21:10Genesis 21:10

Sarah demanded that Hagar and her son Ishmael be sent away from Abraham's household.SG3 103.2–104.2+3 Ishmael was not to share the inheritance promised through Isaac, who was the heir of God's promise and the son of promise.SG3 103.2–104.2+4 The demand followed Ishmael's hostility toward Isaac after Isaac's birth, described as despising, disrespect, mockery, and a turbulent disposition that made him a continuing source of family discord, sharing his mother Hagar's jealousy and claim that Ishmael as Abraham's son would be heir to the promise.SG3 103.2–104.2+2

God directed Abraham to heed Sarah and comply with her request, commanding him through angels to send them away.SG3 103.2–104.2+4 Sarah's demand was right, and God did not rebuke or reprove her for requiring her rival's banishment to protect Isaac's place.1SP 97.1–98.2+2 Ishmael's separation did not mean he would die, be forsaken, or be abandoned by God; God comforted Abraham with the promise that Ishmael would be preserved and made a great nation, becoming the father of a great nation.SG3 103.2–104.2+3 Affection for Hagar and Ishmael was not to prevent Abraham from granting the separation, which was the only course that could protect the marriage relationship and its rights and restore harmony and happiness to the family.SG3 103.2–104.2+2

The episode teaches that the rights and happiness of the marriage relation must be respected and guarded even at great sacrifice, with Sarah as Abraham's first and only true wife entitled to rights as wife and mother that no other woman in the household could claim or share.SG3 103.2–104.2+3 The command to send them away proves that God did not sanction polygamy.1SP 97.1–98.2 Abraham and Sarah had distrusted God's power to fulfill the promise, and that error led to Abraham's marriage with Hagar in the thought that the promise would be fulfilled through her, for which they were reproved.1SP 97.1–98.2+2