Book of Genesis Chapter 17 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 17:1-5
Verse 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.'"
In the preceding verse (Genesis 16:16), we learned that Abram was
"eighty-six years old" at
the time when "Hagar," his second wife, "bore Ishmael." Abram was the
father of this now teen-aged son. Thirteen years had passed. The older man probably thought that
Ishmael was
to be the son of his old age, because of words by the Lord in places like
Genesis 15:4, when he was told, "your very own son shall be your heir."
All this time he must have thought Ishmael was that "heir."
The Lord now appeared to the man once more and it would seem
that the Lord's relationship with Abram was to some extent conditional.
Abram was
to "walk before" the Lord and "be blameless" in His sight. To "walk
before" Him would include looking to the Lord, acknowledging Him, coming to Him
in prayer, and reaching out to Him for his needs. To be "blameless," to be
"perfect" as it is in some translations, is
not humanly possible, for "all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Therefore, to be blameless,
for us as it was for Abram, means we are to have faith in the Lord and receive
Him, for HE IS the
One who is blameless in all His ways.
Verse 2. "I will establish My covenant
between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."
A "covenant" is an
agreement, containing certain elements in
order for it to become a legal contract. There must be an offer, and God
is
specifying the terms of the agreement in the context of this verse. We have
seen in Verse 1 that the Lord had directed the man to "walk before (God)
and be
blameless." A legal contract must contain not only an offer,
but also acceptance. Abram's falling "on his face" in the next verse is part of his implied
acceptance of God's terms.
A third element of a valid contract is something called a
"reasonable consideration." Something of value must be given in order for
it to be a real contract. In this case we see that Abram was to become "the
father of a multitude of nations" (Verse 4). "Nations
and... kings" were to be among his descendents (Verse 6). "all
the land of Canaan (would belong to his descendents)
for an everlasting possession." And as we will see in the
following verses, all of the men in Abram's household, including the man himself
would be "circumcised" as the sign of the acceptance
of God's "covenant." They would
belong to the Lord. And most important of all, in the "fine print" of this
contract, is the blood of Christ, thousands of years in the future, which
secures every covenant between God and mankind.
Verse
3. "Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,"
Abram's response to the Lord God who was talking to him is not
unexpected for those who read Scripture. He "fell on
his face." Abram would fall again as reflected in
Verse 17, though for a somewhat different reason - he fell from "laughter" in
that verse. Many of God's people have responded in the way Abram did here
in Verse 3 - they were overcome by the glory of God, collapsing in awe because He is
simply - wonderful.
Among those who fainted at the sight of God was Ezekiel the
prophet who witnessed "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord,"
and as a result he reported, "I fell on my face" (Ezekiel 1:28). John the
Apostle reported a similar experience - "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
though dead" (Revelation 1:17). It's reasonable to do so because God is
glorious, but note the Lord's response to those who have faith in Him; "He laid
His right hand on (John), saying, 'Fear not.'"
Verse
4. "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father
of a multitude of nations."
Everyone of us has a dream and we have some idea of what we
want, usually consisting of things we lack in life. We do not have them and so we
dream. Abram had wanted a son, and God promised him a son, as seen in
places like Genesis 15:4, where God said to the man, "...Your very own son shall
be your heir." And then, through one of those sad human attempts to bring
about the will of God, Abram did have his "very own son," through Hagar, his
wife's Egyptian servant-girl.
This "covenant" between God and man carried requirements for
both of the parties, and note that it is not a contract between equals by any
means. In Verses 4 & forward, God obligates Himself to Abram, in blessings that
will last until the end of time. Starting in Verse 9, we can see the commands
which obligated Abram and Sarah to the agreed-upon terms of the contract.
The Old Testament is full of instances when Abram's descendents were disobedient to
God, but The Lord has never broken His covenant with that nation. As He said in places
like Leviticus 26:44, "I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to
destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them."
Verse
5. "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be
Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations."
