Episode 140: You Are the God Who Sees Me (Amy Easton)

Y Religion

BYU Religious Education

Religion & Spirituality, Education, Christianity

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if one of the most powerful testimonies of God's love in the scriptures comes from a woman whose story we often skip over? In this episode, BYU professor of ancient scripture Amy Easton discusses a compelling study of Hagar–the enslaved Egyptian woman who becomes the only person in the Old Testament to name God–by discussing her article "'You Are the God Who Sees Me': God's Loving-Kindness to Hagar." Professor Easton guides listeners into the heart of Hagar's story, showing how her experiences of trauma, exploitation, and exile reveal a God who is intimately aware of those on the margins. She highlights Hagar's transformative encounters in the wilderness, where God sees her, hears her, makes promises directly to her, and ultimately liberates her and her son. Through these moments, we come to understand a God who works both within hardship and beyond it. Further, Professor Easton explains how Hagar's story affirms a universal truth that God sees all His children and invites us to see and care for one another with that same loving‑kindness.

Publications:

"'You Are the God Who Sees Me': God's Loving-Kindness to Hagar," in Tender Mercies and Loving-Kindness: The Goodness of God in the Old Testament, Religious Studies Center (2026)

"A Multiplicity of Witnesses: Women and the Translation Process," with Rachel Cope, in A Hundredth Part: Exploring the History and Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Religious Studies Center (2023)

"Recognizing Responsibility and Standing with Victims: Studying Women of the Old Testament," in Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament, Religious Studies Center (2021)

"Lehi's Dream as a Template for Understanding Each Act of Nephi's Vision," in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi's Dream and Nephi's Vision, Religious Studies Center (2011)

Click here to learn more about Amy Easton

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, wide religion friends. John Hilton here. When we read the Old Testament, it's easy to think that we already know what these stories are all about.
0:08.1	But if we slow down and listen to voices we've often overlooked, we'll be surprised at how much more there is to learn.
0:16.2	For example, what do you know about Hagar, Shippra, and Pua? These powerful females all appear
0:22.9	early in the Bible story, and they have important lessons to teach us.
0:27.2	This is a very significant moment in the text, because it is the first time in the story
0:32.3	that anyone uses her name and engages her in dialogue. In so doing, the angel of the Lord
0:38.9	establishes God's awareness of and concern for Hagar. He sees her.
0:43.8	In today's episode, we'll explore what happens when we read the Bible with women.
0:49.3	Women like Sarah, Hagar, and the Deliverers of Exodus. As you'll hear, this approach doesn't
0:56.6	just change how we read Scripture, it changes how we see God, how we see others, and how we live
1:02.4	as disciples of Jesus Christ. I'm your host, Professor John Hilton, and this is Why Religion.
1:21.6	Each year, religion professors at Brigham Young University produce hundreds of publications on subjects related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This podcast brings this research into one place to enlighten the everyday seeker of truth. Seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
1:31.3	Interviewing the author, we discuss why the study was done, why it matters,
1:36.3	and why the professor chooses to be both a scholar and a disciple.
1:41.3	This is why religion.
1:43.3	Research to enlighten your mind and strengthen your faith in
1:47.0	Jesus Christ.
1:48.0	Today, we get to hear Travis Searle interview his colleague Amy Easton about her recent publication,
2:05.6	recognizing responsibility and standing with victims.
2:10.6	I'm excited for this discussion.
2:11.6	Let's dive in.
2:13.6	To start off, we'd like to talk about why the publication was done.
	...

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