“You Are the God Who Sees Me”

We continue our meditation on Abram’s attempt to obtain a shortcut to the vision God gave him. Shortcuts never work, and they cause more anguish for Abram and Sarai as Hagar runs away from home, feeling that no one cares for her or Ishmael. In the desert, the Angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar. This Angel was the One watching and listening to all that was happening in Abraham's household. He spoke kindly to her, asking two pertinent questions suitable for all of us to hear, "Where have you come from, and where are you going?” (v. 8). Here's the text:

7The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8And 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. 9Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10The angel added, "I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” 11The 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. 12He 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.” 13She 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” (Genesis 16:7-13, Emphasis added).

As we go through life, it's beneficial to sit down and evaluate where we've come from and where we're headed. If you're aiming for nothing, you're bound to hit it! Have you ever experienced a time when you felt aimless and didn't know which direction to take? Did you pause and ask God for His guidance? He desires to lead us and be our Good Shepherd throughout life's journey if we allow Him to guide us.

This Angel is no ordinary angel. Most scholars believe this to be an appearance of God in human form. The apostle John, in his gospel, reminds us that the Lord Jesus preexisted and took on human form when born of the virgin Mary. He wrote that Jesus was with God in the beginning and that through Him all things were made, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made (John 1:2-3). This Angel does not speak for God, but speaks as God, saying to Hagar,

 I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude (v. 10).

This description of who is speaking is not "this is what the Lord says"; instead, the Angel says, This is what I say! The person speaking is God Himself. Hagar knows Who is talking to her, for she named the Angel, "You are a God of seeing," and calls the well where she encounters the Lord, "Well of the Living One who sees me" (v. 13). Hagar is given vision and direction for her future. She is told to humble herself and submit to her mistress, Sarai, and raise Ishmael in Abram's home. I'm sure her heart was encouraged to learn that she would be a mother to many descendants too numerous to count (v. 10). The descendants of Hagar today are the Arabic people who intermarried with Esau (Genesis 28:9).

The Lord brought Hagar into a new revelation. First, she discovered that God (YeHoVaH, not Allah) heard her cry of distress. To remind her constantly that God hears the cry of desperation, the Lord instructed her to name her son Ishmael, which means "God hears." The Lord watched over her and witnessed all that occurred in her life—a valuable lesson for us.

We all face challenging times of waiting when our faith is tested. Are you like Abram, feeling worn down and weary during this waiting process? Are you like Hagar, seeking God's assurance and direction? Wherever you are in your faith journey and whatever difficulties you encounter, God has the next step for you, even if that step is simply to continue waiting. He has a plan and direction to guide you from where you are right now. He is the God who sees us. Keith Thomas

Taken from the complete study found in the series on Abraham. Go to All Studies, scroll down to The Faith of Abraham, and click on Study 3. Abraham’s Shortcut