Genesis 17

In this week’s bible chapter we’re going to be introduced to a practice that has haunted men for centuries. You can read the summary of last week’s chapter here and you can read Genesis 17 itself here.

Now the practice I just mentioned is indeed circumcision and in this weeks reading we find God commanding Abraham to take on this task. For the sake of context I’ll summarise where were coming from.

Moses, the author of Genesis, is chilling in the desert with the Israelites, fresh out of Egypt and he’s basically providing them with a history of their nation, while dropping some seriously theological themes. Therefore, we can see how Genesis 17 and its explanation of the origin of circumcision in Israel would have been important for the average Israelite to know. No doubt, the men in Israel had some serious questions about why they had a tradition involving the most vulnerable part of the male body. But that’s not all this chapter explains. Let’s walk through it together.

We start off with God appearing before Abraham. Now as far as we know, God hasn’t shown up for around 15 years. In fact Abraham hasn’t seen God since before the awkward turtle situation with Hagar, which resulted with little Ishmael. So apart from the problems that ensued when Abraham heeded ill advice of his wife (Genesis 16:2), Abraham probably had no reason to think that Ishmael was not the promised son. God had never said that his promised son would come from Sarah, so his child with Hagar probably seemed like a legit part of the covenant made in Genesis 15. Anyway, we’ll touch on this more later.

Now God basically starts with one of His spiels, restating much of what He’s said before. However, this time He changes Abram’s name to Abraham, which is great because up until now I’ve been crazy confused about which name to use in our weekly bible summaries. Now the meaning of his name has gone from “exalted father” to “father of many nations”. Now let’s stop and think about this. Abraham in the past would have introduced himself as “exalted father”. People would have heard this and asked how many children he had exactly. This was a question that could only be answered by an awkward silence on Abraham's part.

But NOW God amps it up a bit. Now Abraham is a father of NATIONS. How embarrassing would that be? I get the feeling the dialogue would go something like this.

Stranger: Hi, what’s your name?

Abraham: The God I serve has changed my name to “father of many nations”.

Stranger: Oh cool, how many kids you got?

Abraham: One.

Stranger:…right

But that’s just how God works. God writes the future. We can’t even see it. So when it appears like we’ve been promised something impossible (like, I don’t know, a guy on a horse with a sword coming out of his mouth and with eyes like blazing fire, cracking the sky open to come save us from this earth) we need childlike faith to trust that God can and will do what He says. And God has never broken a promise.

Okay, so in verses 9-14 we see the act of circumcision come in. The New Testament (Col. 2:11-14) sheds light on the meaning behind circumcision. The cutting off of the foreskin basically represents the believer in Christ, putting off the flesh and its ways. The fact that the flesh being physically removed is on the male genitalia possibly indicates that God is sanctifying for Himself a line of descendants or a nation from one man, through whom he will accomplish his work of redemption and the ultimate “putting off of the flesh” at the great consummation at the end of the age. Another interesting point is that these circumcised men were to be sexually pure (since they were God’s people) and thus the incision of the foreskin marked them off as different to the other nations. Ironically if they were to fall into sexual promiscuity and have relations with women or even prostitutes from other nations, the women would see that the men were different and possibly even question why, which would have been a convicting question for the men about to engage in what they knew to be an immoral act.

Now one of the ways that circumcision is relevant to us today is found in verse 7. God states that this covenant will be an everlasting covenant. Now since the New Testament states clearly that we no longer need to be circumcised, some view water baptism as the symbol of the new covenant, replacing circumcision. They bring Colossians 2:11-14 into the discussion to show that therefore in the same way all the newborn males were circumcised, now all newborn children must be baptized. In other words they believe in infant baptism. Others believe that a profession of faith is necessary in order for one to be baptized and infants clearly cannot profess faith in Christ, therefore it makes no sense for us to baptize our children.

