El Roi, The God who sees me
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The Lord who sees me
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi (be’ luh hie roy); behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Genesis 16:13-14
I can see you!
Oh my goodness, the flashback of memories flooding my heart! My firstborn, no sooner than he learned to sit up, loved to put his baby hands atop his face, “Find me!”
I never tired of this game, “Where’s Momma’s baby?”
Peeking through his fingers he’d belly laugh and throw his arms up in the air announcing his presence as I excitedly declared, “I can see you!” He both thought I couldn’t see him, and that he finally saw me. Precious moments. If I could turn back time.
Hagar’s Situation
Hagar found herself in a similar situation. Let’s read the whole account of Abraham, Sarai and Hagar.
Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her face.
And the Angel of the Lord Spoke
And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Genesis 16:1-13
Servanthood
Hagar was an Egyptian girl now working for Sarai, the barren wife of an affluent and influential man, Abram. Abram, a friend of God. Though we know she was a maidservant, and servanthood was her way of life, her boss was about to make some decision that would change her status, and in a big way.
Faithfulness
Where scripture notes that Abram and Sarai had been in Canaan for 10 years, it’s a reminder. They had known for those ten years of God’s promise made to Abram before he left Haran and came to Canaan; the promise of his own child-actually, many.
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:1-3
No sooner had Abraham arrived to Canaan and the Lord reminds Abram of His promise:
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:4-6
The Whole Picture
Now we have the whole picture in front of us, and we understand the three main characters-and their character.
Abram
Remember, Abram was a faithful man blessed richly by the Lord, full of promises kept and promises yet to come.
Sarai
Sarai, though shooting from the hip, desired to please her husband and honor the Lord. The hardships of infertile women in her day were far beyond what we have experienced even in our grandmother’s lifetimes. What was mum to us was shunned to her.
Hagar
And Hagar? Hagar was a young Egyptian woman sent from Pharaoh, now Sarai’s maidservant. I wonder if she felt a bit unwanted being sent away, or was she expecting nothing less?
Whose Idea?
Growing up in my family included me and my five brothers. For almost twenty years, I also taught school. Best of all, I’ve had the privilege and blessing of raising boys of my own.
Then, it goes without saying, I’ve heard and repeated the phrase too many times to count, “Whose idea was this?”
God’s Promise
It wasn’t Hagar’s idea to become Abram’s concubine, it was Sarai’s. It wasn’t God’s promise to Abram that he’d father a child by any other woman than his faithful wife, it was their own. It wasn’t Sarai’s desire to be barren and unable to give what the Lord had promised so long ago to her husband, and neither was it God’s forever plan.
A Mess of Fleshly Choices
Here we have a terrible mess of fleshly choices, and no-one seeking God before man (or woman). Sari and Abram became restless and took it upon themselves to give the Lord a hand in the child He’d promised. But, God had not relented on His promise, and He did not need the help of any of them to help make it so.
Sin
Surrogacy wasn’t uncommon in those days. And it’s quite interesting the most ordinary way this was accomplished. ( If you’re interested in more details, I encourage you to do some research around this topic.)
The result, when successful as it would turn out here, would mean a child for Sari by way of Hagar. But, most likely and by all standards, this was not an affair of excitement and allure, yet it went against God’s direction for Abram and His design of marriage.
It was a choice made in the flesh. It was sin.
God’s Plan Prevails
It should be no surprise to us, because we have the whole of God’s written word to read, that God’s plan isn’t changed when we choose to sin instead of yielding in obedience to Him. Oh, it causes all sorts of troubles, as we see here, but God is always sovereign and His plan prevails.
God’s Sovereignty
Moving forward, Hagar gets pregnant with Abram’s son, and no sooner than she does her attitude changes. Hagar suddenly becomes prideful and arrogant in her demeanor toward Sarai.
This was a stark change from the humble servant. And it was a knife in the back of an old woman who longed to give her husband a child of their own.
Infertility
I can relate a bit to Sarai’s mournful state. Even before I married, I feared I wouldn’t be able to have children. As newlywed time passed us by, my fears grew.
Year after year we’d flip the calendar with no exciting news, and hope waning. At one point I felt sure it would never happen, and I’ll never forget my husband’s words to me. He held my face gently in his hands as his words fell even more gently over me, “I didn’t marry you to have your children, I married you because I love you.”
Undone with Grief
Abram didn’t have a response like that to Sarai, and now she was undone with grief and anger as Hagar had everything she’d ever desired. Their sin wouldn’t dissuade their faithful God, but it did usher in sin’s consequences, didn’t it?
Sin’s Consequences
Hagar was flaunting the great power of her pregnancy in Sari’s face, and Sari grew quite angry. Abram got caught in the middle but didn’t stay there long telling Sari to treat her servant however she’d like.
Hagar, now pregnant with Abram’s son and was taking the brunt of his wife’s disdain-spurred on by her own arrogance, but she was about ready to get away from it all.
Disobedience Invites Disorder
When we mix in our fleshly desires with God’s direction, we don’t change His will for our lives, but in our disobedience we invite disorder, dishonor and dismay as He works in and through us to do His will.
