The Names of God- El Roi
The Names of God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
Introduction:
We have been studying the fascinating topic of the Names of God.
This is how God chooses to reveal Himself in the Bible.
These names separated the one true God from the other false God of the Babylonians and other.
For the fact is that the name “EL” formed the basic components for “god” with the Babylonia and Arabia, as well as Israel.
So to distinguish those false gods form true God, there are other parts of His name that we study.
We know God as the Elohim.
The all powerful Creator Godhead, as seen in the first book of the Bible.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
We also saw that God is the El Elyon.
He is the all powerful God that is the most high God.
This is one of the areas that separates the God of the Bible from the false gods of the Egyptians and others.
Because only the God of the Bible is known as the God, The Most High.
And because He is the Most High God, there is no other that is above Him.
He is the all powerful one, He is the Sovereign One, He is the Preeminent One.
He is the Most High God that has the power to defeat our spiritual enemies and their tactics.
We saw that He is the Adonai.
He is the Lord; he is the owner, He is the Master.
Allow me for just a moment develop something for you in relation to this.
Jesus Christ is Lord, that is not something that we “make” Him, that is something we submit to.
Because the reality is whether someone submits to it or not, that has no bearing on the fact that Jesus is “Adonai”, Master or Lord.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
“Confess” is “ὁμολογέω” and means “agree, acknowledge, profess”.
The word “if” there is verse 9 is, in the Greek, a Third Class Condition.
Which according to Daniel Wallace is the is the condition of contingency, if A happens, the B will take place.
If you confess and believe (A), then salvation (B) will take place.
If you profess, agree, or acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved.
The fact that Jesus is “Adonai”, “Master”, or “Lord” cannot be overlooked in salvation.
If someone has ever trusted Christ, there will be a submission to the authority that He has in their lives.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Part and parcel of that acknowledgment is the acknowledgment and submission to His Lordship.
Notice what Paul said:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
When someone submits to the Lord Jesus there will not be the same relationship to sin that they had prior to that.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Of. course, Jesus is giving the cost of discipleship, of following Christ.
Not that Christ is advocating hating your family, but that your family is not of a concern to you in compared to Christ; that is the cost of discipleship and evidence of a submission to Adonai.
Jesus says to count the cost.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
And here is the point:
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Before you come to Christ, consider the cost.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And again, all of these things are part of submitting to the Lordship of Christ.
He is Adonai; He is Master, Owner, Lord.
The next name that we want to consider is the name “El Roi”.
I. The Meaning of El Roi
I. The Meaning of El Roi
As in the other names of God, this name is comprised of a compound Hebrew name.
We have already seen “El” which speaks of God’s power and authority.
The second part of the name was given by a young girl names Hagar, and we will consider her later.
But just to mention it to you, we see this name first appearing:
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
This name is only used of God once in the entire OT.
The second part of the name is “Roi” which means, “who sees”.
So, when you put those two parts together, this name for God is the name that means, “The all powerful God who sees”.
But it just does not refer to God who can see the far-off planets in space or the fascinating varieties of life in the depths of the sea.
And while all of those things are true, it denotes the all powerful, almighty God that see you and me.
Notice what Job says in regard to the idea of this name:
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
In this passage one of Job’s friends is arguing about some comments that Job has made; namely that God is unjust in what God has done.
For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.
The injustices of God is one of the major themes in Job’s speeches.
Job felt like that he was being treated like a sinner, and yet God would not “come to court” and tell Job what he had done wrong.
Elihu presented three arguments that prove that there is no injustice with God.
First, if God is unjust, then He is not God.
Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
Elihu got part of the argument correct, even though this is not germane to our lesson I did want to mention this.
For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
The impression that is given by Elihu is that God is punishing Job for some sin he has committed and, of course, we know from the first chapter, that is not the case.
The part that Elihu got right, though, is the part where he talks about the fact that it is impossible for God to commit wickedness or else He would not be God.
That is the first argument concerning God being unjust.
Abraham also states:
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
If God is truly God, then He is perfect; and if He is perfect, then He can do not wrong.
An unjust God would be as unthinkable as a square circle or a round triangle.
Elihu’s second argument is that if God were unjust, there could be no government on earth.
