Hagar and Ishmael sent away
Genesis 21:8–21; Galatians 4:22–31
At the feast for Isaac's weaning, Ishmael mocked him; Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, and God cared for them in the wilderness.
God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.”
Genesis 21:17 (World English Bible)
The decision grieved Abraham, but God told him the promise would come through Isaac, while Ishmael would also become a nation. When the water ran out near Beersheba, God heard the boy crying and showed Hagar a well.
Paul uses the two mothers as a picture of two covenants: slavery under the law and freedom by God's promise (Galatians 4).
Places
Dating notes
Ussher dates the weaning feast to 1891 BC, when Isaac was 5, and counts the 400 years of affliction (Genesis 15:13; Acts 7:6) from Ishmael's mocking, which Paul calls persecution (Galatians 4:29). Some place the weaning earlier, at age 2 or 3.