Daily devotion – the Angel of the Lord
Genesis 16: 7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Things had fallen apart at home with Abram and Sarai as they had tried to ‘help’ God! Resulting in Sarai chastising Hagar, the now pregnant handmaid that they had brought back with them from their sojourn in Egypt.
Hagar runs away and the “Angel of the Lord” appears to her. It’s the first time in Scripture that this title appears as such. It’s none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. In Genesis 16:10, the Angel promised to do what only God can do, and in verse 13, Hagar called the Angel – “God”.
These pre-incarnation visits of Jesus Christ to the earth prior to His birth in Bethlehem, were to meet special needs and to accomplish special tasks.
The fact that the Son of God took on a temporary body, left Heaven, and came down to help Hagar, a rejected servant girl, reveals to you and I today that God’s grace and love is found all throughout the Bible and not just in the New Testament.
Both Abram and Sarai had sinned against the Lord at this time and against Hagar, but the Lord did not desert either of them!
The Angel called Hagar, “Sarah’s maid”, which tells us that God did not accept her marriage to Abram!
The Angel tells Hagar to return back to the camp of Abram and Sarai, and submit herself to Sarai even though she had been mistreated. This would take a great deal of faith on behalf of Hagar, because Sarai her mistress had been so unkind to her.
The Lord then informed Hagar she was pregnant with a son who she should name Ishmael, God Hears.
Whilst Ishmael would not be Abram’s heir in the blessings of the covenant, Ishmael would still enjoy blessings from God since he was Abram’s offspring. God promised to multiply Ishmael’s descendants and make them into great nations, and He did and thus Ishmael is the founder of all Arab nations.
Hagar learnt that God is the living God who sees us and hears our cries when we hurt.
May you like Hagar today know too that God is watching over your life and listening to all you cries of distress. He is the Mighty God who cares!