King Melchizedek

Referred to as a priest, this mysterious man blessed Abram after he rescued Lot, calling God El Elyon (Gen. 14:19)

The LORD'S Fourth Promise to Abram 15 1 Later Yahweh spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said, "Abram, don't be afraid.

I am your shield.

Your reward will be very great."b 2 Abram asked, "Adonay Yahweh , what will you give me? Since I'm going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inheritc my household. 3 You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir."

4 Suddenly, Yahweh spoke his word to Abram again. He said, "This man will not be your heir. Your own son will be your heir." 5 He took Abram outside and said, "Now look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He also said to him, "That's how many descendants you will have!" 6 Then Abram believed Yahweh, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram's approval by Yahweh. 7 Then Yahweh said to him, "I am Yahweh, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land so that you will take possession of it."

8 Abram asked, "Adonay Yahweh , how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?"

9 He answered Abram, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon." 10 So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half.

11 When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep-a dreadful, deep darkness-came over Abram.

13 Elohim said to Abram, "You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions. 15 But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then."

17 The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces. 18 At that time Yahweh made a promisea to Abram. He said, "I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. 19 It is the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Hagar

Hagar, Sarah's maidservant, encountered God in the desert. Because the Lord saw her misery and provided for her in the midst of a desperate circumstance, she called him by a name unique in the Bible.

El Roi (Gen. 16:13)

Abram and Hagar 16 1 Sarai, Abram's wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, "Yahweh has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her." Abram agreed with Sarai.

3 After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram's wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be disrespectful to Sarai, her owner.

5 So Sarai complained to Abram, "I'm being treated unfairly! And it's your fault! I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she's pregnant, she's being disrespectful to me. May Yahweh decide who is right-you or me."

6 Abram answered Sarai, "Here, she's your slave. Do what you like with her." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away.

7 The Messenger of Yahweh found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's slave, where have you come from, and where are you going?"

She answered, "I'm running away from my owner Sarai." 9 The Messenger of Yahweh said to her, "Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority." 10 The Messenger of Yahweh also said to her, "I will give you many descendants. No one will be able to count them because there will be so many." 11 Then the Messenger of Yahweh said to her, "You are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son.

You will name him Ishmael [God Hears], because Yahweh has heard your cry of distress.

12 He will be as free and wild as an untamed donkey.

He will fight with everyone, and everyone will fight with him.

He will have conflicts with all his relatives."b 13 Hagar named Yahweh , who had been speaking to her, "You Are El Roi." She said, "This is the place where I watched the one who watches over me." 14 This is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi [Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me]. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered.

15 Hagar gave birth to Abram's son. Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

The LORD'S Fifth Promise to Abraham 17 1 When Abram was 99 years old, Yahweh appeared to him. He said to Abram, "I am El Shadday . Live in my presence with integrity. 2 I will give you my promise,a and I will give you very many descendants." 3 Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again Elohim spoke to him, 4 "My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. 5 So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. 7 I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your Elohim and the God of your descendants. 8 I am also giving this land where you are living-all of Canaan-to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your Elohim."

9 Elohim also said to Abraham, "You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. 10 This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. 11 All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. 12 For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who's not related to you. 13 Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. 14 Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise."

15 Elohim said to Abraham, "Don't call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess]. 16 I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become a mother of nations, and kings will come from her." 17 Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, "Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?" 18 Then Abraham said to Elohim, "Why not let Ishmael be my heir?"

19 Elohim replied, "No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. 20 I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But I will make my promise to Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this time next year." 22 When Elohim finished speaking with Abraham, he left him.

Abraham's Household Circumcised 23 So Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with money-every male in his household-and circumcised them that day, as Elohim had told him. 24 Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. 25 His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. 26 That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 All the men of his household, whether born in the household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

EL ROI.

THE GOD WHO WATCHES OVER ME.

