So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. (Gen 16,4)

And so the Abrams celebrated again... This time not like after the covenant, when Abram firmly believed that the dream child would come, surely soon. But then that was really just an idea, they had nothing solid in their hands and after a few months their elation began to turn to gloom as the fleeting cloud of hope gradually dissipated. But now it was something tangible, visible - the baby was finally on the way! For both Abram and Sarah, there was a feeling of immense satisfaction, even relief. They would no longer lose the most important thing for which they had waited for so many years.

But alas! Very quickly after the first waves of satisfaction, the cracks of their joy appeared again. Hagar, who had only ever been in the position of a slave in the whole house of Abram, realized how her value had risen and began to behave differently. Her self-confidence grew, as if she were almost mistress of the house; for it was she who would give her master the most important thing that "his one" had never given him. Hagar knew her husband and he now treats her differently than before. She can be fully aware of her worth to him; she is duly privileged among the slaves and servants in the house. And Sarah? Who would need her for anything at all?

Abram found himself in sort of a trap. He longed for the time when Hagar would bear him a child, hoping it would be a son. At the same time, he noticed the tension between Sarah and Hagar and how their conflicts were escalating. He would have taken immediate action against anyone else - no one would have dared to behave towards their mistress in the same way as Hagar, it was unprecedented. But he was only feeling his weakness - how could he deal harshly a woman from whom he was expecting the most precious thing?

In the midst of the daily conflicts, the joy they had briefly felt was beginning to fade from Abram's home. Abram often sighed, and in fleeting moments he began to realize the truth of the saying "stolen water is sweet..." (Prov. 9:17). Still, he hoped that, despite its present bitterness, it would eventually be able to satisfy his thirst.

And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. (Gen 16,2)

Abram had already had the experience that it was blessed to obey God and to be in the place to which He had called him. He realized this strongly through his experience of going to Egypt. In doing so, he dealt with the problem of famine that had struck his country, but he recognized that it was wrong for him to act on his own and go where God had never sent him. He understood this only by the fruit that the trip brought - nothing positive except money. Its outcome, the shame he had to eat, the shock to his soul and his marriage, all of which he did not want to repeat. But it was also the first time he became aware of the strange silence that had fallen between him and God. In Egypt, the gradual revelation of God that had been growing in his life until then, stopped.

He acted simply under the pressure of circumstances, and so will many of us. But it is precious when we can then draw the right conclusion and, like Abram, no longer enter (our) Egypt.

I have stated before that faith is a struggle for the image of God in the heart of man. This image was broken by the fall and no man sees God correctly until he has gone through this struggle. Until then, he drowns in conscious and subconscious imaginations. But the true image of God is to be restored on earth, and that in the heart of His people. (It is also the only place where we can find it here!). This, however, is not automatic. Faith is accompanied by the trials of refining, for though it is victorious in nature (1J 5:4), there is no victory without struggle.

The descent into Egypt was foolishness on Abram's part, but now that he had begotten Ishmael with a slave woman, it was something far more serious - a real fall into the depths of unbelief. It was a very conscious and deliberate denial of what God had told him, and not long before confirmed by the blood shedding covenant. Did Abram believe that God could deceive him in this? Then he could deceive him any time. Then he certainly is not who he presents himself to be.

When the longed-for child did not come, God's image in Abram's heart received a serious crack. By his action, Abram judged God for not fulfilling his word, telling him that it was actually not the best thing that he had trusted Him and obeyed Him so far. His God, though real, is not entirely trustworthy, and so it is probably better for Abram to make his own arrangements in the most important matters.

And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. (Gen 16,2-3)

Ten years of following God, ten years of waiting had already passed without Abram and Sarah seeing the fulfillment of what God had promised! How would they have reacted had they known (what they didn't know at the time), that in any case they would be waiting another 15 years for the birth of Isaac? Would they have acted the same way, or would they have been able to wait having that certainty? We don't know. God did not tell them when the son would be born. He only said that he certainly would, despite the many impossibilities their situation hid, despite the "biological clock" that ticked so strongly in Sarah's mind.

So she began to look for another way and chose the most accessible one that was offered. To leave offspring was felt as a necessity of life not only in antiquity. In the tribal coexistence of the time, it was not uncommon to produce offspring with one's own slave. But it is remarkable that Abram did not even come to this point in his long life before he started to follow God! Their marriage had not yet been tainted by it.

It was clearly not Abram's idea, but when Sarah brought it up, he didn't reject it. This is characteristic of many temptations that a man experiences. At first he resists, and does not want to admit that he would do it. But then he begins to listen to the idea. (It is often easier when it comes from someone else; for one feels as an excuse that it was not his own, it diminishes his responsibility.) In the same way, Abram at first didn't even want to hear what Sarah was suggesting. But then he figured it was useless to be so "narrow-minded." And as he was thinking about it more and more, it began to appear less and less evil, until he realized that it wasn't actually a bad solution at all. In the end, he saw it as the only possible way.

