Pearls of the Word

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The path to Shur

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur" (Genesis 16:7 Interlinear).

Because she had despised Sarah, Agar, the Egyptian was mistreated by her mistress and had to flee into the desert along the path to Shur, a town in Negev. The Hebrew word shur means wall, fortification; it is there, on the road which leads to 'the wall', that the angel of the Lord appears to her, speaks to her and provides the solution to her situation (Genesis 16:8-12).

For many reasons, we, too, can be led into the desert, and find ourselves facing a wall in our lives. That is where we will meet God. And it is in these circumstances that His response will come to us; it is then that we will break through this wall [shur] of our life (Psalm 18:30).