Jesus was seen in his preincarnate form

JESUS WAS SEEN IN HIS PREINCARNATE FORM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Genesis 16:13 13She 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."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
God Pleading With Wanderers
Genesis 16:8
J.F. Montgomery
"Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camestthou? and whither wilt thou go?" She
knew not, cared not. Undisciplined, smarting under effects of her own
willfulness (Ver. 4), she thought only of escaping pain - a type of those weary,
yet unconverted (cf. Jeremiah51:13; Jeremiah5:3). But God saw her. The
Shepherd sought her (cf. Genesis 3:9;Luke 15:9). Though not of the chosen
race, and having no claim upon his care, of his ownmercy he calls her (cf.
Psalm145:9; Ephesians 2:4; Titus 3:5). The angelof the Lord; in Ver. 13
calledthe Lord; the messengerofthe covenant (Malachi3:1) - sent to carry
out the Father's purpose (cf. John 3:17; Luke 4:18). The same who speaks in
the voice of awakenedconscience, that he may give peace (cf. Matthew 11:28).
"Hagar, Sarai's maid," expresses God's full knowledge ofher (cf. Exodus
33:12;John 10:3). The name distinguishes the individual. She a stranger, a
slave, a fugitive; yet God's eye upon her; all her life before him (cf. Psalm
139:1-4). A word for those following their own ways, feeling as if hidden in the

multitude. Nothing glaring in their lives; men see nothing to find fault with;
will God? (cf. Psalm94:7). He knows thee altogether;thy whole life, the
selfishness underlying a fair profession, the unconfessedmotives, the little
duplicities, the love of worldly things; or it may be thy spiritual pride and self-
trusting. He sees thee through. But wilt thou seek to escape the thought of
him? For what does he searchthee out? Is it not to bring thee to peace? A
word of comfort to him who is castdown because of weaknessin faith, little
progress, wantof spirituality. He sees all(cf. Luke 19:5). Not as man - men see
the failures; God Sees the battle, the longing desire for better things, the
prayers (Psalm 28:1; Psalm130:1), the searching ofheart, the sorrow because
of failure. Even in the wilderness he is presentto help (Galatians 6:9).
I. "WHENCE CAMEST THOU?" Is the wilderness better than the home
thou hast left? (cf. Isaiah5:4). Thou hast left safety and plenty (cf. Numbers
21:5), impatient of God's discipline. A goodly possessionwas thine - the place
of a child (1 John 3:1), the right always to pray (Luke 18:1; John 15:7;
Hebrews 4:16; James 4:2), the promise of guidance (Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 30:21).
For what hast thou given up all this? Is thy presentlot better? In deepestlove
these questions are asked. Godpleads by providence (Psalm119:67), by the
entering of the word (Psalm 119:130;Hebrews 4:12), by the "still small voice"
of the Holy Spirit.
II. "WHITHER WILT THOU GO?" How many have never really
considered. Hastthou renounced thy heavenly portion? God forbid. Then is
thy life heavenward? Are thy sins blotted out? Hast thou acceptedthe free gift
of salvation? I am not sure of that. And why not? Is it not that thou hast not
caredenough to entertain the question as a practicalone? (cf. Ezekiel20:49;
Ezekiel33:32). Meanwhile thou art not standing still. The day of grace is
passing away(cf. Jeremiah8:20). Still Christ pleads (Revelation3:20). But
day by day the ear becomes more dull, and the aims and habits of life more
hard to change. "Return," was the Lord's word to Hagar. Take againthy
place in God's family (cf. Luke 15:20). Fearnot to bear thy cross. There is a
welcome and joy in heavenover every returning wanderer. - M.

Biblical Illustrator
Thou God seestme.
Genesis 16:13, 14
The retrospectof a specialProvidence
T. H. Leale.
Hagarhad heard the voice of the Lord, and had distinct evidence of His
providential care and regard.
I. THAT IT IS A REVELATION OF GOD. "She calledthe name of the Lord
that spake unto her, Thou God seestme." The doctrine of a general
Providence affects us languidly; the impression of it is vague; but there are
times in our history when the events are so remarkable that it is as if God had
spoken. His finger is plainly seen. This revelationof Godhad three aspects.
1. It was severe. Hagarwas reminded of her fault, and exhorted to instant
duty.

2. It was soothing. It is because God"has heard out affliction" that He speaks
to us.
3. It produces the impression that God knows us —(1) Intimately. Sight
imparts most vivid and extensive knowledge. One glance conveys more to the
mind than the most accurate and laboured description. Godnot only sees us,
but sees throughus, and knows us altogether.(2)Graciously. Forgood, and
not for evil. The light of love is in God's countenance.
II. THAT IT SHOULD EXCITE AMAZEMENT AND GRATITUDE.
(T. H. Leale.)
A particular Providence
J. H. Newman, D. D.
1. Difficult to believe. We think of God in heaven, and forgetthat He is also on
earth.
2. Sufficiently attestedby examples in Holy Scripture.
3. Made clearand certainby the history of our Lord's work on earth.
4. Realizedin the history of every believer.
(J. H. Newman, D. D.)
God's continual presence
Archbishop Secker
"Thou God seestme." Pause fora moment to contemplate the force of this
impressive thought. Life is spent beneaththe eye of God. In every part of His
dominion, in all the worlds He has formed, His never-closing eye is present,
His creative poweris felt. The beams of His all-observantthought surround
us. God, saidthe Greeks, is "All Eye." It is not the feeble and changing glance
of fickle guilty man, but it is the pure and perfectscrutiny of the Eternal God,

"in whose hand our breath is." "ThouGod seestme." Then it is not a vague
and generalobservation, but a particular and minute notice — the sinner in
his guilt equally with the Christian in his devotions — the peasantin his
cottage equallywith the prince on his throne. Notthe actions only, but the
principles, "me" — all that constitutes our essence,allthat forms our
character, the interior recesses ofthe spirit, the hidden motives of the heart,
the secretsprings of the character. This thought may be one —
1. Of grandeur. With respectto God — His infinite dominion — His immense
survey. With respectto man — his dignity — his responsibility — his destiny
— he must, some day, come immediately before this Being.
2. Of terror. We are never safe. Sin cannotbe even thought of without being
known. Think of this when temptation invites. There is no darkness which can
hide from God.
3. Of consolationin sorrow. He sees with a Father's eye which fills with
compassion. He knows all the trouble of our spirit and our desires to be purer
and better.
4. Of hope in danger. He sees, notto increase ourmisery, but to help and save.
He sends His Covenant Angel to succourthis desolate woman. None need
despair, since Godthus helps the outcastand the miserable.
(Archbishop Secker)
Beliefin the Divine omniscience the foundation of a true and earliestlife
J. R. Goulty, B. A.
This text may be regardedas —
I. THE BASIS OF A LIVING CREED.
II. AN INCENTIVE TO A USEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE. Two things
are essentialto such a life —
1. Sincere love of the truth.

2. Earnestpractice of the truth.
III. A RESTRAINT WON A SINFUL COURSE. Letthese words, "ThouGod
seestme," preserve you from —
1. Unhallowed thoughts.
2. Selfishmotives.
3. Formalismand hypocrisy.
4. Despondencyand unbelief.
(J. R. Goulty, B. A.)
The eye of God
W. Hay Aitken, M. A.
Does it not seemboth strange and sad that these familiar words should
suggesta feeling akin to terror in so many human hearts? How appalling does
it seemto reflect that there is no possibility of escape from its relentless,
inexorable vision! Yet there was a time when such a thought as this would
have awakenedonly feelings of pleasure in the human mind and heart. When
Adam came into the world fresh from the hand of God, nothing could have
been further from his thoughts than to regardthis considerationas suggestive
of terror. On the contrary, he found true deep joy no doubt in just such a
reflectionas this. But the moment man sinned, and fell by sin, in nothing were
the lamentable consequencesofthe fall so apparent as in this. The eye of God,
that before seemedto castrays of beneficent sunshine on his path, now
seemedto shoota hot and scorching thunderbolt into his soul. He felt that he
must needs find a hiding place from that eye. Surely it would be simply
impossible to do what many of us do if we really believed in our hearts, and
were dwelling on the thought, "ThouGod seestme." You never knew a thief
that perpetrated a felony before the very eyes of the officerof justice, and
knowing that he was being observed. And should we dare to break God's law,
and defy His Majesty, if we really believed that God was looking atus? or

would men indulge in the miserable hypocrisies with which they seemto
succeedsometimes in stupefying their own consciences,if they really believed
that God both saw them and saw through them? Men getinto such a way of
playing a part before their fellow man, that it would seemas if at last they
grew to feel as if they could overreachand impose upon Almighty God. But
they cannot! Always, and in all circumstances andconditions, in my best
moments and in my worst, in public and in private, within, without, "Thou
God seestme." What does He see? My brethren, let us in answerlay proper
stress upon that little but, to eachof us severally, important word me. It is the
real "me," the actual self, that God sees. Firstthere is the socialself. The fine
gentleman that moves in goodsociety, with his company manners,
endeavouring to make himself particularly agreeable to all around him. Well
skilled is he to repress all that the world in which he moves — not less
hypocritical than himself — would be disposedto frown on. He avoids what is
coarse,abjures what is in bad taste, checks anydisplay of the selfishness that
may be natural to him, may even exhibit not a little self-control, should he be
crossedby some petty annoyance. If he is proud, he has the sense not to show
it; and strangers think him wondrously affable. This socialparagonis so well
veneeredthat you almostbegin to think he is not veneeredat all, and the
superficial glance ofsocietydiscerns only a charming exterior, and an amiable
and estimable ornament for itself. But what does God see? Peradventure a
whited sepulchre, a disguisedsavage, farless to be excusedfor the latent
savageryofa selfish, passionate,licentious, and rapacious nature than the
nakedsavage in the wild, who never wore any veneer exceptwar-paint, is to
be excusedfor his. And as for this conventional presentment of self God sees it
not, or only sees it to see through it as the flimsiest of disguises. It is not this
respectable shamthat God sees, but the realactual self, whateverhe may be.
"Thou God seestme." Yet againthere is the commercialself — not quite such
a paragonof perfection as the socialself. There is much less veneerabout him,
and much more exposure of some inner substance, which, whatever its true
nature, is not always very smoothor very pretty. Yet it passes muster, because
there are so many more all around it that are its moral counterparts. A little
greedy, a little avaricious, a little selfishand unscrupulous the man may be;
but then, you know, that sort of thing is to some extent expectedin business;
and againstthese little failings how much of sterling merit is there to be set!

