Hagar, Sarai, and the God Who Sees

Genesis 16:

Main Themes: Human Impatience, Mistreatment, God’s Compassion, The God Who Sees

Introduction:

Even after God’s promise to give Abram a son (God had just signed a covenant with Abram), years had passed with no child. Sarai, struggling with waiting, proposed a human solution—Hagar, her Egyptian servant, would bear Abram a son. This decision led to broken relationships, pain, and rejection. But in the wilderness, God met Hagar and revealed Himself as El Roi, the God who sees.

This chapter invites us to consider how we respond when God’s timing feels delayed, and how He meets us with compassion even in our darkest, loneliest places.

Sarai’s Plan and Hagar’s Pain

Genesis 16:1–6 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

— Genesis 16:1-6 (ESV)

Listen to Genesis 16

Summary: Sarai’s plan to help God’s promise along leads to jealousy, conflict, and cruelty. Though Hagar was used and mistreated, God saw her pain.

Discussion Questions:

• What do Sarai’s words and actions reveal about her view of God’s promise?
• What does Abram’s passive role here remind you of? (Hint: think back to Genesis 3.)
• What can we infer from the phrase “he went in to Hagar”?
• Why do you think Sarai grew bitter and harsh toward Hagar? How did Sarai respond to Abram?
• What is the contrast that Jack pointed out here? (Hint: semitic woman vs. Egyptian woman.)
• How are we sometimes tempted to “help God out” when He seems silent or slow?

God Meets Hagar in the Wilderness

Genesis 16:7–14 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

— Genesis 16:7-14 (ESV)

Summary: Alone and desperate, Hagar meets the Angel of the LORD. He sees her, speaks to her, and promises that her son will become a great nation. Hagar, a foreign servant girl, is the first person in Scripture to give God a name: El Roi—the God who sees me.

We don’t know exact points but, the straight-line distance estimated on this map is about 100 miles. Walking, Hagar probably traveled about 150-200 miles. That’s at least 3-4 days or more journey for a pregnant woman traveling alone.

Discussion Questions:

• What do you think this was like for Hagar?
• What does this passage tell us about God’s character?
• Why is it significant that God comes to Hagar—not Abram or Sarai—at this moment?
• In verse 9, what is Hagar told to do?
• In verse 13, how does Hagar respond?
• When things look bleak for you, do you praise God? Why or why not? Why might that be difficult?
• What do you think it meant to Hagar to be seen by God?
• Have you ever felt unseen, forgotten, or cast aside? How might this passage speak to that?

That’s pretty amazing for an enslaved, foreign, mistreated woman. You could emphasize this to show how God works through unexpected people and places—a consistent theme from Genesis to Revelation.

A Son is Born—But the Story Isn’t Over

Genesis 16:15–16 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

— Genesis 16:15-16 (ESV)

Summary: Abram names the son Ishmael—“God hears”—just as the Angel instructed. But this chapter ends in tension, not resolution. God’s covenant child has not yet come, and the consequences of this decision will echo for generations.

But, God has a plan and it is going to happen, even with people trying to impose their plans.

Discussion Questions:

• Why do you think God still chose to bless Ishmael?
• How do you see God’s grace operating even in the middle of human failure?
• What can we learn about waiting on God’s timing from this chapter?
• Why, with the advantage of scripture, hindsight and history, do we make similar mistakes?

Wrap it

God is not blind to our suffering. He sees the overlooked. He hears the cries of the mistreated. He responds—not always how we expect, but always with grace and purpose.

God has promised to be with us, that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, that He has started a good work and will complete it.

(Just in case you doubt my claim above, here are some scriptures that prove it. 😉)

• Matthew 28:20 (ESV): 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
• Philippians 1:6 (ESV): 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
• Matthew 16:18 (ESV): 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Do you believe that God sees you? Do you believe that God will keep His promises?

• How can we live, as individuals and as a church, knowing His promises?

This week, reflect on how God has met you in your own “wilderness moments.” Share your story with the group, or journal it privately.

And if you’ve never trusted in the God who sees and saves, we invite you to do that today. Please talk with one of us—we would love to walk with you.

Bonus Thoughts

Revelation 7:9-10 - “A great multitude… from every nation”

Hagar’s child, though not the child of the promise, is still blessed. The bigger story of redemption includes people from outside the covenant family—God’s compassion is broader than our categories.

Luke 1:46-55 - The Magnificat

Mary, like Hagar, is a young woman visited by God and speaks of how He “looked on the humble estate of his servant.” This is a poetic echo of Hagar’s experience—God exalts the lowly.

Hagar is the first person in the Bible to:

• Be visited by an angel.
• Receive a divine promise for her offspring.
• Name God.

Genesis 3 (Fall of Man)

Tie-in: Compare Sarai’s initiative and Abram’s passivity to Eve giving the fruit to Adam.

Genesis 16:2 → “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” echoes Genesis 3:17 → “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife…”

This parallel shows how distrust in God’s promise can lead to human solutions with painful consequences.

Exodus 3:7-8 - “I have surely seen the affliction… and heard their cry…”

Emphasizes that the God who sees Hagar is the same God who later sees Israel’s suffering and delivers them.

Proverbs 15:3 - “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

Reinforces that God sees all, including the unseen and marginalized.

”El Roi” (אֵל רֳאִי) - The God who sees me

Insight: This is the only time in the Old Testament that someone gives God a name—and it comes from Hagar, an Egyptian servant. It shows a deeply personal recognition: not just “God sees,” but “God sees me.”

Note: “Ro’i” is related to the verb ra’ah, meaning “to see.” In the Hebrew Bible, to “see” often implies care or understanding (not just observation).

“Ishmael” (יִשְׁמָעֵאל) - God hears

Insight: God names the child before he is born. “Ishmael” (from shama, to hear, and El, God) is a response to Hagar’s suffering: God hears the cries of the oppressed. This prefigures the way God hears Israel’s groaning in Egypt (Exodus 2:23-25).