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Sarai, the wife of Abram, had a
maid name Hagar, who was also Abram's wife. Hagar behaved
disrespectfully to her mistress, and this made Sarai angry, and she
treated Hagar very harshly, and was so unkind to her, that Hagar ran away
from her mistress, and fled into the wilderness. It was wrong of Hagar to
be disrespectful to her mistress; and it was wrong of Sarai to be unkind
to her servant; and Abram himself was wrong in allowing these things to
happen in his family. But
what became of Hagar? The angel of the Lord found her in the
wilderness, by a well of water, and said to her, "Hagar, whence
camest thou?" And Hagar answered, "I flee from my mistress
Sarai." Then the angel told Hagar to return to her mistress,
and to submit to her. This was Hagar's duty, and she could not be
blessed nor happy while she forgot this duty, and gave way to her own
pride and self-will. But the angel comforted Hagar, though he
reproved her, and told her that she would have a son, who would be the
father of a great nation. That son was to be named Ishmael, which
means, "God shall hear," because God had heard the affliction of
Hagar, and had mercy on her. And the Angel said, that Ishmael should
be a wild man, and that his hand would be against every man, and every
man's hand against him. Ishmael was born not long after, and from
him descended the nation of the Arabians, who have always been a wild
people, as the angel foretold. So
Hagar was comforted; and she did as she was commanded, and returned to
Sarai. But first, she gave a name to the angel who had appeared to
her. She called him, "Thou God seest me." He saw
Hagar in her affliction, and He can still see us in all our sorrows, and
bless and comfort us, as he did her, if we pray to Him, and trust in Him.
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