain his first-born son. Conjugal love must have interceded for her who had been to him as a wife. Self-interest may have represented the advisability of still clinging to Ishmael for the fulfillment of the promise, in case the line of Isaac should fail. Yet grace and faith triumphed. "All things are possible to him that believeth."
2. With tenderness towards the outcasts. Making provision for their immediate necessities, and either then or afterwards adding gifts (Genesis 25:6), he sends them away, doubtless with many prayers and tears. Nature and grace both enjoin tenderness in dealing with those whom God in his providence calls to suffer.
3. With submission to the will of God. The moment the mind of God was ascertained, internal controversy ceased and determined. The patriarch was never irresolute in following when God led. Obedience is the first duty of faith.
III. THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE.
1. Ishmael and Isaac representatives of Abraham's natural descendants and Abraham's spiritual posterity; Israel after the flesh and Israel after the spirit; souls in legal bondage and souls enjoying spiritual freedom.
2. Ishmael's mockery of Isaac foreshadowed the persecuting spirit of the unbelieving Jews, who adhered to the system of Moses, towards the disciples of the New Testament faith, who sought salvation through Christ; hence also the antagonism of the sinful principle in man to the renewed life of grace.
3. Ishmael's separation from Isaac prefigured the ultimate removal of unbelievers from believers, of the world from the Church, of those in a state of nature or of legal bondage from those who are children of the promise and of the heavenly Jerusalem. Learn—
1. The wickedness and danger of mocking at sacred persons and things.
2. The superior spiritual insight not infrequently exhibited by woman.
3. The necessity of trying all human opinions by God's revealed will.
4. The care God takes to guide sincere souls as to the path of duty.
5. The proper function of faith, which is to hear and obey.
6. The impossibility of any compromise existing between the world and the Church.
7. The final casting out of the wicked from the congregation of the righteous.