One way that God the Father (YHWH) has revealed Himself to mankind is through His many “names” in the Bible. For instance, YHWH (I AM) is God’s Covenant name that He uses with His friends, those who know HIM, who are in COVENANT with Him. In Genesis 16:7-13 Hagar referred to God as El Roi, the God who sees.
Genesis 16:13: Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees (El Roi); for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
Ro’iy in the original Hebrew can be translated as shepherd, or as seeing, looking, or gazing. 👀
I saw this short video 12 minute video titled “The God who sees” and fell in love with it. 💕If you ever find yourself in one of those “desert” places in life, you’re not alone. There are many people in the Bible who have found themselves exactly in those places, those dry, desert places, where their hope was gone and they thought all was lost. They wondered if God even knew that they existed, or if He cared at all. Just as they were about to lose hope, our Father, YHWH Elohim, came to their rescue in the most unexpected of ways. What I loved about this video is that all of the people showcased from the Bible were ordinary people. That’s the story of our God. Our God OFTEN uses normal, lowly, humble people to do His Work. He speaks into the lives of the regular person, and He uses them for extraordinary purposes. No person is too “small”, “too young or old”, too “poor”, too “weak”, or too insignificant. Man looks at the flesh, but YHWH sees the heart. All people are precious in His Sight, which is why His Son came down to earth from Heaven, born of a virgin, grew up a humble carpenter in the land of Galilee, had a ministry of teaching, healing, and compassion, Himself never sinned and yet died a sinner’s death on an old rugged cross ✝️so that ALL of us could have the opportunity to have eternal life with Him and His Father in HEAVEN! This is the God that we serve.
When we feel invisible and forgotten by everyone else, we can remember that God does see us. He witnesses our struggles and comes alongside us. After all, if he sees the sparrows and takes care of them (Matthew 6:26), how much more does he care for us in our greatest time of need?
The Video – The God who sees
Kathie Lee Gifford & Nicole C. Mullen put together this beautiful narrative of the lives of Hagar, Ruth, David, and Mary Magdalene, Four ordinary people from the Bible, and the promises that God made to them. Ms. Gifford & Ms. Mullen put a “modern twist” on these age old stories. These are people that all of us should be able to identify with because they aren’t rich, powerful, “religious” or important, but just regular people who all experienced valleys in their lives. Even David, who became a King, started out a humble shepherd boy. It was in the valley, in the desert places of their lives, that God showed up and spoke to them. We find that it is in the wilderness, in the valley, when we feel alone and abandoned, when are souls are quieted from the hectic pace of life, where we can most clearly hear God speak.
Hagar
Hagar was the slave who became Abraham’s concubine and gave birth to Ishmael, the one through whom the promised seed would NOT come. She was sent away because Sarah (Abraham’s wife) believed that she would try to steal the birthright that belonged to Isaac and give it to Ishmael. Abraham didn’t really want to send Hagar away, but was told by an Angel of the Lord to listen to Sarah, and that YHWH would take care of Hagar and Ishmael. Hagar was alone in the desert with her 13 year old son Ishmael. She felt alone, abandoned, and unloved. She feared for her son’s life when they ran out of water in the desert. It is here that YHWH called to her, and promised her that He would take care of her and Ishmael.
YHWH has COMPASSION for those who are hurting and alone!
Genesis 21:14: So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Genesis 21: 15 When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept. 17 God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.
In his book “Angels”, Billy Graham writes:
“The angel spoke as an oracle of God, turning her mind away from the injury of the past with a promise of what she might expect IF she placed her faith in God. This God is the God not only of Israel but the God of the Arabs as well (for the Arabs come from the stock of Ishmael). The very name of her son, ‘Ishmael,’ meaning ‘God hears,‘ was a sustaining one. God promised that seed of Ishmael would multiply and that his destiny would be great on the Earth as he now undertook the restless pilgrimage that was to characterize his descendants. The angel of the Lord revealed Himself as the protector of Hagar and Ishmael.”
RUTH
The story of Ruth is another beautiful story, showing the compassion and kindness of our God. Ruth was a Moabite. The Moabites came from the incestuous lineage of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. After the Angel of the Lord removed Lot and his family from Sodom, a terrible city that was to be destroyed by YHWH for its extreme wickedness, Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt because she “missed the ways of the city”. (she looked back). Lot and his daughters then had a drunken, incestuous relationship because they believed that the whole world was being destroyed and that they would have to repopulate the earth. Their incestuous relationship produced the tribes of the Ammonites and the Moabites. The relationship between Israel, the Moabites and the Amonites was never good, and they fought with each other frequently. Sometimes God used Israel to discipline them and at other times He used them to discipline Israel. In the story of Ruth, YHWH is showing us that it’s not necessarily the “tribe” or bloodline that matters, but the individual’s heart. Ruth was a Moabite and a widow during the time of the Judges. Her deceased husband’s mother Naomi was an Israelite who herself was a widow, having lost both of her sons in the land of Moab. After the deaths of both of her sons, Naomi decided to travel back to the land of Judea, to Bethlehem ( Bethlehem means “house of Bread”). One of her daughter-in-laws did not want to go with her and decided to stay with her people, the Moabites. But her other daughter-in-law, Ruth, clung to her mother-in-law, even after her husband had died.