It is important to realize that Abram and Sarah did not mean to forsake God. They did not reject Him and chose another idol! They just wanted to have both: to honor the Lord and have a descendant. It appeared that they could not achieve this on the path that God was leading them. Abram remembered well the black silhouettes of the birds he had to shoo away at the conclusion of the covenant, which seemed to symbolize the dark thoughts that now settled in their minds. He fought them then, but after another long wait his faith waned and his mind was filled with doubts: what can we do, what else is there left for us to do, since what God has said does not come?

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” (Gen 16,1-2)

Abram's fall into the depths of unbelief did not come all of a sudden. We can assume that the expectation and effort to stay on what he believed lasted for at least months after the first covenant was made. But then the seed of doubt took root and bore its fruit, first with Sarah, who was not directly involved in Abram's encounters with God. Her reasoning, therefore, did not spring from a transformed mind; she did not experience the same heights with him. She looks at the problem quite pragmatically and is the first to make her point clear: this way with God does not lead to the goal. Let us then make other arrangements.

The problem with believers is that they are often idealistic where they should be pragmatic, and pragmatic where they should be idealistic. They try to hold on by faith to things that God has not promised (or maybe not in that particular way) at all, and which therefore cannot work, whereas they neglect things where they would honor God by their faith. Faith is always a struggle between the real and the expected, a struggle in which God will stand by us if we seek Him. It's a tension between promise and reality that is refined not only through the reality, but (as in this case) often through the matter of time.

We need to be vigilant in the moments when unbelief begins to echo in the form of feelings of disappointment, as with Sarah ("the Lord has not granted me..."). Instead of faith, one activates logic and finds many reasonable-looking solutions, none of which will lead to the true goal in the end. On the contrary, as with Abram, it makes his path considerably more complicated.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. (Gen 16:1)

The joyful mood in Abram's tents lasted for several weeks. As much as they struggled with the weather that year, the flocks were affected by the death of lambs, Abram had to find a replacement for his foreman, who died suddenly, all these and other problems were completely overshadowed by the joy of expecting a descendant. All the workers and shepherds on the farm felt the fresh new atmosphere and came alive with it. Their work went much better now.

But gradually the mood began to change, first with Sarah. When, after a few weeks, she had not told Abram the good news, she began to draw back, speaking less and less, and a resigned look appeared on her face. Sometimes she muttered something to herself. Abram didn't understand at first, but then he thought he cought strange expressions in the old Chaldean dialect, something like "biological clock." He had no idea what it was.

Abram managed to stay with his mind in the heavenly realm for some time after the conclusion of the treaty. But then he gradually left it as the world around him provided more and more evidence that his expectations were unrealistic. Without any theological definition (he was not a theologian before or after), he was experiencing a fundamental crisis of faith. First, he encountered God and gloriously believed. But then he had to internally hold on to what he believed in spite of the pressure of his surroundings - events and people. Time passed and he no longer felt God as he did when he first encountered Him. The situation began to overwhelm him, he felt emptiness and disappointment. He was feeling as if he lost his inward strength.

There are two paths out of the crisis of faith - one leading upward, arduous but victorious, the other (self-directed) into the mire of the lowlands. Abram found himself on the latter now.

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” (Gen 15,9)

God made the first covenant with Abram as a proof that He would give him the land. When Abram wavered in his faith (Gen. 15:8), God saw no stronger evidence than the covenant commitment. Similar covenants were made between neighboring tribes to demarcate territories, pledge war aid, and generally avoid disputes, so it was a well-known issue. Of course, it assumed that the parties would be trustworthy to each other. Therefore, and brought as an oath to the deities (which was to ensure the fatal seriousness of the promises), blood was shed at the conclusion. By making the covenant in a similar way, God meant to say to Abraham: believe, this is how things will happen, for if anyone is trustworthy, it is Me. Do not be afraid, Abram, and do not doubt.

So the first covenant was a covenant for Israel's dwelling on the earth, made through the shedding of animal blood. It corresponds to the period of the Old Covenant, in which it came to fulfillment: it concerns the fate of the Jews on this earth, and involves animal sacrifices.

After God had departed, Abram ran to Sarah in the tent, embraced her, and cried out joyfully: Sarah, imagine what I have just experienced! It is certain! God has confirmed His covenant promises to me! Sarah, traditionally a bit skeptical of Abram's euphoria, could not resist this time and was infected by his enthusiasm. That evening, Abram's tents were lit late into the night - Abram and Sarah, in their eighties, danced, celebrated the feast, and rejoiced... Soon, very soon, their waiting will be over!

On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates — the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Gen 15,18-21)

When Abram heard God and accepted Him as his own, he perceived His all-surpassing power. The neighborhood, however, did not worship this God, and so it remained more or less his personal matter. He therefore practiced his religion within the circle of his family and "farm." Gradually, however, he became more and more aware that this God was not different from others in name only, but that he surpassed all others in power. This knowledge continued to grow and reached a climax when God made the first covenant with him and told him that he would remain the God of his offspring forever, and that all this would only fully begin in 400 years! God will give Abram's descendants the territory from the Nile to the Euphrates, because of the iniquity of its inhabitants. Abram knew most of these nations and was a minority among them - he could not imagine where they would go from there? (So it must have sounded a bit of science-fiction for him.)