First, there is the greatmerit of solvency!You are a substantial man, and can
always pay twenty shillings in the pound; and in these days of rascally
bankruptcy there is no small virtue in the eye of the commercialworld. Then
againyou have never condescendedto any vulgar form of swindling. You
would scorn the idea of doing anything that could by any means expose you to
the actionof law, or induce commercialostracism. A respectable man of
business, that is what the world sees. Is that the real self, or only the selfthat
has to do duty at the office? Is that the thing that God sees whenHe looks at
you? or is it only another and less attractive counterfeit presentationof self
that He sees through and through? Don't let us attempt to blind Him, for we
cannot. "Thou God seestme." The secretthings of dishonesty, the idolatry of
Mammon, the indifference to others, the selfisheagernessto make capital out
of their ruin, the readiness to lie without a blush, if only there is no particular
chance of the lie being detected — all this, and a greatdeal more, may be
included in the "me," without interfering much with my commercial
reputation, provided I canmake it pay. With Mammon once on my side, there
is not much to be fearedfrom unfriendly criticisms in most commercial
circles;but what does God see? But we must come nearer home. There is the
domestic self, whose faults and failings are perhaps even more apparent than
those of his commercialpresentment. Your wife knows more of your real
moral character, probably, than do those with whom you transactbusiness.
Your children too — for children are always sharp observers — may have
noticed many a little failing about you that you would not like published in the
drawing room or in the counting house;but then domestic affectionis very
apt to be blind. So even here we don't get at the real self. We see perhaps the
respectedfather, the idolized husband; but what does God see? Perhaps a
father who slapped his child's hands for stealing a lump of sugar, when he had
that very day put a hundred pounds into his pocketby "operating"
ingeniously upon the market, or by perpetrating some other act of skilfully
disguisedfraud; or thrashed his boy for telling a lie, when he himself had told
at leasta dozen that day in his own counting house. Alas! we don't getat the
real man even when we find him at home. But God sees more than either wife
or child, or servant or friend. "ThouGod seestme." But we, must go further
still. There is the ideal self, which, like a familiar spirit, we ever carry about
with us — a presentationof self to self, in which we are careful to ignore or

excuse all that is evil or faulty, and to magnify all that is good. How rare a
thing is it for any man to entertain a really poor opinion of himself, whatever
mock-modestexpressions we may use? Or I might put it thus: How many of
us would be able to stand behind a hedge, and hear with anything like a
feeling of equanimity our faults and failings described with accuracyby a
neighbour? Yes, I believe that most of us have an ideal selfthat we confuse
with the real, and for which we have always a kindly feeling; but it is not this
that God looks at. His eye is fixed, not on the phantom, but on him who
creates it; not on the ideal, but on the actual. "Thou Godseestme." He sees
our thoughts, detecting the secretsprings of motive from which our actions
flow. He discerns at a glance what our life purpose is, and which way it flows.
He sees our religion, and knows whether or not it is more than skin-deep. And
He sees our actualirreligion; how, it may be, some of us in this church tonight
have desecratedournature by closing it againstGod. We have barred the
door againstthe Divine Visitant, and He saw us doing it! The eye of God
pierces through every barrier, and discerns it all. "Thou God seestme." What
does He see? The past as well as the present; the series of years gone by, as
well as the marks that they have left upon our charactertoday. In the
completeness ofour history, as well as in the real characterofour moral
condition, it still remains true, "Thou God seest me." And yet, seeing allthis
as no one else can or does see it, the wonderful thing is He loves us still. Poor,
wandering, desolate soul!What a sudden rush of joy must have possessedher
as she thus learnt for the first time, not as a mere religious or theological
theory, but as a blessedfact, that truth which lies behind all other truths —
the Fatherhoodof God! And He sees us too, and sees us, as He did her, with a
Father's eye, and loves us, wanderers though we may be, with a Father's
heart; and He who took an interest in Hagar, takes an interest in us. "Whence
comestthou?" Ah! who shall answerthat question, and trace the history of
our being up to its hidden source? Yetdo we know something of the answerto
the question so far as regards the race. When comestthou, O fallen man, who
hast lost all contactwith God, and wanderestaimlesslyon from day to day,
having no hope, and without God in the world? Let us never forgetit,
howeverlow thou mayesthave fallen, however far thou mayest have
wandered, thy first home was Eden, thy first experience the revealedlove of
thy Father— God. "Whence comestthou?" Let us turn from the race to the

individual, let us apply the question to ourselves. Whence do we come? In
early years we were baptized in the Triune Name, and were branded with the
Cross of Christ in token of allegiance to Him; and can we doubt that He who
calledthe little ones to Himself, and laid His hands upon them, and blessed
them, met us with His blessing in those early days? Have we turned our back
upon our birthright privileges? and are we, as it were, going awayfurther and
further from all that we had a right to enjoy? Do we come from the
comparative innocence of childhood? from the purer associations, the holier
aspirations, of our earlier days? from the better influences of Christian
homes? from the favourable atmosphere of religious society? "Whencecomest
thou?" Have you left all that is bestand purest in human life behind you? Has
your progress beenall in the wrong direction? And whither wilt thou go?
Perhaps you have never paused to reflectwhere those wandering steps of
yours are taking you. Like Hagar, you have wanderedon without any definite
idea as to where your wanderings were to end. Whither wilt thou go? The
world, with all its fading pageants, its flimsy inanities, invites your steps. It
offers pleasure, but not joy; excitement, but not happiness; intoxication and
stupefactionthat shall benumb your nobler faculties and check your
aspirations, but no satisfaction;stagnation, but not peace. How little has it
done for you in the past! and in the future it can do still less. Its capacities of
gratificationdiminish with eachpassing year. Yes, whither? Is there no
welcome for thee in thy Father's house? no greeting of love? no feastof joy? Is
He thy foe, that thou shouldest fly from Him thus?
(W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
The omniscience ofthe Deity
J. F. Denham.
I. In the first place I would endeavour to lay before you the ARGUMENT
FOR THE OMNISCIENCEAND OMNIPRESENCEOF GOD WHICH IS
DERIVED FROM NATURAL RELIGION. We assert, then, that the doctrine
of the omnipresence of God results from the truth universally acknowledged,
that the world owes its existence to a Creator. Whereverwe direct our view

we perceive marks of intelligence and design. In every part of the universe
accessible to our survey, we have therefore the most resplendent proofs that
there the hand of God hath been; consequently, at that period, at least, the
Divine Being was omnipresent. I make this limitation, because, to argue with
correctness, it is required, that we should infer no more than the premises laid
down will allow. But now it is possible, for it may be conceived, that the Divine
Creator, having made all things, and, consequently, having then been present
everywhere, afterwardwithdrew His immediate agency. Wherefore, even
upon the principle of such persons themselves, when properly understood, the
omniscience ofGod follows as a necessaryconsequence. Forif, as must be
acknowledged, everything in the universe is under the control of some one or
more of these laws, it follows that in every point of the universe, the Deity is
acting; and where He acts, there He is, and where He is, there He perceives.
II. Having adduced the testimony of natural religion to the omnipresence of
God, we proceedto lay before you THE PROOF FURNISHED BYTHE
SCRIPTURES. The testimony of the text will be found clearand strong. How
awful are the words of Elihu, "His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He
seethall his goings;there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the
workers ofiniquity may hide themselves" (Job34:21). To the same effect the
wise man speaks in the fifteenth chapter of Proverbs and eighth verse, "The
eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good." See the
fifteenth chapter of the Book ofProverbs and eleventh verse, "Hell and
destruction are before the Lord, how much more the hearts of men." Neither
do the Scriptures representHim as a mere spectator, but as a witness and
judge who scrutinizes the thoughts and actions with all their circumstances,
and makes a just and righteous estimation of them. I know and I am witness,
saith the Lord. The Lord is a Godof knowledge,and by Him actions are
weighed. "All the actions of a man are right in his own eyes, but the Lord
weigheththe spirits." The Scriptures declare that God is the Governorof the
material and moral world; consequently, as it is necessarythat the Creator
and Governorof the universe should be in all places ofHis dominion at the
same moment, in order that He may sustainand guide the whole, so it is
absolutely necessarythat He should have a perfect knowledge ofeverything,
without which omnipotence and omnipresence were useless. The Scriptures

declare that Godis the moral governorbut the judge of all men; they
representHim as having given laws of the most spiritual character — that is
to say, relating to the spirits of men in the most comprehensive manner. They
reachto every part of our conduct, and not only direct the outward life, but
give also law to the most retired thought and inward affection. Thus we are
told, Proverbs 24:9, "That the thought of foolishness is sin."
III. I shall close the subjectWITH AN APPLICATION OF ITS SEVERAL
USES.
1. Let us take occasionfrom the subject, to adore, with humble gratitude, the
long suffering, patience, and tender compassionofour God. Does He see the
first dark thought of lust or rage, and does He look on still and spare us till it
be fully formed and executed? How incomprehensible, then, must be His
patience.
2. Let the subject of the Divine omniscience be a prevailing motive with us to
honesty and sincerity. He who can thus realize the Divine presence, cannot,
dare not be a hypocrite.
3. Again, from the subject of the Divine omnipresence, let every sinner
remember that God is present at the commissionof all his crimes.
4. Further, the doctrine of the Divine omniscience affords abundant cause of
joy to the godly. His eyes are continually upon you for good. He is perfectly
acquainted with your wants, and He knows all things that are required for
their supply. This qualifies Him to be the objectof your trust and confidence.
On Him you may safelydepend.
5. Lastly, let the doctrine of Divine omniscience restrainus from every sin,
and excite us to every duty, "Thou God seestme."
(J. F. Denham.)
The Divine inspection of man
A. McAuslane, D. D.

I. LOOK AT THE TEXT IN A DOCTRINALASPECT.
1. God sees us Himself.
2. God sees us completely.
3. God sees us perpetually.
4. God sees everyrational being as He sees us. The Indian, the African: all can
adopt language of text.
II. LOOK AT THE TEXT IN A PRACTICAL ASPECT. The thought of
God's omnipresence, when receivedinto the heart, is —
1. One of the most powerful restraints from the commissionof sin.
2. One of the most powerful incentives to do His will.
3. A source of true delight.
4. A remedy for the dangers and sorrows of life.
(A. McAuslane, D. D.)
The angelin the wilderness
R. A. Redford, M. A.
I. THE NAME OF THE LORD. "Thou God seestme," or, Thou God of
vision; "forshe said, Have I also here lookedafter Him that seethme?" i.e., I
have seenHim that He has seenme; I have seenHim and lived. Hagar's seeing
God was God's seeing Hagar. The vision was not merely objective, but
subjective. The state of Hagar's mind was doubtless preparation for some
such interposition. Lamenting her sin, weary, desolate, praying for help.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity.
II. CONNECTTHE REVELATION WITH THE PERSONALHISTORY.
Hagarsaw the Lord, receivedHis word of grace into her heart, obeyed His
commandment. The faith which initiates practicalobedience is a progressive
blessedness. Whenwe know that Godhas appeared unto us, when we have

lookedinto His countenance in the light of His reconciling love, when we feel
assuredthat our life is under His eye, that it may be in His hand, then
bondage is liberty, submission is delight, patience is growing expectation.
(R. A. Redford, M. A.)
Hagarin the wilderness
Homilist.
This self-interrogationof Hagaris suggestive ofthree things.
I. IT SUGGESTS ASOLEMN FACT IS HUMAN HISTORY. God sees us.
1. The very nature of God implies this.
2. The Bible teaches this.
II. IT SUGGESTS A SAD TENDENCYIN HUMAN NATURE. Hagar's
question implies a fear that she had not been sufficiently conscious ofthis fact.
1. The signs of this tendency.
(1)Deadnessofsoul.
(2)Profanity of life.
2. The causes ofthis tendency.
(1)Dislike of God.
(2)Dreadof God.
III. IT SUGGESTSAN URGENT OBLIGATION IN HUMAN LIFE. A sense
of God's continual presence will —
1. Restrainfrom sin.
2. Stimulate to virtue.
3. Strengthen for trial.