Hagar was an Egyptian slave, whose mistress was Sarah, the wife of Abraham. During a difficult moment in her very difficult life, she encountered God in the desert and addressed him as El Roi, the God Who Watches Over Me or the God Who Sees Me. This is the only occurrence of this title for God in the Bible.

But what about Hagar's predicament? How did she end up in the desert waiting to die? Her problems began several years earlier when her mistress, Sarah, suggested to Abraham that he sleep with Hagar in order to produce an heir. Though the idea strikes us as bizarre, it would have been an acceptable practice in the ancient world, where it was considered vital to carry on the family line. However, as soon as Hagar became pregnant with Ishmael, a rivalry grew up between the two women, producing great bitterness. Years later, Sarah finally insisted that Abraham throw Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert to fend for themselves.

In the midst of her difficulties, when all seemed lost, Hagar learned the remarkable truth: though Abraham and Sarah had cast her off, El Roi (EL roe-EE) had taken her in. Seeing her distress, he sent an angel to help her. Indeed, he had been watching over her all along, developing a plan to bless her and her child, reminding her of his faithfulness by instructing her to name her son Ishmael, which means "God Hears."

Years after the scene in the desert, one of Abraham's grandsons, a boy named Esau, married Ishmael's daughter. Later, it was Ishmaelite traders (also referred to as Midianite merchants in Genesis 37:26-28) who transported Abraham's greatgrandson Joseph into slavery in Egypt.

The title El Roi reminds us of the God who numbers every hair on our heads and who knows the circumstances of our lives, past, present, and future. Nothing is hidden from him.

Praying to El Roi In Psalm 139 David speaks of a God who knows everything about him, saying: You have examined me, and you know me.

You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.

You read my thoughts from far away.

You watch me when I travel and when I rest.

You are familiar with all my ways.

Even before there is a single word on my tongue, you know all about it, Yahweh. You are all around me-in front of me and in back of me. . .

If I say, "Let the darkness hide me and let the light around me turn into night,"

even the darkness is not too dark for you. Night is as bright as day.

David's God is also Hagar's God and our God too-the all-knowing, all-seeing God who keeps his eye on us and watches over us by day and by night. If you have ever been tempted to believe that no one understands you or that no one cares about you, you will have to revise those thoughts in light of the God who revealed himself so faithfully to this desperate slave girl and her son.

El Roi, even the darkness is not dark to you. You know everything about me, the light and the dark, the good and the bad. You know my dreams and my desires, my failings and my fears. You know the good that I do and the good that I fail to do. Please come to me today and help me. Rescue me from dark places and hidden difficulties, and nourish me with your presence so that I, too, may proclaim you as El Roi, the God Watches Over Me.

Promises Associated with the Name EL ROI.

Yahweh's eyes scan the whole world to find those whose hearts are committed to him and to strengthen them. (2 Chronicles 16:9) He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep.

Yahweh is your guardian.

Yahweh is the shade over your right hand.

The sun will not beat down on you during the day, nor will the moon at night.

Yahweh guards you from every evil. He guards your life.

Yahweh guards you as you come and go, now and forever. (Psalm 121:3, 5-8) The eyes of Yahweh are everywhere. They watch evil people and good people. (Proverbs 15:3)

The LORD'S Sixth Promise to Abraham 18 1 Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oak trees belonging to Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 Abraham looked up, and suddenly he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them, and he bowed with his face touching the ground.

3 "Please, sir," Abraham said, "stop by to visit me for a while. 4 Why don't we let someone bring a little water? After you wash your feet, you can stretch out and rest under the tree. 5 Let me bring some bread so that you can regain your strength. After that you can leave, since this is why you stopped by to visit me."

They answered, "That's fine. Do as you say."

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to find Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three measures of flour, knead it, and make bread."

7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to his servant, who prepared it quickly. 8 Abraham took cheese and milk, as well as the meat, and set these in front of them. Then he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

9 They asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" He answered, "Over there, in the tent."

10 Yahweh said, "I promise I'll come back to you next year at this time, and your wife Sarah will have a son."