Seen and heard

The story of Hagar is extraordinary.

An Egyptian slave girl to the increasingly wealthy Abram and Sarai, Hagar was probably forced to leave her country, her people and her beliefs. Hagar was most likely not her real name and, since it means ‘foreigner’, ‘flight’ or ‘forsaken’, probably generic.

The relationship between Sarai and Hagar was strained. Hagar was property and she was treated as such. She was ‘given’ to Abram when Sarai thought she could not bear her husband a son. Sarai was stunningly beautiful and rich while Hagar was invisible unless she was wanted. So, when Hagar fell pregnant with Abram’s child, she retaliated with her only ammunition: taunting Sarai for being barren.

Abram had probably been spectator to this rivalry for at least ten years and had grown weary of the drama. So, when Sarai came crying over Hagar’s abuse, Abram’s exasperated response was, ‘She’s your slave, you deal with it.’ Sarai treats her so badly that Hagar eventually runs away.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. Hagar becomes the first recorded person in the Bible to encounter an angel, and her experience is so restorative that she personalises God with the name ‘El Roi’, ‘the God who sees me’.

How extraordinary that God would be so interested in someone so lowly as a slave, someone who had probably worshiped idols before she presumably converted to her masters’ faith.

What made Hagar so special that God would personally intervene? How did He instal in her such identity that she would not only return to an abusive situation but submit to Sarai’s authority?

I believe it was about the boy growing inside her and who his father was. In addition to the love we know He has for all people, God was interested in Hagar because her son Ishmael was part of a Plan so big and intricate that no one would understand its significance for hundreds of years.

That day in the wilderness on the road to Shur, the angel told Hagar to call her son ‘Ishmael’, which means ‘God hears’ and that her descendants would be more than she could count. It gave her so much hope that she courageously stepped into a promise, holding on to a faith that had not originally even been hers.

Some years later Hagar would find herself back in the wilderness because of a fallout with Sarah, this time because Ishmael had made fun of Sarah’s son Isaac. While God allowed Hagar to be sent away this time, he was still the God who saw her, the One who heard her son’s cries. He was still El Roi, the One who saw Hagar and Who knew the unique role she still had to play in raising, guiding and marrying off Abraham’s son. So, again the angel speaks to her and reiterates the promise of a great nation of descendants (Genesis 21:18) and again she takes hold of a promise she may have stopped believing in.

Interestingly, God also comforts Abraham at this time by confirming that both sons were covered under the covenant promise of father of nations: “Do not be upset over the boy … for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted, but I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.” (Genesis 21: 12,13)

The Bible says God was with Ishmael as he grew up in the wilderness, that he became a skilful archer and that Hagar arranged for him to be married to a woman from her homeland Egypt. Today, Ishmael is widely considered the traditional ancestor of the Arab people, which incorporates many nations over large and prosperous territory.

So, what would have been Hagar’s fate if she had not been given to Abram? If she had remained the invisible slave or never even been taken into slavery? If she was spared the sexual encounters with an 85-year-old man, would she have become the mother of one of the richest and most influential people groups? When she saw her son flourish under the generational blessing of foreigners, would she have wanted it any other way?

Many of us have horrifying stories we choose not to remember or retell. We find it hard to see the sense and are angry at the injustice. Some of us may have walked far enough down the road to see the bigger picture and, while we don’t want to relive the trauma, some of it might at least make more sense.

The crux of the matter is, as God’s children we are part of a Plan so much greater than what we can imagine and there is a good chance that the ultimate fulfilling of some promises will play out long after we have departed from this earth.

It requires great faith to understand that our roles in eternity supersede our lives on earth, and it takes great maturity to accept that we may never know in our natural lives why things did not turn out the way we had anticipated.

Hagar’s story has many lessons, but two things stand out for me now. Hagar was seen and heard by God because she carried Abraham’s child, who in turn directly linked her to a holy covenant. Through Jesus, as children of God, we stand in covenant relationship with the Father and thus have access to God’s eyes and ears – not just when we are desperate, but in our everyday existence. He loved Hagar and he loves us.

Secondly, her decision to hold on to the promise enabled Hagar to not only look beyond her circumstances, but to endure it. Her ultimate reward was seeing her son flourish under God’s protection, come into his own and get married. We too will be supported, promoted and celebrated when we choose to believe in God’s promises and obey His commands.

May you too experience El Roi in the most restorative way. May you hold on to His hope. May the promises of our good God come to fruition in your life soon.

The story of Hagar and the covenant promise is relayed in Genesis 16, 17 and 21 of the Christian Bible.

Author: Athane Scholtz originally written for A Vivid Life Christian Blog | Suria Scholtz