Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn by Hagar, the bondwoman, or Sarah’s maid. Abraham named the babe, Ishmael (Genesis 16:15), and was 86 years old, when he was born (Genesis 16:16). However, it was actually the Angel of the Lord who named the lad (Genesis 16:11), and he was so named (Ishmael = God hears) to indicate that the Lord had heard of the afflictions of Hagar. The Angel had predicted that his demeanor would be like that of a wild ass, independent and hostile toward everyone (Genesis 16:12). Interestingly, Ishmael expressed this independent and coarse disposition at Abraham’s celebration, which he made in honor of the weaning of his son, Isaac, borne by his mother, Sarah, and Ishmael’s half-brother (Genesis 21:9). Moreover, as the Angel had predicted, his hostility toward Isaac was matched by Sarah’s hostility toward him (Genesis 21:9-10)!
So, as mentioned above, Isaac grew and was weaned, and Abraham prepared a great feast to celebrate this milestone in Isaac’s life (Genesis 21:8). A child was usually weaned in its second or third year (1Samuel 1:22-24; cp. 2Chronicles 31:16), but it could be earlier or later (cp. Leviticus 27:6). Since Ishmael was 13 years old, when he was circumcised (Genesis 17:25), he would have been 14 when Isaac was born (Genesis 17:21) and, probably, 16 or 17 at the time of Isaac’s weaning.
However, Sarah noticed that the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, mocked at Isaac (Genesis 21:9). The text doesn’t mention Ishmael’s name at this point, no doubt, to emphasize Sarah’s contempt for the lad. Moreover, the mention of Hagar’s name does infer a remembering of Sarah’s and Hagar’s previous rivalry (Genesis 16:4), whereupon Sarah believed, at first, that Abraham had betrayed her (Genesis 16:5). However, when she understood that Hagar’s contempt for her was fully Hagar’s responsibility, Sarah mistreated the maid so badly that she ran away (Genesis 16:6). Nevertheless, a tenuous reconciliation did occur at the command of the Angel of the Lord (Genesis 16:9). So, Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, and he grew up as Abraham’s apparent heir for 13 years, whereupon he was circumcised (Genesis 17:25). However, on the very same day the birth of Isaac was promised (Genesis 17:19), and it was understood that, now, Isaac would be the heir, and Ishmael lost everything, he thought he had. Thus, when Isaac was weaned, Ishmael’s truest nature was expressed and met with equal hostility. He and his mother would be banished (Genesis 21:9-10)!
However, the matter of banishing his firstborn son was revolting in Abraham’s eyes (Genesis 21:11), for he loved Ishmael (Genesis 17:18). Nevertheless, the Lord told Abraham to take heed of Sarah’s demands and banish both his son, Ishmael, and the lad’s mother. He told Abraham not to let the matter be grievous in his sight, because the Lord promised to bless him and make him a nation (Genesis 21:12-13). Therefore, because he trusted the Lord to do as he promised, Abraham rose up early the next day to do immediately, what the Lord had commanded (Genesis 21:14). He gave the lad to Hagar and put bread and water upon her shoulders and sent them away.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul uses this event to differentiate between the Church (believers) and the Jewish nation (unbelievers). Paul’s claim was, Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, symbolized the Old Covenant, and those who lived by it. Those who live by the law are, as those who are under bondage and answer to Sinai/Jerusalem (Galatians 4:22-25). However, those, who answer to the New Covenant, are as Isaac, the freeborn son, who is an allegory of the New Jerusalem, which comes from above (Galatians 4:26).
In other words, Ishmael’s expulsion is an allegory for the Lord’s judgment upon the Jewish nation in AD 70, because they rejected their Messiah, who would have freed them from the bondage of the Old Covenant and brought them into the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, they would be cast out of the Kingdom of God due to unbelief (Galatians 4:30). Unbelief, therefore, expresses an independence, similar to that of the wild ass of the desert, untameable, wandering forever in the wilderness, which was a description of Ishmael’ demeanor and fate (Genesis 16:12), and points to the Jews rejection of Jesus as their Messiah and Savior.
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