13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a astranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall bafflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve {Egypt}, will I judge: and afterward shall they acome out with great bsubstance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good aold age.
16 But in the afourth generation they shall come bhither {here} again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet cfull. {The Amorites would be swept off the land for deep wickedness}.
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that apassed between those pieces.
18 In the same day the Lord made a acovenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this bland, from cthe river of Egypt {Nile} unto the great river, the river dEuphrates:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. {Are those the people that were too wicked to keep their land? Genesis 10 lists some of those people as being descended from Canaan/ who was descended from Ham}. {Remember that the matriarch Rebekah in the book of Genesis, later complained about the behavior of the women of Heth/ Canaanite women whom Esau had married - Genesis 26:34, 35; Genesis 27:46. Topical Guide note says, interfaith marriage. Genesis 28:8-9 Esau later married an Ishmaelite}.
Then comes the next chapter:
Genesis 16. Call it ironic, but in chapter 15 Abram was told that Egypt was a strange land and not part of the covenantal land for his numerous descendants, and they would be slaves there, yet in chapter 16, due to desperation for a child, at his wife's urging, he took his wife's Egyptian servant Hagar, as wife #2.
1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an aEgyptian, whose name was bHagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my amaid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was adespised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
Strongs concordance #H7043 for the Hebrew word for despise (kalal) is that Hagar mocked, made light of (made Sarai the butt of her jokes), brought into contempt, cursed, despised, esteemed her to be of lower worth. Sarai, in verse 6 "dealt hardly with" Hagar (Abram said it was her decision), per Strong's word #H6031 anah, humbled Hagar. Possibly Sarai reminded Hagar of her status as a servant and that Hagar had abused her blessing of becoming a wife and future mother.
Genesis 16: 9 And the aangel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and bsubmit thyself under her hands. {The word "submit" is the same, anah (Strongs #H6031). So the angel told Hagar to return, and humble herself to Sarai's hand.
You can also read the account in the Book of Jasher (an extra-biblical book): Book of Jasher, Chapter 16 (sacred-texts.com) (start with verse 23)
The angel also proceeded to tell her that her (also numerous) descendants would be a wild, contending and violent people, living near the people of his brothers. Hagar's son Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old. At 99, Abraham, after he, Ishmael and his male household were circumcised, Abram was told by heavenly message, that he would still have a child through Sarai, and that this child would be the one with the Eternal Covenant (b'rit olam). See Genesis 17. See also the Book of Jubilees: Book of Jubilees: The Book of Jubilees: Abraham at Beersheba. Birth and Circumcision of Isaac. Institution of the Feast of Tabernacles (xvi. 10-31) (sacred-texts.com)
(Fast forward, Abram/Abraham later had Isaac via Sarai/Sarah, and then 6 sons with wife #3, Keturah (he married Keturah after 1. divorcing Hagar and 2. becoming a widow from Sarai/Sarah). After all my copying an pasting scriptures and references, I am not sure which in all these I read that all the sons of Abraham, excepting Isaac, would be considered Gentiles.
Why did he divorce Hagar?
Genesis 21:
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. {which was likely between 3 - 4 years old}.
9 ¶ And Sarah saw the son of aHagar the Egyptian, which she had bborn unto Abraham, cmocking. (m'Tsah-khak, laughing out loud in merriment or scorn, making sport out of someone: Strongs Concordance word study #H6711)
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, aCast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be bheir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his ason.
12 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in aIsaac shall thy bseed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a anation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and asent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of bBeer-sheba.
Read Book of Jasher, Chapter 21 (sacred-texts.com)
13 And when Isaac was five years old, he was sitting with Ishmael {who would've been about 18} at the door of the tent.
14 And Ishmael came to Isaac and seated himself opposite to him, and he took the bow and drew it and put the arrow in it, and intended to slay Isaac.
15 And Sarah saw the act which Ishmael desired to do to her son Isaac, and it grieved her exceedingly on account of her son, and she sent for Abraham, and said to him, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for her son shall not be heir with my son, for thus did he seek to do unto him this day.
