We are in week two of our “Names of God” series, where we intend to begin the year developing a deeper understanding of who God is. We’re doing so by understanding His different names and titles.
We started the series with a look at the name “Adonai.” It means Lord, and tells us that we can rest in the sovereignty of God. We know He is in control, and His nature gives us confidence and the ability to trust.
This week we dive into the second name of God in the series.
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We all want to be seen.
Being seen is important. It’s important to be acknowledged or noticed.
It doesn’t have to anything crazy or fancy. It can be as simple as saying “Hey, I notice you’re here, I see you. Thank you for being here. I see the things you do. You’ve been noticed and appreciated.
For this reason, every Sunday during our service, I make a point to say to those watching online that we see you, we love you and we’re thankful that you’re here. It’s why I tell those who are here in person that it’s good to see your faces. I want you to know that I see you, that you matter, and that you’re important.
I saw a video on social media of a kindergartner at a recognition, possibly a graduation. You can see the child looking around, trying to find their parent. When they couldn’t find them, they became very sad, with slumped shoulders. It was then that the parent called out, the child saw they were there and lit up. He straightened his back, and walked with a little more pep in his step because he was seen.
Have you ever been at a gathering and felt like no one noticed you? How did that feel? It can hurt not being seen. However, being noticed can have an uplifting impact. It feels good to have a place, to know you belong.
God’s Name is El-Roi: “God who sees me.”
If you’ve ever been unseen in your life before, if you feel unseen right now, I have good news for you. We’re looking at God’s name “El-Roi.” It means “God who sees me.”
Today, we’re gonna be in Genesis 16. Feel free to turn that early. If you have your physical or digital
Bibles with you this morning. We’ll look at Abram and Sarai. We know them better as Abraham and Sarah, names given to them after God established a covenant with them.
We’ll see the history of Abram and Sarai and their relationship with each other and with God. We’ll see how they respond to promises from God. In particular, we’ll see mistakes they make, how those mistakes caused some real pain, and how this all led to us knowing even more about the character and love of God as we discover his name, “El-Roi.
Promises and bumbling
In our last message, we discovered God’s name “Adonai.” We looked at Genesis 12, where God made a promise to Abram. God said He’d bless Abram, make his name great, and make his descendants into a great nation.
This sounds pretty great to me. If it were me, I’d be saying “Yes, please, thank you.”
In following God, Abram steps out on faith. Unfortunately, we also see his tendency to take things into his own hands, rather than relying on God.
For example, during a Famine, Abram took Sarai and a caravan of people to Egypt. Right before they arrive, he sort of takes Sarai aside and says something like, “Sarai, you are so beautiful. You are so fine. In fact, you’re too beautiful. You’re so beautiful that if we step into Egypt and they find out that we’re married, they’re gonna kill me. So would you mind just telling people that we’re related and not married?
Sarai agrees to this. We don’t know how begrudgingly she does, or how she feels about it. But it creates a mess. Abram was right, Pharoah took Sarai for himself because of her beauty. Pharoah’s entire household is punished by God for his failure to respect Abram and Sarai’s marriage. Even though he doesn’t know they’re married.
How can there be a great nation from them when Sarai is barren?
Somehow, God brought them through the situation. But it illustrates Abram’s tendency to take things into his own hands. And we see this tendency creating problems in other ways.
When we looked at Abram last week, we saw two things. First, Abram called God “Adonai.” But he also asked God, “Who will inherit these blessings when I pass away?” It’s great to have these promises, but where will these blessings go?
Remember that Abram and Sarai are older. Abram is 75 years old at this point, with Saray not that far behind. The other thing is that Sarai is barren and unable to have kids.
It’s a pain that many feel today. There’s a lot of hurt when you want children and can’t have them. We can only imagine the pain Abram and Sarai feel, especially because of the importance of having children in that day.
Having kids was everything at that time. It was a blessing. It was also an expectation, as carrying on the family name and inheritance were a crucial part of the culture of that day. Now, add to that the promise they would have a great nation come from them.
How do they reconcile these things? They’re awesome promises, but how is that going to happen with age and barrenness factored in? God makes this promise and ten years later, nothing has happened.
Taking matters into their own hands
Now, Sarai Abram’s wife had born him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 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 Sariah said.
Genesis 16:1-2 (NIV)
In Sarai’s mind, the clock is ticking. It’s been ten years and she still doesn’t have any children. She says that the Lord has kept her from having kids. He did this to me.
Ten years is a long time to wait on the promise of God. It’s enough time to create doubts. “Abram, are you SURE that’s what God said? Are you positive?” After three years where nothing happens, you start to wonder. Ten years later, she begins to doubt, “Maybe I’m not included in the promise of God.
Can you hear the pain in her voice?
And at this point, she starts thinking it’s time to do something about it. “I have a slave named Hagar. Why don’t you just take her, sleep with her, and get her pregnant? Maybe that’s how this works. Maybe I can build a family through her.” that way.”
