God Has Given Us What We Need Through Knowledge of Him

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

We just looked at how God appeared to Hagar and she called Him “The One who sees me.” The next passage in Scripture as we continue in our Spirit and Truth Study tells of God appearing to Abram and saying of Himself “I am God Almighty” (NIV translation). “God Almighty” is the NIV translation of the Hebrew El Shaddai. This is the first time in the Bible that God refers to Himself by this name, and it is the primary name that He will use to reveal Himself to the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The website Hebrew4Christians gives this interesting insight into this special name for God that revealed the sufficiency of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

Jacob's blessing [to Joseph] given in Genesis 49:25, however, indicates that Shaddai might be related to the word for breasts (shadaim), indicating sufficiency and nourishment (i.e., "blessings of the breasts and of the womb" (בִּרְכת שָׁדַיִם וָרָחַם)). In this case, the Name might derive from the contraction of sha ("who") and dai ("enough") to indicate God's complete sufficiency to nurture the fledgling nation into fruitfulness. Indeed, God first uses this Name when He refers to multiplying Abraham's offspring (Gen. 17:2).

In Exodus 6:2, God reveals Himself to Moses as “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as “El Shaddai,” and He tells Moses that by His name the LORD “I did not make myself known to them.” The translation of the LORD is Jehovah, meaning "the self-Existent or Eternal."

So we see that the patriarchs had only a glimpse of the full revelation of God--they were being told by God that He was sufficient for them to bring His covenant with them to pass. But God had not yet shared with them that God Himself was all self-sufficient. I believe that God was requiring a level of faith from the patriarchs regarding His character and nature that is unsurpassed today. God had not even told them that God was the Lord. All He had given them was the promise of a nation and of possession of a promised land and told them to trust Him!

Thus, In Hebrews 11:11, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” The bottom line is that Abraham knew little about God, but He considered God faithful to the promise God had made!

When we think about the Patriarchs, we must consider that they did not have Genesis chapters 1 through 11 to cart around with them and refer to when they had questions about God. They hadn’t yet seen Jesus. The Holy Spirit has not yet been given. They didn’t have the same things we have today to supplement our faith. Those of you who consider your faith shaky—God has blessed you with so much more to boost your faith than He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Could you wait around 25 years on a promise given by a God that you knew little more of than that He was faithful?

But that’s exactly the point! God gives us exactly the information we need to know about Him for the purpose at hand. Abraham needed to know that God would be faithful to His promise to give him a son and a nation and promised land. God did not withhold from Abraham, He only gave Him was was necessary for His faith at the time.


Personal Worship:

• What is God asking you to trust Him with today? Search your heart and find what knowledge God has given you for the requirements of your faith in this instance.
  
• Is God asking you to trust in His faithfulness? Where has God been faithful to you before? Where can learn more about God’s faithfulness?
  
• Is God asking you to surrender? What has God equipped you with so that surrender is possible in your life?

Remember that what God requires He has already given us through the knowledge of Him: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

God Sees and God Hears

A photo of a dying star. Also known as the "eye of God."

As we progress in Genesis, we have hit the snag in Abram’s history where he tries to fulfill God’s promise by using Hagar. As I read through chapter sixteen, my mind tries to settle upon which angle I would present today.

As far as angles go, there is:

• Abram’s angle—faltering in faith and morality (he allowed Sarai to mistreat Hagar).
  
• Sarai’s angle—refusing to take responsibility for the mess she had dreamed up in the first place.
  
• Hagar’s angle—used, and then unsubmissive and abused.
  
• And what about the boy Ishmael himself—innocent of the scheming, yet doomed to be a “wild donkey of a man. . . against everyone. . . in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12).

I returned to my guiding principles for this study and was reminded that the most important angle to this study is God’s angle! What can we learn about God in all of this?

First, we learn that God sees. The angel of the Lord finds Hagar near a spring in the desert beside the road to Shur. The angel of the Lord sees her and asks an important question: “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Gen. 16:8). Notice: God called her who she was, not simply “Hagar,” but “Hagar, servant of Sarai.” He begins by reminding her of her rightful place.

I find it notable that though God asks Hagar where she has come from and where she is going, the Bible records no clear answer for the second question. We know this: she was fleeing. So often fleeing becomes its own destination. If Hagar saw fleeing from Sarai as its own destination, then she did answer the Lord fully in one sentence: “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” Thus, FLEEING was both where she was coming from and where she was going to.

God was not content to allow Hagar to become more of a casualty of Abram’s disobedience than she had already become. He was not willing to allow her to become a Runaway. Hagar spoke to the Lord and said “You are the God who sees me” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Gen. 16:13). God saw Hagar and she was changed.

Second, we learn that God hears. The angel of the Lord told Hagar that the baby inside her was to be named Ishmael, “for the Lord has heard of your misery” (Gen 16:11). Realize that every time Abram called his son by the name “Ishmael,” he was reminded that God had heard of Abram's mistreatment of Hagar. God knew.

The mistreated, used and abused slave girl received a personal visitation from God Himself and He named her child for her! He saw her and He heard her and He was not content to see and hear from afar. He chose to connect with her! He sent her back to her master having seen the Lord Himself. He elevated her and ministered to her. He met her at Beer Lahai Roi (the "well of the Living One who sees me.") Read a neat post on another blog regarding this name of God "El Roi".


Personal worship: Have you given your God a special name yet? Hagar did. She called Him “the God who sees me.” Personally, I’ve been calling out to "Abba, Daddy" in this season. I have needed a strong-armed daddy to run to when I feel overwhelmed and inadequate. Who has God been for you lately? Don’t be afraid to name Him that. He does it to Himself all the time. It’s Biblical, and it’s personal. It enhances intimacy with Him.