Foundation Scripture: Genesis 16:13 She (Hagar) gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Definition: #7210 (ro-EE) A sight, an appearance, a spectacle, a warning example, a gazing-stock, looking, a vision. (The Complete Word Study Old Testament)
Definition: #7210 (ro-EE) A sight, an appearance, a spectacle, a warning example, a gazing-stock, looking, a vision. (The Complete Word Study Old Testament)
God is omniscient
(all-knowing) and omnipresent (present in all places at the same time.) He sees and knows
everything about us. There is not one detail of our lives he is unaware of. He cares deeply about our lives.
In the bible, when someone ‘sees’ God, they usually see the
“Angel of the LORD,” or a vision of God. Bible scholars believe that The “Angel of the LORD” is a theophany, or preincarnate manifestation of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 16:1-16 ~ The dramatic story of Hagar, the Egyptian Maidservant of Abram and Sarai, and her encounter with the God Who Sees.
A decade passes, and Abram and Sarai are still waiting for God to fulfill his promise of blessing Abram with many descendants. Even though God and Abram have made a covenant, Sarai is getting worried and comes up with a plan.
She convinces Abram to have an heir through their Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. This was a common practice in that time and it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. When Hagar realizes she is pregnant, she sports a despising attitude toward Sarai. Sarai is livid, blames Abram for her misery, and invites God to judge between herself and Abram. Abram tells Sarai to do whatever she thinks is best, so Sarai mistreats Hagar, and Hagar runs away.
The Angel of the LORD finds Hagar near a spring in the desert. He addresses her as Hagar, servant of Sarai, and asks her where she has come from and where she is going. Hagar says she is running away from her mistress. He tells her to go back to her mistress and submit to her. Then he makes an amazing promise to her! He is going to give her so many descendants they cannot be counted! Then he tells her to name her son Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
Hagar named the LORD who spoke to her "You are the God who sees me," because she has seen the One who sees her. That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.
Hagar gives birth to Abram's son. Abram names him Ishmael (which means "God hears.")
The God Who Sees, Sees All. He knew that this was all going to unfold. He saw Sarai planning with Abram. He saw the attitude Hagar had toward Sarai. He saw Sarai complaining to Abram. He saw Abram telling Sarai to do what she thought was best. He saw Sarai mistreat Hagar. He saw Hagar run away. He saw the steps that needed to be taken by Hagar for reconciliation. He saw the life of Ishmael. He saw a way to meet this family where they were at, but he still had his plan, and he saw a way to make his plan work, in spite of what Sarai and Abram had done.
The LORD saw Hagar and was able to get her to see who she was in him. She saw that she was not alone and that the God Who Sees loved her enough to rescue her and help her make things right in her life. The LORD saw that Hagar would never have been in this situation if it had not been for Sarai's plan and Hagar's attitude. He gave her hope for her future, and a new vision for her life. He expected her to be obedient to her mistress, and she was. She returned with the important knowledge that God was with her.
Genesis 21:8-21 is the further account of Hagar and Ishmael. Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac, and told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. She insisted that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was distressed over this, but God told him to listen to Sarah. God said that Abraham's offspring would come through Isaac, and that he would make Ishmael into a nation too, since he was also Abraham's offspring. Abraham sent them away and they wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Their water was gone and they thought they were going to die. God heard Ishmael crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. He told her not to be afraid, that God had heard Ishmael crying. He told her to lift Ishmael up and take him by the hand, that he would make him into a great nation. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and they drank. God was with Ishmael as he grew up.
In the Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses Hagar and Sarah to demonstrate the difference between the Old Covenant, based on the law, and the New Covenant, based on grace. Hagar represents the Old Covenant. The son of Hagar the slave woman was born in the ordinary way. Sarah represents the New Covenant. The son of the free woman was born by the Spirit's power. In verse 31 Paul says, "Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman."
He knows the number of hairs on our head. There is nothing he does not know about us. There is no place we can go to get away from him. He goes after us like a lamb who has wandered from the flock. He meets us where we are. He knows why we got off track and what it's going to take to get us back on track.
He is always with us. He gives us his perspective. He sees the big picture while we only see in part.
We don’t always have an accurate perception of our situation. We get into trouble when we have the wrong perspective of God, others, and ourselves. When we are in conflict with someone, we usually cling to our narrow view of the situation. We seldom stop to really look at the other person's perspective. We tend to think "we are right" and "they are wrong." No one is always right. Although we know what the word of God says, we still want to react the way we feel we should be able to react. One of the most important questions to ask yourself when you are in a bad situation is, "What does God's word say about it?"
What kind of a relationship do we have with God if we do not seek his counsel in a tough situation?
God does the same thing with us that he did with Hagar. He asks us questions that help explain our situation. He asked Hagar, "Where are you coming from and where are you going?" He counsels us to do the right thing. His promises for us are abundant when we are obedient. We can rely on him to open our eyes to what will help us in our situations. We can rely on the truth of his word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be our counsel.
God has provided us with people in our lives who can share their perspective with us. We should all have someone in our lives who can help us see an answer to a conflicted situation. What is a friendship or relationship worth if we block out their perspective and cling to our own thoughts and emotions that can cloud our judgement? We all have blind spots and should open to the constructive correction of someone in our lives who holds a position of trust and genuine accountability. Likewise, we should make ourselves available to give godly advice to others.
In getting to know God, we will learn who we are in him. We will see ourselves as he sees us. This will help us accomplish his plans for us on earth. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7 We will become what we think we are. God is conforming us to his image every day.
