El Roi 

The background passage: 

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. 

Gen 16:1–6.

The key passage: 

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. 

‭‭Gen ‭16:7-14‬ ‭

El Roi (El-ROy):  

The God who sees (אֵל רֳאִי)

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.”  ESV

13 And she calleth the name of Jehovah who is speaking unto her, ‘Thou art, O God, my beholder (the one who sees);’ for she said, ‘Even here have I looked behind my beholder?’ YLT

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.” NIV

13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” NLT

Who are the main characters?  What has happened? 

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. 

Gen 16:1–6.

Who are the main characters we see in this passage 16:1-6?

• Sarai - "Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children" (16:1)

• Abram - (16:1)

• Hagar - "She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar" (16:2)

What was the root of the problem or conflict in this passage?

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. 

• 1) The Lord prevented her from bearing children

• 2) Go in to my servant; so that she will have children through her servant

• 3) Abram listened to this advice

Why was it such a big deal, besides it normally being a big deal, for Sarai specifically to not be able to have children? 

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  Genesis 12:1-3

Abram is 75 years old when God Promised him "I will make of you a great nation", and "in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  Sarai was ten years younger, so at 65 years old.  They have been married for likely over 50 years, so clearly she was barren.  And now ten years had passed since God's original promise.  (TIMELINE)  

What were they to do?   What was the root of their problem?  How did Sarai respond to God's delay in providing a child? 

Sarai mistook God's delay as denial.  

Don't we all have this tendency sometimes when God doesn't answer immediately in our timing?  Don't we all have this tendency sometimes to  take matters into our own hands.  Although God had already promised her that He would provide for them bountiful offspring, since she couldn't understand waht God was doing, whe trusted in her own understanding.  (What would God's Word tell us to do when God doesn't make sense Pr 3:5, 6)

God's delays 

are not necessarily 

God's denials

Just because He hasn't, doesn't mean He won't. 

And what happened after she put her own plan into action?  

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. Gen 16:4–6.

How did Sarai respond when here own plan of action came through?  (three responses)

1) Hagar looked with contempt on her mistress when she got pregnant.  She despised her.  Why?

2) She blame-shifted.  She blamed her husband and she blamed her servant.  Why?

3) She dealt harshly with Hagar.  Why?

And all of this conflict arose from the root issue of what? 

Who Called God ‘El Roi’ in the Bible and Why?

Who was this person who called God El Roi?  

• Where did the Lord find her?  Who was she with?  What was she doing?  How do you think she was feeling?  What was her circumstance?

The Hebrew word for "found" (מָצָא (mā-tṣāʾ) refers to “finding” someone or something that is lost or misplaced (in the Septuagint Gr OT = heurisko).  Undoubtedly Hagar must have felt both "lost" and "misplaced".  Alone in a barren desert wilderness, pregnant with a child because of another person's willful desire...  

but she was not alone and the "Angel" found her.  This is where the Lord often finds many of us - alone and in the wilderness, or alone and misplaced. But rest assured He will find you. And He knows all about our past as well as our future.

Have you ever felt as if you're a bit misplaced in your life?  In certain seasons, you may not be in the place/position you imagined you should be in.  What do you think Hagar felt or experienced when God found her?  

What is the difference between knowing that God is the "God who sees" because He is omniscient and omnipresent verses how Hagar called out to God as the "God who sees me"?

If God is all knowing and present everywhere, and if God is El Roi, why do you think the Lord asks her where has she come from and where she was going?   

Read slowly through ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭16:7-14 again.   Even though He asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going and He already knew the answers... DISCSUSS:  What does this tell us about El Roi, "God who sees me"?  Think about all the qualities this shows us about God... 

Even though He asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going, God already knew the answers.  

• She may have felt alone and invisible and in the wrong place in life, but God wanted her to know... He sees her. 

• God wanted to communicate with her, He is a good listener

• He still cared to show her personal comfort in her affliction. (Ge 16:8)

• God gave her guidance, not just an easy way out, but a way to honor Him in her life (Ge 16:9)

God wants me to know... He sees me

God is a good listener.  He listens to my anguish

God is my comfort in affliction

God leads me with His promises

The meaning of Hagar's name in Hebrew is "flight".

When she encountered her difficult circumstance her response was not fight, but flight.  She ran away from Sarai, but God allowed her to run in to God.  

Prov 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

• Towers are used as a symbol for protection and provision

In everyone's life, basic needs include protection and provisions.  You need a way to have a shelter over your head, a job that provides an income, an income that can provide food and clothing...  From another perpsective, you may need protection from stress and anxiety as you worry about provision in any area of your life.

What do you first run to or what are you primarily relying upon for protection and provision? 

There may be things so deeply hidden inside me, things that I am so hurt from that I can't even talk about openly with others, but the Lord El Roi, is the God who sees me, and covers me.

Quotes from classmates:

The dangers of manipulating situations… if a person focus too much on the problem, they can run into more temptations to manipulate and take things into their hands. One may even think that God wants me to do this or I’m doing this for God. We have to remember that God doesn’t need our help but that we r suppose to be instruments of God to be directed by God.

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It’s really easy to read Sarai objectively, as a person on a piece of paper.  But if I imagine her life, being married to Abram whose a big name in all the land, they have a promise from God, and for all of these years she is barren.   And I think a lot of her actions are a result of pain.  

And I think that happens to a lot of people today too right?  And what you’re talking about is the eye. And your eyes are on your pain.  You’re acting out of your response to deep deep pain from feeling forsaken by God, and society looking down on you, and your own self-doubt.  All of that is deep pain. And what we read about is Sarai’s reaction to her pain. 

And then, sometimes you're Hagar.  Sometimes you're Sarai, sometimes you're Hagar. Sometimes you could be suffering as a result of someone else’s pain.  You can be the taker of someone else’s reaction to pain.  And that’s this cycle of sin in our life.  And we can’t keep swirling around in that.  You have to take your eyes off of that.  

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Who is described below?

(7) The LORD said, "I have surely SEEN (ra'ah, this is the root word of roi) the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters for I AM AWARE (Hebrew means "intimately acquainted with) of their sufferings. Exodus 3:7

Spend time to meditate on these promises of El Roi, God who sees, and that His name (as we learn His names) would be your strong tower:

Matthew 6:25-34 (read on your bible)  25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?...  31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 10:29-31.  29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Psalm 139:1-6  1  O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 

Psalm 34:15  The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy;  

And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; 

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 71:7 I have become a marvel to many, 

For You are my strong refuge.

Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord 

Than to trust in man.

Let's end each of our devotional classes with a time of open prayer.  Please ask the Holy Spirit to give you a short prayer of who El Roi, "God who sees me" is after this study.  Refer to God in your prayer as "El Roi", intentionally call Him "El Roi" throughout your prayer.  Allow your prayers to be a few sentences long.