Genesis 16:2
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Sarah, concluding that the Lord had kept her from bearing children, urged Abraham to go in to her maid Hagar so she might obtain children through her, and Abraham listened to her voice and agreed to her plan. Although they believed God's promise of a son would be fulfilled, they could not believe that Sarah herself would bear in her old age and thought it might come through Hagar. Growing restless in waiting for the promise in God's time and way, they devised their own plan by human judgment to secure by human means what God had promised, and in yielding Abraham failed the test of faith and perfect trust in God's unlimited power. By taking Hagar as an additional, secondary wife Abraham entered polygamy, departing from God's order in the beginning of one wife for Adam, a union contrary to God's will and law which never sanctioned a plurality of wives. That human effort destroyed happiness and marred peace through jealousy and strife, bringing sorrow and misery, and in Ishmael's birth mingled the righteous seed with the ungodly to the harm of Abraham's household and later generations.
Proposal Born of Unbelief
Sarah concluded that the Lord had restrained her from bearing, and on that ground urged Abraham to go in to her maid Hagar so that she might obtain children by her, and Abraham hearkened to her voice and agreed to her plan. The proposal was Sarah's entreaty that Abraham take Hagar, and his compliance was acceptance of an arranged marriage to her.
They believed God's promise of a son would be fulfilled, yet they could not believe that Sarah herself would bear a son in her old age. Because she believed she could not bear a child, she thought the promise might be fulfilled through Hagar, and Abraham's taking of Hagar was a mistaken attempt to bring about the promised offspring in that way.
They grew restless during the delay while waiting for the promise in God's time and way, and instead of exercising faith and waiting for God to act they devised their own plan according to human judgment. This was an effort to achieve what they thought desirable by their own ways and to secure by human means what God had promised.
In accepting Sarah's suggestion Abraham failed to endure the test of faith in God's unlimited power and the firm reliance God intended to prove. His agreement showed lack of faith and want of perfect trust in God's unlimited power to fulfill His promise, and their decision showed distrust in God.
Violation Bringing Lasting Sorrow
By taking Hagar as a secondary wife in addition to Sarah, Abraham entered polygamy. That step was a departure from God's order given in the beginning, when Adam was given one wife, for God never designed a plurality of wives. The widespread acceptance of polygamy did not make it lawful, for God never sanctioned it in a single instance. The union was sin, contrary to God's will and law. It violated the lesson that the marriage bond and the wife's rights are to be guarded.
The human arrangement destroyed happiness and greatly marred peace in the home. It brought much unhappiness upon Abraham and Sarah through jealousy and strife over Hagar. The effort to achieve what seemed desirable by human ways and to secure by human means what God had promised resulted in sorrow, misery, and sin. It brought sorrow and anguish as well. The choice resulted in the birth of Ishmael and the mingling of the righteous seed with the ungodly. It brought harm to Abraham's household and to later generations, producing a people whose later history opposed God and hindered His purposes.