The God Who Sees
Gen. 16
4-26-09
Intro
As some of you know, I conduct mediations for people who are in conflict. Wherever you find people you find conflict. Have you noticed that? Some of the mediations I conduct are for family conflict. It’s amazing the messes people get themselves into. Sometimes the husband or wife has had an affair. Years of relationship get destroyed like a hurricane hitting New Orleans. The trust that was built up over ten or fifteen years is swept away by a foolish indulgence. At other times I am talking to couples my age who have slowly lost contact with the other person. Years of inconsiderate behavior have eaten away the marriage like termites destroying a home. There they sit in a room hardly able to speak to one another. And where will they go from there? Those are sad encounters. I recently conducted mediation for a very young couple in their 20s. They have a child in common. The father is now living with another woman who has several children. The mother is less than 25 years old and has three children by three different men. Can you imagine the complexity of problems in this young woman’s life? As I talked with her, I thought there is only one answer for you. You need God. In the secular context I was in, I could not address the problem that directly. I began asking her if she had an emotional support system. I began probing into her background looking for something to get a hold on. As the conversation continued, she shared how she had grown up in church. So I pointed her in that direction and encouraged to go back to the church of her youth. It was a sound church.
Does God have an answer for that young lady? Absolutely, He is the answer.
Today we want to look at a sticky family conflict. The man has conceived a child with a woman and I’m not talking about his wife. The pregnant woman is feeling used and abused. There is a lot of pain going on in the family.
Turn with me to Gen. 16:1-6.
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.’
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." 6 ‘Your servant is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’ Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.”
This marks the beginning of the family problem.
I. Abraham and Sarah are making a big mistake.
Most of you know some of the background behind this story. God has promised Abraham and Sarah a son. I can imagine that when that word first came to them they were elated. Here’s the word God gave Abraham. Gen 12:2-3 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." What an awesome promise! Their greatest pain was the barrenness. God was going to take care of that problem and them much, much more. Have you ever had God speak a promise to you and for weeks you’re walking on air in the excitement of it? I’m sure Abraham and Sarah were quite excited when God spoke that promise to them.
Now here’s the downer. Ten years later, it hasn’t happened. Abraham is 85 years old. Instead of the circumstances getting better, they get worse every year. The likelihood of conception is getting less, not more, with every year that passes. By the time our text opens in Genesis 16 we’ve got a couple of pretty discouraged pilgrims. I can see Abraham and Sarah trying to figure out what’s going on. Did we or did we not hear the Lord? Abraham had the advantage of actually receiving the revelation. So Sarah has to rely upon his account of what the Lord said.
One of the greatest tests of our faith comes when God says trust Me; we do that for awhile; but circumstances seem to get worse instead of better. I’ve got some of that going on in my life right now. When you’re going through it (as some of you very well know) it’s much different that just theorizing about it. There was tremendous pressure on Sarah to make something happen—address the problem—don’t play like it’s not there. Are you with me? So Sarah works up a plan. Abraham’s faith is wobbly as well and he goes along with the idea.
There are a couple of serious problems with this idea. First, it’s their idea—not God’s. They are not hearing from the Lord. They are not even asking for guidance. They are simply trying to address a problem that seems to need addressing. I don’t know about you, but I can so identify with Sarah. I am a doer. At times I find myself saying, “Do something if you do it wrong.” Doing it wrong was exactly what Abraham and Sarah do here. Is there anything in your life that you need to trust the Lord with but the temptation is to do something if you do it wrong? The second problem with this plan is that it callously uses another person. Hagar is Sarah’s servant. What Sarah suggests here is commonly accepted in the culture. How many know that just because everybody is doing does not make it right? The standard is not—is it socially acceptable. The standard is—is it God’s will. Be careful when your plan is to use people to fulfill your own desires. That’s a good sign a mistake is about to be made. One concept that every minister needs to grasp is this: Don’t use people to get the task done; use the task to get the people done. People are God’s eternal program.
