Episode 271 "Sarai get a new name and a crazy promise" - Genesis. 17:15-27

​​​​Gen. 17:15 And 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 moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Gen. 17:22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 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 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

This part begins with God changing another name. He had just changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and now he has changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. The difference is that the author explains the meaning of Abram and Abraham but does not explain the difference between Sarai and Sarah. Sarai means “Princess.” It’s possible that there is no significant difference in the meaning of the name change. Rather, the LORD changes it to signify her part in the covenant as the one who would bear the promised seed. It would be Sarah’s son who would inherit the covenant given to Abraham and not the son Ishmael born to Hagar. The LORD’s message to Abraham regarding Sarah echoes the promise the LORD had made to Abraham. It emphasizes that Sarah is the one through whom kings and nations would come and, more importantly, the descendants who would inherit the Abrahamic Covenant.

Verse 17 gives us Abraham’s response. He fell on his face and laughed. What a natural and appropriate response to being told that you would be able to beget a child at 100 years old and your wife would bear that child at ninety years of age. His thoughts, best summarized as “Is this really possible?” might make us wonder if he’s doubting the LORD. The LORD does not challenge him. So, I believe this is just a reasonable pondering in his mind of “How could this be?” Then, Abraham responds to God, suggesting that Ishmael fits the bill just fine with him.

It’s at this point that the LORD corrects him and tells him that he will have a son by Sarah, and they will name him Isaac. The meaning of this name is not given directly in the text. However, a word study reveals that this name may be associated with laughter. Since Abraham laughs at the thought of this child in their old age, and Sarah later laughs when she hears that she will have a son in her old age, the name may serve as a reminder of their response to the LORD’s providence in bringing about this miracle in their old age.

In verse 20, the LORD reveals that he will also bless Ishmael and bring nations through him. But Isaac is the son of the promise and will inherit the covenant God made with Abraham. We must see God’s mercy toward Hagar and Ishmael in these Scriptures.

Verses 22-27 can be summarized in one word, “Obedience.” Despite the illogical possibility of Abraham and Sarah having children at such an old age, Abraham responds to the LORD’s revelation by obeying the LORD and having every male in his household circumcised according to the LORD’s requirement for their participation in the covenant.

It seems to me the most evident lesson we can learn is to obey the LORD even when what we are doing may seem contrary to what we want to do or think. Maybe that is giving something to a homeless person. We think, Oh . . .they’ll just sell it to buy drugs or alcohol.” The LORD may not speak audibly to us or communicate through a dream. Yet, there may be a sense that we need to do something good, yet one part of us resists. If we know it’s not in conflict with God’s word, we’re free to step out on faith and act. We may laugh and wonder to ourselves if it’s worth it. But we can trust the LORD can use it however he wants.

Episode 270 - "The Sign of the Abrahamic Covenant" - Genesis 17:9-14

Gen. 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Picking up where we left off as God is confirming the covenant promise he made to Abram, now renamed Abraham, the LORD is now giving the sign of the covenant. I’ve already made the point that when the LORD first revealed this covenant to Abram, the LORD took full responsibility for making this covenant viable. The LORD alone passed through the sacrificed animal pieces, making what is understood as an unconditional covenant.

Now, the sign of the covenant is given to Abraham. The sign is male circumcision. The sign is not only for male biological descendants of Abraham. It is for every male who identifies with Abraham and partake of the covenant blessings.

If you're like me, you may be wondering, “Why circumcision?” I cannot say I have found a historical and scholarly answer to that question. So, I will give you an answer that is more of a guess than a rock-solid, authoritative answer. The key to my response is in the word “sign.” It’s a sign of the covenant. Signs are concise messages to those who see them. What better constant reminder/message to every male Hebrew than circumcision? This is a sign that cannot be missed.

Furthermore, it’s a sign that could remind these men about the promised “seed.” We’ve already discussed how “the seed of the woman” has been an ongoing theme since the fall of humanity. Each male descendant should be reminded to walk righteously before the LORD, knowing he may be used to bring about that seed. Finally (and this is a bit of an interpretive stretch), there is a common analogy in the Scriptures that equates the “flesh” with acting according to one’s own desires and not according to the word of God. Is it possible the LORD intended this sign, a removal of flesh, to be a reminder that to receive blessings from the LORD, we need our flesh/fleshly desires removed and trust in God? Whether that has any connection with the sign of circumcision or not, I cannot be sure. I don’t know where that could be defended in Scripture. Yet, the principle is true. Check out Romans 8, where Paul tells Christians they must put to death the deeds of the flesh and walk by means of the Holy Spirit.

The failure of any male to receive this sign is cut off from the people. He is not to receive support or any of the blessings given to the covenant people. This is an important detail that will become important as the greater narrative moves on.

So, how is this important or even relevant to Christians today? We read in Acts 15 that circumcision was not to be imposed upon Gentiles who became Christians. This covenant does not apply to us. Why? The answer lies in that we are under the “New Covenant.” The sacrifice/blood of the New Covenant is that of Christ’s when he died on the cross. We are also given a sign for that covenant. It is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the sign of our covenant is not a visible sign. It’s the third person of the Trinity who provokes us, encourages us to do what is right and good and to convict us when we don’t.

This story of the Abrahamic Covenant should remind us that our God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. His covenants testify to his holiness, righteousness, justice, love, and so much more. We receive blessings when we follow the Holy Spirit's leading.

