Genesis 17:22-27

2007.May.21 02:49

A Family Obeys

God finished speaking to Abraham and then left. On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was ninety-nine years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was thirteen.
(Genesis 17:22-27, CEV)

Here, Abraham does the kind of thing that helps explain why Jehovah has so blessed him and made a covenant with him and his descendants: he obeys. He has a bit of a crazy thing to obey, too. He must be circumcised and so must all the males of his household. And he does it, because Jehovah told him too. And all the males in his household go along. I don’t know, but I like to think it is because Abraham has led them effectively and kindly and so they trust him when he tells them what God has commanded. Then again, maybe he didn’t give them much choice. But in either event, they too obey.

Part of me just wants to leave this entry there. The value of obedience to God. Because it’s often a hard thing to get through our stubborn minds. Even more, immediate obedience. Even more, immediate obedience that you know is going to cause yourself and people you care for physical pain.

But I also want to consider something this is not. This is not Abraham creating a little cult to worship him and having half the cult members engage in self-mutilation to show their loyalty. Although it kind of reads that way. I’d say the first thing that demonstrates that Abraham is doing this for God rather than himself is that he is obedient to God’s command on his own body. More importantly, Abraham does not add anything to Jehovah’s command. This is a sign of the covenant between Jehovah and Abraham and his family. Abraham could have abused the opportunity by requiring additional obedience of his household to him–Abraham–but he doesn’t. Just as obedience should not take away from the command, neither should it add to the command. That doesn’t mean Jehovah has to be explicit on all points, but rather that we should not–even through our “reason”–add to ourselves or others additional commandments which God never gives.

It is also nice to note that Abraham is not using circumcision to create/embellish class distinctions. His family, his slaves, his servants, all his household, is part of this covenant (in my opinion, women included–earlier thoughts on that). And Abraham avoids such pitfalls because his focus–judging from his actions–is on obedience to Jehovah.

Genesis 17:17-21

2007.May.15 02:43

Why not Ishmael?

Read Genesis 17:17-21 | Full Chapter

Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?” And Abraham said unto God, “O that Ishmael might live before Thee!” And God said, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”
(Genesis 17:17-21, 21st century kjv)

God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai’s to Sarah. They’ve received many blessings from Jehovah, but they long for one more, a child. This has been complicated about fourteen years prior by Sarai’s suggestion, and Abram’s acceptance, that he sleep with Hagar, who has had a son, Ishmael. When Jehovah ends this name changing with an explanation that Sarah will give birth, the newly named Abraham laughs. This is a guy that the author of Hebrews goes on about for his faith, and he’s laughing at God’s promise. Of course, as he points out, he is one hundred, his wife ninety. Not really child bearing age.

Jehovah does not turn his back on Abraham for this questioning, but affirms his promise, naming the as-yet-unconceived child Isaac, for whom he has a very specific and long-ranging plan. God has chosen to establish an everlasting covenant with Isaac and his descendants. What this covenant contains, Jehovah does not here elaborate, though we may assume that it includes God’s previous covenant with Abraham to give to his descendants the land of Canaan.

There is an additional thread to this discussion, beyond the promise of Isaac and the forthcoming covenant. The CEV translates Abraham as asking, "Why not let Ishmael inherit what you have promised me" (Genesis 17:18, CEV) ? Abraham’s logic here is pretty simple: he already has a son. Jehovah does not really answer the question, but he does respond to Abraham’s desires for his first-born. Ishmael, God promises, will be blessed. He will father twelve princes, and have many descendants. Indeed, the promises for Ishmael are not so different than those for Isaac.

But I must pause on one very important difference. It is with Isaac, not Ishmael, that Jehovah will establish his particular covenant. The burning question of why, then. Well, God does not explain here. In fact, I’m not sure it’s ever explained in the Bible. A few ideas come to mind, but I only want to ponder one just now: Isaac is the child of God’s promise (Genesis 15). Ishmael is the child of an attempt to rush God’s promise. Abram and Sarai tried to take over the process. Jehovah has not punished Ishmael for this, although he has had some rough times do to dissension between Sarai and Hagar. Neither does Jehovah switch his promises over to Ishmael, but instead stays his course, bringing Isaac to birth in his timing. Now, maybe that’s the reason and maybe it’s crazy talk. But sometimes when we ask “Why not”, it’s because we’re not seeing the promise.

Genesis 17:15-16

2007.May.11 03:11

The Curse of Pain in Labor

Read Genesis 17:15-16 | Full Chapter

And God saith unto Abraham, ‘Sarai thy wife – thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] her name; and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations – kings of peoples are from her.’
(Genesis 17:15-16, Young)

About a year ago now, I looked at the curse of pain in labor, part of the post-lapsum curse placed on Eve, and apparently, women in general. Sarai’s life has included another twist. She has had no children and seems to desire some. After all, she proposed that her husband sleep with her slave, for that purpose. She is removed from the curse of pain in labor, but only because she is removed from a blessing she desires, due to no apparent fault of her own.

God wants to free us from the curses of sin, but not through removing us from blessings. He has another plan for Sarai, and so he changes her name from a name of non-blessing and possibly cursing (she’s had a rough few years here), to a name of blessing. But look at how God says this (both above, and here, in the CEV:

I will bless her, and you will have a son by her

(Genesis 17:16, CEV)

. Jehovah doesn’t just say that Sarah will have a child, but first that God will bless her.

