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Chapter 21 records the birth of Isaac, the "child of promise". Verse 1 says the Lord visited Sarah as He had promised and she conceived and bore Abraham a son and they called him Isaac. They circumcised him on the eighth day. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 when Isaac was born.
When Isaac was old enough to be weaned, Abraham made a great feast. At the feast, Ishmael, Abraham's first son by Sarah's maid Hager, was playing with Isaac. Seeing the two boys playing together displeased Sarah and she asked Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son. This did not set well with Abraham as Ishmael was his son also, but the Lord told Abraham to do as Sarah asked. He promised Abraham two things:
So Abraham sent them away and they wandered into the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When their provisions were gone, Hager put the boy in some bushes for she did not want to watch him die. The Lord heard the boy cry and supplied their needs. He also promised Hagar to make a great nation of the descendants of Ishmael. Ishmael grew up in the wilderness of Paran and when he was old enough, Hagar obtained a wife for him from Egypt.
Now Abimelech, King of Ger-ar, and his army commander visit Abraham for the purpose of making a covenant with him. They ask him to deal honestly with them as they had dealt honestly with him. They sought this covenant because of the growing power and strength of Abraham. Abraham agreed. While they were talking Abraham took the opportunity to tell Abimelech about his servants taking a well that Abraham had dug. The king was not aware of the incident but promised to advise his servants that the well belonged to Abraham. In return, Abraham gave Abimelech 7 lambs as a witness to the deal. Abraham called the place Beer-sheba, because they both had sworn an oath. Abraham lived many days in the land of the Philistines.
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