The great event of Isaac's birth having taken place, Sarah is
represented through several chapters as laughing, even in the presence
of angels, not only in the anticipation of motherhood, but in its
realization. She evidently forgot that maternity was intended as a
curse on all Eve's daughters, for the sin of the first woman, and all
merry-making on such occasions was unpardonable. Some philosophers
consider the most exalted of all forms of love to be that of a mother
for her children. But this divine awakening of a new affection does not
seem to have softened Sarah's heart towards her unfortunate slave
Hagar. And so far from Sarah's desire being to her husband, and Abraham
dominating her, he seemed to be under her control, as the Lord told him
"to hearken to her voice, and to obey her command." In so doing he
drives Hagar out of his house.

In this scene Abraham does not appear in a very attractive light,
rising early in the morning, and sending his child and its mother forth
into the wilderness, with a breakfast of bread and water, to care for
themselves. Why did he not provide them with a servant, an ass laden
with provisions, and a tent to shelter them from the elements, or
better still, some abiding, resting place. Common humanity demanded
this much attention to his own son and the woman who bore him. But the
worst feature in this drama is that it seems to have been done with
Jehovah's approval.

Does any one seriously believe that the great spirit of all good
talked with these Jews, and really said the extraordinary things they
report? It was, however, a very cunning way for the Patriarchs to
enforce their own authority, to do whatever they desired, and say the
Lord commanded them to do and say thus and so. Many pulpits even in our