“...thou shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction ... amd she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me ... the well was called Beer-la hai-roi.”
Imagine poor Hagar. A simple servant, doing what was in her day one of the generally accepted jobs of a servant. Nine months of pregnancy knowing that the child she was carrying would not be hers. In the midst of her pregnancy she begins to “look down on Sarai” for some reason and as a result is finds herself in the wilderness. An emotional pregnant woman is, in her mind, alone and undone.
Suddenly an Angel appears to her – in the case God in the form of an angel. He gives her the promise of a great people through her son and then gives her a reminder. “Call your son Ishmael, because God has heard you in your affliction.” The name Ishmael means “God hears” so Hagar had a constant reminder of the truth that God does hear in affliction.
Next she gives her perspective on the situation. She calls the Lord “El-roi” - “God sees me”. Then she names the place where this happens “Beer-la-hai-roi” - “God lives and sees me.”
After this difficult situation Hagar leaves with a new picture of God in her heart. This servant, who was used as a tool for Abram and Sarai to try and accomplish God's work, is reminded that God hears her, sees her, and is alive.
How often do we forget those simple truths. Affliction comes and we think that God is deaf to our pleas, blind to our troubles, and dead and powerless to help.
May we be ever mindful of these marvellous truths.
Ishmael – God hears me
El-roi – God sees me
Beer-la-hai-roi – The God Who is alive sees
Praise the Lord that the He is alive and that He sees me and hears me!
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