II. Poor Hagar is being used and abused.
In that culture she had no choice but to do as she was told. She was a victim; this sin was not her fault. However, once she conceives then she develops a problem with pride. Gen. 16:4 says, “When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” The Hebrew word translated “despise” is a strong word. It is sometimes translated curse. Hagar has an attitude toward Sarah and Sarah is not going to tolerate it. We have to understand this in cultural context. Sarah was Hagar’s boss whether she was a good boss or not.
It’s interesting how passive Abraham is in all this. He’s not providing much leadership in the family. I don’t know if he’s feeling spiritually whipped because the word he told them he heard from the Lord is not coming to pass after ten years. Maybe his confidence has been shaken by that. Sarah has a plan to produce a seed and Abraham just goes along. Now Sarah’s mad at Hagar and does Abraham take charge and resolve the matter. No, he just tells Sarah to handle it anyway she wants to. We know Sarah doesn’t handle it right because Gen. 16:6 says, “Then Sarai mistreated Hagar.” The authority structure is in a state of confusion. Sarah is abusing her authority over Hagar. Hagar is resenting Sarah’s authority over her. Abraham is providing very little leadership in the whole situation. At this point we’ve got a royal mess in the home. In our society it’s politically correct to ignore authority structure or even despise authority. But politically correct does not equate to biblically correct. The whole problem with evil began with two violations in Lucifer: pride and rebellion.
It’s easy to understand why Hagar left. That had to be a miserable situation for her. But flight was not the answer for Hagar. In fact, we will see in the next verses that God tells her to go back and submit to that unreasonable boss, Sarah.
Gen 16:7-16 “The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?""I’m running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:"You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."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." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.”
Hagar has run away from home. She feels alone. She feels rejected. She is disoriented. She is an Egyptian and she is going to Egypt—probably hoping to find relatives there.
III. God graciously intervenes.
Look at the grace of God in all this.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you there’s no grace in the Old Testament. It flows all through the history of man and the history of Israel. God showed grace to Adam and Eve after they sinned and clothed them with animal skins. It was actually grace that kept them from the tree of life after their sin. Eternal life is not just about living forever. Eternal life is about living in communion with God free of sin forever. Noah found grace with God or we wouldn’t be here today.
Now there is Hagar frustrated, hurt, exhausted, and disoriented. Abraham has made serious mistakes. Sarah has blown it. Hagar has not responded right either. So what does God do with this messed up people? He graciously steps into their lives and redeems the situation.
Verse 7 says, “The angel of the LORD found Hagar.” She didn’t find the Lord; the Lord found her. He sought her out. God has a wonderful way of finding hurting people. Even when they are making lots of mistakes, God finds them and speaks to them.
Bible scholars identify “The angel of the Lord” as the pre-incarnate Son of God. If you look at the passage closely the angel speaks with the authority of and Hagar is responding to Him as God.
Hagar’s not doing pious, religious things. There’s no indication that she’s praying. She’s just running from a bad situation. Suddenly God shows up in her life. He begins with a couple of questions. "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” Have you ever had God ask you questions? Jesus used questions to get people to thinking. Where are you going, Hagar? She doesn’t have a good answer to that question. Her life is in such chaos, she really doesn’t know. She may be on a road that leads to Egypt; but what’s she going to do even if she gets there? Where have you come from? That’s the only thing on her mind. I’m running from my problems. I’m getting as far from Sarah as I can. It’s not enough to just be running from something. We need to be going somewhere. Jonah was running from God when he should have been going to Nineveh. Elijah was running from Jezebel when he needed to be going to Horeb, the mountain of God. Very seldom is running from something the answer. Most often wherever you get, the problem will find you.
The Lord does two things for Hagar in this passage: He instructs her and He encourages her.