Hagar’s position as a slave
Things were different in that culture than in our Western culture. Hagar is a slave. She’s property. Having kids through your property was a permissible thing at that time.
We need to know that though this may have been the law of the land, it certainly was not the law of God. Just because culture says something is okay, doesn’t make it right.
But here they take things into their own hands. The thing is, Hagar probably had no say in the matter. She never had a voice or a decision. They start making compromises, justifying things that should never be justified. And to top it all off, they don’t really think about Hagar.
Abram and Sarai mishandling their own pain led to Hagar’s pain.
So after Abram had been living in Canaan 10 years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. Hagar slept. He slept with Hagar and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
Genesis 16::3-4 (NIV)
While the text doesn’t say exactly WHY she despised her mistress, we can probably take a few guesses. She might have been angry that Sariah involved her in their mess.
We don’t know what plans Hagar had for her life, or her goals. We know that she was a slave, but she still might’ve had plans and hopes for her life. Those hopes probably didn’t involve being impregnated by an 85-year-old man.
See Hagar is carrying around this baby in her womb, but because of the social customs of the day, Sarai could claim the baby as her own once it’s been born. She’s carrying this baby for nine months that she may not be allowed to keep. Imagine the feelings that were created for her.
Abram and Sarai’s actions make things worse.
Then Sariah said to Abram, “you are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms and now she knows she is pregnant and she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Genesis 16:5 (NIV)
I can imagine the tone in her voice. For all the pain and feelings, Sarai blames Abram. And Abram puts it back on Sarai.
“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Genesis 16:6 (NIV)
Sarai told Abram that this was all his fault. She’s really not all that wrong. Abram had the personal promise from God that “I’m going to do this for you.” God had the power to do it right while respecting the sanctity of marriage, but Abram agrees to take a shortcut. He takes a passive approach and tells Sarai, “do whatever you want with her. Your slave is in your hands.”
Could you imagine If Hagar was around the corner and heard these words? Abram doesn’t refer to her as the mother of his child. He doesn’t look at her as the woman he believes this promise comes through. He doesn’t refer to her by name. She’s only “your slave.”
Things reach a breaking point for Hagar.
The whole thing is heartbreaking because of the position it puts Hagar in. What makes it more so is that Sariah, supposedly a woman of God, returns hate for hate. We don’t know what kind of mistreatment towards Hagar there was, whether it was physical or emotional, creating a toxic environment or worse. What we do know is that it was so bad that Hagar runs away.
How bad do things have to be for a pregnant woman to run away in the desert, alone and with no help? To run away into the heat of the desert, or endure the cold desert nights.
We also know that God sees Hagar. He sees that she’s alone, desperate, and depressed as she runs away. And, he steps in:
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sariah, where have you come from and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sariah,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
Genesis 16:7-8
Can we imagine Hagar’s response? “Did you hear what I just said to you? I’m running away.” He responds, “go back to her and submit.” But that’s not the end of the story.
God reveals some of His character to Hagar
The angel of the Lord added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” He also said to her, “you are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You’ll name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your misery.”
Hagar is pregnant and running away from the mistreatment of Sariah. She’s running away from the passivity of Abram, away from a people where she feels like she has no sort of a claim. She feels unseen when she’s met by the angel of the Lord.
When she tells him where she’s going, he tells her, “I’m going to increase your descendants more than you can count. You’re gonna have so many descendants, Hagar, that you’re gonna lose count of how much you have. And guess what? You’re pregnant right now and you’re having a boy and his name is Ishmael.”
Ishmael means “God hears. God heard Hagar, and the angel of Lord appeared. Many scholars believe that the angel here could be an early appearance of Jesus before he took on flesh. But whether it’s an angel or the Lord Himself, the point is that God is in it and he’s telling her you’re going to be okay.
Hagar calls God El-Roi
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.”
Genesis 16:13.
Translated this name is El-Roi, and it means “the God who sees me.”
Can you imagine Hagar’s surprise in this moment? He sees me. He sees me out running away in the desert. I’ve been so badly mistreated. I’m not truly seen by those around me, yet God sees me.
This must be music to the ears of a woman who’s probably gone most of her life feeling unseen. Furthermore, this is the first time in scripture that the angel of the Lord appears, and the angel of the Lord does not appear to a king. He doesn’t appear to a ruler. He doesn’t appear to an emperor or person of status.
Who does the angel of the Lord appear to first a single mom running away in the desert? Tell me about a God who sees.
God has always seen the unseen.
If you’ve ever had a point in your life where you’ve felt unseen, if you’re in a place where you feel unseen right now,
this name is for you.
This name of God amongst many names is the name El-Roii, the God who sees you. He sees you not not in in this creepy kind of way, but in a way that says, “I know what you’re going through and I know what you’re feeling.”
It feels like people don’t know the real you. It feels like people don’t really know what you’re going through. But I want you to know that I see you.