Jehovah flip-flops the curse. Sarai may have seen herself as double curse, but now God gives her a new name with a double blessing, a general blessing throughout her life and a specific blessing of the child for which she has longed. That her descendants will be numerous and powerful is another layer to the cake. And this is not Abraham’s descendants that happen to also be Sarah’s, but God states that Sarah herself has “become nations – kings of people are from her.”

Now, I don’t know if Sarah had particular pain in childbirth. But I do know that God can take a overflowing of curses and change from them to an abundance of blessings.

Genesis 17:9-14

2007.Apr.28 00:26

Circumsion

Read Genesis 17:9-14 | Full Chapter

I’m not interested in discussing at this point the applicability of circumcision in the “New Covenant”–there’s plenty of discussion about this in the Bible itself. When I started this entry, I wasn’t particularly interested in exploring why Jehovah chose the particular action of circumcision as the sign of this covenant. As you will see, I changed my mind. However, I do so with caution, as such discussions can distract from the reality that Jehovah would ordain such a generational covenant affirming act at all.

Last entry, I looked at how, in Genesis 17:7-8, Jehovah explicitly extended his covenant with Abraham, formerly Abram, to his descendants. I am particularly struck by the wording in The Message version, when God refers to circumcision as “the covenant that pulls in all your descendants”. There is to be a physical reminder to all of Abraham’s descendants of this covenant, that this land is their’s not by the power of their flesh but by the decision and power of God.

Okay, I am going to explore a little why circumcision in particular. This is the only time that I know of that God calls for anything that might be considered self-mutilation. Significantly, this permanent change of the flesh is particularly apparent during sex. This means that circumcision does not have (intimate) consequences just for males, but also for most of the females of Abraham’s descendants. This point is important because there is nothing that implies to me that the covenant is with men only, but even the covenant act of circumcision includes women.

Additionally, this could be seen as a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice. As God "gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16, NASB) , Abraham’s male descendants were called to give a part of themselves that…erm…participates in the begetting process. And as we are called to "take up [our] cross" (Matthew 16:24, NASB) and "present [our] bodies a living and holy sacrifice" (Romans 12:1, NASB) , and so have an experience of Christ’s sacrifice in our covenant with him, the women descended from Abraham also are called to experience the circumcision of their husbands within the marriage covenant.

And now I must take a moment and acknowledge that Christians may sometimes go overboard in trying to find metaphors for Christ in the OT. If the previous paragraph so qualifies, please ignore.

I want then to reiterate and highlight that Jehovah has placed before this people a continual covenant, and has ordained a generational reminder for it, within the covenant act of circumcision. This covenant is extended to all levels of society, including foreign slaves, because God’s promise is not dependent on some social strata. Instead, it is a reminder that we all are dependent on him.

Genesis 17:1-8

2007.Apr.21 01:45

A New Name

Read Genesis 17:1-8 | Full Chapter

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. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 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. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.”
(Genesis 17:1-6, NASB)

It can be frustrating to hear Jehovah promise and promise and promise and promise…and where’s the beef? Here is a reiteration of a promise God has given to Abram before (Here, here and here, for example). Twenty-four years after setting out to Canaan, God is once again promising Abram that he will have many, and successful, descendants. This passage doesn’t tell me what Abram was thinking, but if he was thinking “Yeah, right”, I can sympathize. But that’s not faith. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20, NIV) . We can have utter confidence in Jehovah’s promises, and sometimes we must remind ourselves that those promises will be fulfilled not in our timing nor according to our planning, but according to God’s plan.

Abram’s faith has not been perfect, but he has had faith despite his sins. He has gotten up after each fall, "for the righteous falls seven times and rises again" (Proverbs 24:16a, ESV) . Now, Jehovah adds to the promise. First, he makes explicit that he is establishing a covenant with Abram. And in doing so, God gives Abram a new name: Abraham. Our birth name can seem like one of the few permanent, established things in life. That’s probably often a good thing, but it can lead us to forget how completely God can work changes in us. When you are tempted to say “I can’t change, that’s just the way I am”, remember that God can change your name, can change your “stuff”. He can change your DNA, and I am not saying that metaphorically. When Jehovah changes Abram’s name to Abraham, it’s a statement that this man is no longer the mostly faith-filled, but still doubting, still trying to make it happen on his own, not there yet guy we’ve so far met. He is no longer a man who’s been promised something, but he is named the promise, and he is in it. Saying God is creator of the Universe is a nice way to talk about his power, but it may not mean much in everyday life. But see this power, to change the destiny of a person, of a “me”.

As if that were not enough, Jehovah continues, now extending the covenant to Abraham’s descendants:

“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. 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.”
(Genesis 17:7-8, NASB)

God is God of the present–which is something I sometimes find myself forgetting–but he is also God of the future. When he does us a good turn on this earth, he often does it not just for now, but for our, well, legacy, since I can’t think of a better word. Jehovah makes promises that are forever. And–and this is the huge thing to me–he means it. Wow. What an awesome God he is.

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