Episode 269 - "Promises, promises" - Genesis 17:1-8

Gen. 17:1 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 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall 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 have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed the LORD in Genesis 3, we have been anticipating “the seed of the woman” who would crush the head of the serpent and restore things to the way the LORD intended in the beginning. The narrative has led us to Abram and Sarai. The LORD has promised to make Abram a “great nation.” We even read how the LORD initiated a covenant promise as an unconditional promise. This meant that the LORD was taking full responsibility for bringing about the fulfillment of this promise. We also read about how Abram and Sarai did things that risked disqualifying them from bringing the promised seed.

This passage opens with “When Abram was ninety-nine years old . . .” (Gen. 17:1). Stop there and think about this for a minute. The LORD has made this promise to Abram for many years, and now he is ninety-nine, but he still has not had a single child by Sarai. Too late, right? It would seem an impossible thing for a couple so old to have a child.

It’s at this time the LORD speaks to Abram again and says, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between you and me, and may multiply you greatly.” (Gen 17:1b-2) The LORD is telling Abram, first of all, that there is nothing he cannot do. He is “God Almighty.” In light of that, he instructs Abram to trust him by living according to his instructions. He then reaffirms his promise to give Abram innumerable descendants.

Abram is not jaded. He is in awe of the LORD and worships him. The LORD then revealed to him that the LORD was changing his name from Abram, meaning exalted father, to Abraham. The Hebrew term for Abraham is a word play on a word meaning “Father of nations.” The explanation for this change of identity is explained by the LORD telling him, “for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Gen. 17:5) He continues in verse six to unpack that promise even more.

In verse seven, the LORD promised to establish his covenant not just with Abraham but with every generation of his descendants after him as an everlasting covenant. This everlasting covenant promise includes the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession for Abraham’s descendants. One would have to completely ignore history and the news to know that Abraham’s descendants of promise (Israelites) have not yet realized that promise. So, what gives? Has the LORD failed? Has he reneged on his promise?

Let me keep this as simple as I know how. Those within the Christian faith vary in how they interpret the fulfillment of this covenant promise. Personally, I’m going to take this at face value and say that I believe the LORD will ultimately fulfill this promise in a literal way. In other words, I believe the LORD still has a plan for the Jews. Other people who love Jesus as much as I may have a different understanding of how this has been or will be fulfilled. Regardless of where people fall on this spectrum of interpretation, God is Almighty. He is not powerless to fulfill his promises precisely as he intends. He certainly is not constrained or dependent upon any specific human interpretation of his word. He is able and faithful to fulfill his promises, as we will see as we continue this study.

This brings us to the last part of verse eight. The LORD states, “And I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8c). As one continues through the Old Testament books and time passes, one will witness a recurring pattern of the Israelites abandoning the LORD as their God. When they do so, they lose possession of the land. The lesson we should learn from this ourselves is that if we expect to experience promised blessings from the LORD, he must be our God.

Episode 266 "Abrahamic Covenant" - Genesis 15:7-21

Gen. 15:7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Gen. 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Gen. 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15 describes the “Abrahamic Covenant.” In our last episode, we read about the LORD’s promise to Abram to give him innumerable descendants. Abram was aging and had not yet had one offspring, yet he believed God. God assessed Abram’s trust as righteous. This is an important fact to remember as we read and interpret the rest of chapter 15. A second important thing to remember is that this book is being written for the Israelites who had come out of Egypt.

Genesis 15:7 reads, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” Why is this important? It’s important for the Israelites to understand that the LORD who brought them out of the land of Egypt, had brought their ancestor Abram out of a land of people who did not worship the LORD. If he planned to give the land to Abram and his descendants, then it makes sense that he is now going to give it to them.

These Israelites might wonder, “How can we know for certain that the LORD intends to give it to us?” The response might be something like, “It’s funny you should ask that because Abram had the same question, (See Genesis 15:8) The LORD responded to Abram by establishing a covenant with him, which included some animal sacrifices. Notice the sacrifices were cut in two, and the halves were laid opposite each other. Then, verse 11 offers a strange comment that birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. What is the point of that? Well, these birds are unclean animals because they feast upon the dead. This is perhaps a picture of conflict with the unclean people of the nations dwelling in the land, and as Abram drove away the unclean birds, the Israelites will need to drive away the people that God deems unclean.

After the animals were cut in two and laid out, the LORD caused Abram to fall into a sleep and an ominous state of darkness and dread. The LORD revealed to him more details about his descendants and the land. The LORD told him that his descendants would be oppressed in a foreign land for 400 years, and afterward, the LORD would judge that nation and deliver Abram’s descendants back to the land he was giving them.

Certainly, the Israelites should see God’s providence in bringing all of this about as he had told Abram. It should cause them to trust in the LORD as their ancestor Abram did. They should also notice that God judges sin. He is patient and not looking to bring quick judgment upon the slightest infraction. (See verse 16)

Verses 17-21 reveal the LORD’s enactment of the covenant. Here’s where the story gets interesting. Typically, in a covenant agreement like this, both parties of the covenant walk between the divided parts of the sacrificial animals. The parties mutually agree their part of the agreement will be fulfilled and their failure to do their part should bring a curse upon themselves to be like these animals. Yet in this covenant agreement, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass through alone. The LORD does not require anything of Abram to bring about this covenant. Bible scholars understand that the LORD is making an unconditional covenant with Abram. The LORD accepts full responsibility for providing descendants to Abram and land for them to dwell in.

Scholars like to pose questions about whether God can curse himself. I think the point here is that the LORD is giving Abram and his descendants the strongest possible sign that he can be trusted to fulfill what he says he will do. That’s the lesson I think we can take from this account. While I cannot take this text and read myself into it as a recipient of this specific promise, I can rightly accept that this God has made promises that are to all who trust him. We can be confident that he will fulfill them.