Abram was an old Semitic name which meant "exalted father."
It may originally have carried a reference to Abram's father, Terah, reminding
the younger man that he should honor his earthly father. His old name was
a reflection of his ancestry, a tie to his humanity. His new name would
reflect the terms of God's covenant with him, and I think every one of us should
find out the meaning of our names, for something of God's intention for our
lives may be revealed in the labels, the names we have been given.
The name "Abraham" is not
precisely understood, but it is suggestive of a Hebrew expression that means, "father of a
multitude." It's interesting to pause and think about the promises of
Scripture. God's promise to the man has been utterly fulfilled, not merely
through Ishmael, the existing son who was now a teenager, and not only through Isaac, the son
through Sarah, who would be born, but there is even more. In Genesis 25, we
find Abraham marrying once more and having more sons still. And best of
all, thousands of years later, the Messiah was to be among the descendants of
this man, Abraham. Whatever your dream,
trust in God and give your dream to him, for He can indeed bring it to pass.
Father, we bring our hopes, our dreams and our hearts to
You. We confess our sins and we trust in You now. We
are Yours. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 17:6-10
Verse
6. "I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you,
and kings will come forth from you."
In these verses, we see aspects of the promise by God to
the man who later would be called, "Abraham," a name that means "Father of a multitude."
Not only would he have sons and grandsons, but Abraham certainly was
amazed to learn that "nations" would come out of him and his sons.
King David, King Solomon and others would come out of him and ultimately the Messiah, the
King of Glory,
would, in His humanity, come forth as the Seed of Abraham. Incredibly, "nations"
and
"kings" would come forth from this man who
had lamented the failure of his marriage to produce a son for many decades.
This man who had lived in a childless marriage for many
decades was to become "exceedingly fruitful" as God now told him. Abraham
was astonished, but kept listening. He must have smiled and shrugged, thinking, no doubt, of
the grandsons that would come to him through Ishmael, his son through a serving
maid. But as we will see in
Verses 15 and 16, God would reveal that these "nations...
and kings" would come from
Sarah, his previously barren wife. It was at that moment that Abraham would laugh so hard he
would literally fall down.
Verse
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."
The nation that would be the recipients of the "covenant," the
contractual agreement given to Abraham, was to be the nation Israel. As we
will see in Verse 19, it was to be a covenant extended through the son, not only
of Abraham, but specifically through his wife, Sarah, who had been barren all
their married life. The name of that son would be Isaac, and though the
other sons of Abraham were to be prolific, the promise was extended to Isaac and
his son, Jacob, the man whose name would be changed to Israel.
The nations that exist are not because of some kind of
"accident." The child whose parents thought he or she was a
"mistake," was
not an accident at all. Just as Abraham was shown the future, in that he was told
about his descendents to be, God knew about you before the foundation of the
world. As to your conception, your birth and subsequent life, it was all
the specific intention of God. He has good in store for you. He knows your name and always has. He
has had a plan for your life from eternity past and if your parents or you have gone off
track, just give yourself to Him, for He is the One who can and will restore your life.
Verse 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."
As to the physical sons, grandsons and all the descendents of
Abraham, the land they were to receive was "all the land of Canaan," which includes the
modern nation Israel. All of it has belonged to the Jews and it always will. They
were thrown out of the land and were gone for two thousand years, but they are
back. If they are somehow evicted again, they will come back, as many
times as it takes, for God will make it so.
None of us are worthy of the promises of God. He called
me to the ministry when I was a teenager. I was ordained at sixty and then
entered
full-time ministry. I had given up, but God never gives
up. He will bring it to pass and we are to figure out, finally, that we
can never do what really needs to be done. He can. Abraham was
"blameless," the characteristic we saw in Verse One, but it was not because of
his works. He "believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness"
(Romans 4:3). It is the same for you and for me - the promise of God, the
grace of God, comes through faith in the Lord.
Verse
9. "God said further to Abraham, 'Now as for you, you shall keep My
covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations."
