The God Who Sees

THE GOD WHO SEES

An Exposition of Genesis 16

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: November 6, 2022

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

¹ Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. ² And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. ⁴ And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

⁷ The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ 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.” ⁹ The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹ And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
    because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
¹² He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:1-16)

INTRODUCTION

As we are reading through the Bible, there are times when we discover that the Lord is directing His gracious attention toward people that we don’t expect to be the recipients of such attention.

We are not surprised when the Lord directs His merciful gaze upon people, like Abram, with whom He has entered into covenant. We are not surprised when the Lord directs His faithful presence toward people, like Enoch and Noah, who walk obediently with God . Nor are we surprised when the Lord directs His righteous indignation – His wrathful attention – to people who are steeped in rebellion.

But when the Lord directs His compassionate eye to an outsider, it may get our attention. We may be surprised when the Lord demonstrates grace and mercy to the people of Nineveh, that great and wicked city. We may be caught off guard when the Lord chooses to sit down and eat with the tax collectors and other obvious sinners.

As we have been tracking along with the unfolding drama of Genesis, we are not expecting the Lord’s attentive care to be focused on Hagar – a woman unknown to us prior to Genesis 16. And yet, the storyline slows down in the middle of this chapter in order to highlight the angel of the Lord’s interaction with this afflicted woman. The angel of the Lord represents the Lord’s very own presence and speech, and the divine presence and speech is focused on Hagar in Chapter 16.

HAGAR IS AN UNEXPECTED RECIPIENT OF THE LORD’S GRACIOUS ATTENTION

Let’s begin by asking why Hagar is an unexpected recipient of the Lord’s gracious attention. When I refer to Hagar as an unexpected recipient of the Lord’s gracious attention, I mean ‘unexpected from our perspective’.

Hagar is an outsider to the main storyline

First, Hagar is an outsider to the central storyline. In Genesis 3:15 the Lord promised to bring forth a special descendant of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. With that background, we have kept our minds on the seed line – the special line of descendants from which the Messiah would eventually come. This led us through the Genesis 5 genealogy of Adam through Seth all the way down to Noah. Then we followed the Genesis 11 genealogy of Noah’s son Shem all the way down to Abram, who is the central human character in Genesis 12-25. The Lord promised to “make of [Abram] a great nation” (Genesis 12:2) and to make Abram’s offspring as numerous “as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16). The problem, of course, is that Abram’s wife Sarai is barren (Genesis 11:30) and Abram has no children of his own (Genesis 15:3). But the Lord promised Abram, “[Your] very own son shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4).

This storyline is evidently in view at the beginning of Chapter 16: “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.” (v. 1) By the end of the chapter, it seems like we might finally have a resolution to Abram’s childlessness: “And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.” (v. 15) Is Ishmael the promised son who will inherit the promises God made to Abram? Chapter 16 itself doesn’t explicitly answer the question, but the early readers of the Book of Genesis would have already known the answer – and indeed the very next chapter will make it clear to us – that Ishmael is not the promised son. Ishmael is not the seed son that will lead to Messiah. Ishmael does not extend that special line of descendants who represent God’s promise to bring forth a serpent-crusher. Therefore, Hagar remains an outsider to the central storyline.

Hagar is an Egyptian

Second, Hagar is an Egyptian (v. 1), which makes her an ethnic outsider. The Egyptians are descendants of Noah’s son Ham (Genesis 10:6). Ham is absent from the blessing that Noah pronounced upon his two other sons, Shem and Japheth, in Genesis 9:26-27. Abram’s problematic excursion to Egypt in Genesis 12:10-20 was punctuated by the Lord bringing affliction upon “Pharaoh and his house” (Genesis 12:17). In Genesis 15, the Lord told Abram that his descendants would eventually “be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13) and afterward the Lord would bring judgment upon that nation (Genesis 15:14). Although the name of this nation is not identified in Genesis 15, the early readers of Genesis would have understood that the nation was none other than Egypt, as the last fourth of the Book of Genesis and the early chapters of the Book of Exodus make clear. We aren’t expecting the Lord to speak kindly to an Egyptian.

Hagar is a bondservant

Third, Hagar is a bondservant (v. 1). Of course, there is nothing wrong with being a bondservant or with being on the low end of the socio-economic spectrum. But when in the first fifteen chapters of Genesis has Scripture recounted a conversation between the Lord and a bondservant?