We must purpose to see others the way God sees them…created in His image. This will honor God and encourage others. If we have that kind of attitude toward others, we can expect others to have that attitude toward us.
The Angel of the LORD finds Hagar near a spring in the desert. He addresses her as Hagar, servant of Sarai, and asks her where she has come from and where she is going. Hagar says she is running away from her mistress. He tells her to go back to her mistress and submit to her. Then he makes an amazing promise to her! He is going to give her so many descendants they cannot be counted! Then he tells her to name her son Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
Hagar named the LORD who spoke to her "You are the God who sees me," because she has seen the One who sees her. That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.
Hagar gives birth to Abram's son. Abram names him Ishmael (which means "God hears.")
The God Who Sees, Sees All. He knew that this was all going to unfold. He saw Sarai planning with Abram. He saw the attitude Hagar had toward Sarai. He saw Sarai complaining to Abram. He saw Abram telling Sarai to do what she thought was best. He saw Sarai mistreat Hagar. He saw Hagar run away. He saw the steps that needed to be taken by Hagar for reconciliation. He saw the life of Ishmael. He saw a way to meet this family where they were at, but he still had his plan, and he saw a way to make his plan work, in spite of what Sarai and Abram had done.
The LORD saw Hagar and was able to get her to see who she was in him. She saw that she was not alone and that the God Who Sees loved her enough to rescue her and help her make things right in her life. The LORD saw that Hagar would never have been in this situation if it had not been for Sarai's plan and Hagar's attitude. He gave her hope for her future, and a new vision for her life. He expected her to be obedient to her mistress, and she was. She returned with the important knowledge that God was with her.
Genesis 21:8-21 is the further account of Hagar and Ishmael. Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac, and told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. She insisted that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was distressed over this, but God told him to listen to Sarah. God said that Abraham's offspring would come through Isaac, and that he would make Ishmael into a nation too, since he was also Abraham's offspring. Abraham sent them away and they wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Their water was gone and they thought they were going to die. God heard Ishmael crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. He told her not to be afraid, that God had heard Ishmael crying. He told her to lift Ishmael up and take him by the hand, that he would make him into a great nation. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and they drank. God was with Ishmael as he grew up.
In the Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses Hagar and Sarah to demonstrate the difference between the Old Covenant, based on the law, and the New Covenant, based on grace. Hagar represents the Old Covenant. The son of Hagar the slave woman was born in the ordinary way. Sarah represents the New Covenant. The son of the free woman was born by the Spirit's power. In verse 31 Paul says, "Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman."
How we see the LORD, ourselves and others are all extremely important, and will have a great impact on God's plan for our lives.
The most important thing we can do in life is to get to know God. Since we cannot "see" the LORD, we need to purpose to be with him. We do that in a variety of ways through worship, prayer, reading his word and purposing to get in his presence. God inhabits the praises of his people and reveals himself through his written word. He IS the WORD! We need to get a revelation that he is always watching us. This should be a very comforting truth. This can also serve to keep us from sinful behavior. When we sin, we are aware that God has seen it. It should be easy to take it to him and ask for his forgiveness. There is no point in trying to hide anything from him!He knows the number of hairs on our head. There is nothing he does not know about us. There is no place we can go to get away from him. He goes after us like a lamb who has wandered from the flock. He meets us where we are. He knows why we got off track and what it's going to take to get us back on track.
He is always with us. He gives us his perspective. He sees the big picture while we only see in part.
We don’t always have an accurate perception of our situation. We get into trouble when we have the wrong perspective of God, others, and ourselves. When we are in conflict with someone, we usually cling to our narrow view of the situation. We seldom stop to really look at the other person's perspective. We tend to think "we are right" and "they are wrong." No one is always right. Although we know what the word of God says, we still want to react the way we feel we should be able to react. One of the most important questions to ask yourself when you are in a bad situation is, "What does God's word say about it?"
What kind of a relationship do we have with God if we do not seek his counsel in a tough situation?
God does the same thing with us that he did with Hagar. He asks us questions that help explain our situation. He asked Hagar, "Where are you coming from and where are you going?" He counsels us to do the right thing. His promises for us are abundant when we are obedient. We can rely on him to open our eyes to what will help us in our situations. We can rely on the truth of his word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be our counsel.
God has provided us with people in our lives who can share their perspective with us. We should all have someone in our lives who can help us see an answer to a conflicted situation. What is a friendship or relationship worth if we block out their perspective and cling to our own thoughts and emotions that can cloud our judgement? We all have blind spots and should open to the constructive correction of someone in our lives who holds a position of trust and genuine accountability. Likewise, we should make ourselves available to give godly advice to others.
In getting to know God, we will learn who we are in him. We will see ourselves as he sees us. This will help us accomplish his plans for us on earth. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7 We will become what we think we are. God is conforming us to his image every day.
We must purpose to see others the way God sees them…created in His image. This will honor God and encourage others. If we have that kind of attitude toward others, we can expect others to have that attitude toward us.
Encounter!
Encounter El Roi, the God Who Sees. Ask him to open your eyes to his word, and make a fresh commitment to regularly enjoy being in his presence!- Ask God to give you eyes to see him the way he really is.
- Ask God to give you eyes to see your situation the way he sees it.
- Ask God to give you eyes to see yourself and others the way he does.
- Ask God to give others eyes to see you the way he sees you.
Next Blog ~
More of Seeing God!
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