TOPIC:"The Eye of the All-Seeing God"
"You are the God who sees me" (Genesis 16:13, NIV)
The story before us is one of the most revealing and reflective in all of the Bible. Four characters are involved - Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael. Sarah who had no child and wanted a child so desperately took matters into her own hands. Impatient with God's timetable for having a child, she devised an ill-fated plan of her own. She arranged for Hagar, her Egyptian maid, to become Abraham's second wife, thus making it possible for her and Abraham to have a child of their own. Though this was a common practice at that time, it went against God's divine plan for marriage. The results were devastating for all involved, especially for Ishmael, and the problems that followed him throughout his life.
Eventually becoming jealous and angry that Hagar was to bear Abraham a child, Sarah made it so unpleasant for Hagar that it caused her to run away into the loneliness of the desert. Now alone in the wasting wilderness the angel of the Lord gave her this message in verse 11 of chapter 16: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery" (v. 11). Hagar now realized that Abraham's God was indeed the true God who is holy, righteous, and all-seeing. This same God sees each one of us and beholds each trial we are going through. Endowed with this new discovery of God, this Egyptian maid gives Jehovah a new name meaning "the God who sees me." That seeing God is the One I want us to think about at this moment.
Consider, first of all, this all-seeing God has a PENETRATING eye that KNOWS us. Hagar cries out: "You are the God who sees me" (v. 13). This is not true of all gods but it is true of the infinite God of Heaven. He knows who we are - our name, what we are - our nature, and where we are - our condition. He knows all about us. And He knew all about Hagar. God's eyes penetrated into the depths of her soul.
What secret thing do you think God saw? He saw that in this instance the sinful action belonged to Sarah. She was the one not Hagar who was the cause of the problem. She wrongfully . . .