If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words.
Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?
Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?
How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
Government was established by God; so if moral man can execute justice on earth, why can’t a holy and sovereign God execute justice from heaven?
He can dethrone kings and nobles, and He shows no partiality.
If the God who rules the world were unjust, there could be no order or harmony and everything would fall apart.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Elihu’s third argument, and this brings us to the point of this name of God.
If God were unjust, then He must not see what is going on in the world.
But Elihu states:
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
God is omniscient and sees all things.
And the point of this name and the argument of Scripture is that God see every step that we take, and there is no place that we can hide from Him.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Job wanted God to meet in a court so that he could present his case, but what could Job tell God that God did not already know?
We spend a lot of time reminding God, many times with accusations of slowness or unfairness, of things that He already knows because He is the God that sees all.
El Roi is the Mighty God who sees all.
Kind of comforting, kind of threatening.. He sees all.
He sees our sins, yes, but He also sees our burdens and struggles.
El Roi, The Mighty God who sees.
II. The Manifestation of El Roi
II. The Manifestation of El Roi
To better understand this, we will return to our principle of Bible interpretation; and that is the “rule of first mention”.
The first time we see the name El Roi in the Bible is:
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
So, to learn about how God manifest His name, we return to the story Hagar where was the first one to God El Roi.
Now, the story of Hagar centers around the lapse of faith with Abraham and Sarah.
God had promised Abraham that He would make his seed into a great nation.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
After many years being with no children and with Sarah well past child-bearing age, Abraham became very discouraged.
So God reaffirms His promise to Abraham concerning his decedents.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
God not only promised a seed, but He promised that that seed would be given a place to call home.
However, in the very next chapter we see a lapse of faith in Abraham and Sarah.
Instead of patiently waiting for God to fulfill His promise, Sarah decided that Abraham should have a child by another women.
So, Abraham had a child by Hagar, Sarah’s maid.
Like all of life’s plans that leave God out, the plan of Sarah and Abraham turned sour.
When the Egyptian girl, Hagar, became pregnant by Abraham, her position changed.
No longer was she just Sarah’s maid, she was now carrying the child of Abraham.
Consequently, Hagar began to despise, or look down on Sarah.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
The circumstances grew worse and when Sarah went to Abraham and told him that Hagar despised her, notice:
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
Sarah treated Hagar very harshly and so she fled from Sarah, but the Angel of the LORD (Jesus Christ) found her by a spring of water.
And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
There the angel carried for Hagar and gave her the promise that her son would be called “Ishmael” which means “God hears”.
The name El Roi reveals that God sees all the bad things that happen to us.
But more than that, He cares and had a reason for allowing them to come into our lives.
El Roi, the God who Sees.
III. The Material of El Roi
III. The Material of El Roi
So, what do we do with all of this information.
Ok, Pastor, God sees it all, but how does that impact my life?
Listen, if there is one thing that the story of Hagar, when she have God that name, teaches us that God is the God of the lowly and seemingly insignificant people too.
If we are not careful, as we study the Bible we may be inclined to that God is only the God of the great people; Abraham, David, Elijah, Peter, Paul, and other giants of the faith.
And we might be tempted to wonder if He is really interested in normal, average people.
We know that God is working in the lives of people like that have big ministries and seem to be doing great things for the Lord.
But what of the people that are in small areas of the world making, in the eyes or men only, a smaller impact for God.
What about those that teach behind the scenes in Church and are never in the spotlight?
This name of God says, “God Sees Me” and He knows about all the things that I am doing.
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
God sees that.
The El Roi may be the only one that is seeing what you are doing and you know what, He is the only that matters.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
El Roi is not so much interested in what you are doing is that He is in why you are doing it.
But this also means that God sees the abuses that we suffer from people.
When we are mistreated or suffer we may be tempted to ask “where are you God”, the fact is that He is still the El Roi, the God who sees.
Whatever happens to us, God Sees, God cares, and God has a purpose for it.
Just like Hagar’s mistreatment allowed a visited from Christ, and brought her so much comfort that she name Him El Roi, the God of Sees, we, too, can have the same comfort because no matter what we go through in life, we serve the El Roi....the God that Sees.