HAGAR HAD SEEN GOD, WHO SEES HER
Genesis 16:1-16
She 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.” (13)
chapter 16
1. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;
2. so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
3. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
4. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
5. Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6. "Your slave is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7. The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
8. And he said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I’m running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.
9. Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."
10. The angel added, "I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count."
11. The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
13. She 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."
14. That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
16. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
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1. Sarai'sreasonable advice caused Abram'snext stumble. Sarai suggested that Abram sleep with her slave so that he could have a child. Abram probably knew the advice did not align with God'spromise of the rightful heir, but he chose to listen to his wife.
2. The slave Hagar became pregnant, which brought trouble to their house. Hagar became proud, and Sarai blamed Abram. In reply, Abram avoided his responsibility as the head of the family and let Sarai handle the problem. So, Sarai drove the girl into misery, and she fled, carrying Abram'schild. Amid self-created problems with no good solutions, God intervened.
3. He sent his messenger to Hagar, assured her of her child'sbirth and safety, and told her to return and submit to her mistress. The prophecy about her child and God’s direction to her may challenge our modern sensibilities. However, Hagar believed: the sovereign God was always watching over her. She was moved. While Sarai and Abram had no respect or concern for her, God did not ignore her, a slave, and guided her to do what was right with an assurance of protection. Today, would you also come to God, who sees you? He will guide you as he knows you and cares about you.
Prayer: Father, I bring my weariness before you. I trust you to guide me in your perfect plans.
One Word: God sees me