Day 1 of Week 2 The Patriarchs

The God Who Sees

Today's Treasure:

"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
 
I cherish today's lesson because it is such an example of h ow God longs to have an intimate relationship with us.

Please Read Genesis 16 to retain the context, then we'll discuss the text in two parts. After reading, concentrate on Genesis 16: 1 – 6

It would be very easy to judge Sarai for suggesting adultery as a way to deal with her infertility. However, it is very important to remind ourselves that Sarai came from a different time and a different culture. It was a very common practice for women to offer their maidservant as a produce an heir for their family. Beth points out that it was often written in contract that this was the proper way to handle infertility if an heir was not produced within two years. Think about how old Sarai and Abram were at this point in their lives!!! In my opinion, Abram is the one that received the direct covenant from God that he would produce and heir. I think he should have responded by going to the LORD in prayer before jumping on Sarai's offer so quickly.

How about you? Have you ever manipulated something that you didn't get to keep?
I can distinctly remember manipulating situations in a relationship I had with a former boyfriend. I was so afraid of the relationship ending that I would find any excuse to be a part of the person's life. Fortunately, the relationship ended despite every effort I made to keep it from doing so. Now that I look at the man I am married to, I praise God that this relationship was not meant to be kept!!!
 
Carefully study the dialogue between Sarai and Abram. Does either of them ever call Hagar by her name?

No

How do they refer to her?

As Sarai's maidservant

It was easy for Sarai to use Hagar because she would not acknowledge her as a human being. I remember being told by a self defense expert that if you are ever in a situation where you cannot get away from someone trying to hurt you, you should tell the person details about your life. This makes you become human to the person and they are less likely to kill you. There is something about the human connection that makes it much more difficult to abuse another. If Sarai and Abram had looked at Hagar as a young woman who was driven far away from her family and forced to serve as a maidservant, more thought would have gone into the matter.
 
What does Proverbs 30: 21 – 23 say about Sarai and Hagar's strange arrangement?
"Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes a king, a fool who is full of food, and unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.
 
Glance over again at verses 7 – 15. By the time we catch up with Hagar, she has traveled quite a distance and is obviously on her way back to Egypt. Try to crawl into Hagar's character for a moment. If you were she, what would you have planned to do once you arrived, and what would you have told your relatives?
 
I have considered this question once before in a previous Bible study on Genesis. I have to tell you that I feel very compassionate towards Hagar in this situation. We must consider that this woman was removed from her home and taken as a slave to serve Sarai as a maidservant. She is away from her family and all that she loves, and she is forced to live in a foreign land. She is an Egyptian. I am sure she felt it a shame to carry the child of Abram because he was not of her culture. Therefore, the idea of conceiving a child with him probably felt like rape to her. < /SPAN>Once she was carrying this child, there was nothing she could do. If I were in her shoes, hatred would definitely rise up in me towards the woman that forced me into the situation. I would long to return to the land I knew and the people I belonged to.
 
Do you think the angel of the LORD in this context was God Himself or a powerful messenger sent by God? 

I believe it was God Himself due to several verses. In verse 10, the angel says, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count." ("I" being the operative word) The exchange in verse 13 seals the deal for me. "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.' "

It clearly says, "the LORD who spoke to her" and "You are the God who sees me"
 
Through what questions did God dialogue with Hagar?

"Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?"

Do you think God already knew the answer?

Yes

If so, why do you think He asked them?

You must understand that the idea of conversing with God would not be known to Hagar. She came from a polytheistic culture that our God was not a part of. He had to initiate an intimate conversation with her, allowing her to express her emotions. If He just showed up and told her what she was feeling and what she had to do about it, how do you think she would have responded to God? He cared enough to step gently into the relationship that had to form in order to build trust.

From where have you come?

It is odd that this question came up in today's study. Many of my close friends know that I met with my birth father for the first time in twenty years this past Sunday. When I found out about my cancer, I knew that I needed to settle a lot of raw emotions that were suppressed in me to fully heal my body. I prayed that God would help me settle the questions in my heart about my birth father. I never dreamed that I would actually interact with him. I just wanted God to shed light on the situation personally. However, when my birth father found out about my cancer, he contacted my mother to find out what was going on and to express concern to her. He asked if she minded if he contacted me. She told me about his phone call a nd left the ball in my court. My mom encouraged me to do whatever I needed to do to settle these emotions because she understands how suppressed emotions can affect you physically. Her heart's desire for me is to be healed. So she was willing to put her feelings about the situation aside to encourage me to heal myself. It was still very difficult for me to make that phone call because I was scared to death I would hurt my daddy. He poured his heart into giving me an amazing life, and I did not want to betray him in any way. I spoke with him before calling my birth father, but he responded to me the same way my mother did. So, the connection was made, and my birth father and I exchanged several phone conversations before meeting. Our meeting was all I could have ever asked for. It was easy and comfortable (who would have thunk it?) We went to a park and fished on a bank for two hours while we talked and shared many thoughts about the past and future. God could not have healed me in a more powerful way! We left one another20without any pressure of when the next meeting would be. We just went our separate ways knowing that forgiveness was given on both parts and love existed on both ends. As I drove down the road, returning to my family, I realized a profound thing about my life. So, where have I come from? I was born to two young people that did love one another for a moment in time. My mom tried really hard to make their marriage work, but the childhood my father suffered through made it impossible for him to understand how to give all he needed to give to make a marriage work. He was hurting so much inside that it was impossible for him to show love to those around him….even though he did love. So, my life took a different turn than the childhood we see on the sitcoms of the 50's, AND THAT IS OKAY! I see in this story that I have a mother willing to do all she had to do to give me a great life and then allow me to heal from the scars that she couldn't prevent. I have a daddy that chose to love me, even when he didn't have to and loves me enough to put that aside and encourage me to heal. Now, I have the opportunity to experience love from my birth father. It is never too late to be loved, and I now feel more loved than I ever have in my life. Add all of this to the love that I receive in my home from my husband and children, and you have one very loved child of God! So, that is where I came from, and I have nothing to be ashamed of. For years, I tried to hide that my daddy was not my biological father. I thought people would look at me differently and not think I was good enough to be a part of their lives because of my past. However, now I realize that I should only focus on "The God who sees".
 
Where are you going?

I am on my way to heaven, but not until my God is finished with me!!!
 
What name did Hagar give God?

"You are the God who sees me"

In Hebrew, El Roi. Ours, dear one, is the God who sees. Is there any particular reason why that name means something special to you right now?

God knows that I trust and believe Him. He is the only one that sees my desperation and the sincerity in my heart. Just as Abram believed God when He made covenant with Abram, I believe God's word when it says He will heal me!
 
Why might Hagar seeing God's back make sense in reference to Exodus 33: 20 – 23?

God is speaking to Moses

"Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And the LORD said, ' I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, a nd I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 'But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.' Then the LORD said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.'
 
Praise God we serve a Master that is not only compassionate, but also longs to see us!!!

In Him,
Tiffany