Ruth 1: 15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything butdeath parts you and me.”
Ruth showed Naomi kindness by clinging to her mother-in-law, even after the death of her husband. Ruth declared her desire to have Naomie’s God (the God of Israel) be her God! Ruth later meets a well-to-do landowner of the tribe of Judah near Bethlehem. Boaz took pity on the young Moabite widow named Ruth who was working in his fields. Boaz became Ruth’s “Kinsman Redeemer” and married Ruth as another “type” of Christ and His Gentile Bride. To make a long story short, one of Ruth and Boaz’s direct descendants is King David, and later Yeshua (Jesus). Jesus had a Moabite in His Ancestry, which shows us that YHWH looks at the heart of each individual. Even if we grow up on “the wrong side of the tracks”, it matters not to YHWH, as He has compassion and love for each person.
YHWH sees those whose hearts are hurting and HE hears those who turn to HIM regardless of their “status” in this world.
David
Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
King David, a descendant of Ruth and also in the lineage of Jesus, started out from very humble beginnings as a shepherd boy. Samuel was told to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as King, but was totally shocked that YHWH picked David. Samuel was sure that one of David’s bigger, stronger, older brothers would have been chosen. But again, YHWH looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Although David does end up as Israel most beloved King, he came from very humble beginnings and he did go through some very tumultuous years while running from King Saul, Israel’s first King. Saul became very jealous of David, and was constantly seeking his life. At one point, David was hiding in a cave, and had every opportunity to kill Saul, the very man who was seeking his life, but David would not do so because Saul had been anointed by YHWH.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
YHWH sees the heart. Our God does NOT select and anoint people because they are rich, powerful, famous, tall, handsome, or young. He also doesn’t expect any of us to be perfect!!! Our God looks far beyond the flesh, to the heart, to choose those who will do great exploits in His Name and who will join HIS SON YESHUA (JESUS) in the KINGDOM OF GOD!
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman in the days of Jesus who was inhabited by 7 demons. Some try to say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, but there is really no biblical evidence to support that theory. What we do know is that Jesus healed her from a demon infestation, and she became a devout follower of Jesus. Unlike most of the Disciples, Mary was present during the crucifixion and she was one of the women who planned to anoint Jesus’ body at the tomb. Mary loved Jesus because HE FIRST LOVED HER! Jesus was kind, and merciful, and powerful, and the Son of the Most High God, and He rescued her from a life of sin and shame.
Those who hope in the LORD will never be ashamed. JESUS will RESCUE those who LOVE HIM, put a crown upon their heads, and bring them into the Kingdom of God with HIM.
Luke 8:1 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
What we can take away from all of these stories is that our God, YHWH Elohim SEES our brokenness, He hears our prayers and He collects our tears (Psalm 56:8).
Psalm 56:8: You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
Although the devil would love to make YHWH out to be a mean ogre who doesn’t hear or care about the plight of His people, that is not the truth, and it has NEVER been the truth! John 3:16: “For God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ❤ God hand-selects individuals from every walk of life, every race, every nationality, every cultural background. YHWH Elohim does NOT care about how we look, about how much money we make, about our age, education level, our “skills” or our standing in the eyes of man. YHWH Elohim sees the heart. His eyes roam to and fro looking for those who have a heart for HIM. (2nd Chronicles 16:9). We need to remember that we walk by faith and not by sight. Though we may not immediately SEE God’s hand of protection and provision in our lives, His Word tells us that He will never leave or forsake those who have a heart for HIM (Hebrews 13:5)
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…
Please enjoy this short 12 minute mini-movie (song) that was set in Israel and directed by Kathie Lee Gifford and performed by Nicole C. Mullen. It is absolutely beautiful and worth every one of the 12 minutes you spend watching. It is a movie and song about those above mentioned in the Bible, but more than that, this is about you and me! We’re God’s people today! God did NOT love the people in the Bible more than He loves us! The people in the Bible were NOT holier, more important, famous, or significant than those of us who now walk this earth and call JESUS OUR GOD! God is with each of us in the desert places of our lives. He has not abandoned us! He will stay with us in the hard times, lead us through dark places, and make our feet like hinds feet.
Habakkuk 3:19: The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.
What is a hind? A hind is a female red deer that has the ability to track by putting her back feet EXACTLY where she placed her front feet. This enables her to run swiftly up rocky terrain to escape the pursuit of her predators. When we put our trust in Jesus, HE will be with us in TROUBLE, He will RESCUE us out of the low places, the dry places, the valleys and deserts of life, and HE will make our feet like hinds feet so that we can walk on high places. ❤ JESUS IS the GOD WHO SEES!
