The Woman Who Named God
Genesis 16 is a powerful story about a rejected female slave who encounters God. She had been rejected by two very religious people, Abram and Sarai, who became the mother and father of the faith. In fact, all three monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, trace their roots back to the story in Genesis 16.
This story is famous because of its impact on the three biggest faiths on planet Earth, but Hagar is an often overlooked character. She was back then, and she is today. However, what we see in this story is that she is not overlooked by God, and neither is her son! Ishmael's name means "The God who hears."
God reveals Himself personally. Hagar experiences a theophany. Very few people in the Old Testament experienced God as intimately as Hagar did. Hagar used the Hebrew word "El Roi" to describe God, which means "The God who Sees." Hagar is the only person in the Old Testament who ascribed a name to God. Even Moses, hundreds of years later, didn't do this. Moses asked God what He wanted to be called. God revealed Himself to a lowly rejected slave girl and allowed her to give Him a human name.
Read through Genesis 16 a few times. Who do you think "the angel of the Lord" is? In the first few mentions of this being, it seems as though he is simply an angel or messenger of God. However, something profound happens in verse 13: He seems to trade places with Yahweh, indicating He is an incarnation of Yahweh. Could this "angel of the Lord" be the pre-incarnate Jesus?
Ponder what the angel of the Lord says to Hagar. After revealing Himself to her and comforting her, He tells her to return to Sarai, who had been cruel to her. Sometimes, God reveals His mercy to us, He reveals His love, but He still tells us to do things we don't want to do. Sometimes, doing the right thing means doing the hard thing. Have you experienced this in your own life?
These are huge questions but worth pondering. Regardless of how you interpret this story, it is impossible not to see the compassion, kindness, mercy, grace and beauty of God. I can't wait to dive into it with you on Sunday!
Pastor Nathan
