Hagar was an Egyptian slave whose mistress was Sarah, the wife of Abraham. During a difficult moment in her very difficult life, she encountered God in the desert and addressed him as El Roi, “the God Who Watches Over Me” or “The God Who Sees Me.” This is the only occurrence of this title for God in the Bible.
But what about Hagar’s predicament? How did she end up in the desert waiting to die? Her problems began several years earlier when her mistress, Sarah, suggested to Abraham that he sleep with Hagar in order to produce an heir. Though the idea strikes us as bizarre, it would have been an acceptable practice in the ancient world, where it was considered vital to carry on the family line. However, as soon as Hagar became pregnant with Ishmael, a rivalry grew up between the two women, producing great bitterness. Years later, Sarah finally insisted that Abraham throw Hagar and Ishmael out into the wilderness to fend for themselves.
In the midst of her difficulties, when all seemed lost, Hagar learned the remarkable truth: though Abraham and Sarah had cast her off, El Roi (EL raw-EE) had taken her in. Seeing her distress, he sent an angel to help her. Indeed, he had been watching over her all along, developing a plan to bless her and her child, reminding her of his faithfulness by instructing her to name her son Ishmael, which means “God Hears.”
Years after the scene in the wilderness, one of Abraham’s grandsons, a boy named Esau, married Ishmael’s daughter. Later, it was Ishmaelite traders (also referred to as Midianite merchants in Genesis 37:26–28), who transported Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
The title El Roi reminds us of the God who numbers every hair on our heads and who knows the circumstances of our lives, past, present, and future. Nothing is hidden from him.
Praying to El Roi
In Psalm 139 David speaks of a God who knows everything about him, saying:
You have examined me, and you know me.
You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.
You read my thoughts from far away.
You watch me when I travel and when I rest.
You are familiar with all my ways.
Even before there is a single word on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me….
If I say, “Let the darkness hide me and let the light around me turn into night,”
Even the darkness is not too dark for you. Night is as bright as day.
David’s God is also Hagar’s God and our God too—the all-knowing, all-seeing God who keeps his eye on us and watches over us by day and by night. If you have ever been tempted to believe that no one understands you or that no one cares about you, you will have to revise those thoughts in light of the God who revealed himself so faithfully to this desperate slave girl and her son.
