2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
I never forget what a blessing from the Lord each one of you is. Recently, some new people have begun receiving these messages from me, and I want you all to know how much I appreciate your interest in my service to the Lord. We all have reason to be grateful for the bountiful generosity with which our Lord blesses us. A big part of that is His presence in our lives and willingness to reveal His attributes to us. Today we will look at citations in which God’s name appears as El Roi, “The God Who Sees.”
GN 16 is the story of Hagar and Ishmael. For many years, Abram who loved his wife, Sarai, had been unable to have a baby with her. I’m sure Abram remembered God’s promise to grant him a child and was wondering about that. GN 15:1-5, “After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.’ But Abram answered, ‘Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.’ Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: ‘This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.’ The Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.’”
Sarai had an Egyptian slave girl and came up with an idea which she put to her husband. GN 16: 2, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave girl? Perhaps she can have a child for me.’ Abram agreed to this.” We all know that Abram slept with Hagar and conceived a baby. As Hagar’s pregnancy proceeded, her relationship with Sarai became strained. Hagar became proud and despised Sarai (4). Sarai blamed Abram for this and said (5), “May the Lord judge which of us is right, you or me!” Abram’s answer was to tell Sarai to do with Hagar what she wanted. Sarai treated Hagar cruelly, and Hagar finally decided to run away. GN 16: 7-12, “The Angel of the Lord met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur and said,’ Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She answered, ‘I am running away from my mistress.’ He said, ‘God back to her and be her slave.’ Then He said, ‘I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them. You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cry of distress. But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives.’” Hagar asked herself if she had really seen God and lived to tell about it. So, she called the Lord Who had spoken to her, El Roi, “The God Who Sees.” God’s prophecy about the birth of Ishmael came true.
Why “The God Who Sees?” The answer to that question lies in God’s revelation here of His omniscience. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a person on the ground has a very limited and different perspective of the world around him than one observing from a blimp 1500 feet off the ground. That simple illustration only hints at the difference between human perspective and God’s. The limitations of our minds make it necessary for us to measure our lives in units of time. God’s concept of this is infinite [2 PET 3: 8]. The Lord inspired the Psalmist to write these words from PS 139: 1-12: “Lord, You have examined me and You know me. You know everything I do; from far away You understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting; You know all my actions. Even before I speak, You already know what I will say. You are all around me on every side; You protect me with Your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. Where could I go to escape from You? Where could I get away from Your presence? If I went up to heaven, You would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, You would be there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, You would be there to lead me, You would be there to help me. I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, but even darkness is not dark for You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.”
It is because of God’s being El Roi, that we can trust both His own prophecies, and those of his true prophets. We know that Hagar’s descendants through Ishmael became the Arabs. In Hebrew, the name Ishmael means “God hears,” referring to him being the result of God hearing Hagar’s cries of distress. However, the name Ishmael, also means “wanderer.” Arabs have been known for their nomadic lifestyle as well. Because of His omniscience, we can count on the fact that God sees far beyond anything a human can see, far into our future. 2 THESS 1: 5-10 reflects this ability on His part. Yet, He loves us enough to share its message about the Judgment at Christ’s coming with us. “All of this proves that God’s judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of His Kingdom for which you are suffering. God will do what is right: He will bring suffering on those who make you suffer, and He will give relief to you who suffer and to us as well. He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with His mighty angels, with a flaming fire, to punish those who reject God and who do not obey Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the lord and from His glorious might, when He comes on that Day to receive glory from all His people and honor from all who believe. You too will be among them, because you have believed the message that we told you.” David wrote about this in PS 9: 10, “Those who know You, Lord, will trust You; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You.” Wow! That is comforting to know!
PRAYER: O Lord, You inspired Isaiah in IS 55: 8-9 to convey Your words, “My thoughts are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heaven are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.” Because of Your righteousness and thirst for justice, we don’t have to worry that by placing our trust in You, we have placed ourselves in harm’s way. When we acknowledge Your superior ability to see beyond human perspective, we can trust that Your picture is accurate and in our best interests, even though we can’t see it like You can. Your faithfulness and history of promise-keeping, comforts us when You ask us to take You at Your word. By trusting and obeying You, we can give You a yardstick for measuring the depth of our love for You. We can also be reassured that Your wisdom is something upon which we can rely. You bless us every day by Your presence, guidance, and love in our lives. We dedicate ourselves to continuing to make You the Lord of our lives. We offer You our adoration, worship, love, honor, glory, trust, obedience, praise and utmost thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord leads me to begin discussing the citations in which He is known as El Shaddai, “The All-Sufficient One.” As we gain life’s experience, we are likely to gain some wisdom. Part of the wisdom I have gotten is a growing knowledge of my own limitations. Had it not been for the love of the Lord firmly entrenched in my life, my limitations would half scare me to death. But, that fright does not have to be. We are limited in our perspective, but each one of us with faith has the very palpable presence of our Abba in our lives. Our Abba wants to guide, protect, provide for, defend, and love us individually and corporately. He wants us to seek Him out when we are troubled and reminds us with Scriptures, like PS 9: 10 above, that He will never abandon us in our times of suffering. To have that kind of love in our lives when we don’t deserve it means we are blessed abundantly. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn