El Roi: The God Who Sees

Ten years after arriving in Canaan, Abram and Sarai were still waiting for the promised son. Sarai reasoned that the Lord had kept her from having children, so she gave her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram. Abram listened to Sarai, much as Adam once listened to his wife instead of to God's word. The plan was human strategy, not faith.

When Hagar conceived, she looked on Sarai with contempt. Sarai blamed Abram, who told her to do as she wished. Sarai mistreated Hagar, and Hagar fled toward Egypt. No one in this story acts well, and the household of promise is full of conflict.

Then comes the first appearance in the Bible of Yahweh's angel. He finds Hagar by a spring, calls her by name and asks where she is going. He tells her to return and submit, and promises that her offspring will be multiplied. Her son will be named Ishmael, God hears, because the Lord has listened to her affliction. Hagar responds by naming the Lord a God who sees. The God of Abram cares even for a runaway foreign servant.