The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 294

HOMILETICS. Yer. 3.-Crooked ways, or marrying with Hagar. I. THE SPECIOUS PROPOSAL. 1. 'l'he a1itlwr of it; Sarai, the wife of .Abram, a daughter of the faith, the mistress of a household. To the first, the suggestion referred to in the narrative should have been impossible; in the second, it was inconsistent; while, proceeding from the third, it wus calc11lated to be harmful. 2. The wickedness of it. It was (1) a clear viola- tion of tt1e law of God (cf. eh. ii. 24; Matt. xix. 5; 1 Cor. vi. 16.; Ephes. v. 28, 31); (2) a direct offence against the soul of .Abram, being in reality the placing of a dangerous temptation in his way (Deut. xiii. 6; Rom. xiv. 13); and (3) an unjustifi- able invasion of the liberties of Hagar. Though permitted in the providence of God to be a bondmaid in the hoUBe of Sarai, she was not in the power of_ her mistress to be disposed of in the way proposed, without consent either asked or obtained. 3. The extenuations of it. (1) The practice was common. Secondary wives being then in ,ogue, the scheme recommended by Sarai may not have been regarded by her as sinful (2) The motive was good. It had its origin undoubtedly. in a firm belief in the promise, and a strong desire that her husband should no longer be debarred from its realiRation through her apparently permanent sterility. (3) The self-denial was great. The entire conduct of Sarai, in. giving Hagar to her husband, evinced certain truly engaging features in her personal and wifely character, which must not be overlooked in forming an estimate of her peculiar action; such as genuine humility in yielding to another the honour of being the mother of .Abram's seed, and intense devotion to her husband in submitting for his sake to a displacement which mn~t have carried anguish to her breast. II. THE SINFUL COMPLIANCE. ".Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sal'ai." 1. IJeliberauly. He was not surprifled into this secondary marriage with the Egyptian • maiden. The scheme of Sarai appears to have been talked over between them; and if at first he had scruples in complying with her proposition, they were eventually overcome. 2. Inconsideratdy. That is, the ulterior consequences were not taken into account in assenting to this device for the anticipation of the promised seed ; only its immediate feasibility and superficial recommendations. So men are morally short,. sighted, and cannot see afar off when confronted by some sweet temptation. Had .Abre.m only dimly discerned the outcome ·of Sarai's counsel, he would have stien that the thing was not of God. A perception of the coming whirlwind would· often binder tl1e sowing of the wind. 3, Inexcusably. 'fhough not dictated by .carnal desire, Abram's acquiescence in ,Sarai's ~cheme was far from being faultless. It evinced a want of faith, and, indeed, a want of true spiritual discernment in euppoRing that what God had promised as a gift of grace could be surreptitiC1usly snatcher! from his Divine hand in the way proposed, or even by any purely human strata,;e.n i on. xv1. 1-G.J THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 227