Hagar is a woman

Fourth, Hagar is a woman (v. 1). Both men and women are image-bearers of God and, as such, have equal dignity and worth in God’s sight. Even so, God created men to take the lead, and so it is not surprising that God is most often interacting with men. In terms of Genesis, Scripture hasn’t recounted dialogue between the Lord and a woman since Genesis 3:16. The Lord blessed the first man and the first woman, and spoke to them, in Genesis 1:28. The Lord interacted directly with Eve in Genesis 3:13 and Genesis 3:16. Since Genesis 3, the Lord has spoken with Cain (Chapter 4), with Noah (Chapters 6-9), with Noah and Noah’s sons (Chapter 9), and with Abram (Chapter 12, Chapter 13, and Chapter 15). And so, we aren’t expecting the Lord to enter into substantial dialogue with a maidservant.

Hagar is roped into moral compromise that results in domestic conflict

Fifth, Hagar is roped into a morally compromising relationship that results in stressful domestic conflict. The barren Sarai devises a plan to obtain offspring, namely, for Abram to have a child through her maidservant Hagar. A plan like this is a fine way to make a bad situation worse. The statement “Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” strikes a sobering and disapproving note, for we remember that we encountered that phrase in Genesis 3 when the Lord confronted Adam, saying, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife” (Genesis 3:17). Once Abram agrees to her plan, Sarai proceeds to give Hagar to Abram: “Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.” (v. 3) Let’s just say that it is a bad idea for a wife to give her husband another woman to be his wife. The plausible claim that it was customary in ancient times for a wife to give to her husband a maidservant for the purpose of multiplying children doesn’t make it okay. God’s standard is monogamy (Genesis 2:24), and Sarai’s plan is a deviation from God’s standard.

But there is irony, of course: in Chapter 12, Abram, Sarai’s husband, essentially gave Sarai to the Egyptian Pharaoh to be Pharaoh’s wife (Genesis 12:10-20). Do you remember that? Abram did it to protect himself from perceived danger. Now Sarai, Abram’ wife, gives her Egyptian maidservant to be Abram’s wife. Sarai did it in hopes of obtaining children for herself by means of Hagar (v. 2).

Be encouraged, friends: God really does work through messed up people in order to accomplish His holy purposes.

Although Hagar is not innocent in the matter, nevertheless greater guilt falls to her earthly masters, Abram and Sarai, for pursuing this plan.

And the plan seems to work, doesn’t it? Hagar actually conceives (v. 4).

But once Hagar becomes aware that she is pregnant, she gets proud (v. 4). Now the pregnant servant Hagar looks with contempt upon her barren mistress Sarai. This angers Sarai (v. 5). Sarai then takes up her anger with Abram and expresses a desire for the Lord to intervene (v. 5). Abram tells Sarai that she is free to do with Hagar as she pleases (v. 6). Finally, Sarai deals harshly with Hagar and this prompts Hagar to flee from Sarai (v. 6).  

Given this relational meltdown set in the context of moral compromise, where will the Lord focus His attention? Upon Abram, the patriarch that the Lord has been interacting with regularly since Genesis 12? Upon Sarai, Abram’s wife? Or upon Hagar, the afflicted outsider who is fleeing from the covenant family?

THE LORD MINISTERS TO HAGAR IN HER AFFLICTION (v. 7-12)

Hagar flees from the presence of Sarai, but there is One who finds her: “The angel of the LORD found her” (v. 7). Hagar rightly understands that the LORD is the One speaking to her, as indicated in verse 13. When ‘the angel of the LORD’ speaks, the LORD speaks.

The angel of the Lord finds Hagar

The Lord’s ministry to Hagar begins by finding her and drawing near to her. Then He asks her a question: “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” (v. 8) Isn’t that a great question? Of course, the angel of the Lord knows all about Hagar’s comings and goings, but the Lord is drawing Hagar into conversation. At the same time, the fact that the Lord asks a question about Hagar’s whereabouts is a hint that Hagar isn’t in the right place or isn’t headed in the right direction. When does the Lord ask questions of people in the Book of Genesis? After Adam hid from the Lord’s presence, the Lord asked him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) In the same context He asked Eve, “What is this that you have done?” (Genesis 3:13) In the next chapter, when Cain was in the process of self-destructing, the Lord asked him, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” (Genesis 4:6) So here: “where have you come from and where are you going?” is designed to lead Hagar to repentance.

