Episode 4: Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son

(Genesis 15-18)

God's promise to Abraham

15 ¹ The word of God came to Abraham in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm your shield and your great reward."

² Abraham said, "What will you give me since I am childless?"

⁴ The word of God said, "A son will come out of your bowels to be your heir. ⁵ Look at the stars, that's how much seed you're going to have."

⁶ Abraham believed God. And God counted him righteous for believing him.

⁷ God said, "I'm God. I brought you from Ur to inherit this land."

⁸ Abraham said, "How can I know I will inherit it?"

⁹ God said, "Get a heifer, she goat, and ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a pigeon."

¹⁰ So Abraham gathered all the animals God asked for and cut them up into pieces. (Except for the birds, which he didn't chop up.) ¹¹ The dead animals attracted some birds of prey, which Abraham drove away. ¹² As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham.

¹³ God said to the sleeping Abraham,

Your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and will serve them for 400 years. ¹⁴ I'll judge the nation that they serve. Then they'll leave with lots of possessions. ¹⁵ And you'll die at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation they will come back here again.

¹⁷ Later that night, there appeared a burning lamp between the pieces of dead animals. ¹⁸ God repeated the promise he made to Abraham and his descendants about giving to them the land of Canaan, saying,

¹⁹ To your seed I give this land, from the great river in Egypt to the Euphrates River. ^20-21 This includes the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Abraham impregnates Sarah's slave, Hagar

16 ¹Sarah, Abraham's wife, couldn't have children. But she had a female Egyptian slave named Hagar. ^2-3 So Sarah said to Abraham, "God has prevented me from having children. Have sex with Hagar, so I can have children through her."

⁴ Abraham did as Sarah suggested and had sex with Hagar. She conceived. And when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised Sarah.

Sarah forces Hagar to leave

⁵ Sarah said to Abraham,

It's your fault. I let you have sex with my slave. Then when she conceived, she despised me.

Let God decide which of us is right.

⁶ Abraham replied, "She's your slave. Do whatever you want with her."

And when Sarah treated her harshly, Hagar ran away.

God sends an angel to retrieve Hagar

⁷ After Hagar ran away from Sarah, an angel found her by a fountain, and said, ⁸ "Where did you come from, Hagar? And where are you going?"

Hagar said, "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarah."

⁹ The angel said,

Return to your mistress and submit to her. ¹⁰ I'll multiply your seed exceedingly. No one will be able to count all the seed you're going to have.

¹¹ You are pregnant and will have a son. His name will be Ishmael. ¹² He will be a wild man. He will fight against everyone, and everyone will fight against him.

Hagar gives birth to Ishmael

¹⁵ Hagar bare Abraham a son, Ishmael. ¹⁶ He was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.

God's everlasting covenant: circumcision

17 ¹ God appeared to Abraham when he was 99 years old, and said, ² "I'll make a covenant with you, and I'll make sure you have lots of descendants." ³ Abraham fell on his face. God continued,

¹⁰ This is my covenant: Every male will be circumcised. ¹¹ You will circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. It shall be a token of the covenant between us. ¹² When a baby boy is eight days old, he shall be circumcised, whether he is born in your house, or is bought with money, or is a stranger. ¹³ My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ An uncircumcised boy must be cut off from his people.

God promises to get Sarah pregnant

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, ¹⁶ "I'll bless Sarah and give you a son from her. She will be a mother of nations and kings."

Abraham laughs at God

¹⁷ Abraham fell down laughing, and said in his heart,

Will Sarah and I have a child when I'm 100 and she's 90 years old?

¹⁹ God said to Abraham,

Sarah will have a son, and you will call him Isaac. I'll establish my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.

²⁰ I've blessed Ishmael and will make him have lots of children. Twelve of his sons will be princes and from him I'll make a great nation.

²¹ But my covenant will be with Isaac. Sarah will deliver him next year at this time.

²² Then God stopped talking and went up.

Abraham, Ishmael, and male slaves are circumcised

^23-26 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised himself, along with his thirteen-year-old son, Ishmael, and all of his slaves -- all in one day.

Abraham feeds God and three men

18 ^1-2 God and three men appear to Abraham. ^3-4 Abraham said to his four guests,

Wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. I'll get some bread while you comfort your hearts. After that, you can go.

⁵ The four guests said to him, "Okay."

⁶ Abraham ran to Sarah and said to her, "Bake some cakes."

⁷ Then he fetched a calf, killed and prepared it.

⁸ Abraham fed his guests butter, milk, and the calf that he had prepared.

Sarah laughs at God

^9-10 God said to Abraham, "I'll return sometime, and Sarah will have a son."

¹² Sarah heard it and laughed to herself, saying, "Am I, an old woman, going to have pleasure with my old husband?"

¹³ God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for me? I'll return and she will have a son."

¹⁵ Sarah said, "I didn't laugh."

God said, "Yes you did."

God wonders if he should tell Abraham about Sodom

¹⁶ Abraham's visitors left towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them along the way.

¹⁷ God said to himself, "Should I hide from Abraham the thing that I plan to do?"

²⁰ Then he said to Abraham,

The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous, ²¹ I'll go down and see whether things down there are as bad as I've heard. If they are, I'll find out.

²²And God, his three companions, and Abraham continued to walk toward Sodom.

Abraham tries to talk God out of it

²³ Abraham came close to God and said,

Will you kill the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in Sodom? Will you kill everyone including the fifty righteous? ²⁵ Shouldn't the judge of all the earth do right?

²⁶ God said, "If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I'll spare the city for their sakes."

²⁷ Abraham said, "I'm just dust and ashes, but what if there are forty-five righteous people?"

²⁸ God said, "If I find forty-five, I won't destroy it."

^29-32 Abraham repeated the same question, with forty, thirty, twenty, and ten. Each time God said he wouldn't kill everyone if he could find that many righteous people.

³³ Then God went his way, and Abraham went home.