EL ROI
The Strong and Mighty God Who Sees Me
I want us to see the Names of God as two sides of a beautiful coin that, when taken together, present a glimpse into the Character of God. I say “glimpse” because Genesis gives us the most incredible truths about God, but these truths are in “seed form”, and it takes the rest of Scripture to see these truths develop in all of the majesty and glory God intended. It is fascinating to realize that God reveals more of Himself in Genesis than anywhere else in Scripture, and if I can grasp Who He is in Genesis, then I will grasp Him more readily elsewhere in Scripture.
Another of the Names we want to consider is EL ROI (pronounced el ro-ee). This may be the first time you have ever heard this Name. The only place in Scripture where EL ROI is found is in Genesis 16, though the concept is throughout Scripture. We are familiar with the story when Hagar runs away from the mistreatment of Sarai after Hagar becomes pregnant with Abraham’s child.
This young woman was a true victim, but she was not innocent! She had not asked for her life to be the way it was, had not asked to be a part of this family, to be caught up in what was happening between Abram and Sarai. She did not know anything about God other than what she heard from Abram and Sarai. She probably wasn't all that impressed! She was a slave, no "rights", did not deserve "respect". She was Sarai’s maidservant, probably purchased or perhaps even a gift from the Pharaoh on one of Abraham’s excursions into Egypt.
Remember: in Genesis 12, God came to Abram when Abram was 75 years old and initiated the covenant relationship with him, promising to make him the father of a mighty nation and to give him a country. Abram set out in faith, and shortly after he arrived in Canaan, God appeared again and renewed the covenant. (Interesting how we all, like Abram, have to be continually reminded by God of His promises to us!) Shortly after this, there was a famine in Canaan and Abram took his family into Egypt to escape the famine. The Pharaoh noticed Sarai and to save himself, Abram claimed Sarai was his sister instead of his wife, and Pharaoh brought Sarai into his palace. Only the supernatural intervention of God prevented His plan from being thwarted! If God had not “watched over His Word to perform it”, Sarai would have become one of the Pharaoh's harem! And Abraham probably would have been killed! It's amazing the trouble caused every time God's people made a side trip to Egypt! (In Scripture, I see Egypt as a sign of losing focus, losing sight of who God is and what He has promised, and taking matters into our own hands.)
Abram returns to Canaan, parts ways with his nephew, Lot, and God comes again and reminds Abram of the covenant and the promise to give him the land and make of him a great nation.
10 years later, in Genesis 15, God came to Abram (now 85 years old) the 3rd time and renews the Covenant. God came to refocus Abraham's attention, to get him to understand that He was Abram's shield and reward - and showed Abram that the keeping of the covenant was not up to Abram - God "cut" the covenant Himself, and God would see to it that the covenant was fulfilled! Abram awoke from this awesome encounter and went home. He was confronted by his wife, Sarai, with the proposition to use her maidservant, Hagar, to produce an heir. Perhaps Abram was still in a daze after the encounter with God, or perhaps he truly believed that Sarai’s proposition was part of God’s plan.
I searched to see if God had ever actually included Sarai in any of His conversations with Abram regarding producing an heir. Remember: Sarai was barren! There was no direct mention of Sarai, but I believe that God alluded to Sarai's involvement when He told Abram the child would come from his body, and it was understood that husband and wife were one flesh, so although God did not specifically mention Sarai, her involvement was certainly implied. I believe that this incident is one of those clear examples of how we fall into the trap of accepting the way a certain thing is done because everybody else does it or because society accepts it. What Sarai had proposed was not unheard of in that culture. Perhaps Abram went along with the arrangement just to keep Sarai happy. Perhaps he was tired of hearing her complain about not having a child. At 86, perhaps he just wanted a little excitement in his life, and his wife was offering this young Egyptian girl on a silver platter, as it were!
Whatever the reason, he went along with Sarai's suggestion to use Hagar. The operative word here is use. There was no love, no involvement. Hagar was just a tool, a "means to an end". Hagar did conceive, and the moment she realized she was pregnant with Abram’s child, we are told "she despised Sarai". She did not necessarily hate Sarai, but from that moment on she held her in contempt, took her commands lightly, had no respect for Sarai, etc.
