El Roi And El Beth-el

by L. Burrows, Kingston upon Thames, England | Category: The Eternal God Revealed | Nov 1994

EL ROI:

We may wonder why the Creator and sustainer of the universe should take notice of a downtrodden runaway slave girl. But so it was; the Almighty stooped in grace to comfort Hagar, trying to escape from the harsh regime of Sarai, her mistress.

As she sat dejected by a well, with apparently no friend in the world, she heard the kindly voice of an angel saying to her, "The LORD hath heard thy affliction" (Gen. 16:11). She was told that her child, as yet unborn, would be the ancestor of a great nation. She had left Abraham's comfortable home because of Sarai's jealousy, and little did she realize that she was part of a divine plan, subsidiary indeed to God's great purpose in Abraham and his seed, but nevertheless of importance for the occupation by a nomadic race of the deserts of Arabia and surrounding lands. "His hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him" (v.12).

Such a revelation was perhaps too much for Hagar to grasp, but her first reaction was to be overwhelmed by the thought that the great God of heaven should take notice of her, a nobody in most people's eyes. Simple, but profound words escaped her lips:

"Thou art a God that seeth (El Roi)". It must have been impressed upon her that He not only saw her physical frame, He saw her character, her past

life with its sadness, and her future too. How encouraging for abandoned Hagar to learn that her expected child would be a son, and the father of a great nation.

So the Name El Roi has wide implications: God sees all, He knows all, He is everywhere; omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. What a wonderful God! Hagar felt the impact of such sublime thoughts. She called the well, "The well of the living One, who seeth me" (v.14 RVM). With revelation comes responsibility, Hagar's rebellious spirit must be subdued. She must return to Sarai and submit to her. She would find it difficult to humble herself before her stern mistress, the very problem she ran away from. But in response to the Lord's gracious way with her she found grace to obey His request, which after all, was for her own ultimate good. With the prospect of becoming the mother of an illustrious son, she found it possible, if not altogether pleasant, to do what was right, and so find a measure of happiness.

By the time Hagar came to face her second test fifteen or more years later, she seems to have forgotten the wonder of that first encounter with God. The hot thirsty journey with young Ishmael, after being reluctantly evicted by Abraham, was just too much for her. Water exhausted, she sat with eyes averted from her distressed son and wept hopelessly. But again God had seen it all and He was not far away. He spoke kindly to her and showed her a supply of water, comforting her with fresh assurances about the future. How gracious to come again to the help of a lonely wanderer! (Gen. 21:8-21).

It may he profitable to notice here that the apostle Paul uses the simple story of Hagar, the bondwoman, to contrast, by a complex argument, the bondage of the Sinai Covenant with the freedom of the New Covenant (Gal. 4:21-28). One Old Testament character, but two entirely different lessons drawn by the inspired Word!

As we contemplate El Roi, the God that sees us through and through, let us be meticulously careful in our speech and actions, even our secret thoughts. God knows the weakness of our human frame, and when we stray He will show us the right path to take, if only we are subject to His guidance. Hagar was faced with two apparently insoluble problems, but God in His mercy provided the answers in unexpected ways. The problems before us may appear similarly mountainous, but we can he assured of help and guidance from above if we look to the Lord in faith.

EL BETH-EL:

Our thoughts are now directed to another fugitive. Jacob was fleeing for his life from his enraged brother whom he had tricked out of his rights as the eldest son of Isaac. Hundreds of weary miles lay before him to reach his uncle Laban in Haran, as instructed by his parents. Anxious thoughts must have raced through his mind on leaving the security of home to face an uncertain future in a strange land. When the sun had set on what may have been the first day of that long journey, he lay down to sleep near the town of Luz. A remarkable dream disturbed him: a ladder set up from earth to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. As he considered the sight, the Lord spoke to him:

The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and they seed shall... spread abroad... and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of earth be blessed... I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest (Gen.28: 13-15).

Jacob may have thought that after his recent shady behaviour, the blessing for which he craved could not now he his. But the Lord graciously assured him of divine protection until he returned to the land of promise in safety. In response to such a startling revelation Jacob exclaimed: "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not ... this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". He named the place Beth-el, the house of God. In response to the divine promises, Jacob vowed to make the Lord his God and to pay Him tithes. We are not to assume from all this that God had closed His eyes to the wrong done by Jacob; far from it! Many bitter experiences still lay before him to bring home to him the holiness and righteousness required by God of one who would inherit His promises.

After 20 years of hard service under Laban, under divine guidance he returned southwards and homewards with his large family, having learned lessons of repentance and forgiveness. The journey was beset with problems and difficulties of various kinds. What a great relief it must have been to be back at last at Beth-el, for him the place of divine blessing! He built an altar and worshipped, calling the place this time El Beth-el, the God of the house of God.

At his first visit Jacob was enthralled with the place itself:

Beth-el, the house of God, the gate of heaven. Now, after long years of bitter hardships and danger, he was thankful to be safely back, having known the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises. Jacob had experienced the care and nearness of the God of heaven in a special way, so this time his thoughts were captivated by the God of the house. He now had a personal knowledge of a loving and gracious God, but also a holy God who does not overlook sin: One who seeks for the restoration of the sinner. Such is the God of the house of God, and such is the character of His house: "Holiness becometh Thine house, 0 LORD, for evermore" (Ps. 93:5); and "Ye shall he holy; for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16). That sets the standard of behaviour for God's people as high as it can possibly he. To preserve the purity and integrity of the house of God it is vitally important that we should always seek to attain to that high standard in our lives. "Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the LORD" (Is. 52:11).

These things which were divinely revealed to erring Jacob marked the beginning of a new chapter in God's dealings with the human race. He had previously communed with individuals, such as Enoch, Noah and Abraham, but He would now disclose Himself to a holy people whose service and worship He desired. They were to obey Him and keep His laws, so being constituted the people of God under both the Old and New Covenants (see Ex. 25:8; 19:5,6; Heb. 3:6; 1 Pet 2:9). Subjection to God and consequently to one another is the keynote, for only in its careful observance can holiness, peace and divine order be established and preserved: "Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ" (Eph. 5:21). In the same way as the holiness of God's house reflects His own holiness, so subjection within His house reflects in a small measure the subjection that exists within the Godhead. We can refer to a number of scriptures which confirm this "internal" subjection: "The Father hath sent the Son" (1 John 4:14); "God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4); "I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) unto you" (John 16:7), and there are many others. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 describes how in the ultimate issue the Son is subject to the Father, "that God may be all in all". That being so within the Godhead, how honoured we

should feel to exhibit in our lives and in the Churches of God this same characteristic. It does not display weakness or inferiority, but rather strength of character. It is an altogether honourable attitude for saints to strive after. Something of the harmony of heaven may then be seen among the churches.

L. Burrows, Kingston upon Thames, England | Nov 1994
The Eternal God Revealed