Angels and the Sons of Abraham (Gen. 21:17-18; 22)

There are some similarities between these stories. In each a son of Abraham is facing death because of an instruction given by God, but an angel speaks to the parent about deliverance. God had told Abraham to send Hagar away and he had told Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Ishmael seemed to be near death because of lack of water where he was placed, and Isaac seemed to be near death because of his location. An angel of God spoke to Hagar about a supply of water and the angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham about him not having to offer Isaac, and Abraham saw that providentially a ram had been caught in a nearby thicket. In both cases, the solutions which seemed impossible were actually close by.

We can see from verse 1 of Genesis 22 that this incident with Isaac is a divine test of Abraham’s obedience. It follows on from another test that the Lord had made of him. In the previous chapter, God had told Abraham to send his other son Ishmael away. And we can see that Abraham complied with that previous divine instruction, although it must have been very difficult for him. On that occasion, Abraham did exactly what God had said. Would he do the same with the second request.

Sometimes we wonder why God needed to do this because he already knew the character of Abraham. When the Lord had spoken to Abraham on the way to Sodom he said that he would reveal his intention to Abraham because he knew that Abraham would be faithful in his household concerning the things of God. Perhaps we could call that knowledge the knowledge of his plan or his knowledge of a person. From one point of view, such knowledge is sort-of detached. But what if we were to consider his knowledge from another aspect, which we could call the knowledge of his pleasure. 

There are many things that God knows from which he gets no pleasure. One feature, however, that gives him pleasure is obedience, hearty unquestioning obedience, by his people. We can see from the incident that Abraham’s commitment was one hundred percent, and the author of Hebrews tells us that Abraham’s response was one of faith: ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back’ (Heb. 11:17-19). His faith was correct, even if his deduction about how God would do it was not.

As noted, there is a common feature of those incidents involving Abraham and his children and that is an angel spoke from heaven, intervening in the situation, almost at the last minute in each case. In the incident involving Ishmael an angel spoke to Hagar, which is the second time that she had such an experience (she had been stopped from running away several years earlier by an angel). In the incident involving Isaac, the angel of the Lord addressed Abraham and told him not to continue with the sacrifice of Isaac.

Hagar and the angel of God (Gen. 21:17-18)

‘And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation”’ (Gen. 21:17-18).

Having left the camp of Abraham, Hagar found herself in a situation where she thought her son was going to die. Hagar had been given great promises about her son when she had returned to Abraham on the previous occasion. The fulfilment of those promises seemed very unlikely now. As she sat there in despair, she heard a voice from heaven when the angel of God addressed her by name.

This angel had a comforting message for Hagar. He told her that God was aware of her situation and had heard what Ishmael was saying. We are not told that Hagar was aware of what Ishmael was saying because he was a distance away. The implication is that Ishmael was praying for divine help. In his message to her, the angel also said that she did not need to be worried because God had not forgotten his promises about her son, and he would make the son into a great nation.

Who is the angel? Note what the angel says in the last clause of verse 18: ‘I will make him into a great nation.’ What kind of angel has the power to bring about such an outcome? This angel claims not only to have divine power, he also claims to be the divine agent in bring about the divine purpose. Surely we have here a statement from the Son of God, here called the angel of God. This is the second time that he appeared to Hagar.

Abraham and the angel of the Lord (Gen. 22:11-12; 15-18)

In this stage in the experience of Abraham, the angel of the Lord speaks twice to him. On the first occasion, he tells Abraham not to lay his hand on Isaac. He tells Abraham that he has passed the test that had been given to him. Abraham had shown that he was willing to do anything for God.

Yet we should observe how the angel conveys this note of divine pleasure. He says to Abraham, ‘for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ The angel says that Abraham has not withheld Isaac from him. In other words, it was the angel who had issued the command to Abraham to offer up Isaac. Also, the angel affirms that he now knows the degree of commitment from Abraham. The angel was pleased with what Abraham had done. So here we have another piece of evidence that this angel is much more than a created angel. Instead, he is the Lord. But as we can see, he also distinguishes himself from God, which means that we have here an indication that God is a trinity, although there is only one God.

The angel of the Lord then speaks a second time to Abraham and this time he mentions the promises and purpose of God. The promises and purpose are about Abraham’s offspring and the promises and purposes are twofold. One aspect of them says that his descendants will be very numerous, like the stars and the sand. It also says that they will defeat their enemies, which may be a reference to the conquest of Canaan. Moreover, through them will come blessing to the nations of the world. This aspect we could call earthy. Paul in Galatians highlights the role that Jesus has as the seed of Abraham and he links with Jesus those who believe in him. We could call this the heavenly aspect and we know that Jesus and his seed are numerous, that they will conquer, and that they bring the blessing of the gospel to the world.

That message from the angel was very encouraging for Abraham and is very encouraging for us. Yet I would suggest we should also see something else here, which is that the angel of the Lord is the divine spokesman. He conveys the message because he knows the meaning of the content of the message. Here we have a hint that he is the Word, the great prophet of the church, who will yet come forth and reveal the secret counsels of God.