I’m glad we’re in this series and that we have these names. They’re all different, each showing us different attributes of God, each helping us understand him and see him in a way that we may not have seen him before. But He’s always been the God who sees, who hasn’t changed since seeing Hagar in the desert, afraid, desperate, and alone.
He saw Moses when he was an 80-year-old man with with a stutter and baggage. He saw King David before he was a king, as a little shepherd boy getting punked on by his older brothers. God saw Mary before she had any status or claim. Jesus saw the lame, the poor, the lost.
“God who sees” sees you
He saw the unseen and he sees you.
Now.
He is the God who sees. You may feel unseen in this world, but I want you to know that he sees you. You may feel unseen in your family. But I want you to know that he sees you. You may feel unseen by your spouse, but I want you to know that he sees you. You may feel unseen by your very community, but I want you to know that he sees you.
He has not missed an event. He has not taken his eyes off you. God has not changed the channel, he did not miss that sickness you went through, he did not miss that loss that you endured. He has not missed the thing that you went
through two years ago or the thing that you’re going through now.
God has seen it all. He sees you, cares for you, and loves you. You are seen by El-Roi.
What it means to know that His name is “El-Roi”
I have a couple things I’d like to talk about. There are ways that this name has hit me, and might help you as well. There are ways that knowing his name is El-Roi can be helpful for us.
Knowing that His name is El-Roi can help us confide in Him.
That one hits me. Knowing his name is El-Roi helps me confide in him. I can be raw, I can be real, I can be uncut and honest because he already sees me. He already knows what I’m going through.
How, how many times have we had prayers that we feel like we need to censor because we don’t think they’re proper enough or the things that we’re feeling or thinking are dirty or wrong? He already sees you. You don’t need to censor what you’re feeling. You can be real and honest with him.
Imagine if we go back to the story of Hagar and the angel of the Lord appeared to her and asked her, “where are you going?” And she says, “Oh, I’m just out on a midnight stroll.” And the angel asks, “are those tears?” She responds, “no, it’s just really hot. At night.”
Do we think he could have ministered to her in the same way if she wasn’t honest with what she was going through?
God does not need you to be macho. He doesn’t need you to be strong, to censor yourself, or to hold back tears in his presence. Instead, he can work with you and meet you in your honesty. Sometimes that honesty means being honest with ourselves, and allowing Him to meet us there.
I’m thankful that Hagar is a model teaches me to be honest. She didn’t cover up her mess but told God what she’s going through. I can confide in him and be real with him. I can show him the parts of myself that I’m fearful to show anybody else because I know he will meet me in the way He met Hagar. He sees me. He sees you. You can be honest with him.
Knowing that His name is El-Roi can help us seek comfort
Since he already sees me and knows me so well, he already knows what I’m enduring. I can also seek the comfort of the one who sees me.
My family may not see me the way that I hope that they would, but God does. So I’ll seek his comfort.
My spouse may not see me in the ways that I hope they would. I’m going to rest in the comfort and the understanding of God.
My addictions don’t see me, but God does. I’m going to run to him for my comfort.
My temptations can’t see me. They can only entrap me. I’m not gonna run to them for comfort, instead, I’m gonna run to the one who sees me.
Knowing his name is El-Roi might help us seek his comfort. That doesn’t mean we shut others out, or avoiding conversations that we need to have. What it does mean is that we turn to the God who sees as our primary source of comfort and rest as opposed to other things or people. God sees us, the real us. We can seek his comfort.
Knowing that His name is El-Roi can help us strive to see others
I can strive to see others because I know I am already seen. I can make sure to see that other person because I know I’m taken care of, I know that I’m already seen.
There are so many people in our world that feel unseen. There are people in our households that feel unseen. People in our communities and neighborhoods feel unseen. There are people in our church that feel unseen. Many people on the street feel unseen and have a desire to be seen.
Because I know that God sees me, and since I know that he sees them, I can decide that I’ll make sure I see them. God God might show them through me that He sees them.
God might use me, my presence, my awareness, and my generosity to show another person that he sees them and that they matter. Knowing his name is El-Roi, the God who sees, might help me strive to see other people as well. It might help me show them the God who sees them and the power of being seen.
He sees you church, his name is El-Roi, and he’s the God who sees.
A prayer to the “God Who Sees.”
To wrap up, I’d like to have us pray this prayer to El-Roi. I want to be clear that this is the same God and the only God. It’s a prayer that recognizes a facet of who He is, not a prayer to a different god.
Oh El-Roi, you are the God who sees me. When I feel ushered to the sidelines or forgotten by friends, family, and coworkers, I know you’re working behind the scenes. God, as I review over past weeks, even years, I’ve witnessed you working in miraculous ways. I know you have seen me in the past when no one else did. And so I can fully trust that you will continue to care for me even when I’ve entered the darkest valley. And yet, in today’s day and age, when we feel our most vulnerable, the most invisible, we can find hope and power in the name of God. El-Roi.
From Prayer of Praise to El-Roi by Hope Bollinger