In all 66 books of the Bible, El Roi is only used once:

Hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur. While she was there, the angel of the Lord came to her and asked, “Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She answered, “I’m running away from Sarai, my owner.”

The angel said, “Go back to Sarai and be her slave. I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael, because I have heard your cry for help. And later I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all. 

Hagar thought, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?” So from then on she called him, “El-roi, the God Who Sees Me.”

Genesis 16:7-11, 13 CEV

Think about the strangeness of a God who not only sees, but chooses to be seen by a slave, of all people. He doesn’t talk to a queen, or even the wife of a freeman. He talks to a slave, someone who can offer him nothing in return.

While the name El Roi may not be anywhere else in the Bible, his character is unchanging. There are many other instances where God is described as observing the world.

The Lord is in his holy Temple;
    the Lord still rules from heaven.
He watches everyone closely,
    examining every person on earth.
The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.
    He hates those who love violence.
He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.
For the righteous Lord loves justice,
    and the virtuous will see his face.

Psalm 11:4-7, NLT

While El Roi isn’t mentioned, it does say, “the virtuous will see his face.” I can’t help but notice that Hagar, the slave, is recorded as seeing God before Sarai, her mistress.

As these passages make clear, El Roi is not a god who sees with the eyes of a human. He does not ignore the lost, the marginalized, or the weak. He sees them, interacts with them, and lifts them up, prioritizing them over those who are already privilaged.

In the chaos of the world around us, it’s easy to feel that God doesn’t see. How could he possibly see all the everyday injustices and yet not act? However, His word is very clear.

Whether any human notices or acts, our God is a God who sees the least among us.