Genesis 16:13 “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God of seeing,’ for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
It’s taken me a while to write this post. Mainly because I wasn’t sure of how to write it out. The Holy Spirit has been on me to complete it so hopefully someone besides me needs to read this post.
Hagar. Clearly not in the top ten of girls’ names. Hagar means “flight” or “forsaken”. Cheery name for your newborn daughter. Her brief occurrences in the Bible do not tell us that she lived a happy life. In Genesis 12, Abram and Sarai went down to Egypt as there was a famine in the land of Canaan. Ironic that Abram’s son and grandson did the same… the Lord’s people looking to the world for sustenance, but that’s another post.
Anywho, in order for Abram and Sarai to get out of Egypt the Lord has to step in and scare everything out of Pharaoh to not touch Sarai as she was already married. A little lie went to the extreme and, though not rewarded, Abram left Egypt with lots of merch and servants. This could be when Hagar came into Abram’s household. In chapter 13, Abram left Egypt and it states he, “was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.” The very next chapter Hagar takes center stage in a man-made attempt to circumvent God’s promise.
Whether Hagar was a virgin when her mistress Sarai forces her to copulate with her master is not essential. But it does make a difference if she wasn’t too happy with the arrangement. Yet Hagar’s opinion as a servant wasn’t taken into advisement. Servants really were better seen and not heard. Especially if she was attending the mistress. Hagar did her job and then went back to the servant’s quarters until her mistress needed her again. This new task of sleeping with her master wasn’t unheard of but it wasn’t on her list of things to do when she woke up that morning.
To make matters worse she became pregnant the first time. Maybe she tried to hide it like actresses do in TV shows. You could see her moving from the back of the couch, to the side of the camel’s saddle, to behind the stack of pillows. Always keeping her Instagram followers guessing. But no matter what she did, Sarai found out the chatter the female servants where gossiping about was Hagar’s new outfit as she had outgrown the last one. This baby was growing, and Hagar couldn’t hide it any longer. In fact, she decided to make it front and center every time she was around her mistress. Oh wait, since she was carrying the single heir didn’t that make her the new mistress. Hagar was acting more like a spoiled trust fund recipient than a pregnant servant.
Sarai was furious to put it mildly. It didn’t take the next family dinner for Sarai to bring up the new baby on the way and its mother to Abram. Abram chose to keep himself out of the equation although it was, he that got the couple into this mess. Men. Sarai gave Hagar a good scolding on who was in charge of the house and to whom she should respect no matter what circumstances were happening. Shots fired.
Hagar fled. Pregnant Hagar packed up her knock-off Louis Vuitton duffel and high tailed it out of that tent and away from that woman!
If you didn’t know pregnant women cannot run very fast nor too far no matter what century. Abram and Sarai were already living in the desert, so Hagar only got farther out into the desert when she fled. She sat down by a spring hoping to make it to the next town and then back to Egypt. Ain’t nobody has time for a disgruntled mistress. No matter how rich she is.
It was at this low point in Hagar’s life that she realized someone other than her master was watching her. Genesis 16:7 tells us the angel of the LORD found her by a spring. It wasn’t like she was hiding, but during her whole life no one probably looked for her unless they wanted something. She had nothing else to give. She was used up, humiliated, and alone while being pregnant. Getting back to Egypt was priority as there were people that could provide help.
The angel then asked a random question, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” He addresses her specifically by using her name and her position. He saw her as a human, but also that her pompous attitude wasn’t currently getting her anywhere but cast out into the desert. The last part of the question is for her to understand where her place in the story was where she had just left. Pride aside she was vital to Abram and the story God had written for her.
Hagar responded to the angel that she was running away from her mistress. Not mentioning that she no doubt had a hand in forcing her mistress to do so. Next the angel tells her to return and submit. Hagar knew about submission, but never as a single woman pregnant-by-her-master servant. Hagar then was told why she should return. Her child would be a son, she had to call him Ishmael, and he would become a mighty nation. Literally a multitude.
It was then that Hagar called the angel, “You are a God of seeing.” For someone who is never seen, noticed, or recognized to realize that they are in someone else’s sight is powerful. She understands that God is the one who looks after her. It wasn’t about the rich master, or his childless wife, or even those in Egypt that would help her. It was God Almighty in the end that would carry her through this situation, give her strength, and provide for her and her child.
Last year I went back to employment that I left in the latter part of 2023. I had a couple jobs in 2024 that didn’t work out thus making me job hopping or just unemployed. One of the jobs helped but only slightly monetarily. I’m still working at this job, but as a personal shopper the opportunities comes in waves. The Lord is the one who gave me all my jobs so it’s up to him to provide. He saw me needing the help as one job is part time, and the personal shopper has dropped off greatly. The Lord has provided me extra hours at my part time job to get me through this dry patch. It’s as if he saw me by the spring and heard my cry.
The extra hours have been teaching me to submit in areas I’ve never had nor understood. Understanding isn’t the point. Submission is as my new supervisor is different than previous supervisors. He is also unsaved. My actions are being watched and taken fully into consideration on how I respond to the extra hours. I’m hoping that I pass this test as it’s part of the story that God has for my life.
Oh, and Hagar… several chapters over in Genesis 21 we see Hagar back in the same position as previously, but with a teenage son and a completely different attitude. Sarah does conceive as God had promised. And after her son arrives, she chooses to once again give Hagar a good talking to along with showing her where the tent door is. She can also take her smelly teen boy with her!
Abraham, formerly Abram, this time provided her with provisions for the trip and sent them off. Hagar and Ishmael soon ran out of water, yet no spring was nearby. She did the only thing she could think of… leave the boy by himself to die and find a spot in view of him to die herself. The desert is a harsh wasteland. Yet even here God once again saw her and her son. God is a covenant keeping God whether it’s with Abraham or Hagar. He wasn’t going to let Ishmael die simply because no convenience store was open 24/7. No, God provided a full well of water! Once again, we see God choosing to spare the humble and lowly.
Hagar is only mentioned in the Bible after this encounter to obtain a wife for Ishamel from Egypt. Paul references her in his Epistles but not by name.
Grace and peace, James
*Scripture from ESV translation, Crossway Publishers, 2001