4. Qualify for the full mission of life.
(Homilist.)
Omniscience
I. THE GENERALDOCTRINE. Godsees us.
1. This may be easilyproved, even from the nature of God. It were hard to
suppose a God who could not see His own creatures;it were difficult in the
extreme to imagine a divinity who could not behold the actions of the works of
His hands. The word which the Greeks appliedto God implied that He was a
God who could see. Theycalled Him θεος (Theos);and they derived that
word, if I read rightly, from the root θεψσθαι (Theisthai), to see, becausethey
regardedGod as being the All-seeing One, whose eye took in the whole
universe at a glance, and whose knowledge extendedfar beyond that of
mortals. There were no god if that God had no eyes, for a blind God were no
God at all.
2. Yet, further, we are sure that God must see us, for we are taught in the
Scriptures that God is everywhere, and if God be everywhere, what doth
hinder Him from seeing allthat is done in every part of His universe?
3. But lest any should suppose that God may be in a place, and yet
slumbering, let me remind him that in every spot to which he can travel there
is not simply God but God's activity. WhereverI go I shall find, not a
slumbering God, but a God busy about the affairs of this world.
4. I have one more proof to offer which I think to be conclusive. God, we may
be sure, sees us, when we remember that He can see a thing before it happens.
If He beholds an event before it transpires, surely reasondictates He must see
a thing that is happening now. Read those ancient prophecies, read what God
said should be the end of Babylon and of Nineveh; just turn to the chapter
where you read of Edom's doom, or where you are told that Tyre shall be
desolate;then walk through the lands of the East, and see Nineveh and

Babylon castto the ground, the cities ruined; and then reply to this question
— "Is not Goda God of foreknowledge?"
II. Now I come, in the secondplace, to the SPECIALDOCTRINE:"Thou
God seestme."
1. Mark, God sees you— selecting anyone out of this congregation — He sees
you, He sees youas much as if there were nobody else in the world for Him to
look at.
2. God sees youentirely.
3. God sees youconstantly.
4. Supremely.
III. Now I come to DIFFERENTINFERENCESfor different persons, to serve
different purposes.
1. First, to the prayerful. Prayerful man, prayerful woman, here is a
consolation— God sees you: and if He can see you, surely He canhear you.
2. I have given a word for the prayerful, now a word for the careful. Some
here are very full of care, and doubts, and anxieties, and fears. Don't give up
in despair. If your case be ever so bad, God cansee your care, your troubles,
and your anxieties.
3. And now a word to the slandered. There are some of us who come in for a
very large share of slander. It is very seldom that the slander market is much
below par; it usually runs up at a very mighty rate; and there are persons who
will take shares to any amount. Well, what matters it? Suppose you are
slandered; here is a comfort: "Thou Godseestme." They say that such-and-
such is your motive, but you need not answerthem; you can say "Godknows
that matter."
4. Now a sentence ortwo to some of you who are ungodly and know not
Christ.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Hagarat the fountain
I. In speaking ofHagar I shall first dwell for a little upon HER
REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE.
1. Observe that Hagarhad outlawedherself. The untamable spirit which
afterwards showeditself in her sonIshmael ragedin her bosom. So, too, have
we met with those who have deliberately left the ways of God and the people
of God, and all semblance of goodness, becausethey have thought themselves
badly used. They do not, indeed, care what becomes ofthem: they would flee
from the presence ofGod Himself if they could.
2. While she was there, in the moment of her desperation, she was found by
the angel. What was there about her that Jehovah should come out of His
place to seek her? Yet He came in unexpected grace as He is wont to do. He
remembered the low estate ofHis handmaiden, and because His mercy
endureth forever, He found her by the fountain in the wilderness.
3. When the angelof the Lord found Hagar, He dealt graciouslywith her.
Indeed this was the objectof His finding her; He Game in pity, not in wrath.
Blessedbe God, it has happened to tens of thousands that where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound. When they have run awayand
outlawedthemselves, grace has followedthem, grace has convictedthem,
grace has admonished them, and grace has made large promises to them.
II. Now I want you to notice HER DEVOUT ACKNOWLEDGMENT. When
that which we have describedhappened to her, she acknowledgedthe living
God. My text says, "She calledthe name of the Lord that spake unto her,
Thou God seestme."
1. She spake to Him that spake to her: after this fashion do we all begin our
communion with God. Oh, when God speaks to you, you will soonfind a
tongue to speak to Him. What did she say?

2. She acknowledgedHim to be God. "She called the name of the Lord that
spake to her, Thou God seestme." It is one thing to believe there is a God, but
it is quite another thing to know it by coming into personalcontactwith Him.
3. Observe that she acknowledgedHis observantlove. She could not help
acknowledging it, for it flashed before her eyes.
4. In the presence ofthat God she felt overpoweredand ready to yield. She
was so overwhelmed that no rebellion remained within her. She girds her
garments about her, and she makes the best of her way home to the tent of
Sarai. Her mistress is hard; but sin is harder.
III. Let me now call to your notice THE MANIFEST AMAZEMENT ofthis
woman; for in her glad surprise she uttered a sentence whichruns as follows:
"Have I also here lookedafter Him that seethme?" Expositors will tell you
that as many senses may be given to this sentence as there are words in it; and
eachone of these senses willbear a measure of decent defence. I shall not go
into them all, but I think I see clearlythat she was amazed that God should
care for her. "ThouGod seestme. Have I also here lookedafter Him that
seethme?" Does He see me? Do I see Him? Do you not say, "Why me, my
Lord? Why me?" Sit still in holy wonder, and adore and bless the Lord.
5. I think her next amazement was that she should have been such a long time
without ever thinking of Him who had thought so much of her. She says,
"Have I also here lookedunto Him that seethme?" "What! Have I been these
years with Abraham, and heard about the God who has been looking at me in
love, and have I never glanceda thought to Him?" Her ungodliness astounds
her.
6. But next, she is amazed still more to think that at last she does look unto
God. In effectshe cries, "What!Has it come to this? Have I also here looked
after Him that seethme? Is Hagarat lastconverted? What a surprise it must
be to rebels to be thus seized in the arms of grace and transformed into
friends of the King! I ask Godthat such a surprise may awaitsome who are
here today. May you also inquire in amazement, "Have I here also looked
after Him that seethme?"

7. One other surprise Hagarhad, and that was the surprise to think that she
was alive. It was the common conviction of that age that no man could see
God and live. The awakenedsinner, when he is met with by the God of grace,
wonders that he has not been cut down as a cumberer of the ground.
IV. HER HUMBLE WORSHIP.
1. She worshipped God heartily and intelligently, according to her knowledge.
2. She worshipped beyond her knowledge, according to her apprehension.
3. Her worship was wonderfully personal.
4. Her worship proved itself deeply true, for it was followedby immediate
practicalobedience to the command of the Lord.
V. We will conclude by glancing for an instant at the well which became THE
SUGGESTIVE MEMORIALof this specialmanifestationand singular
experience. Thatwell — we do not know what it had been called before — but
that Beer, or well, was henceforth calledBeer-lahai-roi, or the well of Him
that liveth and seeth. Will we not all at this time drink of that well? It was a
very happy thought to attacha holy name to a well, so that every traveller
might learn of God as he refreshed himself. When a personcomes to drink at
certain fountains he reads, "Drink, gentle traveller, drink and pray." The
inscription is most suitable. It is fit that men should pray when they receive so
precious a refreshment as pure water. It was speciallymeet that travellers
should henceforthand forever pray at a spot where the Lord Himself had
been, and had called to Himself a wandererwho had felt compelled to cry,
"Godlives, and God sees."
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
What seeing God does for us
The WeeklyPulpit.

(Sermon to children.) "Thou God seestme" — a name for God found by a
woman who had run awayfrom duty. She could not run away from God. It
took her back to duty to feel that God saw her (Jonah, and Psalm139).
I. GOD'S EYE ON US MAY MAKE US UNCOMFORTABLE.Illustration:
Servant girl cutting out eyes of picture which seemedto watchher pilfering.
Sentinels in Portland prison. Prisonwith hole in door, and the warder's eye
ever there.
II. IT MAY MAKE US HAPPY. If we are in any trouble. Sad thing to feel
alone. Widowedmother in trouble. Little children say, "Is God dead,
mother?" If God sees,He must be there. If He is there, He must be there as
Helper.
III. IT MAY MAKE US STRONG. "Cando all things through Him who
strengthens us." Some, like Adam and Eve, hide from God. Some, like David,
can say, "I flee unto Thee to hide me."
(The WeeklyPulpit.)
The eye of God always upon us
W. Jay.
I. A REFLECTIONVERY PLEASING TO GOOD MEN. "Thou Godseest
me."
1. This is a pleasing reflectionwhen I fear some hidden corruption which has
hindered the answerof prayer, and often deprived me of comfort, but which I
cannot, after the most faithful investigation, detect. He can discern it —
"Show me wherefore Thou contendestwith me."
2. This is a pleasing reflectionwhen I feel those infirmities which make me
groan. He sees grace, howeversmall; He sees the disadvantages ofmy
situation, the influence of the body over the mind, and of sensible things over
the body; He sees that the "spirit indeed is willing when the flesh is weak."

