Day 5: Lech Lecha/Genesis 15:7-17:6
YHVH Elohim is not a respecter of men. He regards each individual based on the response each person gives in return for the contact Elohim first initiates. If any man did not know that there was a Creator, the only Elohim, then why would he call upon Him? It is Elohim Himself Who causes any one person to realize that there is a Sovereign Creator and that He can be called upon in times of distress. This is the same Creator that can be called upon in times of potential sin and temptation or to ask forgiveness in transgressions against Him and/or His Law concerning mankind or the earth.
Abram knew of this as he called upon Elohim numerous times, speaking to him in person. Others, though, would not seem to be likely candidates to have personal conversations with the Creator as they would regard such conversations as purely superstitious. It is quite evident that as man is drawn from the earthly corruption and sin, Elohim does reveal more of Himself in many ways. Be it intimate contact, an audible voice, signs, and wonders, or any infinite number of other ways YHVH could interact with His creation. However, the Creator of all things speaks to whom He chooses, when He chooses!
Sarai’s handmaid may not have been deemed as someone to have a personal encounter with the Creator. After all, she was not of Abraham’s seed, she had despised Sarai after the conception of Ishmael (and vice versa), and she did not submit to the authority of Sarai to the point of running away. It is most certain that Hagar witnessed Abram’s relationship with Elohim. We do not know if Hagar knew only about Elohim or had a relationship with Him, likened to Sarai’s. Nonetheless, the angel of YHVH came to Hagar, speaking to her about her life, situation, even prophesying over the fruit in her womb. At that point, Hagar—the woman who would spawn genealogy who would hate Israel into the modern era—called Elohim a Name that had not yet been revealed to any other—El Roi, the Elohim Who Sees. Whether or not Hagar reared Ishmael in a Hebraic way, she was given the opportunity to serve the Creator, walk in repentance, and live according to YHVH’s Words as Abraham would exemplify.
As the narratives of Torah reveals the kindness and long-suffering of Elohim, it is important to point out that He is very longsuffering, not only with us but with all the nations and peoples. We can see YHVH gave the time for the Canaanites to repent and serve Him, but that time was limited as they continually rebelled against His Sovereignty. Comparatively, there is a time for the nations of the earth to teshuvah/repent and live their lives for YHVH Elohim. That time will end as the end of the age approaches and His long-suffering for the nations of the earth will end as He sends destruction, ultimately consuming the world. Until that time, the nations: pagans, heathens, atheists, agnostics, and idolaters far and wide—along with those in the “church” who do not walk in Covenant with Messiah—all have the opportunity to return to Elohim and walk out the precepts listed in Torah and exemplified in Yeshua.
This future demise is prophesied as Abram was listening to Elohim talk about the Amorite. Their time had not yet come as their iniquity was not yet complete. One day, more than four generations later, the Amorites were removed from the Land of Promise and replaced by YHVH’s chosen people.
Wherever we are in life, it is still not too late for us to call upon the Name of YHVH. Through Yeshua our Messiah, we can find Him since He has first found us. One day, possibly soon, it may be too late as the earth and the transgressors of Torah and Covenant are cut off from the Living One. El Roi sees each of our circumstances. He has carefully placed us in our perspective situations in order to purify and cause us to call upon His Name—being refined as silver.
Abram acted favorably as Elohim called Him out of the Chaldeans. From that point forth, Abram became a Hebrew, crossing over from his past and his former identity. Hagar may or may not have committed her heart to Elohim or reared Ishmael in the ways of Covenant; yet, she still heard Elohim’s voice and responded in obedience by returning to Sarai (this would be repentance/teshuvah) and in naming her son Ishmael.
When Elohim reveals to us His Name or some other magnificent outpouring of Himself, will we respond in the same manner as Hagar? As our father Abraham, and his household who served Elohim, may we hear His voice, obey, and be drawn closer to the Creator.
Dwell upon John 10:16, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one Shepherd.”