The angel of the Lord commands Hagar to repent

Hagar answers, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” (v. 8) Then comes the command to repentance: “The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”” (v. 9) The Lord doesn’t give approval of the morally suspect actions that reside in the background, but He does make it clear that the maidservant Hagar belongs with her earthly masters. The command that Hagar “submit to [Sarai]” is significant: the Hebrew word translated “submit” (v. 9) is the same Hebrew word that is translated “dealt harshly” (v. 6). After Hagar became proud because she was pregnant and looked down on Sarai, Sarai responded by afflicting Hagar, dealing harshly with her, putting her down. Do you see what the Lord’s command to ‘return and submit’ is doing? Hagar is being instructed to humble herself and willingly place herself under Sarai’s authority. If Hagar had been able to maintain an attitude of humble service toward Sarai all along, she wouldn’t have gotten harsh treatment from Sarai. Hagar, go back to your appointed place, and in that appointed place walk with humility: put away proud and self-exalting thoughts, and esteem and honor your mistress.

In order for Hagar to return to Sarai, Hagar is going to have to swallow her pride. She will be helped to swallow her pride if she knows that the Lord cares for her. She may already be figuring out that the Lord cares for her, since the angel found her, questioned her, and counseled her. But the Lord’s care for Hagar shifts into an even higher gear in verses 10-12.

The angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar about the future

In verse 10, the Lord makes a stunning promise: “The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”” (v. 10) This is a stunning and unexpected promise because the promise of innumerable offspring is the very promise that the Lord has made to Abram in Genesis 13 and Genesis 15. The promise that the Lord made to Abram concerned the offspring that would come about through the promised seed son. Now, outside and apart from that central storyline, the Lord promises that another group of offspring will also be innumerable. Hagar is the recipient of a great promise. Children and children’s children are a gift from the Lord, and Hagar finds herself in the stream of the Lord’s blessing.

In verse 9, the angel of the Lord had focused on Hagar’s relationship with Sarai. In verse 10, the angel of the Lord had focused on Hagar’s numerous offspring. Now in verses 11-12, the angel of the Lord focuses on the child that is in Hagar’s womb:

“And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”” (v. 11-12)

The angel of the Lord reveals His knowledge not only of the fact that Hagar is with child, but also of the fact that the child within her is a boy. The angel of the Lord also reveals His knowledge of the boy’s future: the boy will become “a wild donkey of a man”, which commentators say points to the fact that Ishmael will be a wilderness wanderer, a desert nomad. Further, Ishmael will be at odds with everyone. What is true of Ishmael will presumably be manifest in his Ishmaelite descendants also. Verse 12 suggests that though Ishmael is not destined for sainthood, his life would surely be consequential.

The Lord heard Hagar’s affliction

But looking at verses 11-12, we want to focus our attention on the end of verse 11, where the angel of the Lord asserts His authority over the boy by telling Hagar what she shall name him. The name “Ishmael” means ‘God hears’, and this name is loaded with significance. Hagar was experiencing affliction because “Sarai dealt harshly with her". Does anyone care? Does anyone take notice? Yes, there is One who does. The irony here is remarkable. Genesis 15 had foretold that Abram’s descendants would be afflicted because a nation – which is later revealed to be Egypt – would deal harshly with Abram’s descendants. Fast forward to the days of fulfilment in Exodus 2, and “the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning” (Exodus 2:23-24). But long before that ever happened, a maidservant from Egypt named Hagar was suffering affliction under Sarai’s heavy hand, and the Lord heard Hagar’s affliction: “You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.” (v. 11) Yes, the Lord hears the groaning of His covenant people. But the Lord also listens to the affliction of outsiders. The story of Hagar in the house of Sarai previews the story of Israel in the land of Egypt.

The Lord has heard Hagar’s affliction, has spoken promises concerning her offspring, and has directed her on the path of repentance and humility. How did she receive the Lord’s ministry to her?