3. This is a pleasing reflectionwith regard to prayer. I often know not what to
pray for as I ought; but He always knows what to give. I cannot express
myself properly in words; but words are not necessaryto inform Him who
"knowethwhat is the mind of the Spirit — my desire is before Him, and my
groaning is not hid from Him."
4. This is a pleasing reflectionwhen I am suffering under the suspicions of
friends or the reproaches ofenemies. "Beholdmy witness is in heaven, and my
record is on high. Lord, Thou knowestallthings, Thou knowestthatI love
Thee."
5. This is a pleasing reflectionwhen I am in trouble. He knows all my
"walking through this greatwilderness";He knows where the burden
presses;He knows how long to continue the trial, and by what means to
remove it.
II. TO THE WICKED IT IS A VERY AWFUL REFLECTION.
1. God sees everything you do.
2. He does not forgetanything He has seen.
3. And to complete the terror of this consideration — all He has seenHe will
publish before the whole world: and He will also punish all that He has seen
"with everlasting destruction from the presence ofthe Lord, and from the
glory of His power."
III. The reflectionwill be found very USEFUL TO ALL.
1. Useful as a check to sin. For can a personsin while he realizes this? Can he
affront the Almighty to His very face? — Impossible.
2. Useful as a motive to virtue. The presence, the eye of One who is above us,
and whom we highly esteemand reverence, elevatesourminds and refines our
behaviour; and we desire to actso as to gain His approbation. A servantfeels
this when he is before his master, and a subject when he is before the king.
One of the heathen philosophers, therefore, recommendedhis pupils, as the
best means to induce and enable them to behave worthily, to imagine that

some very distinguished characterwas always looking uponthem. But what
was the eye of a Care compared with the eye of Jehovah!
3. Useful as a reasonfor simplicity and godly sincerity. Oh! let it banish all
dissimulation from our religious exercises;and, whether we read, or hear, or
pray, or surround the table of the Lord, let us remember that "Godweigheth
the spirits." If we had to do with men only, a fair appearance might be
sufficient; "but the Lord lookethto the heart." And can we play the hypocrite
under those eyes which are as a flame of fire?
(W. Jay.)
The omnipresence of God
B. Kent, M. A.
1. The first idea presented to us is one of wonder, admiration, and comfort. It
does not so much express her awe as her surprise and delight, that the God of
whom she had heard in Abraham's family should have appeared to her in her
perplexity. "Have I also here lookedafter Him that seethme?"
2. I go on to observe that the omnipresence of God is salutary only when it
implies watchful and personalinspectionof our conduct, and personalinterest
in our welfare. We are under a government; we live under an immutable
system of law. We ignorantly think to evade it; but the Lawgiveris all eye and
all ear. We have no adequate motive for a moral life, exceptit be the active
oversightof a moral Ruler. Every transgressorhopes to escape observation.
The greatmajority need a power out of ourselves, independent of our own
strength, resolutions, or sense ofduty; yet not superseding, but quickening
and aiding these motives to high moral conduct. We do not want to set aside
the socialesteemwhich follows goodconduct; but this being of most
precarious quality, we want to aid it by the sense ofDivine approval,
manifested to the individual by a personal, all-seeing Judge and Ruler.
(B. Kent, M. A.)

God's all-seeing eye
H. J. Gamble.
I. THAT WE ARE EACH OF US THE OBJECTSOF THE DIVINE
NOTICE.
1. God sees us by virtue of His omnipresence.
2. God sees us that we may be the objects of His providential care.
3. God sees us as preparatory to the final judgment.
II. SOME OF THOSE SEASONS WHEN WE ARE PRONE TO FORGET
THE DIVINE OMNIPRESENCE.
1. In discharge of the common duties of life how often may we say, "Have I
here lookedafter Him that seethme?" When we come to the sanctuary we
expectto meet with God, for we know that He has said, "In all places where I
record My name I will come and bless them." But when the services ofthe
sanctuary are ended, and the Sabbath is closed, and the morrow has come,
and one man has gone to his farm, anotherto his merchandise, how prone are
we to lose sightof the solemn truth, "ThouGod seestme."
2. Under the pressure of severe temptation how often may we propose this
question.
3. So, too, in reference to some of the sorrowfulevents of human life the
inquiry of nay text will apply. If you have ever been sorrowfuland have not
been comforted — if you have been weak, andhave not been strengthened —
if you have been despairing, and hope has not revived, it has not been because
God has forsakenyou, but because youhave not "looked" orsoughtfor Him;
and oh, if God had only come to us when we "looked" forHim — if He had
not surprised us with many a visit, and succouredus with unexpected help,
how seldom would He have come to us at all.
(H. J. Gamble.)

The omniscience ofGod illustrated
T. J. Judkin.
a sermon to children: —
I. WHO IS GOD?
1. A Being, greatin power, wisdom, knowledge, love.
2. A Judge.
3. Your Father. His eye is upon you, to protect, preserve, supply wants.
4. Your Saviour.
II. WHY DOES GOD SEE ME?
1. BecauseHe is full of goodness andmercy.
2. BecauseHe loves you, and would make you happy, by making you like
Himself.
III. WHEN DOES GOD SEE ME? At all times. He sees youwhen you entice
others to join you in some foolishact, add while you are making the lie to hide
the fault; He sees you making that lie. He sees you when Satanis busy about
you, to do you some mischief, and keeps Satanawaythat he may not hurt you.
IV. WHERE DOES GOD SEE ME? In all places. Adam among trees. Hagar
in wilderness. Jonahinside monster of deep. Daniel in lions' den.
V. WHAT DOES GOD SEE IN ME? He sees in you, my child, a sinful heart;
He sees you a child of fallen Adam, ready to follow the temptations of Satan,
and to do all manner of evil. Again: God sees in you children a backwardness
and reluctancyto do what He commands: and you don't like reading your
Bibles, and you don't like coming to church.
VI. WHAT DOES GOD WISH TO SEE IN ME? He wishes to see in you
repentance, that you may ask for forgiveness for the past, and help for the
time to come. He wishes to see in you a prayerful heart; not a mere saying, but
a thinking of the words you say.

(T. J. Judkin.)
The all-seeing eye
J. H. Wilson, M. A.
1. God sees yourheart — what you are. Others do not see your heart; they
cannot. They can only see what is outward. You cannot see the heart of so
small a thing as a watch. It has a goldor silver case, anda beautiful dial, and
hands such as goodwatches have, and you may pay a large sum of money for
it; and yet its inside, which is the real watch, may be all defective and wrong.
Now your heart determines what you are. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so
is he." It is what you think and feel, and wish, and purpose, that marks out
what you really are. And I daresayyou are sometimes thankful enough that
nobody can see that; things are often outwardly so good, and yet so bad
within. But God sees it all — all that we are within — all that is going on in
our inmost heart. The heart is transparent to Him. It is as if it were made of
glass.
2. God sees yourlife — what you do. Much of what is outward, as well as all
that is within, is unseen and unknown by others. Many things are done
secretly. I have been in institutions in which a large number of young people
are being educated. Looking from the governor's roominto the common hall
where they work and play and gettheir meals, is a window that commands the
whole. He had scarcelyto rise from his chair in order to see all that was going
on. And they knew it. Every now and then you might see an eye turned to the
window, especiallyif there was anything questionable or wrong going on. And
sure enough there was the face at the window — all was seenby the governor!
And yet, even in such a case, where there is the sharpestlookout, it is possible
to elude observation; things are done which no one sees, whicheverybody
denies, and sometimes it is impossible to find out who has been the wrong-
doer. But God sees all. Nothing escapesHis observation. He slumbers not nor
sleeps. The most secretthing that anyone can do, lies open to Him. Every
word, though spokenin a whisper, He hears. Every act, howeverhidden, His
eye looks right down upon.

3. God sees youin the dark. It is wonderful what an idea most people have of
darkness, as covering and hiding things, Now, we need to be reminded that
howeverit may be with men, darkness makes no difference to God. He sees in
the dark just as in the light; so that, so far as He is concerned — and it is
mainly with Him we have to do — it is of no use waiting till night, till it is
dark.
4. God sees youin the crowd. When one wishes not to be seen, he likes to get
into a crowd. We speak ofbeing "lostin the crowd." Hence it is so easyto do
many things in a crowd, which one would not do alone. Hence evil becomes so
bold in a crowd. I recollectseeing a number of youths standing at a corner, in
a seafaring town, going greatlengths in the way of scoffing and reviling and
ridiculing all that was good. A friend challengedany one of them to go out
with him along a country road and saythe same things there. He dared them
to do, one by one, what they did boldly in the mass. I need not say the
challenge was not accepted — all shrunk from it. But here, too, it is otherwise
with God than it is with men. Justas darkness makes no difference, so
numbers make none. Eachindividual out of ten thousand stands out as
distinctly as if there were but the one.
5. God sees youwhen alone. A strange feeling of being unobserved, so as to be
at liberty to do anything, comes over one when he is alone. There is such a
sense ofsolitude that, so far as anyone else is concerned, it seems to matter
little what one does. To be left alone with oneselfis far more dangerous for
some than to be surrounded by the most skilful of tempters. Many have found
their way to prison and to ruin just through being left alone. But when one is
most alone, in the most out-of-the-way place, in the remotestcorner of the
earth — Godsees. Gehazi, the prophet's servant, thought he was all
unobserved when he hurried after Naaman, the Syrian, after he was healed,
and by a lying device gotmoney from him, which he stowedawaysecurely,
and then presentedhimself before his master. How he must have been startled
when Elisha said, "Went not my heart with thee?" And so God says, "Can
any hide himself in secretplaces thatI shall not see him?"
6. God sees youeverywhere. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). "The eyes of the Lord run

to and fro, throughout the whole earth" (2 Chronicles 16:9). "Do not I fill
heaven and earth, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24).
7. God sees youalways. There is no moment when He does not see you —
night or day — waking or sleeping — alone or in company. It is told of
Linnaeus, the famous naturalist, that he was greatlyimpressed with this
thought, and that it told on his conversation, his writings, and his conduct. He
felt the importance of this so much that he wrote over the door of his study the
Latin words: "Innocui vivite; Numen adest; Live innocently; God is here."
We might well have these words before us everywhere.
(J. H. Wilson, M. A.)
The punctuality of Providence
A. Maclaren, D. D.
We wonderat the smooth working of the machinery for feeding a greatcity;
and how, day by day, the provisions come at the right time, and are parted out
among hundreds of thousands of homes. But we seldomthink of the punctual
love, the perfect knowledge,the profound wisdom which cares for us all, and
is always in time with its gifts.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
God's eye
H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.
We think much of being seenof men; some of us would do anything for the
sake ofkeeping up appearances. We should not give a penny to the offertory
instead of a shilling if our neighbour could see us; we should not sell an
adulterated article over the counter if a friend were looking over our
shoulder. There are certain things which we do in private which we would not
let our acquaintances know, and yet God knows all. We may lock our door, we

may draw down the blind before we commit a sin, but God sees us:no lock
shuts Him out.
(H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)
God's omniscience
Nomus, one of the heathen gods, is saidto have complained of Vulcan, that he
had not set a grate at every man's breast. God hath a glazedwindow in the
darkesthouses of clay; He sees whatis done in them when none other can. To
God's omnipotence there is nothing impossible; and to God's omniscience
there is nothing invisible.
God is present
J. H. Wilson, M. A.
Here is a young banker. When he was a boy in a country home, his mother
bought for him an illuminated card with this text on it. It was framed and
hung at the foot of his bed, so that every morning it was the first thing that
met his eye when he awoke. By and by he went to a large city and entered a
banking establishment. His father's last words to him, as he bade him good-
bye, were, "Rememberyour motto, Thou God seestme." He soonrose to
position, securing the unlimited confidence of his employers. Then came the
hour of temptation — to enrich himself by taking a large sum of money and
running off. It grew upon him and masteredhim. All was ready. He stayed
behind when the other clerks left the office, He turned the keyof the safe and
the heavy door swung open. The money was counted. It was in his hands. The
deed was all but done, when the old text — the text of his boyhood — flashed
out. Conscienceawoke. The money fell from his hands. It seemedas if it had a
voice — as if it said, "Thou God seestme," and the agonizedyouth cried out,
"O Godof my mother, save me from this awful crime." The money was
replaced, and the young man was saved.
(J. H. Wilson, M. A.)