16 And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarah, and he rose up early in the morning, and he took twelve loaves and a bottle of water which he gave to Hagar, and sent her away with her son, and Hagar went with her son to the wilderness, and they dwelt in the wilderness of Paran with the inhabitants of the wilderness, and Ishmael was an archer, and he dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
(Side notes: For your information, Hagar left with a bunch of bread and water, not a little bottle of water, but likely a pot of water. Later on Abraham sent support. After Abraham died, Ishmael came to mourn him). Book of Jasher 21:17-48; It appears that relations between Isaac and Ishmael improved after Sarah, and later on, Abraham were deceased. Genesis 25: 5-11 5 ¶ And aAbraham bgave all that he had unto Isaac.
6 But unto the sons of the aconcubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and bsent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the ceast country.
7 And these are the adays of the years of bAbraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. (175)
8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good aold age, an old man, and full of years; and was bgathered to his people.
9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael aburied him in the cave of bMachpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
10 The field which Abraham apurchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham bburied, and Sarah his wife.
11 ¶ And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the awell Lahai-roi. See Gen. 16:14 I think that's the same place that Hagar first ran away to, from Sarai. Genesis 25 goes on to list the genealogy of the descendants of Ishmael.
Assuming that this story is also correct, some time may have passed between the two incidents of the weaning party (and Ishmael mocking little Isaac), and Ishmael attempting to harm or kill Isaac.
So, we can see from all these readings, that Sarah was the intented covenant holder with Abraham, from the beginning. Abraham's marriage to Hagar was because he and his wife Sarah were struggling at the time with their faith in regards to having a child of their own.
Hagar was not of the same people as Abraham. Noah had three sons on the ark: Japheth, Shem and Ham. Ham was different than his brothers, and he married outside the lineage of covenant people because he married Egyptus, a woman descended from Cain.
The Bible affirms that Egypt was the land given to Ham: (Israel=Jacob)
Psalm 105:23
Old Testament
23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Moses 7:6–8
Pearl of Great Price
6 And again the Lord said unto me: Look; and I looked towards the north, and I beheld the people of Canaan, which dwelt in tents.
7 And the Lord said unto me: Prophesy; and I prophesied, saying: Behold the people of Canaan, which are numerous, shall go forth in battle array against the people of Shum, and shall slay them that they shall utterly be destroyed; and the people of Canaan shall divide themselves in the land, and the land shall be barren and unfruitful, and none other people shall dwell there but the people of Canaan;
8 For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.
Note here: "Canaan" in Moses 7 (and Abraham 1) is referring to the land given to Ham's descendants, not Israel. Later on, the Canaanites claim-jumped and inhabited places that were supposed to belong to the descendants of Shem (Israelites).
Abraham 1 (in the Pearl of Great Price)
21 Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the aloins of bHam {son of Noah}, and was a partaker of the blood of the cCanaanites by birth {because of Ham's wife, Zeptah, a.k.a. Egyptus in modern printed Pearl of Great Price*}.
22 From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the aCanaanites {descendants of Cain} was preserved in the land.
23 The land of aEgypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus {Zeptah*}, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;
* In the original handwritten manuscript by Joseph Smith, the wife of Ham was Zeptah, and their daughter was "Egyptes." It was the daughter "Egyptes" that discovered the land we now call Egypt. Egyptes' eldest son became the first Pharoah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptus
24 When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.
25 Now the first agovernment of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that aorder established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the bblessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of aPriesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain bclaim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
So, the first pharoah was righteous, but wanted the priesthood he didn't have the right for, and so a substitute was done. However, within a couple of generations, they were bad, many of the people. Abraham also explained in that chapter, that the Egyptian priest Elkenah was wicked, and that religion included human sacrifice of men, women, and even children. Elkenah attempted to kill Abraham, but Abraham was rescued by an angel of the Lord.
Abraham also had separated himself from his father and his father's household, which was apostate. Abraham wanted the true priesthood which had been passed down through the Fathers, from Adam.
