Finding Hagar: God's Pursuit of a Runaway

by Michael F. Kuhn

Overview

Finding Hagar probes the relentless pursuit by the living God of a fugitive woman who falls outside the line of his chosen people. This pursuit ensures Hagar’s destiny by giving her an identity as one who is seen and known by God himself. Hagar’s story centers around a deeply personal dialogue with God concerning her past and her future, her story and her dreams; and while his promises are rooted in her reality, they also carry her forward to a new horizon of hope. Often recognized as one of the Bible’s most powerful stories of God’s love, which is always undeserved and unmerited, this book is a reminder of God’s abundant grace towards all people at a time when there is much division and animosity towards the descendants of Hagar. As we witness major displacement of peoples around the world, the story of Hagar – of God’s encounter with a displaced and oppressed woman – inspires hope and purpose for today’s fractured global community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783686537
Publisher:	Langham Creative Projects
Publication date:	08/14/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	130
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

MICHAEL F. KUHN and his family were privileged to call Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon "home" for nearly thirty years. Most recently he taught Biblical Theology and Discipleship at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Beirut, Lebanon. He has a PhD in Muslim-Christian Relations from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK, and master's degrees in Theology and Arabic Language and Literature (AUC).

Table of Contents

Preface: Reconsidering an Old Story

1. Shifha Sarai
2. Barren
3. Wedding Day
4. Rivals
5. Finding Hagar
6. Questions
7. The Promise
8. Donkey Man
9. El Ro’i
10. Oh That Ishmael Might Live!
11. Laughter
12. God Hears
13. Son of the Slave
14. Progeny
15. Considering Hagar and Moses
16. Hagar and Ishmael through the Centuries
17. Hagar Speaks Today

Appendix: Ishmael: Father of the Arabs?

Editorial Reviews

Every time I see a positive work on Hagar and Ishmael from an evangelical Christian pen, I rejoice and feel encouraged that the gracious story of God’s redeeming love outside the line of Promise is being retold. Mike Kuhn’s work Finding Hagar mixes in a beautiful way both serious scholarship and deep life applications. The corporate effort behind this work involving nice and vivid pictures drawn by his daughter points to the cordiality and passion with which this work was done. I wholeheartedly recommend this beautiful, serious and yet simple, work by Kuhn to every student of the Bible and especially to every Christian worker in the Arab World.

Tony Maalouf, PhD

Distinguished Professor of World Christianity and Middle Eastern Studies,

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Visiting Professor,

Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, Amman, Jordan

Finding Hagar takes on itself the task of gently – and persuasively! – adjusting any misconceptions we might have on the place of Ishmael in God’s larger scheme. By dovetailing the biblical narratives in Genesis with Jewish and Islamic traditions, Kuhn provides a panoramic timeline on which readers can travel up and down, revisiting familiar places and people and meeting new pieces of information. The encounters require that we rethink our presuppositions. And they challenge us to take our place in the continuing story of Hagar and her children.

Havilah Dharamraj, PhD

Academic Dean and Head, Department of Old Testament,

South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore, India

Mike Kuhn’s book on Hagar and Ishmael will open your eyes to what has been hidden in the shadows and has been overlooked. In this book, the spotlight is shed on Hagar as one of the best supporting actors in God’s drama of redemptive history. Does Hagar speak to us today? In this book you will see how she speaks to us and to our burning issues. I wish every Christian would read this book as it brings grace to two irritant and misunderstood figures, Hagar and Ishmael. Once I started reading this book, I could not stop until I finished it.

Nabeel T. Jabbour, ThD

Author, The Crescent through the Eyes of the Cross

As one who has had the Middle East as his assignment from the heart of God for over fifty years, I was captivated by this page-turning entrance into the Patriarch Abraham’s country in the light of Mike Kuhn’s artistic insights. This amazingly accomplished Arabist and scholar, with his wife, Stephanie, have absorbed a depth of understanding of the nuances of Middle East culture, with historical biblical insights, so that the reader is transported into Hagar’s life . . . brought to life as you’ve never known it before! The bonus is that you’ll want to read your Old Testament with fresh depth and enjoyment.

Greg Livingstone

Founder, Frontiers

From the Publisher