Unconscious surveillance
Old TestamentAnecdotes.
Some years since a trio of gentlemen, members of a large mercantile firm,
came into the office of the writer, and, under injunctions of profound secrecy,
desired the favour of using the window for a few days. The privilege was
readily granted, and one of their number was at once installed behind a
curtain, where, with a powerful glass, he could rigidly scrutinize every
movement of a certain clerk in a large building across the way. The young
man, all unconscious ofthe vigilant, eye constantly upon him, was absorbedin
his duties, making entries and receiving money; and, whatever consciousness
of innocence or guilt was carried about with him, the suspicionof a rigid
watchupon his actions — every movement closelyscannedand weighedby his
employers — doubtless had never entered his mind. The surveillance was
continued nearly a week whenit was abruptly terminated, and the result,
whether in discovery of wrong or establishing innocence, I never learned. The
incident made a profound impressionupon me, suggesting, withthrilling
distinctness, the solemn truth which men are so prone to forget, "Thou God
seestme," and enabling me as never before to realize how open before Him
are the hearts and ways of men, their desires, volitions, actions;and that at
last He shall bring every work into judgment whether it be goodor whether it
be evil.
(Old TestamentAnecdotes.)
Thought of omniscience
A man went to stealcorn from his neighbour's field. He took his little boy with
him to keepa lookout, so as to give warning in case anyone should come along.
Before commencing he lookedall around, first one way and then the other;
and not seeing any personhe was just about to fill his bag when the son cried
out, "Father, there is one way you haven't lookedyet!" The father supposed
that someone was coming, and askedhis sonwhich way he meant. He

answered, "Youforgot to look up!" The father, conscience-stricken, took his
boy by the hand, and hurried home without the corn which he had designed to
take.
Powerof the eye
Thousand New Illustrations.
Mazzini's soul was an inner lamp, shining through him always. Here was the
strength of his personalinfluence. You could not doubt his glance.
(Thousand New Illustrations.)
Perfectionof omniscience
Bishop Hamline.
Is this universe an unsurveyed and solitary waste? Do you fancy there is no
presence to cheer it, nor eye to look upon it forever? There is an eye whose
vision is spreadall overthis amazing scene. There is a mind present unto it in
all its illimitable extent. The Eternal One at the same moment converses with
its immeasurably remote extremes. There is a mind to whose intelligence all
this amazing vast of worlds on worlds, and suns on suns, and systems on
systems, is distinctly apparent. Every atom in this magnificent immensity,
whether sinking in its depths or aspiring in its heights, whether resting on its
axis or whirling on its verge, is watchedby the intense and eternal scrutiny of
the omnipresent and omniscientGod.
(Bishop Hamline.)
God is ever near
Christian Age.

The people of God, if they read nature aright, might learn much from even
her humblest page;for the bending grass has a voice as distinct, if not as loud,
as the sturdy oak. Myriad voices evertestify that God is near. This truth was
found beautifully realized a little while ago by one of the agents of the London
City Mission, who was visiting in one of those courts where the houses are
crowdedwith inhabitants, and where every room is the dwelling of a family.
In a lone room at the top of one of these houses the agentmet with an aged
woman, whose scantypittance of half-a-crowna week was scarcelysufficient
for her bare subsistence. He observed, in a broken teapot that stood in the
window, a strawberryplant, growing and flourishing. He remarked, from
time to time, how it continued to grow, and with what jealous care it was
watchedand tended. "Your plant flourishes nicely; you will soonhave
strawberries upon it." "Oh, sir," replied the woman, "it is not for the sake of
the fruit that I grow it." "Thenwhy do you take so much care of it?" he
inquired. "Well, sir," was the answer, "Iam very poor, too poor to keepany
living creature; but it is a great comfort to me to have that living plant; for I
know it can only live by the powerof God; and as I see it live and grow from
day to day, it tells me that God is near." "ThouGod seestme. A young
Christian lady was laid on a sick bed. She was often unprotected and alone.
One night very late, as she was lying awake onher bed, her family all asleepin
their rooms around, a man was seenby her entering her door. He stopped a
moment after he had gained entrance, her little night lamp shining on them
both from the stand by her bedside. He saw this sick girl surveying him with
perfect tranquillity. She raisedher finger, pointing upward, and said, Do you
know that God sees you?" The man waited a moment, but made no reply, and
then turned and walkedimmediately out, having opened no other door than
the streetdoor and the door of her chamber. Thus God interposed and
defended her by the weakestinstrument, but with the mightiest power. "Thou
God seestme. When the greatPhidias had completedhis reclining statue of
Theseus, someone, knowing thatthe statue was to occupy an elevatedposition
in the temple, and observing that the back of the masterpiece was as highly
polished and as carefully completed as was the front, askedwhy such waste of
time and energy, when no one would ever see whetherit was finished or in the
rough. The sculptor calmly and reverently replied, Men may not see it, but the
gods will." Our every actis under the inspection of the living God.

(Christian Age.)
One of God's ambassadors
It presented a difficulty to the mind of the Emperor Trajan, that God should
be everywhere and yet not be seenby mortal eye. "You teachme," said the
Emperor, on one occasion, to Rabbi Joshua, "that your God is everywhere;
and you boastthat He resides among your nation. I should like to see Him."
"God's presence is indeed everywhere," saidthe Rabbi, "but He cannotbe
seen. No mortal eye can behold His glory." The Emperor insisted. "Well,"
said Joshua;"but suppose we go first, and look at one of His ambassadors."
The emperor assented. The rabbi took him into the open air. It was noonday;
and he bade him look on the sun, blazing in its meridian splendour. "I cannot
see," saidTrajan;"the light dazzles me." Saidthe rabbi, "Thou art unable to
bear the light of one of these creatures;how, then, could'st thou look upon the
Creator? Would not such a light annihilate thee?"
God counts
Children's MissionaryRecord.
A plate of sweetcakeswas brought in and laid upon the table. Two children
played upon the hearth rug before the fire. "Oh, I want one of those cakes!"
cried the little boy, jumping up as soonas his mother went out, and going on
tiptoe towards the table. "No, no," saidhis sister, pulling him back, "you must
not touch." "Motherwon't know it; she did not count them," he cried,
shaking her off and stretching out his hand. "If she didn't perhaps God
counted," answeredthe other. The little boy's hand was stayed. Yes, children,
be sure God counts.
(Children's MissionaryRecord.)
God sees us through Christ

A. Maclaren, D. D.
"Thou God seestme" is a very unwelcome thought to a greatmany men, and
it will be so, unless we can give it the modification which it receives from belief
in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and feel sure that the eyes which are blazing
with Divine Omniscience are dewy with Divine and human love.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.).
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(13) Thou God seestme.—Heb., Thou art El Boi, that is, a God of seeing. Not
as Onkelos paraphrases it, “Thou art a God that sees allthings,” but “Thou
art a Godthat permits Himself to be seen.” Forso Hagarproceeds herselfto
explain the name, Do not I still see after seeing? Withall the love of an
Oriental for dark sayings, Hagarplays upon the word “roï,” but her meaning
is plain: “Do I not see, and therefore am alive, and not even blinded, nor
bereft of sense and reason, though I have seenGod.”
BensonCommentary
Genesis 16:13. And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her —
That is, thus she made confessionof his name, Thou God seestme — This
should be, with her, his name for ever, and this his memorial, by which she
would know him, and remember him while she lived, Thou God seestme.
Thou seestmy sorrow and affliction. This Hagar especiallyrefers to. When we
have brought ourselves into distress by our own folly, yet God has not
forsakenus. Thou seestthe sincerity of my repentance. Thou seestme, if in
any instance I depart from thee. This thought should always restrain us from
sin, and excite us to duty, Thou God seestme. Have I here also lookedafter

him that seethme? — Probably she knew not who it was that talked with her
till he was departing, and then lookedafter him, with a reflection like that of
the two disciples, Luke 24:31-32. Here also — Not only in Abram’s tent, and
at his altar, but here also, in this wilderness:here, where I never expectedit.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
16:7-16 Hagarwas out of her place, and out of the wayof her duty, and going
further astray, when the Angel found her. It is a greatmercy to be stopped in
a sinful way, either by conscience orby providence. Whence comestthou?
Considerthat thou art running from duty, and the privileges thou wastblest
with in Abram's tent. It is goodto live in a religious family, which those ought
to considerwho have this advantage. Whither wilt thou go? Thou art running
into sin; if Hagarreturn to Egypt, she will return to idol gods, and into danger
in the wilderness through which she must travel. Recollecting who we are,
would often teachus our duty. Inquiring whence we came, would show us our
sin and folly. Considering whither we shall go, discovers our dangerand
misery. And those who leave their space and duty, must hasten their return,
how mortifying soeverit be. The declarationof the Angel, I will, shows this
Angel was the eternalWord and Son of God. Hagar could not but admire the
Lord's mercy, and feel, Have I, who am so unworthy, been favoured with a
gracious visit from the Lord? She was brought to a better temper, returned,
and by her behaviour softenedSarai, and receivedmore gentle treatment.
Would that we were always suitably impressedwith this thought, Thou God
seestme!
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
God of my vision - (El-roi). Here we have the same divine name as in Ishmael.
"Have I even still seen" - continued to live and see the sun after having seen
God? Beer-lahai-roi, the well of vision (of God) to the living. To see God and
live was an issue contrary to expectationExodus 33:20. The well is between
Kadesh and Bered. The site of the latter has not been ascertained. R.
Jonathangives ‫אצּוח‬ chelûtsā'the Ἔλουσα elousa of Ptolemy, now el-Khulasa,
about twelve miles south of Beersheba. Rowlandfinds the well at Moyle or
Muweilah, still further south in the same direction. The birth of Ishmael is in

the sixteenth year after Abram's call, and the eleventh after his arrival in
Kenaan.
- The Sealing of the Covenant
1. ‫ידׁש‬ shaday, Shaddai, "Irresistible, able to destroy, and by inference to
make, Almighty." ‫ידד‬ shādad "be strong, destroy." This name is found six
times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job.
5. ‫חהרבא‬ 'abrâhām, Abraham, from ‫חהרא‬ 'abrām "high-father," and ‫בא‬ hām
the radicalpart of ‫ביׁשה‬ hāmôn a "multitude," is obtained by a euphonic
abbreviation ‫חהרבא‬ 'abrâhām, "father of a multitude." The root ‫רבא‬ rhm is a
variation of ‫רוא‬ rvm; affording, however, a link of connectionin sound and
sense with the root ‫ביב‬ hāmâh "hum, be tumultuous," from which comes ‫ביוה‬
hāmôn a "multitude." The confluence of the biliterals ‫אר‬ rm and ‫אב‬ hm yields
the triliteral ‫אבר‬ rhm occurring in Arabic, though not elsewhere in our
written Hebrew. The law of formation here noticedis interesting and real,
though ‫אבר‬ rhm may not have been an actualresult of it.
11. ‫םילמא‬ nemaltem formed from ‫םיל‬ nāmal, "circumcised." ‫יצל‬ mûl "cut,
circumcise."
15. ‫הרב‬ śārâhSarah, "princess."
19. ‫ׁשּובי‬ yı̂tschāq Jitschaq, "laughing."
The present form of the covenant is not identical with the former. That
referred chiefly to the land; this chiefly to the seed. Thatdwelt much on
temporal things; this rises to spiritual things. That specifies only Abram; this
mentions both Abram and Sarai. At the former period God formally entered
into covenantwith Abram ‫ירמ‬‫הרׁשמ‬ kārat berı̂yt, Genesis 15:18);at presenthe
takes the first stepin the fufillment of the covenant ‫םמה‬ ‫הרׁשמ‬ nātan berı̂yt, seals
it with a tokenand a perpetual ordinance, and gives Abram and Sarainew
names in tokenof a new nature. There was an interval of fourteen years at
leastbetweenthe ratificationof the covenantand the preparation for the
fulfillment of its conditions, during which Abraham's faith had time to unfold.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary

