Did God pre-plan Ishmael's destiny?

The Angel of the Lord met Hagar when she ran away from Abraham’s house because Sarah mistreated her. While Hagar was in the desert, the Angel of the Lord made a statement about Ishmael’s life that, when read improperly, might lead one to conclude that God destined him to be a trouble and annoyance to his neighbors. It may seem as though God preplanned Ishmael’s destiny and Ishmael didn’t have free will to choose otherwise or perhaps this was God’s judgment because Abraham violated God’s Promise. Before we jump to conclusions, we must study what the Scripture says, because a careful study will reveal otherwise.

In this article, I will break down and explain the words that God spoke about Ishmael and answer the question, “Did God pre-plan Ishmael’s Destiny?

Let’s begin at,

Genesis 16:9–12 NIV
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.

This is an important verse.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

Question:

Did God make him into a man who will be hostile?
- If Yes, then does that mean we are all stuck in a divine rut that we can’t get out of?

Did God make Ishmael a Hostile Man?

I did a study on Ishmael a few weeks ago and these were the questions I received after the session.

These questions are important because they directly relate to the question, “Do we have free will?” I believe most struggle with this question. Often some might wonder, “What if the things I do are actually preplanned by God and I am just executing his plan ?”, or “What if the things I do are beyond my control and there’s nothing I can do to change them because God has pre-planned it this way”.

People who often ponder over such questions fall into one of two categories. The First Category is they develop a belief that there is no free will and we are following a screenplay written by God. The Second category believes that free will exists.

What is the truth? Do we have free will or not? How can we conclude the case of Ishmael? Did God destine Ishmael and his descendants to become trouble to his neighbors?

Let’s explore.

Freewill & Predestination.

Before we answer the question about Ishmael’s life. We have to define two important terms:

Freewill
Predestination

What is Freewill?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, freewill is defined as “the freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention.”

In other words, free will refers to choices made by humans without divine intervention.

What is Predestination?

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines predestination as “the doctrine that God, in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events, infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation.”

In short, because God is all-knowing, he has chosen certain people for salvation, and they will be saved by any means.

Do we have free will?

How did God create us? Did he create us with free will or with no will at all? Let’s turn to

Genesis 1:26 NIV
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

God said, “Let us make mankind in our image..”

I have heard some pastors and preachers misinterpret this verse by saying, since we are made in the image of God, “we are gods.” That claim is false, and you should never believe that.

When the Bible says that God created us in his image, that means,

God has set us apart from the rest of creation.
- We are different from the Animal Kingdom. Though we share certain biological similarities with certain animals, we are not the same. We are distinct.
- There is an unbridgeable gap between Animals and Humans
Unlike Animals, man possesses
- Personality
  - Knowledge
  - Feelings
  - Will
- Morality
  - Ability to make moral judgments.
  - Conscience
- Spirituality
  - Ability to have communion with God.

If we look at the aspect of personality, it becomes clear that God has created us with the ability to act based on our own will. This means that we have been given free will and that we can make choices and decisions based on our desires and abilities.

This establishes the fact that God created us with free will.

What about Ishmael’s? Did he have free will?

Let’s look at the text.

Context

The context here is, Hagar runs away because she was mistreated by Sarai. This was because Hagar’s attitude towards Sarai changed after she conceived. As a result, Sarai mistreats Hagar, causing her to flee. The Angel of the LORD appears to Hagar and instructs her to return to Sarah. The angel also speaks to Hagar about the child (Ishmael) she is carrying in her womb.

There are two key things that the angel said:-

First, A Blessing on this Child
1. Genesis 16:10 NIV The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
2. This is a message of blessing for Ishmael, who was born to Abraham. Abraham was a man of promise; God told him that he would become a great nation. Even though Ishmael was not born to Abraham and Sarah, but to Abraham and Hagar, God still chose to bless him similar to the child that would be born to Abraham and Sarah.
Second, Foretelling his Future.
1. Genesis 16:12 NIV
  1. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

Here God Prophesies or foretells the future of Ishmael. What does that mean? Before we jump to conclusions we must understand the nature of prophecy in the Old Testament. Prophecy is of two kinds.

Foretelling
Forth telling

What is Foretelling?

Foretelling refers to predicting the future, similar to forecasting. Meteorological departments analyze weather conditions to predict the weather for the day or the week.

What is Forth telling?

Forth telling was an exhortation, a rebuke, an encouragement. It was used to call people back to obedience. This was often used for Israel in Major Prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.,)

Now that we have understood two kinds of prophecy in the OT. Let’s now decode the words that God spoke about Ishmael in Genesis 16:12

The question is,

“Since God said, ‘He will be a wild donkey of a man…and hostile to all his brothers.'” Does this mean God is predestining them to a life where they will always be hostile to others?

The answer is NO. God is not predestining, but rather, He is foretelling what Ishmael will become. God can foretell because he sees everything and knows everything.

Isaiah 46:10 NIV
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

So, How does God’s plan work for us?

In that case, what does it mean when the bible says, God has a plan for us? If so, are we not bound to follow that plan?

God has plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139:16 talk about God’s plan for our life. But we can choose whether we want to fulfill God’s plan or our plan. That’s our choice. God’s plan for us does not mean that we are put on a path where we can’t do anything else but fulfill his desire.

That’s not what God does.

In Ishmael’s case, God is foretelling his future.

A look at Hagar’s life gives us some clues about Ishmael’s future.

Hagar’s attitude changed as soon as she learned that she was pregnant. Up until that point, she behaved like a servant, but now she saw herself as more than a servant because she could do what Sarah could not. Hagar became hostile towards her mistress.

Based on this, a prediction can be made that the descendants will also be hostile. God, knowing the future, says that he will be a wild donkey of a man, a man who will turn against his own brothers.

Later, we see that it turns out to be true:

Genesis 25:18 NIV
18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.

This is true even to this day.

So, God foretells the future of the Ishamelites and does not predestine them. If at any point they wish to turn back from their ways to the ways of God, they will stop being hostile to others.