“The Names of God – El Roi” – May 29, 2022 – Pastor Marvin Engle
INTRODUCTION:
The God of Heaven, the God of the Bible, has REVEALED HIMSELF to man in many ways.
For example: the Creation of the world and the Universe is one of the ways in which God makes Himself known to man – Psalm 19:1-4 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Romans 1:20 –
For the invisible things of him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Another way that God has made Himself known to man is by His personal appearances to men such as to Adam, to Abraham, to Jacob to Moses and many more Old Testament men. The climax of His personal revelations came when Jesus Christ became man and lived on earth for 33 years. John 1:1-3,14,18 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Hebrews 1:1-3 – God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Hebrews 2:9 – 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
A 3rd way God has revealed Himself to man in through the words He has written in the Bible, the Word of God to man – Deuteronomy 29:29 – The SECRET THINGS belong unto the Lord our God: but THOSE THINGS THAT ARE REVEALED (IN HIS WORD) belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
In the Written Word of God, His written revelation, we have discovered that in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament God has revealed Himself to man by using a number of different names that God used, or men used, to describe His relationships to men in various situations of life. We who are believers will know our God better as we study each of the Old Testament names of God.
He is El or Elohim, the Omnipotent Triune God who created man in His own image.
He is Jehovah, the Eternal and Living God who created man for fellowship; Who also hates and judges sin, but Who has provided salvation for sinful men through Jesus Christ.
He is El Elyon, the Most High God who possesses and sovereignly rules the earth.
He is Adonai, the Lord and Master of all believers who are called to serve Him. He is Lord and demands our complete obedience to Him and His Word.
THE BACKGROUND TO THE REVELATION THAT GOD IS EL ROI: (El Roe-ee)
The True and Living God had met with Abram in the Ur of the Chaldees as Jehovah, when Abram had been living in a land of idolatry, and called him to separate himself from his homeland, his relatives and his father’s house to go to a land God would give him – Genesis 12:1-4 – Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old. The book of Hebrews tell us that Abram went to the promised land by faith – Hebrews 11:8 – 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Do you remember that after he met Melchizedek, he began to ask God about his seed and wondered how God could fulfill the promises as he still had no sons – Genesis 15:3-6 – And Abram said, Behold, to me THOU HAST GIVEN NO SEED: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but HE THAT SHALL COME FORTH OUT OF THINE OWN BOWELS shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, SO SHALL THY SEED BE. 6 And HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
It was now about 10 years after moving to Canaan; Abram was becoming an old man, and he and Sarai assumed she had gotten too old to bear his seed (she was in her mid-60’s), because she was barren and had no son. It is amazing how easy is it for any of us to fail God’s patience tests in our lives. To Abram and Sarai it seemed hopeless to now expect a son of her.
Abram and Sarai did what many of us do! They turned to their own reasoning and they leaned on their own understanding to take matters into their own hands. They stooped to a human expediency, a custom of the world at that day. If a man’s wife was childless, it was the accepted thing for the husband to produce a child through a maid-servant, and she was to bear the child in the name of the wife. In doing this the wife is relieved of the stigma of being childless. (Today many adopt, as we did)
It is significant that Sarai proposed this “solution” to Abram. There was no prayer; there was no asking God, it was a human solution to “help God” fulfill His promise. Solomon had not yet written – Proverbs 3:5-6 – 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
The Bible says that Abram agreed and hearkened to the voice of his wife – Genesis 16:2-3 – 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, THE LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And ABRAM HEARKENED TO THE VOICE OF SARAI. 3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF GOD – EL ROI: (El Roe-ee): Genesis 16:1-14
Abram did not solve his problem; it now escalated as Hagar, the Egyptian maid, began to be arrogant and disrespectful of Sarai; this greatly angered Sarai, and she admits it was wrong of her to have suggested this – Genesis 16:5 NIV – 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” Sounds to me that she says, “It’s your fault! You agreed to do it!” Sarai was then extremely hateful to Hagar, so Hagar decided to run away and flee back to Egypt!
Hagar was running from her home, her place of duty, from trouble, from her cruel treatment and difficult circumstances. She was tired, thirsty, scared, confused, discouraged and alone in the desert. Kay Arthur writes: “THROWN OUT LIKE A SOILED, WORTHLESS RAG. SHE FELT LIKE AN OUTCAST. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THROWN OUT, CAST AWAY? WERE YOU UNJUSTLY THROWN OUT? BUT DEEP IN YOUR HEART YOU WONDER IF THERE WAS NOT SOME WAY YOU FAILED OR WERE INADEQUATE. MAYBE IF YOU HAD BEHAVED DIFFERENTLY, MAYBE IF YOU HAD BEEN MORE… PEOPLE TELL YOU IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT. BUT YOU FEEL REJECTION DEEP INSIDE AND WITH THAT REJECTION COMES THAT HORRIBLE FEELING OF INADEQUACY. UNCHECKED, UNRESOLVED, THOSE FEELINGS CAN CRIPPLE YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. THE QUESTION IS: ‘WHERE IS GOD?’ DOES HE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON? DOES HE SEE?”
Read Genesis 16:7-12 – It is at this moment that the angel of the Lord appears to Hagar. All her life she had prayed to stone-faced gods of Egypt whose lips never spoke to her, whose hands never moved to meet her needs and whose eyes never opened and acknowledged her as a person.
There seemed to be no hope for her future. She is pregnant; she is friendless; she is hungry, thirsty and hopeless. Hagar is suddenly met by the angel of the Lord whom she recognizes as God & discovers that the God of Abraham was a Living God who met her, knew her by name, spoke to her, comforted her, was concerned for her needs, and cared about her.
