Thank you for taking the time to read the message this week. I hope that everyone is having a very good week.
Over the last three weeks or so, we've been engaged in a sermon series on the names and titles for God found in the Old Testament. Today, I want to focus on a title for God that, as far as I know, is only found once in the Bible. In Genesis 16:13, Hagar refers to God as El Roi. That means "The God who sees me." Let's look into the context of this, and then see how this name for God applies to us today.
We have to start with a little background. God had called Abraham out of Ur and said that He would make of him a great nation. God promised that Abraham and his wife Sarah would have a son. However, this didn't happen right away. Abraham and Sarah started to try and do things apart from the way that God had planned it, and problems arose. They always do when we try to do things our way and not God's way.
When Sarah didn't get pregnant, she gave her slave Hagar to Abraham in order that Hagar might have a son and that child would be the child that God had promised. Hagar became pregnant, and this angered Sarah who then began to seriously mistreat Hagar. Hagar had enough and ran away.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar and told her to go back to Sarah. Hagar was promised that her child would be a son, and she was to name him Ishmael. Hagar was told that Ishmael would have many descendants.
When Hagar heard this message she said, "You are the God who sees me." "I have now seen the One who sees me." She went back to Sarah. However, down the road, things got bad again. After Isaac was born, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. But, God kept His promise. The descendants of Ishmael have been numerous. The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael.
There is something I need to say at this point. There is a lot that is messed up in what happened in this story. First of all, Abraham and Sarah should have had faith in God and not involved Hagar in the process. What is the worst thing is that a person was treated like Hagar was. Slavery is in the Bible, but slavery is wrong. Just because people who are in the Bible had slaves doesn't justify it in any way.
Jesus gave us the Golden Rule which definitely ends slavery if put into practice. Do unto others as you would have done to you. If you wouldn't want to be enslaved and mistreated, don't enslave and mistreat others. Also, Paul said in I Timothy 1:10 that those who trade in slaves will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
With that said, Hagar gave a name to God that is very important. She recognized that the God of the Universe saw her and was concerned about her. Hagar was a slave and woman. In that culture, she was at the bottom rung of the ladder. God loved her and cared about her. And she recognized that.
What can we get out of this story as 21st Century people? Our God sees us. When we are going through trials, struggles and bad times, we can know that the Lord sees what is happening. Psalm 121:8 says that the Lord will watch over our coming and going now and forever. He cares about us. Jesus said that He will never leave us, and He will never forsake. He is with us no matter what we are going through. We can go to Him and ask Him to strengthen us and help us. One day, we will be with Him forever.
I think that the most important thing that we can take away from this name for God given by Hagar is that God cares about and loves everyone. There are a lot of people in this world that the world seems to have forgotten. The poor, those of certain ethnic groups and a whole host of others are seemingly just tossed aside by the oppressive forces of this world. But, God sees and cares for all. He loves everyone. He wants justice for all, and the Lord expects His followers to work for justice in this world.
One of the reasons that the religious leaders didn't like Jesus was due to the fact that He said whosoever comes to Me I won't cast out. He cared about the marginalized and those that others in society looked down upon.
Jesus loves and cares about everyone. He made that clear in the story about the rich man and Lazarus. Everyone who heard the story thought surely the rich man would go to heaven because they believed that all that wealth was a sign of God's blessing. No. Jesus said that Lazarus was the one who went to Heaven. He was homeless and sick, but his heart was right with God. Jesus saw him. And, Jesus made sure that he had an eternal reward and eternal comfort. The world ignored Lazarus and didn't see him, but Jesus didn't.
I want to close by saying that we all need to do better about seeing people. Jesus loves everyone, and we need to do that too. I want to say to you that even though others have made you feel like nothing or that you don't matter, you matter greatly to the Lord Jesus. He loves you with an everlasting love. Amen.
Prayer Requests
I went to the doctor this week, and I am encouraged more about my health. She put me on a new medicine that is really helping the arthritis in my spine and the medicine for my stomach is helping as well. I thank the Lord I am doing better. Please keep praying for me. Thank you.
Please keep praying for an end to the conflicts taking place around the world. Pray for peace in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Sudan.
Pray for those in California that have been harmed by all the rain. Pray that they will get the help that they need to recover.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Pakistan and China. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Also, pray for Christians that are facing persecution around the world. Pray that the Lord will be with them in a special way.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.
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