Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers." Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. (Genesis 16:1-14 NASB)
There has been lots of debate over whether the "angel of the LORD" was actually "the LORD" as opposed to an intermediary. The account in Genesis 16 is the first appearance of this Bible character. And in this account is also the first reference where the Messenger is closely tied with the One sending the message. They are connected so closely, in fact, that to see the Messenger is to see the One sending the message.
Hagar had fled because she had treated Sarai, her mistress, with contempt and Sarai drove her away. She had treated Sarai with contempt because she had become pregnant by Abram at Sarai's insistence. Since she had become pregnant when Sarai couldn't she had contempt for Sarai; she forgot her place.
The Angel of the LORD (AOL, a better meaning than "America Online") finds Hagar on the way south back to Egypt (where Hagar is from). There He opens the conversation with the question, "Where are you coming from and going to?" One of the elements to this story that isn't questioned much is what did Hagar experience in this encounter that she could hold this conversation? She replies, but did she see someone for her talk to? It seems she did. So the AOL is a visible character, and this is not a dream of Hagar's.
He helps her figure out what to do, how to behave, and what will happen. It isn't all good news. Her son will be a wild donkey-man; not all that encouraging. And nestled away in this description is the news that Ismael will not be the "promised one". Again, that couldn't be all that encouraging either. Yet, there is the promise that her son would be a great nation with lots of descendants as well. That was encouraging. Bad news and good news; or good news, but not all that good.
So, after getting her "marching orders", she worships (called on the name of the LORD), and gives God a new name, El-Roi (yep, like the Jetsons, "...his boy Elroy..."). But for her it meant, "The God Who Sees", or "...sees me." Her explanation for this is her wonder that she "remained alive after seeing Him." So, Hagar understood that seeing AOL was the same as seeing the LORD.
So, what's the point for me? Hagar saw a physical manifestation of God. From my perspective as a follower of Jesus, I call such sights Jesus, the physical manifestation of God as a man. This is not a "required" understanding by any means, but for many (or some), these are categorized as "pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus"; a long fancy title for visits by Jesus before being born of Mary. For many others, this is just impossible to consider; a ridiculous proposition.
That such appearances are of an "angel", and since the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 13:2 that some have entertained angels without knowing it just by being hospitable, I ascribe greater importance to being hospitable. It's not just a messenger I might entertain, but the Message Sender! If it's possible that Jesus could have visited Hagar on the road to Egypt, isn't it possible that He could also visit me in Northern Nevada?
I had a pastor once tell me that I should be careful to look for "demons under every rock" by which he meant, not everything bad is demonic, but often just people exercising their right to be foolish. Such a view point also works for this. I shouldn't look for Jesus in every stranger who shows up unlooked for. On the other hand, I should be hospitable in general because I never know. Jesus makes this interesting distinguishing evaluation of people at the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. He basically points out that the "sheep" were generous and hospitable to Him without knowing it, and the "goats" weren't generous or hospitable to Him without knowing it. Now he does make the point of saying that the "least of these" are opportunities to be generous and hospitable to Him, but still, the connection is there.
So, the AOL inspires me to be hospitable and generous with others, perhaps with my church, and with my family. I can't look at my resources and decide that I can't afford to be hospitable, the calling the judgment of my Master is pretty clear on this point. If He has called me to such actions so clearly in His Scriptures, then it really is up to Him to supply the resources. I may not be able to afford to be hospitable, but my Master can. So, when I need a simple disbursement, I know that I can have it because I'm simply obeying my Master, the Source of all I need anyway. The resources are not my problem, only the submission and obedience. That's nice to know.
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