God so loved Hagar that He stepped into her difficult and desperate situation to give her help and hope. God’s people had failed her miserably. She was a victim of the decision of those over her. God spoke to her personally and called her by name, and she spoke to Him. Friend, God loves the Arab descendants of Abraham through Ishmael, Esau and Keturah. G25
He also gave her divine direction for her life and told her to return home and submit herself to the authority of Sarai. God was also making sure that Abram faced the results of his decision to impregnate Hagar. He must bear his responsibility and support the child he chose to produce and deal with the “wild man” nature of his son in his pre-teen and teenage years!
God spoke to her and revealed to her that she was to bear a son and call his name, Ishmael, meaning “God has heard” and described the kind of man he would become.
This is the occasion where we learn the name, El Roi, meaning “Thou God seest me!” Many times Scripture reminds us that God sees us, but this is the only occasion where this name of God is used, and the name is given to Him by Hagar – Genesis 16:13-14 – AMP –
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are GOD WHO SEES”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [WHO SEES ME with understanding and compassion]?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of THE LIVING ONE WHO SEES ME); it is between Kadesh and Bered.
EL ROI (El Roe-ee) IS THE ALL SEEING GOD:
Jacob acknowledges this same truth about God some years later when he is having a confrontation with his father-in-law, Laban, for whom he had worked 20 years, about the ownership of Jacob’s wives and flocks – Genesis 31:36-43 NKJV – 36 Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? 37 Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! 38 These TWENTY YEARS I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I HAVE NOT EATEN THE RAMS of your flock. 39 That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I BORE THE LOSS OF IT. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 THERE I WAS! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. 41 Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I SERVED YOU 14 YEARS FOR YOUR TWO DAUGHTERS, and SIX YEARS for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42UNLESS THE GOD OF MY FATHER, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, HAD BEEN WITH ME, surely now YOU WOULD HAVE SENT ME AWAY EMPTY-HANDED. GOD HAS SEEN (EL ROI) my affliction and the labor of my hands, and REBUKED YOU last night.”
His father-in-law had cheated him, broken his promises and they had conflict for 20 years. Jacob acknowledges that God (Adonai) has been with him and God has seen the affliction he has gone through. God saw! God knew! And God has taken Jacob’s part and worked on Jacob’s behalf to bless him, as a rebuke to deceitful Laban.
El Roi is the God who sees His children who are mentally abused, physically abused, hated, neglected, oppressed and forsaken. No one is unimportant to Him. None of His children are unseen and insignificant.
Moses learned this same truth in Exodus 3:7-8 NIV – 7 The Lord said, “I HAVE INDEED SEEN THE MISERY OF MY PEOPLE in Egypt. I have HEARD THEM CRYING OUT because of their slave drivers, and I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR SUFFERING. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
It seems that Moses has forgotten his dream of 40 years before, when he was certain God was calling him to be the deliverer of the Israelites from bondage – Acts 7:23-25, 29-30, 34 – NIV – 23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25MOSES THOUGHT THAT HIS OWN PEOPLE WOULD REALIZE that GOD WAS USING HIM TO RESCUE THEM, but THEY DID NOT. 29 Moses fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. 30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 34 I HAVE INDEED SEEN the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I WILL SEND YOU back to Egypt. There are times in all our lives when we are tempted to think God has forgotten us and what we are going through. Does He see? Does He care what I am going through? Where is God?
EL ROI IS THE OMNISCIENT, OMNIPRESENT GOD OF EVERY BELIEVER:
The experiences of Hagar, Jacob, and Moses and many other believers gives a valuable truth to all believers who are experiencing troubles and trials in their lives. The God of the Bible is the all-seeing and all-knowing God. He sees! He knows! Let’s allow Him to tell us:
Proverbs 15:3 – 3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 5:21 – 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
Psalm 51:4 – 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and DONE THIS EVIL IN THY SIGHT: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Genesis 39:9 – Joseph knew God would see if he committed fornication and said “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
Psalm 139:1-4 – O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. HOW COULD THIS BE UNLESS GOD SEES?
Hebrews 4:12-13 – NKJV – 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature HIDDEN FROM HIS SIGHT, but ALL THINGS ARE naked and OPEN TO THE EYES OF HIM to whom we must give account.
If you were to read the letters of Jesus Christ to the 7 churches of Revelation, you would find Him saying again and again – “I see and I know.” Here Jesus is seen as El Roi (Roe-ee). Revelation 2:2 – 2 I know THY WORKS, and thy LABOR, and thy PATIENCE 9 I know thy WORKS, and TRIBULATION, and POVERTY, 13 I know thy WORKS, and WHERE THOU DWELLEST 19 I know thy WORKS, and LOVE, and SERVICE, and FAITH, and thy PATIENCE, and thy WORKS; 3:1 1 I know thy WORKS, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 8 I know thy WORKS: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for THOU HAST A LITTLE STRENGTH, and HAST KEPT MY WORD, and HAST NOT DENIED MY NAME. 15 I know thy WORKS, that THOU ART NEITHER COLD NOT HOT:
Hebrews 6:10 – 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your WORK and LABOR OF LOVE, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Every one of the names of God find their characteristics in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the God of the Old Testament made in human flesh 2000 years ago. He sees and knows all our secrets, our disguises, our hypocrisy, our falseness as well as all our needs, our love, our service for Him. His loving eyes are upon us as His children! He never forgets us! He sees and He knows everything about us and has His eyes on us constantly.
Some day we will stand before Him as our righteous Judge and give account for all things in our lives and conduct – Oh, that we shall be able to do it with joy and not with grief.
Unsaved friend, God sees you! He knows you! He loves you! He died for you!