Abraham 1: 1-4
1 In the land of the aChaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, bAbraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of cresidence;
2 And, finding there was greater ahappiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of brighteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great cknowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many dnations, a prince of peace, and edesiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a fHigh Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.
3 It was aconferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the bfirstborn, or the first man, who is cAdam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.
4 I sought for mine aappointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the bfathers concerning the seed.
Let's back track to Noah's sons. Remember the story in Genesis, after the flood? It was hot and Noah was resting in his tent. Noah wasn't wearing much or was completely naked in his tent, asleep. Ham walked in...
Genesis 9:20-27
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, aCursed be bCanaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his aservant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. This sounds like a prophecy that the Israelites and Gentiles would have some close associations, even marriage (dwelling in the tents).
Okay, so there's more to the story, but it's late and this post is long.
I will just say that it's quite likely that Ham stole the priesthood garment of Noah -- it wasn't just laughing at naked daddy, but Ham you remember, had married a lady from the non-priesthood lineage. Canaan, Ham's son, likely got the garment later on from Ham, and also claim jumped Shem's land later on. Ham's lineage also figured into Egyptian politics and religion.
More time passed, and a Hamitic descendant, Nimrod, became an arrogant leader, and built the Tower of Babel (predecessor to the city of Babylon), intruding on another part of Shem's land inheritance. Nimrod was a mighty hunter. He got the garment passed down by Canaan's descendants.
Later on, Esau, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, already knew he was on shaky ground because he was wild and married Canaanite girls, tracked-down Nimrod and killed him and stole back the priesthood garment made of fabric not of this world which augmented his body's strength and made him mighty. I'm guessing Esau wanted the garment for less that completely noble reasons.
Esau was utterly exhausted and "despised" (sound familiar, despising the covenant and the family?) his birthright and sold it to Jacob for some awesome stew. Later due to Rebecca's urging (who had the vote of confidence from Abraham that Jacob was to receive the covenantal blessings, not Esau because Esau was wild and disobedient), Jacob tricked blind daddy Isaac (who loved Esau's hunted BBQ meat dish) into giving Jacob the priesthood blessing too. ESAU finds out after-the-fact, and utterly sees Red!
How do I know this? Reading the account closely as well as doing mental extrapolation; also reading some extra-canonical Jewish stuff. And inspiration.
Okay, this was all A LOT to sort though, but hopefully, you dear reader, can comprehend the ins and outs of the ancient covenant, and land. It wasn't really about looks the way that people like to point out outer-appearance as racism. It was always about, in God's eyes, about behavior. Behavior, behavior. God told the Prophet Samuel (Old Testament) that he looks on the heart while people look at outer appearance. God also told Jeremiah that he knew Jeremiah before he was born. God knows the future and knows the souls that inhabit bodies.
It may have been Sarah feeling super uneasy about Hagar and Ishmael, not just straight jealousy, but God knew the future and He backed up Sarah's complaints about who would get the Eternal Covenant. The Book of Mormon says that ultimately all people need to repent. Just being from the Covenant lineage is not enough. The Covenant must be lived. The scriptures also say that ultimately the Gospel would be offered to all peoples of the earth. We are in that day.
In looking at these accounts, it is easy to see that the current situation in the Middle East has roots of difficulty that go back centuries. It appears that the ancient roots of discord came from people who were rebellious, jealous, and violent. I can only imagine that a people who settled in hot, arid land would have had more difficulties than people who settled in more abundant land.
The roots of unforgiveness and strife go back a long ways. Peace will only occur from a people who appeal to God for help, appeal to their fellow human being for help, and are firmly committed to humility, truth, peace, honor, forgiveness, industry and charity above all else. Distrustful backstabbing and destruction will only ruin the peace process. Those who will not bend their will to rebuilding, cannot be part of the success.
That's my two cents cast into the pot of opinion.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the Middle East. Psalm 122:6
Pray for worldwide repentance and peace. Without repentance, there will not be lasting Peace. The Lord is the Prince of Peace. In Him we can find answers.