God's contract with Abraham was also to be His covenant with
the people Israel. He and his "descendants" were to keep His covenant
"throughout their generations." Those "generations" are still occurring
and will continue to occur until time is no more. A problem they have had through the
centuries should not surprise anyone anywhere, especially those who are part of
what we call the "church." Israel, the church - we have often lacked
the very faith we need in order to carry out God's purposes in this world.
We are to be responsive to the Lord. In the case of
Israel, they were to be observed by others to be a people who had faith in the
Lord because of an outward mark which will be discussed in the next few verses.
Abraham was not a perfect man; he was simply a man who had faith in the Lord.
He was "blameless" in the sight of God as we saw in Verse One because he trusted in the Lord. As we have previously seen, he lied to protect
himself, he forgot to pray at critical times and had other problems. But
his faith was genuine. He knew that what he could not do, God could do for him.
The same God can do everything for you.
Verse
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.'"
What does it mean to be "circumcised" as it commands in this
verse? It is a SIGN of the covenant relationship of God with the people
who were to be called Israel. Abraham was the first to receive this
command, at a time when Israel did not yet exist. Why was it given to
him? - "He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that
he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised" (Romans 4:11). Something
was done outwardly, reflecting something infinitely greater that happened to
the man who was to receive the rite of circumcision. He and his family
were to be changed forever.
Those who are "male" members of earthly families are expected
to be leaders. The father should never be abusive or autocratic and if he
is, it demonstrates that he has missed the point about God's will for his life.
He is to love his wife (Ephesians 5:25), demonstrating to his children and to
the world the kind of love a man is supposed to have and to share. His
children are to observe his strong, but gentle love, and carry it to the next
generation. By being "circumcised," the men of Israel were shown to be
part of the family of God, that they would love and serve the Lord as led by God
Himself.
Father, we have not had faith as You have commanded for
us. We confess our sin and trust in You now. We believe, Lord, and
we will follow You, now and forever. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 17:11-15
Verse
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."
We have already seen the basis of Abraham's "righteousness"
before God, in places like Genesis 15:6, where it says, "he believed the Lord and
He counted it to him as righteousness." In his outward actions, Abraham
really wanted to be obedient and responsive , but
he was like the rest of us who believe; sometimes he got it right and
sometimes he didn't. And so his "blameless" walk with the Lord through
life, which we saw in Verse 1, was based in his faith, not in his works.
Abraham and his descendents were to "walk before the Lord" and
be "blameless," as we noticed in Verse 1.
A sign of the responsibility of those who were later to be called the Jews,
included being "circumcised in the flesh." We
will see that Abraham did not question this requirement, but instead instituted
it immediately, for himself, and for all the males who lived under his
protection, as it can be observed in the context of Verse 27. When he clearly
understood the Lord's intention, he faithfully responded to the will of God.
Verse
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."
It was truly important to Abraham, as it should be important
to us all, to obey the known will of God. The Lord was very clear about
the importance of the rite of circumcision and Abraham understood. We can
see his compliance in places like Verse 27, where it reports that "all
the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a
foreigner, were circumcised with him."
Notice that it wasn't genetics that brought people into what was to later be
called "Israel" - it involved those who were willing to be part of a community
that faithfully responded to the Lord.
Circumcision was known and practiced in a number of cultures
at that time. Some groups circumcised their boys at puberty as a sign
of a rite of passage from childhood to manhood. Some also extended the
practice to women, as it is in some groups today, but it is clear in these verses
that God intended it for men only, in the line of Abraham. It was for children
"eight days old," as a sign and a reminder to the boy and to his parents to look
to the Lord in faith. The practice would run straight into the Greek
culture which viewed circumcised people as physically defective.
Verse
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."
The nation Israel was to begin in two generations from the
moment of these verses. Abraham would become the father of a son named
Isaac, who became the father of Jacob, the eventual father of a group of
sons that were the progenitors of the tribes of the nation Israel.