13. calledthe name—commonin ancienttimes to name places from
circumstances;and the name given to this well was a grateful recognitionof
God's gracious appearance in the hour of Hagar's distress.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Thou God seestme; thou hast been pleasedto take notice and care of me, and
graciouslyto manifest thyself unto me.
After him that seethme, i.e. after that God whose eye is upon me for good. So
she chides herself for her neglectof God, and of his providence, and that not
only in her master’s house, but even here in the wilderness, where her desolate
and miserable condition should have made her look after and call upon God
for help. Or rather, these are words of admiration: q.d. Have I also here, i.e.
in this desolate wilderness,
lookedafter him that seethme, i.e. seenthe face of my gracious God!That
God should appearto me in my master’s house, where he used to manifest
himself, was not strange;but that I should have such a favour here, that God
should not only look upon me, but admit me to look upon him, and visibly
appear to me after I had run awayfrom him, and from my godly master, this
was more than I could hope or expect! Others thus, Have I here seenafter him
that sees me? i.e. after the vision of him that hath appearedto me? i.e. Do I yet
see and live after I have seenGod? She wonders at it, because it was then the
common opinion that an appearance ofGod to any person was a forerunner
of death. See Genesis 32:30 Exodus 33:20 Judges 6:22 13:22. And seeing is
here put for living, one function of life for life itself, as Exodus 24:11
Ecclesiastes11:7,8. Butthe word seeing put by itself, as here it is, is neither in
those places, nor elsewhere,usedfor living. And had that been her meaning,
she would have expressedit plainly, as they do in the places alleged, and not
have used so dark and dubious a metaphor, nor would have said, after him
that sees me, but rather, after I have seenhim.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And she calledthe name of the Lord that spake unto her,.... Either she called
on the name of the Lord, and prayed unto him, that he would forgive her sin
and give her some fresh tokens of his love; and also gave him thanks for his
gracious regards unto her, that he should look upon, and look after so mean a
creature, and such a backslideras she was, and return her, and make such
gracious promises to her; so the Targum of Onkelos,"she prayedin the name
of the Lord;''and the Targum of Jonathan is,"andshe confessed, orgave
thanks before the Lord, whose Wordspake unto her;''and the Jerusalem
Targum takes in both prayer and praise,"andHagargave thanks, and prayed
in the name of the Word of the Lord, who was revealedunto her:''in which
may be observedthe sense ofthe ancient synagogue,that this angelthat
appearedto Hagar, and talkedwith her, was the Word of the Lord, the
eternal Logos, orSon of God: or else the sense is, that she gave the following
name or epithet to the Lord, that vouchsafedto discourse with her:
thou God seestme; she perceived by experience his eye was upon her
wherevershe was, and saw all she did; saw all her transgressions,her
contempt of her mistress, and her flight from her; saw her when she was at
the fountain, and reproved and recalledher, and sent her back;saw all the
workings of her heart, her repentance and sorrow for her sins; lookedand
smiled upon her, and gave her exceeding greatand precious promises:he
lookedupon her, both with his eye of omniscience and providence, and with
his eye of love, and grace, andmercy; yea, she was sensible that he was not
only the God that saw her, but saw all things; was Godomniscient, and
therefore gives him this name under a thorough conviction and deep sense of
his omniscience;and so Onkelos paraphrases the words,"thouart he, the God
that sees allthings;"
for she said, have I also here lookedafter him that seethme? this she said
within herself, either as blaming herself, that she should not look after God in
this desolate place until now, and call upon him, and praise his name, whose
eye was upon her, and had a concernfor her, and care over her; and yet so
ungrateful she had been as to neglecthim, and not seek afterhim as it became
her: or as wondering that here, in this wilderness, she should be favoured with
the sight of God, and of his angel, whom she had seenin Abram's house;
where to see him was not so strange and marvellous, but it was to have a sight

of him in such a place, and under such circumstances as she was:or else as
admiring that she should be alive after she had had such a vision of God, it
being a notion that pretty much obtained, that none could see God and live,
only his back parts were to be seen;wherefore others read the words, and
they will bear such a version, "have not I also seenhere the back parts of him
that seethme?" (y) so Moses did, Exodus 33:23.
(y) So Fagius.
Geneva Study Bible
And she calledthe name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest
me: for she said, {g} Have I also here lookedafter him that seethme?
(g) She rebukes her own dullness and acknowledgesGod's graces, who was
present with her everywhere.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
13. the Lord that spake unto her] These words definitely identify the Angel
with a manifestation of the Almighty; see Genesis 16:7.
Thou art a God that seeth]LXX Σὺ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἐφιδών με, Lat. Tu Deus qui
vidisti me. Hagardesignates the Divine Personwho had spokento her, by the
name Êl, with the epithet, or attribute, of “Vision”: see note on Genesis 14:18.
She says, “Thouart Êl roi,” i.e. “a God of Seeing,” or“of Vision.” The
familiar rendering, “Thou God seestme,” is, with our presenttext, incorrect.
Have I even here lookedafter him that seethme] According to this rendering,
the emphasis is on the words “even here.” The meaning is, “have I, even here,
in the wilderness, met God? and, though I knew Him not, yet, after He had
gone, I perceivedthat it was He.” The awkwardnessofthe phrase, “after
him,” is obvious. The difficulty of the passage wasrealizedat a very early

time: LXX καὶ γὰρ ἐνώπιον εἶδονὀφθέντα μοι, Lat. profecto hic vidi
posteriora videntis me (explaining the clause from Exodus 33:23).
On the assumption that the text is corrupt, Wellhausenconjectures “have I
seen[God, and remained alive] after [my] vision,” reading Elohim for halôm,
and inserting va-eḥi. This gives a goodsense; but is rendered doubtful by the
alterationof the unusual word halôm (= “even hither”).
Similarly, Ball conjectures “Have I even seenGod, and survived?” (S.B.O.T.)
It may be assumed that Hagar’s utterance denoted joy and thankfulness for
having seenJehovah, and for having lived afterwards. Cf. Genesis 32:30;
Exodus 3:6; Exodus 19:21; Jdg 13:22;1 Samuel 6:19.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 13. - And she calledthe name - not invoked the name (Chaldee, Lapide),
though occasionally‫א‬ ָ‫י‬ ‫ח‬‫ר‬‫י‬ has the same import as ‫ק‬ ָ‫י‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ח‬‫ר‬‫י‬ (vide
Deuteronomy 32:3) - of the Lord - Jehovah, thus identifying the Ma-leach
Jehovahwith Jehovahhimself - that spake unto her, Thou God assetme.
Literally, Thou (art) El-Roi, a God of seeing, meaning either the Godof my
vision, i.e. the God who revealestthyself in vision (Gesenius, Furst, Le Clerc,
Dathe, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), or, though less correctly, the
God who sees allthings, and therefore me (LXX., Vulgate, Calvin, Ainsworth;
Candlish, Hofmann, Baumgarten, Delitzsch, Wordsworth). For she said, Have
I also here lookedafterhim that seethme? Literally, Have I also hitherto
seen? i.e. Do I also still live after the vision? (Onkelos,. Gesenius, Furst, Keil,
Kalisch, Rosenmüller, Murphy).
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Hagarno doubt intended to escape to Egypt by a road used from time
immemorial, that ran from Hebron past Beersheba, "bythe way of Shur." -
Shur, the present Jifar, is the name given to the north-western portion of the
desertof Arabia (cf. Exodus 15:22). There the angel of the Lord found her by

a well, and directed her to return to her mistress, and submit to her; at the
same time he promised her the birth of a son, and an innumerable
multiplication of her descendants. As the fruit of her womb was the seedof
Abram, she was to return to his house and there bearhim a son, who, though
not the seedpromised by God, would be honoured for Abram's sake with the
blessing of an innumerable posterity. For this reasonalso Jehovahappeared
to her in the form of the Angel of Jehovah. ‫ברב‬ is adj. verb. as in Genesis
38:24, etc.:"thou art with child and wilt bear;" ‫ׁשלדי‬ for ‫מדלׁש‬ (Genesis 17:19)is
found again in Judges 13:5, Judges 13:7. This son she was to callIshmael
("God hears"), "forJehovahhath hearkenedto thy distress." ‫ׁשםע‬ afflictionem
sine dubio vocat, quam Hagar afflictionem sentiebatesse, nempe conditionem
servitem et quod castigata esseta Sara (Luther). It was Jehovah, not Elohim,
who had heard, although the latter name was most naturally suggestedas the
explanation of Ishmael, because the hearing, i.e., the multiplication of
Ishmael's descendants, was the result of the covenantgrace ofJehovah.
Moreover, in contrastwith the oppressionwhich has had endured and still
would endure, she receivedthe promise that her son would endure no such
oppression. "He will be a wild ass of a man." The figure of a ‫,ארח‬ onager, that
wild and untameable animal, roaming at its will in the desert, of which so
highly poetic a description is given in Job 39:5-8, depicts most aptly "the
Bedouin's boundless love of freedom as he rides about in the desert, spearin
hand, upon his camelor his horse, hardy, frugal, revelling in the varied
beauty of nature, and despising town life in every form;" and the words, "his
hand will be againstevery man, and every man's hand againsthim," describe
most truly the incessantstate offeud, in which the Ishmaelites live with one
another or with their neighbours. "He will dwell before the face of all his
brethren." ‫על‬ ‫אםׁש‬ denotes, it is true, to the eastof (cf. Genesis 25:18), andthis
meaning is to be retained here; but the geographicalnotice ofthe dwelling-
place of the Ishmaelites hardly exhausts the force of the expression, which also
indicated that Ishmael would maintain an independent standing before (in the
presence of) all the descendants ofAbraham. History has confirmed this
promise. The Ishmaelites have continued to this day in free and undiminished
possessionofthe extensive peninsula betweenthe Euphrates, the Straits of
Suez, and the Red Sea, from which they have overspreadboth Northern
Africa and Southern Asia.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
ADAM CLARKE
And she calledthe name of the Lord - She invoked (‫חרימו‬ vattikra ) the name
of Jehovahwho spake unto her, thus: Thou God seestme! She found that the
eye of a merciful God had been upon her in all her wanderings and afflictions;
and her words seemto intimate that she had been seeking the Divine help and
protection, for she says, Have I also (or have I not also)lookedafter him that
seethme? This last clause ofthe verse is very obscure and is rendered
differently by all the versions. The generalsense takenoutof it is this, That
Hagarwas now convinced that Godhimself had appearedunto her, and was
surprised to find that, notwithstanding this, she was still permitted to live; for
it is generally supposedthat if God appearedto any, they must be consumed
by his glories. This is frequently alluded to in the sacredwritings. As the word
tsal ehtseifingis secalp rehto ni ,retfa ylpmis redner ew hcihw ,yerahca ‫חארׁש‬
days or after times, (see Exodus 33:23;), it may probably have a similar
meaning here; and indeed this makes a consistentsense:Have I here also seen
the Latter Purposes or Designs ofhim who seeth me? An exclamationwhich
may be referred to that discovery which God made in the preceding verse of
the future state of her descendants.
CALVIN

