Genesis 21:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Abraham naturally loved Ishmael, and surely Sarah did in her way, but Abraham wanted the family to stay together. It was grievous to him. He knew Isaac was the one who was promised by God. He knew that he had been told at the very beginning of his journey of faith: Get out of the unbelieving community; the church and the world do not go together. The seed of the woman shall not be intimately connected with the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). He understood the whole notion of separation, and the notion of God's people and the people of the world being different. ‘Oh but this is not the same. This is Ishmael. I have looked after him for years. He is my son. I can make it work, believer and unbeliever, child of God and child of the flesh can all be under the same roof.’ Abraham for all his deep intellect and his wonderful godliness did not face up to it as quickly as his wife. So we should not just see a peeved wife and mother here, fending for her own. We have the right to interpret it in that way, because God said, ‘She is absolutely right’, and God would not have said that, if she was just a peeved mother acting out of spite.