This covenant, this contract between God and Abraham included the covenant of
circumcision that is a part of that people to this day. And if you wonder
about the covenant - will it continue in the future? The answer is that it
is "an everlasting covenant" for that nation.
The walk of Abraham with God can be described by just one word
- faith. The man trusted in the Lord (Genesis 15:6). He believed in
the Lord, in His character, in His power, His love and in His worthiness to be
trusted, with not only his life, but also the lives of those he loved on this
earth. This circumcision was a symbol of something much greater. It
was to be a permanent mark on the people Israel, showing that they belong to God.
It's a symbol of ownership through faith and the grace of God, for "an
everlasting" mark placed by God on a people in this world.
Verse
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."
Someone, a "male" who is physically born into the nation Israel,
who, for some reason was not circumcised on the eighth day and now has reached
an age when he can make that decision for himself, is what this verse is about.
If this "male" person understands the call of God,
but ignores it, he "shall be cut off" from the Lord's promises. Reaching through to the deeper meaning, Paul expresses it this way:
"Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation" (Galatians 6:15).
He describes this "new creation" further in places like 2
Corinthians 5:17 - "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
passed away; behold, the new has come." In order to become part of this
"new creation" like Abraham and Paul did, you are to trust in the Lord like they
did. And no matter what your ancestry may be, whether circumcised or not,
you become a part of this "new creation" through faith. Paul said, "If
you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the
promise" (Galatians 3:29).
Verse 15. "Then God
said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but
Sarah shall be her name.'"
Both the name, "Sarai," and the name, "Sarah," seem to be
derivations of the word for "princess." The first name was chosen by her
parents and it referred to their hopes for her. She was their "princess,"
and as some have speculated, her family may have indeed been descended from some
kind of "royal" line among the Persians, Medes or Babylonians. God was intervening
in her life as well as Abraham's and she was to contribute her DNA to the people
of Israel, just as her husband did.
But there is more involved than just the humanity of this
husband and wife who were to become the ancestors of Mary, the human mother of
the Christ, the Messiah. She was, in the sight of God, a true princess,
for not only did Abraham believe in the Lord, but she did, too. She,
representing women everywhere, is very significant in the sight of God.
Her name was to be changed because she had been changed by the presence of Him
in her life who was to be the Savior of this world.
Father, we want to be changed into people who look to You
in faith. Take our little faith, dear God, and help us to BELIEVE as
Abraham did. Thank You. We trust in You now. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 17:16-20
Verse
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."
As we will see in the next verse, up to this point in time, Abraham had
assumed that Ishmael, his son who was now a teenager, would be the son of God's
promise. But that was not God's intention. His wife, Sarai, now called,
"Sarah," would give birth to "a son" who would be the child of
God's promise.
Sarah was the same wife of Abraham who had been barren for the
many decades of their marriage. They had tried to have children and failed, many times.
Abraham was now being given astonishing news. It would
not merely be Abraham who was to bring forth God's promise into the world, but
also Sarah, his wife who had been unable to have a child all this time.
God was quite clear that Sarah was to be "a mother of nations." At
least one line of
"kings" would descend from her. And it was not to be
through Ishmael,
Abraham's teenaged son, it would be someone else, a son through Sarah!
Verse 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?'"
What would you do if Almighty God, the King of Glory, suddenly
appeared to you and gave you an amazing promise for the future? What if
you were 100 years old or so, and the Lord said to you that you would have a child?
If that happens to you, you likely will not fall on your face and laugh out
loud. But that's what Abraham did. He "fell on his face and
laughed." And note that God did not condemn the man for what
he did.
Abraham had fallen down before, as you can see in Verse 3, where Moses,
the human author of the Book of Genesis, reported - "Abram
fell on his face." His reason for doing so now was not the same
as the other incident. In Verse 3, he "fell on his face" in awe at the
wonder of God. Here in this verse he was faced with the notion that he and
his wife would have a first child at their very advanced ages. The very
idea seemed ridiculous to him, to the point that he literally fell from
laughter at the thought of them having a child.
