July 16, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Leviticus 16-18

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 John 1:9

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 17:1-14 (NASB95)
¹ Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. ² “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” ³ Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, ⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. ⁷ “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. ⁸ “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” ⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. ¹³ “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” ^[1]

God established His covenant with Abram, renaming him as Abraham.  The difference in the names is significant, Abram meant "exalted father", while Abraham meant "father of a multitude" according to the NASB footnotes.  Imagine what it was like living with a name that meant exalted father in a culture that named people according to their traits. 

Ishmael was 13 years old when God appeared to Abraham when He made this covenant.  Notice that it is between God and Abraham, and it is a unique covenant because God is the guarantor of the contract.  Abraham didn't have any input into the covenant except to remain faithful.  

This is the first time in this chapter that Abraham fell on his face.  This time it was out of reverence for a Holy God.  It was falling before the Lord in worship and praise as God made a covenant with him.  Yet the greatest thing that God said was not that He would make Abraham a father of many nations.  The greatest thing that God promised was that He would be Abraham's God and the God of his children!  As spiritual children of Abraham, Christians can rest upon this simple truth, God is our personal God. 

The discussion about the circumcision was not to keep the covenant, but rather to be a mark of recognition that the covenant had been made.  Circumcision means literally to "cut around".  Circumcision is really rather funny when you think about it, as a male, it would be a constant reminder to the individual that a covenant had been made.  In the instance of adults being circumcised, it would certainly be an even stronger reminder of the covenant between God and man.  In regard to children being circumcised on the eighth day, that is the day when blood clotting works best, or so I am told. 

The male who chose not to be circumcised willfully is breaking the covenant between God and His people.  This refusal established that the person stood against God's design. 

Genesis 17:15-22 (NASB95)
¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰ “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ^[2]

This is the second time that Abraham fell on his face.   He thought that what God told him was hilarious, so much so that he couldn't stand on his feet for laughing.  God understood, and assured him that he would be a father, and that Sarah would bear a child.   Either form of Sarah's name means princess, which is interesting, God changed her name giving her more honor. 

Romans 4:20 (NASB95)
²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, ^[3]

God named Abraham's son, just like He named Hagar's son, the funny thing about this is that God named Isaac "he laughs", memorializing Abrahams laughter.  There are so many who will remember that Sarah laughed, and forget that Abraham did.  Others remark that the laughter could have been laughter of joy, that God was finally going to fulfill His promise.  Please note:

“The narrative makes Abraham’s astonishment very clear in three ways. First, “Abraham fell on his face,” a gesture of awe, amazement, and gratitude (cf. v 3) In itself, prostration is ambiguous: clearly it indicates that Abraham found the remarks about Sarah more amazing than his own name change and the command to circumcise his household. But is he showing faith? “And laughed,” his second astonished response, indicates the opposite; he is not simply laughing with joy, as Jacob maintains. Sarah’s laughter in Gen 18:12–15 clearly expresses unbelief. Yet the very word ….“and laughed” spells “And Isaac.” So in laughing at God’s promise, Abraham unwittingly confirms it. Third, he is so overcome by the announcement that he can hardly think straight. The way he frames his doubt, “Can a man … give birth?” combines two different constructions for a double-barreled question (see n. 17.c.). To smooth his grammar, various emendations have been proposed. However, they are unnecessary. Probably the confused syntax reflects Abraham’s inward confusion. He is so overcome by the announcement that he changes the sentence structure in midstream.

From a human perspective, Abraham’s doubts, “Can a hundred-year-old man become a father or Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” seem completely justified. Partly for this reason and partly because he had not uttered them aloud, Abraham’s thoughts are not rebuked. Indeed, his plea, in which he indirectly expresses his unbelief, “May Ishmael live in your presence!” is treated with great consideration. Superficially, this is just a prayer that God’s care and protection will be granted to Ishmael (cf. Hos 6:2), but in not taking up the promise of a son through Sarah, Abraham shows his reservations.”^[4]

Abraham made it a point that Ishmael was his heir, and that he would stand as the heir.  God promised Abraham to be the father of many nations, he and Sarah had attempted to help God out by having Ishmael.  In these verses, it is clear that he still entertained the idea that Ishmael was God's promised heir.  As it turns out God promised to make Ishmael a great nation as well. 

One thing that you have to keep in mind, Abraham had been promised a son for 25 years at this point.  Doesn’t it seem reasonable that he would have experienced doubt in this time?  I wonder how often God gives visions to men and waits for them to mature to where His plan is ready for fulfilling that vision.  I also wonder what percentage of people give up on the promise of God, reasoning it away in one form or another and in the end simply stopping to believe that God had indeed called them in the first place.  Faith is not wishful thinking, it is established as a action during our lives.  When God gives us direction, do we believe Him, really believe Him enough to wait upon His timing?

Genesis 17:23-27 (NASB95)
²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. ²⁷ All the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.^[5]

Abraham did not waste any time, he instituted the rite of circumcision immediately after the Lord left.  All the men of his household was circumcised on the same day, that is faith in the promise of God.  But more important than that, it displays obedience to the will of God.  Put yourself in the shoes of Abraham's subordinates, would you have willingly submitted yourself to the surgery of circumcision, before there was anesthetics, surgical steel, or antibiotics?  It would have been a frightening thought, yet they were all obedient and willing to follow the will of God even in an extremely uncomfortable situation. They had respect for God, and did not want to be the one who broke the covenant with God.  Imagine how the world would be today if we held the same respect for God's word.

Questions for thought:

1.       What is the significance of the name change from Abram to Abraham?

2.       In your opinion, why did Abraham laugh?

3.       According to this passage, how important was circumcision to Judaism?

Father, as we consider Your word and ponder it’s meaning, open our eyes to see and apply Your word to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.