Perhaps in Hagar's mind, she thought that this child that she carried would elevate her status above Sarai's. Perhaps she thought that there was more personal involvement from Abram than there actually was. Whatever her reasoning, she took on some kind of attitude that did not go over well with Sarai! After all, this girl was a slave! Sarai conveniently forgot that she herself had instigated this entire situation. She went to Abram complaining about Hagar, and Abram simply told her to handle the matter herself.
Abram "saw" what was happening and did absolutely nothing to alleviate Hagar's suffering! Sarai made life miserable for Hagar, and Hagar ran away and headed for her home. As she sat by this spring of water in the desert, we are told,
The Angel of the Lord found Hagar
God Himself pursued her, found her and spoke to her. The Helper of the Helpless, the One Who watches out for orphans and widows - He saw and He came! (The mention here of “The Angel of the Lord” is what is referred to as a "christophany": an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. There are many instances of Jesus appearing throughout the Old Testament: this is the first such appearance.)
The first thing that happened was He spoke her name -"Hagar" - He knew her name! She was no stranger to Him, though He certainly was to her. He knew her circumstances, knew how she had gotten into this predicament. He knew that she had no idea how she was going to get out of it or where she was going. He came to her
at the point of the greatest need in her young life!
"Where have you come from, and where are you going?" Why did He ask? Did He not know where she had come from and where she was going? Why is it so difficult for us to admit our need, to agree with God that we are in trouble? But when we finally come up against the brick wall of our lives and there is absolutely no way around it or over it or under it, we are forced to admit our need.
Hagar could have decided that this appearance was of no consequence to her, that the questions this "being" was asking were none of his business. She could have told him everything was fine, she was just out for a stroll, etc. But she knew that this encounter was no mere coincidence or accident. So she answered very honestly, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai." She admitted to this stranger that she was in trouble!
Hagar did what so few of us do when confronted - she told the Angel of the Lord what she was doing, not what had been done to her! Usually when confronted with our past, we tell the story with the emphasis on what was done to us, and state all the reasons why we are the way we are, why we do the things we do - because of what was done to us!
I believe this was key to Hagar's healing - HONESTY! "I can't take this any more, I'm in a nightmare situation, and I am running away!" If Hagar had chosen to ignore this stranger, she would have kept on going and no telling what direction her life would have taken. As long as I insist on running away from the pain in my past and not facing it head on and dealing with it, my life will always be "on the run". The chances of this young woman even surviving alone out in this desert were slim to none, and she was carrying a child!
There was no question that her situation was desperate, probably more desperate than even she realized. She probably thought she could just keep moving and eventually she would end up back home. She would never have made it! She had no idea to Whom she was speaking, and she was stunned at what He told her.
- Go back to your mistress and submit to her
- I will so increase your descendants that you won’t be able to count them
- You will have a son
- You are to call him, "Ishma-el" (The Mighty God has heard your cries of misery)
- He will live in hostility toward all his brothers and everyone in hostility toward him
Most of this was not good news! Go back to Sarai, who hates you and will probably not change in her attitude toward you. Submit yourself to her, regardless of how she treats you. WHY? Because I have heard your cries of misery, and
I am the Mighty One Who is with you and sees you right where you are!
So, why not change the circumstances, God? Because I want to show Myself to be strong on your behalf.
The Title EL, which is usually translated GOD, actually means the strong and mighty One. There is absolutely no way that Hagar could have come up with this incredible revelation concerning God. Her background was Egypt. She was probably not much more than a teenager herself, and she knew nothing about this God of Abraham other than what she had heard in the short time that she had been with the family. She probably was familiar with Abram’s vision from God regarding his own descendants being more in number than could be counted, so when the Angel of the Lord told her this, perhaps she thought that this child she carried would actually be the one of whom Abram spoke. She really did not understand what was ahead - she only knew that this One Who stood before her was someone to be obeyed. She was probably not even showing any signs yet of being pregnant, yet here He was telling her that she was pregnant, saying the same words she had heard Abram and Sarai speak regarding their promised son, and the only conclusion she could come up with was that she was in the Presence of God!