Verse
18. "And Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before You!'"
Our tendency in humanity is to measure things outwardly.
Even when we think we are reaching deep into the mind, as in psychology or
philosophy, we only consider the superficial when we leave God out of the
equation. The Lord makes things possible that we cannot do at all. Here in these verses, the
Lord God is telling the man, Abraham, that he will have a son through his
marriage to Sarah. Since the man had no children after many decades of
trying, he thought the idea was laughable, as we saw in Verse 17.
His laughter was lessening and he was trying to make sense out
of the Lord's words to him. He considered his now teenaged son by his
relationship with Hagar, the Egyptian servant girl. He thought
about
her son, "Ishmael," reasoning that this now teenaged
boy would be the perfect candidate to fulfill God's promise. Notice that
Abraham is in prayer at the moment of this verse. He hears the Lord and
responds to Him, suggesting that in addition to speaking, prayer involves a process of
listening. And note that he spoke his heart openly to God, understanding
that our Lord knows everything about us already.
Verse
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.'"
The Lord God is "speaking" to each one of us right now, just
like He did to Abraham in these verses. His communication to us is more
than adequate, but our perceptions are poor. When we trust in the Lord, we are given the "equipment" to hear, but we have an unwillingness
that makes reception difficult. We want life to be "rational," which can
be good, but responding to the leading of God IS rational and we should hear
Him, just as Abraham did. When it says in Romans 4:11 that he is "the
father of all those who believe," it means he, Abraham, is the model for the way we should
live.
God was now being very specific with Abraham. It would
not be Ishmael, son of Hagar, who was to be the child of the promise to the man
and to the nation-to-be, it
was "a son" who would specifically be born to Sarah, Abraham's wife of many
decades. The boy's name was chosen by God, as is likely the case far more
often than we realize. The young man would be called, "Isaac," a
name which means "laughter," reflecting the laughter of Abraham in Verse
17.
Verse
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."
Note this verse carefully. Because someone like
"Ishmael" is not chosen for some honor or another, it does not mean than God has
rejected them. If you feel left out, take your concern to God, for He has
another, better plan for you, designed especially for your every need. He
has a promise for each one and He has not forgotten you. He loves you without
limit, just as He loved Ishmael, Abraham's other son.
Ishmael, this "wild donkey" in personality, a "wild man" as
Genesis 16:12 appears in some translations, was blessed by God. He would be
fruitful, meaning not only that he was to have a lot of children, but he would
succeed in almost everything he did. Among his line, his descendents, would be "twelve princes," and
where it says God would "make him a great nation," it also meant "nations," for
today's modern Arab nations look at themselves as the descendents of this "fruitful"
son of Abraham.
Father, we trust in You. We are ordinary people, like
Abraham and Sarah were, and we note You did wonderful things through them.
Forgive us for not listening to You in the past. We look to You now, and
we are open to Your call. Thank You for Your love. We are Yours.
In Jesus Name. We praise Your Holy Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 17:21-27
Verse
21. "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to
you at this season next year."
Notice how God refers to "Isaac," son of Abraham and
Sarah. This son was yet to be born and did not exist from a human
perspective, and yet God speaks of him as
though he was already on earth. The suggestion of this verse is that three hundred or three thousand years ago
or back into eternity, you
already existed in the mind and heart of God. Though you may be just a few
years or decades old, you have always been God's intention for this world.
Just like Isaac, you were planned. Even your flaws were within God's intention because He
means everything for the good.
Ishmael, the teenaged son of Abraham and Hagar, would not be
the one who received the "covenant," the contract that God was offering to
mankind through Abraham. It was to be "Isaac," the son of Abraham and
Sarah, a boy who was not even conceived at the moment of this verse. We
understand that
many sperm are involved in conception and to most it seems like birth is a random event; but
it is not. As it says in Psalm 139, human beings are carefully "fashioned" by God. Randomness does not apply to the work of our
Lord in this world. EVERYTHING is carefully planned for our good. He
intends good for YOU.
