The God Who Sees

Intro:

AG: :The 1960’s were a wild time. In California the hippies were abundant and carefree. As these hippies got older and married and had children, they produced children with some unusual names. One of the more well known was the rocker Frank Zappa. He is known as the daddy of the weird naming celebrities. He named his first child Moon Unit and started a movement of crazy names. Jermaine Jackson of the Jackson Five named his child Jermajesty. There were names like Time Warp and Spring Fever and Precious Promise. Eventually most of these people wound up in Santa Cruz California and their kids attended the same school. The teachers were used to kids with very strange names. In walks Fruit Stand. On the first day of school for kindergarten the parents were instructed to put name tags on their children when they put them on the bus. That way when the children got to school, the teachers would know their names.

. School started and this is how the day went. "Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?" they offered. And later, "Fruit Stand, how about a snack?" He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. "Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?" He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word "Anthony."

. Names are important, aren’t they?

.Names mean something, they identify us.

Why did God give us the BIble?

To reveal Himself to us

TS:

TS: In this passage, , God reveals a new name to us. El-Roi, the God who sees.

God uses the story of Sarah and Hagar to do this. Hagar is in a tough situation.

Getting ahead of God

Genesis 16:1–6 ESV

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “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. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Gen

Gen 16:

It is hard to wait.

It seems especially hard to wait on God’s perfect timing.

Her mistress, Sarah, gives her to Abraham so that she can conceive and have a child to carry on Abraham’s line.

1. Ten years is a long time when you are 75 years old. We would probably be anxious to do something.

2. Why do we blame God when things don’t go our way? We deny, “All things work together for good” ().

3. God had promised Abram that he would have a child, but not Sarai. So their plan seemed sensible.

4. It was the custom for slaves to have children for their masters. However, that doesn’t make it right.

2. She conceives and looks down on Sarah.

5. God will honor His original plan of one man for one woman for one marriage. “The Lord God . . . made the woman and brought her unto the man . . . this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” ().

6. You can’t reach a godly goal by fleshly means.

7. Sarai might have said, “God helps those who help themselves.” Faith is walking with God, not running ahead of Him.

3. Sarah gets jealous and despises her and treats her harshly.

8. “Hagar, an Egyptian” (16:1). Another thing Abram got when he sinned and was out of God’s will in Egypt.

9. A wife can give bad advice. “Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai” (16:2).

4. Hagar flees and God sees her plight

10. Who got cranky? “Her mistress was despised in her eyes” (16:4).

11. Sarai’s idea, but in the end she blamed Abram. “My wrong be upon thee” (16:5).

12. Sarai wouldn’t take responsibility, “The Lord judge between me and thee” (16:5).

13. They both have a problem and Abram won’t take responsibility, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please” (16:6)

The all seeing God

The name El Roi tells us…

1. That God sees us.

This name doesn’t just refer to a God who can see the planets in space or the bottom of the ocean; it also refers to a God who sees you and I. God is looking at you right now. He sees you every minute of every day. He knows what is going on in your life; but more importantly, He knows what life is doing to you.

The name El Roi tells us…

2. That God does not discriminate.

This name that Hagar gave to God applies to you and me. It tells us that God is the God of lowly and insignificant people too. Unlike the world, God doesn’t make a distinction between people based upon their gender, or color, etc…

The name El Roi tells us…

3. That God knows the entire plan.

Have you ever been mistreated as Hagar was? Have you been blamed for something that was someone else’s fault? Have you ever been used by someone?

If so, you need to get to know God as El Roi.

When we are treated unfairly we are tempted to ask, “Where is God? Does the powerful and righteous God of the Bible really care about me? Doesn’t He see the terrible things that happen to me?”

Yes, He does. He knows about all the bad things that have ever happened to you and me.

He knows about them not because some angel told Him but because He saw it all.

We can only get over the hurts of life in which we have been used or abused by realizing that God saw it all.

We are 1st introduced to God as El Roi when He tells Hagar through His angel to return to Sarah and be submissive to her.

Sometimes God allows us to go through tough situations not to get us out of something; but to get us into something.

Maybe God allows something bad to happen to you to get you in Church, into Bible study, or in fellowship with Him.

Whatever it is that you are going through;

God sees

God cares

God has good reason for allowing it to happen.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God knows everything, and He knows the entire plan for your life.

God knows everything, and He knows the entire plan for your life.

Conclusion:

Don’t get ahead of GOd

When you are mistreated or are going through a bad situation, remember that God knows all and is watching over you.