The Euphrates formed a natural boundary, literaly or imaginary, for the inhabitants of that time; they perceived the world as "here" or "there" beyond the River. Yet the vast majority of them had never been to Zaeuphrates - they knew the area only from stories when caravans, filled with goods from the Far East, arrived from there. Abram, however, had lived beyond the River before, so he had specific knowledge of the extent of the promised territory and what it might look like, inhabited by foreign tribes.

Compared to before, something fundamental has now changed: this God is no longer his private God, an internal affair of his tribe, but speaks to him as the ruler of the world and of time. As the one who can decide about the nations, about their being and non-being, about the times in history when this or that can take place here on earth. Let us note that the Scripture does not teach that everything that happens on earth is directly controlled by God, only that everything is permitted. Man plays a decisive role in world events - many of them would have played out in other ways if the actors had acted differently (Gen. 15:16). Moreover, Scripture reveals that the enemy of God actively enters into history - but all that would be a topic of another account...

As a memento, however, we must remember that Israel never occupied the entire territory God entrusted to them here. It is roughly the size of Poland, and today's Israel, for example, does not occupy even a tenth of it. Even at the time of its greatest glory it reached perhaps half that size. We know from Scripture why - because of their failure. However, we must learn from this that our journey is not written down to the last dot somewhere on the parchment of destiny - whether we cover the fullness of it or only a part is largely up to us.

And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (Gen 15,14)

God clearly does not approve of everything that is done in the world, nor of everything that is done by the mighty of this world who are to "bear the sword of righteousness" (Rom. 13:4). But it is not always so, and often they have borne rather the scourge of bondage and violence. No wonder that God "holds a trial" against many of them, which may be crowned even with their power falling. This process will be set in motion especially when, like the Israelites later, they begin to send prayers to God for help.

God tells Abram that in 400 years God will lead a war with Egypt and that the Israelites will leave it with great wealth. Abram knew Egypt and its wealth (in today's language, its "standard of living") very well. At this point, he could hardly have imagined that his God would one day stand against this greatest power of antiquity. He must have wondered how such a conflict would play out? Well, the Israelites saw it as the miracles of their God, while the Egyptians saw unusual phenomena and natural disasters (which at the time equaled economic disasters).

Abram's descendants would one day take a great fortune out of Egypt. In its narratives, the Bible puts a surprising emphasis on this, going so far as to speak of the "plundering of Egypt." It is meant to be proof that although his people are almost always in the minority in world events, they will not be subdued forever, and if that happens, it is only by permission from above and for a given time. 

From the conclusion of this covenant, God started to reveal himself to Abram as the ruler of the whole world.

And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions... But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. (Gen 15,14.16)

So God will let his blessed nation go through centuries of slavery. But beware: the 400 years were not a punishment like the later 40 years in the wilderness. It was God's appointed path for the Israelites - not an easy one, but they were right in Egypt. It is unpopular today to suggest that God's journey with us may also include a period of humiliation. But how grateful we are after we go through it, and what riches are revealed to us through it! Of course, we experience also evil in our lives that is not from the hand of God, but from the enemy, and this must be confronted. Nevertheless, not everything that we personally experience as unpleasant is from the evil one. There are situations that God allows us to go through that are meant to change, transform us. For the Israelites, the next 400 years were a preparation - sheltered by the power of Egypt, they multiplied, whereas in Canaan, where the situation was precarious and tribal wars raged, this would have been very difficult. As long as they were just a handful, they could be wiped out. Egypt thus meant oppression for them, but paradoxically, as the greatest power in the world at the time, it also meant protection, until a given time. Slavery was to prepare them to value freedom and to be able to live in it permanently. (Which they unfortunately didn't quite succeed in achieving).

God specifically mentions "the completion of the iniquity of the Amorites" as the second reason. God is also fair to His people in how He deals with them before the world. The arrival of the Israelites in the new land and the expulsion of the original inhabitants of Canaan marked God's judgment on the local peoples. God did not let them be driven out until a certain measure of their iniquity was reached. God always upholds justice - but this implies the fact which is not always pleasant for us that we cannot get anything from God by favouritism! Altogether, six times the New Testament reminds us that God does not "show favoritism" (e.g. Acts 10,34) , i.e. everyone has equal right of access to him. Why is this emphasized so many times when the New Testament was written for believers? Because it has always raised questions as to why some receive more from God and others less. The reason of it, however, is in the attitude and surrender of this or that person, not favoritism from God. If the church were to behave dishonestly in its walk in the world, say in the magistrate's office or maybe using bribes, it would be a great stain on its witness. God is always perfectly just, even against Himself: even salvation did not come by God turning a blind eye on us and letting us somewhat slip into heaven. His own Son had to be condemned to death, and with Him our own sin.

Spiritual riches cannot be obtained through shortcuts, so we could avoid what is difficult. For on the path of the pursuit of God it is double true: if it costs nothing, it is also worth nothing.