Hagar Demonstrates Humble Receptivity to the Lord’s Words

In verse 13, Hagar demonstrates humble receptivity to the Lord’s words. After hearing the Lord speak to her in verses 8-12, Hagar recognizes the fact that it was indeed “the LORD who spoke to her”. It cannot be said of Hagar that the Lord drew near to Hagar, but she knew it not. She knew. She understood. And she reinforced what she had rightly discerned by calling the Lord by a new name:

“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.”” (v. 13)

Hagar calls Yahweh “El Roi”: “El” means ‘God’, “Roi” means ‘seeing’. Yahweh is El Roi, the God who sees. But Hagar’s confession that Yahweh is the God who sees is not a theoretical formulation about the omniscience of the God who sees everything. How many people might affirm the belief that God sees everything in general, and yet be unaware that the God who sees everything sees me, takes notice of me, has a personal interest in me, cares for me, is calling me to repent of sin and trust His promise? Hagar is not a systematic theologian who thought it would be nice to coin a new term. Instead, she is responding to the infinite and personal God who has made Himself known to her. She saw the One who saw her. She heard the One who had listened to her affliction. She met the One who cared about her. She recognized Him as the God who sees. And this name that Hagar ascribed to Yahweh was a name that stuck, for it was memorialized in the name of the well in that place: “Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi”, which means ‘the well of the Living One who sees me’ (as indicated in a footnote in Genesis 16:14 in the English Standard Version).

The other action that shows Hagar’s humble receptivity to the Lord’s words is that she did, in fact, return to Abram and Sarai, as the end of the chapter makes clear. When Cain was confronted by the Lord in Genesis 4, he doubled down and went deeper into his sin. When Hagar is confronted by the Lord in Genesis 16, she let the Lord’s words redirect her life. She returned home, and there she gave birth to Ishmael, as the end of the chapter indicates.

AN IMPORTANT LESSON

How shall we apply this wonderful passage about the Lord’s kind dealings with Hagar? This way: don’t be surprised when the Lord directs His gracious attention to an unexpected person. And, even more to the point, take to heart this truth: the unexpected person that the Lord directs His gracious attention to just might be you!

Perhaps you can relate to Hagar. You see yourself as an outsider – and maybe others see you that way too. You have two or three ‘outsider strikes’ against you, and you seem to be on the peripheral of the important storyline that everyone else is excited about. For one reason or another, you have a morally scandalous past – or maybe you’re in the middle of it right now. You have some painfully complicated relationships – maybe with your family, maybe with the church. You have a measure of harsh treatment coming your way, deserved or undeserved, and you are afflicted. Fleeing from the apparent source of your problem seems like an attractive option, if you haven’t done it already.

But besides all that, there is the very real sin problem that you have. We all have this problem. Hagar had it: that’s why she was inflated with sinful pride (v. 4). Sarai had it: that’s why she thought up this brilliant idea to give her maidservant as a second wife to her husband (v. 2). Abram had it: that’s why he submitted to Sarai’s plan (v. 2-4). Ishmael would have it: that’s why he wouldn’t be known as a peacemaker (v. 12). And you have a very real sin problem, too. Scripture says that all of us have lost our way, all of us have turned aside, all of us fall short of the glory of God, all of us fail to honor and obey the Lord. Scripture describes all of us with these words: “the way of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:17) and “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)

The beautiful truth of God’s storyline is that He makes room for all kinds of people. God never intended that special line of descendants to have a corner on all the grace. In fact, God intended that special line of descendants to be a vehicle for bringing His grace to all the world. God’s plan was that “in Abram all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The Lord proclaims His life-giving words to all kinds of people. In one moment the Lord proclaims His words to Abram (Genesis 15), but in another moment the Lord proclaims His words to Hagar (Genesis 16). In one moment the Lord proclaims His words to a prominent religious teacher named Nicodemus (John 3), but in another moment the Lord proclaims His words to a Samaritan woman (John 4). Jesus the Good Shepherd came to lay down His life for His sheep – not only sheep from the lost house of Israel, but also sheep from the lost Gentile world. Jesus, who died on the cross for the sins of His people, preaches peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near (Ephesians 2:17). Those afar off – the Gentiles, the Samaritans, the Egyptians, the Hagars of this world, are included within the scope of God’s gracious attention.   

All of this is well and good, but it must not remain at the theoretical level. Do you know that He sees you? Do you know that He hears your affliction? Do you know that He knows where you have come from and where you are going – nothing escapes His notice – and He is calling you to repentance? Do you know that He bore your sins in His body upon the tree? Do you know that you can trust Him to lead you into a future that is far better than the future that you would pursue without Him? I cannot tell you whether or not your future includes innumerable offspring. But I can tell you that everyone who trusts in the Lord will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11). “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” (Romans 10:12). See El Roi – the God who sees you – and call upon His blessed name.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.