Verse
22. "When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham."
People often worry about their weakness in prayer. "I don't
pray enough," many say, and they vow that if they awaken in the night, they
will pray. But then after midnight that very night they wake up and
strangely don't pray as they intended to do. Prayer is somewhat like
muscle development; the more we do it, the stronger we are. You likely are
not going to be a great prayer warrior immediately, and so a good start is,
"Lord, help me to pray." And He will.
Notice also that it was not Abraham who was the initiator of
prayer in these verses, it was God Himself. In Verse One, we find that
"the Lord appeared to Abram," not the other way around. Yes we should
initiate prayer and do it often, for as it says in places like 1 Thessalonians
5:16-18, we are to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing (and)
in everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Yes we
are to pray continually, but we are also to look to God for leadership in prayer
like everything else. The Lord
began this prayer in Verse 1 and He ended it here in Verse 22 - "When He finished talking with
him, God went up from Abraham." Reach out to the Lord in
prayer and you will find that He is already reaching out to you.
Verse
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."
When we read the Bible, we discover the will of God,
portions of which are seen in
places like Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, where the Ten Commandments are laid out
for us. It is clear what we are NOT to do in many places
within Scripture. There are also many places where we are encouraged to do
what is right, such as Leviticus 19:18, where we find the affirmative direction: "Love your neighbor as
yourself." It's important, when the Holy Spirit reveals to us what
we must do or must not do, to act on the information provided. In these
Scriptures, we see God's will for what was to be the country to be called, Israel - the males
were to be marked by circumcision, set aside for God's purposes.
They were to be a nation of people faithful to the Lord,
trusting in Him and responding to His will. The mark was to remind them of
His special call upon that nation. In later years the church would also
become marked by the outward rite of baptism, which we can read about in places
like Romans Chapter 6. The people
involved in circumcision and those who will be baptized are to give up doing
everything in their own strength so that they might faithfully come
alive to the purposes of God in their lives. These outward things are a
sign of something much deeper.
Verse
24-27. "Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in
the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he
was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the very same day Abraham
was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. All the men of his household, who
were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised
with him."
Notice again in these verses the responsiveness of Abraham.
He did some things well, but he made mistakes in several key situations. Sometimes he remembered to pray and other times he didn't. The man was
human, just like we are. He fell short just like we all do. But he believed, he
had faith in the Lord, and when the Lord revealed Himself to the man, the man
heard because he was willing to hear, willing to believe. God desired that
Abraham and his descendants were to be circumcised and told him what He
wanted. The direction from God was clear and unmistakable.
Abraham's response to God's will was immediate and complete,
as we can see in these verses. Even though the man himself was "ninety-nine
years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin," he did
not hesitate, but submitted himself to the procedure. "Ishmael
his son was thirteen years old when HE was circumcised." It would
have hurt and the young man, whom Abraham loved, likely complained, "Why?"
about the procedure. Others in Abraham's community of men which numbered
in the hundreds (Genesis 14:14), would have complained also. "This is MY
body..." some might have said. And yet Abraham did it, for himself,
for his
son, to every one of them.
The message here is clear. Sometimes we truly KNOW God's
will for some portion of our lives, our family, and others who we effect or are
in our care. Most of the time we don't. But when we do know, we
should ACT as Abraham did, to the best of our ability to do so. And note
the RISK Abraham took. There would have been pain and the blood loss would
have weakened the very men who were sworn to defend the women, children, goods
and animals associated with this campsite. For about three days they would
be vulnerable to attack, and yet Abraham did it anyway because he trusted in the
Lord to defend him.
Lord, we trust in You. Please show us Your will for
our lives and help us to be men and women who ACT as You lead us. Forgive
us for the times we did not follow You, and give us the courage to take the risk
of following You now and in the future. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
