OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS

The Old Testament lesson of Hagar's salvation in the wilderness follows immediately upon the story of Sarah's miraculous birth that was the lesson for last week. Thus  Genesis 21:8-21 provides a second story of salvation, but the context for understanding salvation shifts somewhat from last week. Instead of a miracle story to underscore how anything is possible for God—as was the case with Sarah—salvation this week is Hagar's liberation from oppression. An examination first of the setting of Hagar's story—as a sequel to Sarah's story of salvation—and then of its internal structure will provide the context for seeing the significance of this story—especially its two-sided character as being a story both of oppression and salvation. Psalm 86,  minus the anger toward enem…