At last, in the fullness of time, the Lord kept His word to Sarah. As the morning light broke over the tents of Abraham, joy stirred within them—for the impossible had happened. The old woman, long barren, bore a son.
Abraham, now one hundred years old, held the miracle child in trembling arms and named him Isaac, "laughter," just as the Lord had said. On the eighth day, in obedience to God's covenant, Abraham circumcised the boy with steady hands, sealing the promise with blood and faith.
Sarah, beaming, whispered, "God has brought me laughter. All who hear of this will laugh with me. Who would have ever said to Abraham that I would nurse a child? And yet—here I am."
As Isaac grew strong, he was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast in his honor. But shadows stirred even in the brightness of celebration.
Sarah's eyes fell upon Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian. He was mocking—jeering, perhaps, or claiming what was not his. And Sarah's heart, fiercely protective of her son, hardened.
"Cast out that slave woman and her son," she told Abraham. "For her son will never share in the inheritance with mine."
Abraham was torn. Though Ishmael was not the child of the promise, he was still his son—his blood.
But that night, God spoke. "Do not be distressed, Abraham. Listen to Sarah, for through Isaac your lineage will be named. Yet I will also make a nation from the son of the servant, for he is your child."
So with a heavy heart, Abraham rose at dawn. He gave Hagar food and water and placed the boy upon her shoulder. With a final look, he sent them away—into the unknown desert of Beersheba.
Under the searing sun, their water ran dry. Hagar laid Ishmael beneath the shadow of a bush and walked away, for she could not bear to watch him die. She wept in despair—but heaven had not turned away.
From the sky came a voice—an angel of God. "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy's cry. Lift him up—take his hand—for I will make him into a great nation."
And God opened her eyes. There, in the midst of the wilderness, a well shimmered in the heat. She filled the skin, gave the boy water, and hope returned.
Ishmael grew in the wild land, becoming a skilled archer. He lived in the desert of Paran, and in time, Hagar brought him a wife from Egypt.
Meanwhile, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, came to Abraham with Phicol, the captain of his guard.
"God is with you in all you do," said the king. "Swear to me now, before your God, that you will deal honestly with me, my children, and my people, just as I have treated you with honor."
"I swear it," Abraham replied. But then he raised a grievance: "Your men have seized my well."
Abimelech was surprised. "This is the first I've heard of it," he said. "You didn't tell me before."
So Abraham brought sheep and oxen, and the two made a treaty. He set aside seven ewe lambs, and Abimelech asked, "What are these?"
"They are a witness," said Abraham. "That this well is mine. I dug it."
And so the place was called Beersheba, "Well of the Oath," for it was there they swore their covenant.
Afterward, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in that land—a living altar—and called on the name of the Eternal God.
And there, in the lands of the Philistines, Abraham dwelled for a long time, waiting on promises yet to be fulfilled.