(1) The instruction is to stop running. The instruction is to turn around. Verse 9, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” I’m pretty sure that was not what Hagar wanted to hear. We get a hint that it’s headed that direction when the Lord refers to her as "Hagar, servant of Sarai.” Hagar, take the place I have given you. It doesn’t seem fair. People who ought to know better have not treated you right. Sarah hasn’t treated you right. I know all that. But can you trust Me enough to go back and do the right thing? The Lord didn’t just tell her to go back. He added, “and submit to her.” That would be a hard pill to swallow in that situation. The good news is Hagar obeys. And God strengthens her by making some promises.
(2) He encourages her by telling her what He will do for her. “The angel added, ‘I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.’” She’s pregnant with one child and God says her descendants will be too numerous to count. Verse 11, “...and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. Somebody needs to hear those lasts words “... for the LORD has heard of your misery.” Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Hebrews 13:5 tells us that will never happen to a Christian. But it can feel like it at times. The Psalmist asked God in Ps 44, “...Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. 24 Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?” I think Hagar felt about as alone as anybody could feel. He had no contact with her blood relatives. Her whole world had revolved around her relationship with Sarah and Abraham. Now that was cut off. Imagine the pain this woman felt. But now the Lord tells her He has heard her misery. The name Ishmael is a combination of two Hebrew words: shama` (shaw-mah’) which means “to hear” and el which refers to God. Ishmael means “God hears.” So Hagar, every time you say that boy’s name you’re reminded of the goodness and mercy of God. God heard your misery. God intervened in your behalf. Yes, you were mistreated by Abraham and Sarah. It’s bad enough to be mistreated by the ungodly; but Abraham and Sarah should have known better. They should have been examples of love and kindness. Hagar, I see the mistreatment—but let me tell you something—I’m going to make it up to you in a big way. When we read verse 12 through our culture we don’t take that as too positive of a word. Your sons going to be a “...wild donkey of a man.” I certainly would want to give that word to a new set of parents. But I don’t think it sounded that negative to Hagar. In that culture a donkey was a valuable animal. It may have even been admired for its independence. I think in Hagar’s ears it meant something like this, “Your son will be like a mountain man, rugged and independent.” And we see the characteristics described here in Ishmael’s descendants today. The Arabian nations are rugged, independent and able to live in the harsh lands of Arabia. Actually, we see some of this quality in Hagar herself.
Now think about the grace in all this. Sarah has sinned. Abraham has missed it big time. The pregnancy is a big mistake. But God steps in and redeems the situation. He pronounces a blessing on Ishmael. God overall plan is not altered. He will accomplish what He set out to do regardless of the mess Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar have made of things. The Messianic covenant will come through Isaac, not Ishmael. But God has a blessing for Ishmael.
In these events,
IV. Hagar gets an awesome revelation of God.
Here in the middle of her greatest pain—all her confusion—God shows up. And she experiences God like never before. I got to tell you from experience, God can show up at some of the most amazing times in life. Shortly after the greatest blunder of my life, God showed up and revealed Himself to me like never before.
Look at poor Hagar here. She has hit bottom. Nothing seems to be going right. She really doesn’t know what to do. If you’ve been a slave all your life and told every move to make, it’s real hard to make decisions.
Let the significance of Hagar’s words in verse 13 soak in, “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.’” She didn’t think anyone knew or cared what she was going through. She probably thought Abraham and Sarah cared about her. But after what she had just gone through she didn’t believe that anymore. Does anybody care what I’m going through? The Lord cared enough to meet with her and speak to her. That’s when she got this revelation of God: ‘You are the God who sees me.’ Turn to your neighbor and remind that person “God sees you.”
In Gen. 21 Hagar goes through another episode where God reveals Himself to her. We don’t have time to explore that this morning. It’s my prayer that you will be able to say today, of the Lord, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ He sees your pain. He is a High Priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. No matter what mistakes have been made, He can intervene and leave a blessing. This is an amazing story of the grace of God. This family had messed things up royally. But God came down to meet with them and help them anyway.
Pray
For FOOTNOTES/SOURCES go to WWW.GATEWAYNIXA.ORG
Richard Tow
Gateway Foursquare Church
Nixa, Missouri