13.And she calledthe name of the Lord. Moses, I have no doubt, implies that
Hagar, after she was admonished by the angel, changedher mind: and being
thus subdued, retook herselfto prayer; unless, perhaps, here the confessionof
the tongue, rather than change of mind, is denoted. I rather incline, however,
to the opinion, that Hagar, who had before been of a wild and intractable
temper, begins now at length to acknowledgethe providence of God.
Moreover, as to that which some suppose;namely, that God is called‘the God
of vision, (391)because he appears and manifests himself to men, it is a forced
interpretation. Rather let us understand that Hagar, who before had
appearedto herselfto be carried awayby chance, through the desert; now
perceives and acknowledgesthat human affairs are under divine government.
And whoeveris persuaded that he is lookedupon by God, must of necessity
walk as in his sight.
Have I also here seenafter him that seeth me ? (392)Some translate this,
‘Have I not seenafter the vision?’ (393)But it really is as I have rendered it.
Moreover, the obscurity of the sentence has procured for us various
interpretations. Some among the Hebrews say that Hagarwas astonishedat
the sight of the angel; because she thought that God was nowhere seenbut in
the house of Abram. But this is frigid, and in this way the ambition of the
Jews oftencompels them to trifle; seeing that they apply their whole study to
boasting on the glory of their race. Others so understand the passage,‘Have I
seenafter my vision?’ that is, so late, that during the vision I was blind? (394)
According to these interpreters, the vision of Hagarwas twofold: the former
erroneous;since she perceived nothing celestialin the angel;but the other
true, after she had been affectedwith a sense of the divine nature of the vision.
To some it seems that a negative answeris implied; as if she would say, I did
not see him departing; and then from his sudden disappearance, she collects
that he must have been an angelof God.
Also, on the secondmember of the sentence, interpreters disagree. Jerome
renders it, ‘the back parts of him that seeth me:’ (395)which many refer to an
obscure vision, so that the phrase is deemed metaphorical. For as we do not
plainly perceive men from behind; so they are said to see the back parts of
God, to whom he does not openly nor clearly manifest himself; and this
opinion is commonly received. Others think that Moses useda different

figure; for they take the seeing of the back parts of God, for the sense ofhis
anger; just as his face is said to shine upon us, when he shows himself
propitious and favorable. Therefore, according to them, the sense is, ‘I
thought that I had escaped, so that I should no more be obnoxious to the rod
or chastening of God; but here also I perceive that he is angry with me.’ So far
I have briefly relatedthe opinion of others. (396)And although I have no
intention to pause for the purpose of refuting eachof these expositions; I yet
freely declare, that not one of these interpreters has apprehended the meaning
of Moses. Iwillingly acceptwhat some adduce, that Hagar wonderedat the
goodness ofGod, by whom she had been regarded even in the desert: but this,
though something, is not the whole. In the first place, Hagarchides herself,
because, as she had before been too blind, she even now openedher eyes too
slowlyand indolently to perceive God. Forshe aggravatesthe guilt of her
torpor by the circumstance both of place and time. She had frequently found,
by many proofs, that she was regardedby the Lord; yet becoming blind, she
had despisedhis providence, as if, with closedeyes, she had passedby him
when he presentedhimself before her. She now accusesherselffor not having
more quickly awoke whenthe angelappeared. The considerationof place is
also of greatweight, (397) because God, who had always testifiedthat he was
present with her in the house of Abram, now pursued her as a fugitive, even
into the desert. It implied, indeed, a base ingratitude on her part, to be blind
to the presence ofGod; so that even when she knew he was looking upon her,
she did not, in return, raise her eyes to behold him. But it was a still more
shameful blindness, that she, being regardedby the Lord, although a
wandererand an exile, paying the just penalty of her perverseness,still would
not even acknowledgehim as present. We now see the point to which her self-
reproachtends; ‘Hitherto I have not soughtGod, nor had respectto him,
exceptby constraint; whereas, he had before deigned to look down upon me:
even now in the desert, where being afflicted with evils, I ought immediately to
have roused myself, I have, according to my custom, been stupefied: nor
should I everhave raised my eyes towards heaven, unless I had first been
lookedupon by the Lord.’

THOMAS COKE
Genesis 16:13. And she called the name of the Lord,—Thou God seestme— or
perhaps, "she calledupon, she invoked the name of the Lord who spoke to
her: and one said, Thou [art] the God, seeing me, i.e.. regarding my
misfortunes, and revealing thyself to me; and one used this expressionthe
rather, as she had before said, 'Do I even here see,'[i.e. live and use my senses]
after my vision; after seeing the God who has appearedto me?" This is
Noldius's interpretation; and thus the words should be rendered. There is in
the words a manifest reference to a generalopinion, that no mortal eyes could
endure the sight of the Divine Majestywith safety. See ch. Genesis 32:30. So
Gideon says, "Alas, O Lord God, for I have seenan angelof the Lord, &c." to
which the Lord replies, Peace, fearnot, thou shalt not die. Judges 6:22-23.
Such was the case of Manoahtoo, Judges 13:22. We shall surely die, because
we have seenGod. See Isaiah6:5 and compare Exodus 33:20. Let it be
observed, if this had been only an angelor ministering spirit, this manner of
speaking must have been very absurd. In consequence ofthis sight and life,
the well, where God appeared to her, was called ‫החרּאלאׁשּארחׁש‬ beer-lechi-roi,
literally, the well of the living, seeing:i.e.. of her who saw the Lord and lived.
And in this view, the whole is consistent. The welllay betweenKadesh and
Bered, as we are informed; the former a city of Hebron, lying on the edge of
the land of Canaan;but where the latter was situatedwe know not, as it is no
where else mentioned. It was, however, notfar from Gerar.
REFLECTIONS.—Hagarimmediately returns back, aftera grateful
acknowledgmentof the mercy bestowedupon her: and Abram in his old age is
comforted with a son. Observe,
1. The name she gave the place where God appeared to her. Thou God seest
me; or, thou art the God seeing me. Note; (1.) It is the comfort of every
affliction, the spur to every duty, and the restraint from every sin, to feelthe
eye of God upon us. (2.) We would do well to acknowledgehis gracious
visitations, and have them not only in our mind, but in our mouth.

2. Her admiration of God's condescensionthus to look upon her. Learn, (1.) A
soul brought to a sense ofits error, is amazed at the mercy it finds with God.
(2.) The eye of faith looks to the all-seeing God, and this is its stability and
support.
3. Her son born: Ishmael, long before Isaac. Note;Corruption is always the
first-born of the heart: and how many expectno secondbirth, and die
contentedly children of the bondwoman!
STEVEN COLE
The God Who Sees (Genesis16:7-16)
RelatedMedia
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Dr. James Boice tells a poignant story about an incident from his childhood.
In the closing days of World War II, when Boice was seven, his father was in
the Air Force, stationedin Louisiana, with the family. Many servicemenwere
being discharged, but since there was the risk that discharge orders could be
canceledif a man didn’t leave immediately after receiving them, Boice’s
family had begun to pack.
When the orders came, schoolwas in session, so James was toldthat the
family would leave as soonas he got home that afternoon. He was so excited

he could hardly wait. He jumped off the schoolbus, ran up the steps to his
house, and found that the door was locked. Surprisedand a bit subdued, he
ran around to the back door and found that it was lockedtoo. At last he found
a window he knew would be unlocked, pried it open and crawledthrough. To
his shock, the room was empty. So was the entire house. As this seven-year-old
boy made his way slowly from room to room, he got the sinking sensationthat
in the rush of packing and leaving quickly before the orders were canceled,
his family had forgottenand left him behind. Actually his parents had gone
off on a last minute errand and were waiting outside in the car for him to
come home from schoolwhile he was inside wandering through the empty
house. But it was a sadlittle boy they saw backing out of the window after his
tour of the abandoned house. (Boice, Genesis [Zondervan], 1:295-296.)
It’s terrible to feelabandoned by your parents. It’s also tough to feel
abandoned by God. Mostof us have felt that way at one time or another.
Maybe things were going well and suddenly the bottom dropped out of your
life. In the confusion of the events, you wondered, “Where is God in all this?”
That’s how Hagar must have felt when she fled from Sarai. Things had
seemedto look up for a brief moment. Her lowly status as a servant had
changedwhen Abram, according to the custom of the day, had takenher to
produce a child on behalf of the barren Sarai. But when Hagar became
pregnant, she communicatedan air of superiority toward Sarai, who then
mistreated her. Finally, things gotso bad that Hagar took off in the direction
of her homeland, out through the desert. It was a dangerous thing for a
woman to do. She could have been abused or takencaptive by nomadic
traders. Being pregnant, she could have losther baby from the rigors of
traveling in that rugged terrain. Having had to escape, probably in the night,
she would have had few supplies. But somehow she made it to a spring of
waterin the desert and sat down exhausted.
Hagarknew about Abram’s God, the living and true God. She must have
wondered if that God knew or caredabout her situation. No doubt she was
confused. What could a pregnant, single woman do, even if she reached her
homeland? If she had family there, they would have been too poor to help her.

