My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
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| GOD WHO SEES |
| Genesis 16:13 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.” |
| Two people are seeing in this verse! But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s think about who is speaking, and why this person is speaking this way. This lady’s name is Hagar, an Egyptian servant of Sarai, Abrams wife. Hagar, an Egyptian slave that Sarai gave to Abram to lie with, to be a surrogate mother for Sarai. Hagar had been Sarai’s slave for a number of years, and had witnessed the faith of both Abram and Sarai. She was a lady that had possibly been yanked from her home, poverty stricken slave stock, and now travelling with a group where the leader had heard from a “new” God. Her mistress gave her to her husband for procreation. Her mistress wanted a child by hook or crook, even though the word was out that this “new” God was going to provide a child for Sarai. But her mistress couldn’t wait, and Hagar eventually conceived Abram’s child, whom Sarai could take for her own. But during the pregnancy, her mistress seemed to be kinda touchy. A bit too sensitive? It turns out that in the course of this experience, Hagar may have looked on Sarai “with contempt”. Was Hagar continually and in an ever increasing way, looking down on Sarai? Was she boasting over Sarai, walking through the camp, shaming Sarai, and speaking of how great she was? I don’t see that in the text. The text states that Sarai complained to Abram thus. ….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. Hagar may have been contempible towards Sarai, but might Sarai have been a bit sensitive to the success of Hagar in providing the child she wanted? Might Sarai be experiencing a bit of jealousy, envy, frustration, and even fear in her reactions to the success of this venture to provide her a child? I will let the reader consider, but in every relationship conflict, there are two sides to the story. Nevertheless, Sarai couldn’t handle this, and went to Abram. Abram gave Sarai the right to “do what you want”. It isn’t until chapter 21 that Sarah kicks her out, sending her away. At this time, Sarai simply deals harshly. She afflicts Hagar, the mother of her son. It is a sad commentary on where envy will take a person. Envy is the emotion that rises up in each of us as we look at someone or some situation, and want what they have. Sarai wanted to have a child. Hagar was having Abram’s child. Sarai may have experienced some contempt from Hagar, but I suggest that whatever wrong Hagar may have done, this envy resident in Sarai multiplied the offence, and fed Sarai’s boiling heart to the point she afflicted Hagar, to the point where Hagar left the encampment, fleeing from Sarai. Remember, we are in the middle of a desert during this conflict. Hagar left security, safety(?) and sustenance for the barren desert. The affliction must have been severe! So given that Hagar is running from a woman who is associated with the Living God, and is afflicting her in some severe manner, it is amazing that at the appearance of the angel of the Lord, she simply answered His questions, and did as He said! I can imagine some may think Hagar would have some questions for God. That Hagar may want to demand some answers, as our moderns sometimes say. How dare that believer Sarai treat me so roughly. How dare that believer Abram abdicate his leadership over me? How dare all these bad things happen to me through believers. But for Hagar, an Egyptian slave that was treated unfairly by a Hebrew “believer”, she simply answers the Lord’s questions! Oh – and she names God! She named Him the “God Who Sees”, the God who saw Hagar, who looked after her. Hagar had finally saw the God who saw her, who protected her, who looked out for her. A great lesson from this passage is that when we see the Lord, truly see the protective hand of God in our lives, conflicts with those on earth become secondary. God told Hagar to go back to Sarai, to go back to the affliction even to submit to Sarai. In the midst of envy and contempt, God can interrupt the conflict, and give confidence to the one who knows God is watching to go back to a bad situation. For now she knows who is looking out for her, watching over her! It is wonderful to know that our God is the God Who Sees! |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
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