Hagar was set out into the wilderness

Genesis 21:14

    And she wandered on aimlessly and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba   

Gen 16

"Hagar......HAGAR.....y

ou must take Ishmael and leave"

She wakes trembling 

at the sound of his voice. 

What has happened now? 

As she sits upright 

she sees her master Abraham 

in the early morning light.  

He motions for her to hurry 

and she gathers her things.  

Meeting him outside the tent 

he explains that Sarah has erupted once again 

but this time 

she has demanded that she and her son leave.

"Leave?" she asks. 

"Where am I going?" 

Still groggy from sleep 

she begins to realize what he is saying. 

She is being cast out! 

He quickly prompts her to gather her son 

and their few things 

as he almost pushes her 

to the edge of the camp. 

Once away from the others 

he seems to move in slow motion.

Silently he shoves a loaf of bread 

wrapped in cloth 

and he slings a skin of water 

around her neck.

His face is grey and drawn.  

He looks so sad.

Master, what has happened?"

"Isaac is the Promised Seed." 

"Yahweh has promised to multiply through him".

"It is only going to get more difficult 

if you stay here....

Sarah will make sure of it"

As if in a thick fog 

Hagar stumbles and pulls Ishmael with her.  

A million thoughts run through her head.

"Lord why?" 

"You told me to return 

when I left as a pregnant woman". Gen 16:9

"You promised to make a nation out of Ishmael".

"Are you a man that you can lie?!"

"She wandered on aimlessly and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba" Gen 21:14

 "Beersheba" the dreaded wilderness, 

known for its wind and dry land, 

 she recalls it being called 

"the land of the dead end"

Hours turn into days as she tries to find a way.  

The bread is gone 

and the water skin dried up days ago. 

Ishmael is having trouble walking 

and weariness has settled heavily upon the two.

The end is near.

She practically carries Ishmael 

to a near by bush and tells him to sleep.  

She knows they are both near the end. 

Her tirade has reduced to a dry sob 

and she herself walks away 

and leans her bent body against a rock. 

"Lord I cannot bear to see my child die.  

Take him quickly".

She realizes there are sobs 

mixed with the rise of the winds.  

They puncture her heart 

and her own cries join the boys  

in a final discord.

And the end becomes 

THE BEGINNING