The Story of Hagar and Ishmael
Following the devastating deluge, Noah’s family and those who descended from him continued to expand in numbers until, as the years passed, the planet once again started to become populated with people. There was, however, a significant difference between the people who had lived before the flood and those who had lived after it in terms of the way they interacted with nature. Before the flood, all of the people were concentrated in close proximity to one another, which resulted in the majority of them settling in a single area and leaving the other lands uninhabited. As a result of the flood, families started moving around to other locations in search of new places to call home. Because some people traveled in one direction while others went in another, the total population eventually expanded to cover a significantly larger portion of the planet than the individuals who had been living there before the flood.

A portion of the population moved farther to the north and established a city there known as Nineveh. This city became the capital of a large area called Assyria. The people who lived there were called Assyrians.

Another group of people traveled west and established a settlement along the Nile River. From here, they founded Egypt, which is known for its strange temples, pyramids, sphinxes, and other monuments.

Another group of travelers headed in a northwesterly direction until they reached the coast of the massive body of water that they referred to as the Mediterranean Sea. There, they established the cities of Sidon and Tyre, whose inhabitants became seafarers who sailed to distant lands and brought back a great deal of merchandise from other countries for the people of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and other nations. These cities became important trading centers for the region.

Two of the numerous towns that the people constructed were named Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities were located in the middle of the desert. The inhabitants of these cities were notoriously corrupt, which contributed to their eventual destruction. One righteous man named Lot, together with his family, managed to get away by following the directives of God.
Another righteous man by the name of Abraham existed, but he was not a resident of these places. He strived to carry out the plan of God, and in return, God promised him a son who would bring joy to his family.

After the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were obliterated, Abraham relocated his tent and his camp away from that region of the country and settled down close to a location known as Gerar, which was located in the southwestern region of the land, not far from the Great Sea. And so it came to be that Abraham and Sarah, his wife, finally gave birth to the child that God had promised to them, even though Abraham, the child’s father, was already a very old man.

They gave this infant the name Isaac, as the angel had instructed them to do before he was born. And Abraham and Sarah were overjoyed to find out that they were going to have a son, so after some time had passed, they had a large celebration and asked all of the people to come and celebrate with them in honor of the newborn baby boy Isaac.

During this time, Sarah employed an Egyptian woman by the name of Hagar as a maid. This Hagar became pregnant through Abraham. One day, Hagar ran away from her master, saw an angel by a well, and then returned to work for Sarah. She gave birth to a child and named him Ishmael. Ishmael, the elder kid, was the son of Hagar, while Isaac, the smaller boy, was the son of Abraham and Sarah. At this point, Abraham’s tent housed two boys, the older of whom was named Ishmael.

Ishmael did not like Isaac when he was a child, and he did not behave well toward him. This infuriated his mother, Sarah, to the point that she yelled at her husband and said,

“I do not want my kid Isaac to grow up with this other youngster named Ishmael.” “Send Hagar and her son away from me, for they are causing me a lot of difficulty.”

And Abraham felt really bad that there was conflict between Sarah and Hagar, as well as between Isaac and Ishmael; this was due to the fact that Abraham was a kind and gentle guy, and he got along well with all of these people.

However, the Lord spoke to Abraham, saying, “You need not be concerned about Ishmael or his mother at this time.” Carry out Sarah’s request and see that they are sent away. Because Isaac is supposed to take on all of your responsibilities, it is in everyone’s best interest to leave him alone in your tent. “I, the Lord, will take care of Ishmael and will create a large nation for his descendants, those who will come from him.”

So Abraham sent Hagar and her child away the next morning, expecting them to return to the region of Egypt from which Hagar had come. He provided them with some food for the trip as well as a bottle of water for them to consume along the way. Bottles in that nation are not made of glass like those in our modern times. The skin of a goat is used to manufacture these items. Abraham gave Hagar one of these skin bottles, which he had already filled with water.

And Hagar departed from the tent that Abraham had constructed, taking her son with her. But for some reason, she was unable to find her way around, and she ended up being lost in the middle of the desert. As a result, she ultimately consumed all of the water in the bottle, and her poor son, who was suffering in the heat and the sand, had nothing to drink. She believed that his extreme hunger would cause him to pass away, so she hid him behind a bush and put him down there. After that, she left because she told herself, “He’s going to die.””I just cannot stand to see my precious son suffer and pass away because there is no water,” she said.
And at that time, when Hagar was sobbing and her child was wailing because he was thirsty, she heard a voice speaking to her: “I am the Lord.”

“What exactly is your problem, Hagar?” Do not be terrified. Your cries, as well as those of your child, have been heard by God. “Both of you will be provided for by God, and he will make your son the ancestor of a vast nation of people.”

It was the voice of an angel from heaven, and Hagar turned to look. To her amazement, she saw a spring of water in the middle of the desert, not far away. How relieved Hagar must have been when she poured water into the bottle and carried it to her sick son, who was hiding behind some bushes.

Following this event, Hagar did not go to Egypt again. She went out into the bush and established a home there, where she raised her child away from the influence of other people. Ishmael spent his childhood in the desert, where he became skilled in the use of the bow and arrow. He turned into a crazy guy, and his offspring after him did the same thing when they reached adulthood. They were the Arabians who lived in the desert, and to this day they have never been controlled by any other people. Instead, they walk freely around the desert and live as they see fit. Consequently, Ishmael went on to become the father of a large number of people, and his offspring, the wild Arabians of the desert, are still residing in that country to this very day.