In Genesis 16, Sarai literally tells her husband to have sex with her maid so that he can have a child. ("Have intercourse with my maid, perhaps I will have sons through her." - Genesis 16:2b). And then Hagar gets pregnant and decides she's better than Sarai. So Sarai drives her away (Sarai then mistreated her so much that Hagar ran away from her. - 16:6b). So, of course, Hagar runs away.

And an angel STOPS her and says "Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority." (16:9b).

The angel goes on to tell her about her son Ishmael and her numerous descendents.

But there are two things that are really interesting about this to me:

1. It's the first time that God speaks to a woman in the Bible one-on-one. God asks Eve why she ate the apple and then tells her that she'll give birth in pain, but other than that, He speaks to Adam. When he makes Adam, he brings him animals to name. Adam and God talk to each other. But God isn't shown having any one-on-one conversations with Eve. And after Adam and Eve, we really don't get much information about women until this passage. Yes, God speaks through an angel, but it is still a conversation between God and Hagar. (To the LORD who spoke to her she gave a name, saying, "You are God who sees me;" she meant, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after he saw me?" - 16:13).

2. I don't know about you, but if my life had been going the way of Hagar's and I was currently running away from Sarai, I'd be really upset by an angel telling me to go back. There's no real explanation given, no theological/moral/ethical discourse. Just "Go back and submit to authority." And she goes. She obeys without question, even though it seems completely unfair.

I don't really have any good explanation or answer, but that's what struck me about Genesis 16.

I'm praying for you!

:)