Dejected
Sitting on the floor of a skating rink, I was sharing the Gospel with a teenager who’d just heard my husband speak. As I continued explaining to her the love of our Heavenly Father she listened intently but soon stopped me mid-sentence.
The conflict between knowing her own father -who sees her in the flesh and blood, and who’s suppose to love her yet hated her- and this Heavenly Father I spoke about, but whom she’d never seen, loved her more than anyone was something she couldn’t find space in her heart to understand.
Being Seen and Unloved
This precious young lady was having trouble reconciling being seen and unloved with being unseen and loved beyond measure.
El Roi
Understandably so. What she had yet to learn about our God was that He does see her. I praise the Lord He was made known to her and she turned her life to El Roi, the Lord who sees her, and the Lord who loves her.
Unwanted, Unwelcome
I think Hagar could relate a bit. A decade ago she was left unwanted by Pharaoh and since had been a slave to Sari, though I am apt to think she was a part of the family and treated well by the contrast and turn of events to come. Add insult to injury, she was pregnant with Abram’s son but had no consolation from him, either. Even as a servant she must have felt unwanted and unwelcome, alone and unseen.
Heading Home
Hagar, expendable by both Pharaoh and now Sari-and don’t over look the fact that she’d been learning about Abram and Sari’s God from them for the past ten years, her faith was entwined with their faithfulness. One piece of the tangled mess the three had managed to create, she wanted no part of it any longer, so she left. She took her newly pregnant self and headed on the road of Shur, the road that would lead back to Egypt. She was heading home.
The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her,
Behold, you are pregnant
Genesis 16:7-12
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He will be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against his kinsmen.
El Roi, The Lord sees me
I am going to be really careful here and not to take my own current knowledge and definitions into their home thousands of years. The details of how their ancient lifestyle looked in realtime of maidservants, surrogacy, polygamy are things I haven’t studied in depth, and I know God’s Word can stand on its own, so that’s where I’ll leave them.
The Angel of the Lord Finds Her
That said, Hagar left the place she’d lived and been taken care of for the past ten years, pregnant and downtrodden and headed toward home. The angel of the Lord finds her, and she recognizes it is indeed the Lord. Hagar, her name means ‘wander/er,’ (fitting, isn’t it?).
God Found Her
The angel of the Lord FOUND her. I love the images (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Beer-lahai-roi&t=osx&iax=images&ia=images) I found when looking this up. I encourage you to do the same and give this spring by Shur a visual. There by a spring on the way to Shur, not only does God see her, He finds her.
Let’s consider the obvious, God found her…that would have to mean He was purposely looking for her, right? That’s our God, too! He does the same for His children today: for me, and for you.
Not Where I Belonged
I have to laugh now, but when I was a newlywed I remember getting so upset about something that I decided to get in my car and head down the only road I knew. It was the same one that would take me to the off beaten path back to my old stomping grounds from which I came.
At some point, and not very far away, I had a moment of sense and realized where I was going was not where I belonged. I wasn’t even gone long enough for my husband to be worried about me, but I made great progress in my own mind of how angry I was.
What in the world was I thinking? And how did I think heading west was going to accomplish anything when my home was no longer there?
God’s Questions for Hagar
God’s angel had some questions for Hagar, too.
The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
Genesis 16:7-8a
He was making her think, wasn’t he? Their conversation continued.
She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”
Genesis 16:8b-10
God Changed Her
God didn’t send her back in the same frame of mind she had as she fled. Don’t forget, it was Hagar who decided to rub salt in the deep, raw wound of Sari when she realized Abram was able to make her pregnant. She used the power she had in a very ugly way toward Sari and it caused a lot of problems.
Had she continued down that path, nothing would have changed with Sari; she went back with a change of attitude. She went back knowing the Lord sees her and was going to protect her-she had a future in God’s hands! Hagar went back home to Sari and Abram, and she told them of her time with the Lord’s angel.
We can be sure of this because when her son was born Abram named him Ishmael (God Hears) just as God told her.
God Finds Hagar in the Wilderness
Right there at the spring in the wilderness, God finds Hagar. She finds understanding about her life. She is foretold about her son and the many children that would be from him.
(By the way, I have learned that the old phrase, ” A wild donkey of a man” conjured up a beautiful vision of wild horses running freely” standing in opposition to her own slavery and in contrast to the much uglier pictures we tend to think a wild donkey of a man to mean. Again, a place of historian study, but something worth looking into further to see what you may learn if interested.).
Seeing the Lord
I wonder how long their visit together there at the wellsprings was. Hagar was the first person God sent his angle to talk with. She was the first whose child was named as told by the Lord. The Lord certainly did see her, and she saw Him.
So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; (be’ luh hie roy) it lies between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 16:13-16
14 e Beer-lahai-roi (be’ luh hie roy) means well of the Living One who sees me .
Study Notes Bible Hub (https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/16.htm)
Never Alone
Oh, her problems weren’t over. Just like ours are not, either. BUT, God sees us: El Roi, The Lord sees me. He doesn’t desert us though we feel forgotten and alone. We are never alone.
And it matters big. In every place we take ourselves, our feet and our minds, The Lord sees us. And when we take time to look and listen to Him, we see Him too.
What a great day to know the Lord, El Roi, the God who sees me! I love you, Lord, my God who sees me.
