By Doug Redford
It may surprise some to know that the first person in the Bible to whom the angel of the Lord appeared was not Adam (the first person he created), or Noah (a righteous man), or Abraham (noted for his exemplary faith). That honor actually goes to Hagar, an Egyptian slave girl who belonged to Abraham. Abraham may have acquired her during his ill-fated trip to Egypt, recorded in Genesis 12:10-20.
The book of Genesis goes on to describe the friction that developed in Abraham’s family surrounding Hagar being used to provide a child to Abraham and Sarah (Abram and Sarai at the time). Eventually Hagar, while pregnant with the child who would be given the name Ishmael, was mistreated by Sarai so she fled. It was during Hagar’s flight from Sarai that the angel of the Lord appeared to her and promised that her descendants would be “too numerous to count” (Genesis 16:10, New International Version). Hagar was also assured that the Lord had heard of her misery (v. 11). When the encounter was over, Hagar acknowledged in verse 13, “You are the God who sees me,” and she followed that with the words, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Years later, an angel of the Lord (was this the same one who appeared to Hagar?) appeared to Moses at the burning bush. The angel delivered this message, found in Exodus 3:7: “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.’” The Israelites also came to know the Lord as the One who sees and hears them.
And so have we who are gathered here this day for the observance of Communion. When the Word who was God (John 1:1) “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (v. 14), the one who sees and hears us became seen and heard as never before! He saw us in our bondage to sin and to Satan, he heard our cries, and he died to save us.
At Communion, we remember that the God who sees and hears became flesh, with a body and blood that we partake of through these emblems. And we look forward to the day when we can stand before him and declare, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Now retired, he continues to write and speak as opportunities arise.
Contact us at cs@christianstandardmedia.com
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