She used the shortened version of Elohim: EL, the Strong and Mighty One. She combined it with a word that means “sight” or “seeing”: ROI. This is seeing with perfect knowledge, perfect understanding, perception, discernment. Steady, knowing gaze. Hagar was a "gazingstock" to God. He had His eye on her! God stares at us, but it is not a staring from a distance--He is very near!
This was not her own concoction or discovery - God Himself revealed Himself to this woman! Remember: the only way that I can know God is if He chooses to reveal Himself to me, and He has chosen to do just that. Just as He pursued this godless, distraught woman and mother at the crisis point of her need, He does the same for us today.
We are not told what happened when Hagar returned but we know that she returned. We know that Ishmael was born and Hagar and Ishmael remained in Abram's care for 13 years. We have no idea that Sarai's attitude toward Hagar changed or that Abram was any more attentive; probably paid Hagar no mind whatsoever because he had what he wanted from her - a son! But Hagar had seen God and her life was never the same!
Some of us are still asking the question,
“If God really is there, if He really “sees” everything that happens to us,
then why does He let these things happen?”
There is absolutely no one who can answer that question to their own or anyone else’s satisfaction! And as long as I insist on being a "victim" to what others do to me or what happens to me, I will continue asking that question, and remain out there in the desert, running away! But the moment I honestly confess to the Lord my own personal responsibility in the condition of my life, the choices I’ve made, it is as if scales fall away from my eyes and I see Him standing there, and I realize that He is the Strong and Mighty One Who Sees Me, Who has always been there, watching over me, protecting me, until in His timing He rescued me. Only when we come to understand that HE SEES can we begin to see clearly! Until then, we grope, we stumble, we walk around in a fog.
I will never forget in my own life when I stopped asking Him "why"! It wasn’t until I admitted to Him that I was in desperate trouble, that I was running away, and that I definitely had some personal responsibility in the condition of my life, in the choices I had made - it wasn’t until I acknowledged His Presence in my life before I even knew He was there - realized that it was because He was there, watching over me, protecting me, that I wasn’t destroyed. This realization in now way minimized the horrendous things that happened to me, but it did help me to put things into perspective which eventually brought about the beginning of healing in my life.
The beauty of the combined Names, El ROI, is that not only does He see me, not only is He watching over me, but He is the Strong and Mighty One Who protects and rescues me when I am in danger. It is one thing to have someone always watching you. I grew up with a father who watched and saw everything that happened to me, but he was powerless to do anything about it because of the choices that he made for his own personal comfort.
But I have a heavenly Father Who not only watched over me, but loved me and had the power and strength to make sure that I made it to the age of 16 so that I could give my heart to Him, and then watched over me to make sure I made it to the age of 44 so that I could begin to come into that relationship with Him that He prepared just for me from before the foundation of the world! I ran and ran for the first 27 years of my Christian life until I saw Him as my
EL ROI, the Strong and Mighty God Who Sees Me!
And He has continued to watch over me all the way to the age of 64, through all the ups and downs, in the good times and bad times and I continue to grow in knowledge of Him, the One Who is the Strong and Mighty God Who sees me! For Hagar, God watched over her and cared for her from that moment in the desert when He told her she would bear a son until 13 years later, when Sarai actually threw her and Ishmael out of the house. At that time, He came to her again (Genesis 21) and reminded her of His promise to her and reminded her of what she had seen about God all those years before.
II Chronicles 16:9 speaks of the eyes of God roaming throughout the entire earth in order to show Himself strong on the behalf of anyone who would simply trust Him! He longs to reveal this side of Himself to His children, if only we will stop long enough for Him to speak to us!
Read and consider these beautiful words:
"How can you say, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, (JEHOVAH), my cause is disregarded by my God’? (EL, the Strong and Mighty One). Do you not know, have you not heard, the Lord (JEHOVAH) is the everlasting God, (EL, the Strong and Mighty One) the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord (JEHOVAH) shall renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the child of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of My hands, and thy walls are continually before Me. O Lord, (JEHOVAH) Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising, Thou understandest my thoughts afar off, Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid Thine hand upon me. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from Thy Presence? Thou has possessed my reins, Thou has covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret: Thine eyes did see my substance, being as yet unperfect, and in Thy book all my members were written. How precious are Thy thoughts toward me, O God! (EL) How great is the sum of them! Search me, O God (EL), and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