Her future was uncertain, her past too painful to think about. She felt
abandoned by everyone on earth and forgottenby God in heaven.
It’s in that contextthat we read, “Now the angelof the Lord found her”
(16:7). What a beautiful picture of our compassionateGod, who is concerned
even for this poor, confusedservant girl! The angeltells her what to do and
then promises that he will multiply her descendants through the child she is
carrying. Hagar, encouragedand awedby this experience, gives a new name
to God--”El Roi,” “the God who sees.”She then returns to Abram and Sarai
and Ishmael is born.
There are two dominant themes in these verses:First, Godsees Hagar(16:7-
12); and second, HagarseesGod(16:13-16). Godsaw Hagar’s affliction; as a
result, Hagarsaw God’s mercy and submitted to Him. Applying it to us, we
can put it:
BecauseGodsees ouraffliction, we cansee His mercy and submit to Him.
This story is encouraging if you are suffering and feel that God has
abandoned you. He has not forgotten; He sees your affliction. BecauseHe sees,
you cansee His mercy, and submit to Him.
1. God sees ouraffliction (16:7-12).
God saw Hagar’s affliction: “The angelof the Lord found her ....” Isn’t that
great!The GoodShepherd went looking for her. God is a seeking God!We
may think that we found Him, but the reality is, He found us. We were lost
and confused, wandering away from Him. He came looking and found us! If
you know Christ as Savior, you realize that you didn’t think, “I need a little
help in my life. I’ll decide to let Jesus be my Savior.” The Son of Man did not
come to seek and to save those who needed a little help. He came to seek and
to save those who are lost(Luke 19:10)! It is our sinful pride that keeps us
from seeing our true condition: We are lost! We must ownup to that fact. But
the goodnews is, no one, not even a lowly Egyptian servant girl, is too lost in
God’s sight. The angelof the Lord found Hagar!
Who is this angelof the Lord? There is debate among scholars, but I believe
that it is the Lord Jesus Christin a preincarnate appearance. In verse 13 it is

statedthat it was the Lord who spoke to Hagar. (See also, Gen. 18:1-2, 17, 22,
27, 33, 19:1; 22:11-12;24:7; 31:11, 13;48:15-16.)So Hagarwas found by and
was speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Hagarcould flee from the presence ofSarai, but she couldn’t flee from the
presence ofthe Lord. You cantry to run from difficult circumstances, but you
can’t hide from the God who put you there. Notice the irony of verse 8: The
Lord knows Hagar’s name and her station in life, yet He asks her where she
has come from and where she is going. Whereverin the Bible you find God
asking a question, you can assume that He is not looking for information. He
wants the person to think about the situation. The Lord wanted Hagarto
think about two things: Where have you come from? and, Where are you
going? She had come from being Sarai’s maid. As such, she was not free to
flee from her duty. Where was she going? She really didn’t know. But, clearly,
she wasn’tseeking afterthe Lord and His will.
Those are goodquestions to ask yourselfwhen you’re in a difficult situation:
Where have you come from? Did God allow that trial for some reason? Where
are you going? Did you seek His permission to run? Our real need in a bad
situation is not to escape, but to seek and to submit to the Lord. The Lord has
some bad news and some goodnews for Hagar, and for us, at such times.
First, the bad news:Hagar needed to go back and submit to Sarai. The good
news:then God would bless her.
A. The “bad” news:our need in affliction is to submit to God.
We don’t like to hear that. We sputter, “But, Lord, don’t you know how I’ve
been mistreated? Don’t you know how bad it is? Give me the blessing first,
then I’ll submit.” But God’s way is, submit first; then He blesses. Obedience
always comes before blessing.
Submit is a dirty word in our day. We Americans have a history of not
submitting to anyone who oppressesus. Our country was founded because the
settlers said, “The king can’t do that to us! We’ll revolt!” If we’re treated
unfairly or harshly, we stand up for our rights. The very word, “submit,”
makes us mad. We don’t like it.

But the Lord, who made us and who knows our real need, says, “Your
number one need in a time of trial is to learn to submit to Me. And you don’t
learn to submit to Me by running from the situation.” Ouch! Can’t you feel
yourself wanting to fight? Don’t you want to cry out, “But, God, You don’t
understand!”? But He does understand. He says to Hagar, “Return to your
mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.”
The book of First Peteris about submission to authority in a time of trial. The
Christians to whom Peter wrote were suffering, some as slaves under harsh
masters, some as wives under disobedient husbands, all as citizens under an
unjust government. Peter’s word to eachgroup of victims was, “Submit” (1
Pet. 2:13, 18;3:1). He sums it up, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all
your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Your
number one need in a time of trial is to submit to God--humble yourself under
His mighty hand. He is in control of the circumstances.He cares for you;
don’t doubt His love. There are lessons whichour rebellious nature cannot
learn except by submitting to God in trials, even when we’re being treated
wrongly or unfairly.
Some people never grow in the Lord because they have a habit of running
from difficult situations where He has put them for their training. They had
problems with their parents as teenagers, so they rebelled. They get a job and
have problems, so they quit. They getmarried and have conflict, so they walk
awayfrom it. They seek counseling, but they don’t like what the counselor
tells them, so they either quit or else look for a counselorwho agrees with
them. They join a church, but can’t getalong with the people or don’t like
something, so they find another church. But guess what? They discoverthat
the new church has the same problems.
At some point they need to realize that they’re carrying their own baggage
with them. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” The problem
is, they’ve never learned to submit to God and to allow Him to use the
authority structures He has ordained to sandpaperoff their rough edges. God
sees ourneed in our affliction: To submit to Him in the difficult situations
where He has sovereignlyplacedus.

While that’s a difficult word, it’s also a merciful word. As I said, Hagarmay
have suffered greatly or even perished if she had continued her flight into the
wilderness. Godoften mercifully checks us in our disobedience to prevent us
from even greaterdamage. The way of obedience is hard, but the way of
disobedience is even more difficult. It was better for Hagar to be associated
with Abram and Sarai, even with Sarai’s harshness, than with her native
Egyptians, who worshiped false gods. It’s better for you to be in a local
church, with all the imperfect people and their faults, than to be in the world,
where God is not known.
Some of you may be in trying situations right now, but you haven’t submitted
to God. Maybe your pattern has been to run from one difficult situation to the
next, always blaming others or complaining about bad luck, but never
humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. You won’t know His blessing
until submit to Him in whatevercircumstances He has placed you. It’s hard
news, but it’s not really bad.
B. The goodnews:When we submit to God in our affliction, He will bless us
and our descendants.
The Lord says that He heard Hagar’s affliction, not her prayer (16:11).
Whether Hagar was calling out to the Lord or not, we don’t know. But the
Lord graciouslyhears our affliction, even when we fail to call out to Him as
we should. But He not only hears and sees ouraffliction, He sees the future
after our affliction is over. The Lord goes onto tell Hagarhow He will greatly
multiply her descendants. Concerning the son in her womb, the Lord tells her
to name him Ishmael, which means “Godhears,” because the Lord heard her
affliction. Every time she calledher son’s name, Hagarwould be reminded of
God’s faithfulness, that He had heard her affliction.
God reveals that Ishmael will be a wild donkey of a man, meaning, a strong,
independent, untamed man. He will be a fighter, whose hand will be against
everyone. In the lastline of verse 12, the word means both “to the eastof” and
“overagainst.” Bothwere true; Ishmael’s Arab descendants both lived to the
eastof and were over against(in opposition to) Isaac’s descendants. There is a
divine mystery here: Godsovereignlychose Isaac and his line through Jacob

while He setIshmael and his descendants againstHis chosenpeople. And yet
Ishmael and his race were responsible for their sin and rebellion againstGod.
All we can sayis, “How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable
His ways!” (Rom. 11:33). But it was enough for Hagar to know that her son
would not, like her, be enslaved, and that he would prosper. Thus it was a
word of hope to her.
There’s an application here for us: God allows U-turns in the desert! Even
though we’ve run from God, if we will turn around and submit to Him in our
trials, His blessing will be on us and our descendants. We canbe assuredthat
He will work out His sovereignplan for us and for our children if we will
make a U-turn and submit to Him.
So the first greattheme in these verses is that God saw Hagar. But Hagaralso
saw God. When she realized that God had seenher, she respondedby
acknowledging that she had seenGod and she named both the Lord and the
spring after her experience. Then she returned to Abram and Sarai in
submission to the Lord. Even so, when we realize that God sees us in our
affliction, we will gain a fresh glimpse of God.
2. We see God in His mercy and submit to Him (16:13-16).
Hagarwouldn’t have seenthe Lord if it hadn’t been for her trial. God often
uses trials to open us up to some fresh vision of Him which we would have
missed if we hadn’t been in the difficult situation. “Hagarcalled the name of
the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God who sees’” (16:13). Godsees!Not
only does God see, but even better, God sees me, and in spite of my confusion
and rebellion, He lets me get a glimpse of Him!
Scholars disagree abouthow to interpret the Hebrew of the last sentence of
verse 13. It literally reads, “I have seenhere after the One who saw me.” The
expressionis almostidentical to Exodus 33:23, where God tells Mosesthat he
will see His back, but not His face, for no one cansee His face and live. So the
meaning may be, “I have caught a glimpse of God.” But since there is the
motif in the Old Testamentthat no one can see Godand live, because His
glory and holiness are too awesome,some understand Hagar to be marveling
that she has actually seenGod and is still alive. (The NASB takes this

interpretation.) The well was called“Beer-la-hai-roi,” whichmeans either,
“the well of the Living One who sees me,” or, as the scholarlyC. F. Keil
argues, “the well of the seeing alive,” since Hagarsaw Godand remained
alive. The idea is, Hagar saw the God who saw her need and was merciful to
her in spite of her sin. In our trials, ...
A. We see God who is merciful in spite of our sin.
When God meets you in a time of trial, as He did with Hagar, and you see
Him, your first thought is, “Oh, God, how can You be so merciful to me, a
sinner? I’m in this mess because ofmy own rebellion and sin, and yet You
didn’t strike me down or let me go. You directed me in the way I need to go
and promised me Your blessing if I will do it. Thank You, Lord!” You gain a
fresh glimpse of the mercy of God.
When that happens, it becomes a source of testimony to others. They named
the wellwith this unusual name, Beer-la-hai-roi:“The well of the Living One
who sees me,” or, “the well of the seeing alive.” When travelers asked, “How
did this place everget this name?” the story would be told again, how God
met Hagarthere in her time of need, told her what to do and promised His
blessing. In the same way, when God has met you in your trial and you’ve
seenHim in a fresh way, use it to tell others of His greatmercy.
B. God’s mercy moves us to submit to Him.
“The kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). Hagar submitted
to God by returning to Abram and Sarai. Submission is the proper response
when we see Godand His mercy toward us in Christ. The text says that
Abram (not Hagar)called the name of his son Ishmael. That means that
Hagartold Abram of her meeting with God and of God’s command to name
the boy “God hears.” Thatwas a gentle rebuke to Abram, who had taken
Hagaras his wife because he was beginning to wonder if God did, in fact,
hear. He was trying to help God out.
But in our affliction, when it seems that God has forgottenus and that He
isn’t hearing our prayers, we need to learn to submit to Him, not resort to our
human schemes. We needto go back and put ourselves under the authority

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