CHAPTER IV.

THE BOND MOTHER.

Genesis xvi., xxi. 9-21.

You will remember, dear friends, those of you who were present at our last meeting, that I told you when Sarah, after waiting ten years, found that she had no son, she advised Abraham to make Hagar, her bondmaid, his wife. Now it is this Hagar that I want to tell you about to-day, for there are some very interesting and instructive things recorded of her in the Bible narrative which may be useful to us.

Hagar lived as a servant or slave in the family of Abraham; she was by birth an Egyptian. Whether she was born of Egyptian parents in Abraham's household, or whether he purchased her in Egypt when he went down there in that time of famine, I told you of, we cannot tell, for no account is given us in God's Word, and we

know nothing of Hagar but what is written there.

Hagar is first mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis. There we are told Sarah "had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar." I should think that Hagar had been several years in Sarah's service, and that, up to this period, she had been faithful and respectful in her conduct towards her mistress; if she had not, it is not likely that Sarah would have wished her husband to take her to be his wife; but as soon as Hagar was thus, as she thought, exalted, and she found that she was likely to have a child, her feelings towards her mistress were changed, and with this change of feeling came a change in her conduct, "her mistress was despised in her eye. Sarah, of course, very soon saw and felt the change in Hagar, and she spoke to Abraham about it with much warmth, and he said to her, "Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; (that means in thy power) do to her as it pleaseth thee."

Sarah, influenced probably by feelings of anger, and perhaps jealousy, "dealt hardly with her," and when she afflicted or punished Hagar,

"she fled from her face." How foolish was Hagar's conduct, and yet how common! So long as she was kept in the place assigned her by God, she appears to have done right and was happy; but as soon as she was taken, as she thought, out of that position, all goes wrong. Pride rises in her heart; she despises her mistress, and no longer submits to her control. Let us learn to be content with the lot Providence has appointed for us, because we may be quite sure, that if we are not happy in doing our duty in that state of life in which we were born, we should not be happy in any condition. It was a pity that Sarah had placed her maid in such temptation; and it was sad for Hagar that she had not wisdom and grace to resist the evil, and to remember what she owed to her mistress. Now let us see what happened to poor Hagar after she fled from Sarah.

The Bible narrative tells us, "And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur." She had evidently fled away towards her own country, Egypt, for Shur appears to

have been not very far from the Red Sea. And the angel said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go?" I cannot help remarking here, that the Lord (for this angel was the Lord Jesus, the Angel of the Covenant) puts Hagar at once into her right place, when He said "Hagar, Sarai's maid," thus reminding her of her duty to Sarah; and reproving her pride and rebellion. The question, too, would lead her to think of the home she had left, and of the danger to which she was exposing herself. Hagar, in her reply, takes her right place, for she said, "I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai."

Let us now, dear friends, read and observe the directions and promises made to Hagar. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. Behold thou art with child, and shall bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against

him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

First, you see Hagar is commanded to return to her mistress, and to her duty of submission as a servant. Hagar's place and duty were in no wise altered in God's judgment. She was still a servant and a bondmaid to Sarah; and it was only in the fulfilment of her duty in that state of life that she could be happy or expect God's blessing. What a blow was this command to Hagar's pride—to return—to submit. How it reminds us of the instructions given to servants in St. Peter's Epistle; he says: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” (1 Peter ii. 18-20.) Yes, my friends, here was a hard lesson for Hagar to learn! It was a lesson that few of us try to learn! We do wrong, we complain of the consequences, we lay the fault