Now I think it would be highly ignorant for me to say that infant baptism is an unimportant issue. Some people hold to the view that the essentials of salvation are the only things in the bible worth arguing over. Last time I checked ALL scripture was God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and therefore it’s ALL important. Therefore, I have no problem with people who get dogmatic over this issue and try to take God’s word seriously. Personally, I’ve listened to arguments for and against baptizing children and while I do lean towards infant baptism, I know way too little to be dogmatic about the issue myself. Google it and come to your own conclusion :)

Onto the second half of the chapter! God notices that Sarai probably feels left out of the whole “getting a new name thing” so he changes her name to Sarah, which basically means the same thing. If anything, her name has changed from “my princess” to just “princess”, perhaps indicating that the scope of her princess-like position as the mother of many nations is greater than the average woman. She is not just MY (Abraham’s?) princess but also the princess over many nations.

Now when God finally says indicates that Sarah herself would give birth to his promised son, he reacts on a less than faithful manner. He basically laughs in God’s face. Now, granted he and Sarah were quite old and it literally would have taken a miracle for them to give birth to a child so it's no wonder he laughed in disbelief. But still. Never laugh at God. When I was reading this verse I was surprised that the next verse didn’t say “and God struck him down and went looking for a new patriarch”.

Anyway, after picking himself up off the floor from his laughing fit, Abraham proceeds to ask God to choose Ishmael as the promised son. No doubt Abraham loved the boy, being his first child and thus would have wanted the blessings of the covenant to be enjoyed by his firstborn. And yet God rejects Ishmael. Why? Let’s go to the New Testament for some clarification.

Galatians 4:22-23
“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.”

Ishmael represents human effort. When Abraham and Sarah lacked faith in God’s promise, they decided to help Him along and thus Ishmael was born. But God doesn’t work according to human standards. He does the impossible. Thus Abraham’s promised child was to be called Isaac, since God’s promises are so outlandish that they cause us to laugh with disbelief, but at the same time God himself is so faithful to His word that when He brings His promises to pass, He causes us to laugh for joy (Genesis 21:6).

Be encouraged. God has promised Christians the greatest gift He could offer; namely Himself. And while life’s struggles seek to sway us and cause us to fear, may we persevere in faith in God’s promises since He is faithful regardless of life’s trials or even our faithlessness (Romans 3:3) and no matter how unbelievable his promises may seem, our God can do the impossible (Luke 1:37).

Peace

Genesis 15

So this week's study is on Genesis 15, one of the chapter's in scripture that gives pretty much a low down on the whole bible, so YOU DON'T WANNA MISS THIS!!

So context, Abraham has just flippin DESTROYED the 5 kings who kidnapped Lot, then got blessed by the High Priest Malchizedek, and rejected Sodom's offer, for they were an evil nation and Abram did not wish to depend on kings and their gifts, but on God. So from here you can see how Abram would have been feeling, he rejected all these gifts and is choosing to rely on God, but still has no son for his promise.

This is where we come in, here is the chapter so you guys can read it for yourselves:

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

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.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 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.” 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. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 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. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 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, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Now, as we know the author of this chapter, this whole book and the whole Pentateuch (first five books of the bible) is generally held to be Moses, writing to the Israelites as they wander around the desert. It would probably not be a coincidence then that Moses writes about the faith of Abraham so much (as the Israelites really bombed out in that area).

Ok, so you can see how Abram could have done with some encouragement in this chapter, as the chapter before he refused to take an offering from the king of Sodom in order to show his faith in God. It would have been perfectly fine for God to not encourage him and test his faith further, but He simply chose to let Abram know his faith was not misplaced.

So God encourages Abram, and then Abram lets loose. He tells God of his fear of leaving all he has to this dude Eliezer, which would therefore make everything God has done for Abram pointless in Abram's eyes (cos you know, not like God has a plan or anything). But God still encourages him, telling him again that he will have a son, and that they will be as numerous as the stars. Why did God wait for Abram to ask to encourage him, and why encourage him at all? It probably has something to do with verse 6; God brings Abram back to that place of faith. A person's faith (or lack of) can be shown clearly in times of crisis, like the years of childlessness Abram had currently gone through. Something important to note is that God is omniscient, so He would not have spoken to Abram to see if he has faith or not, but to cause him to have faith. This also shows that we do not have a works based salvation, but because of our faith (which He caused), not by anything we have done, are we counted as righteous.

God then decides to encourage Abram again, except this time specifically about the land he is going to possess (what could God be up to?). Abram again tells God of his fear that he does not know for sure (faith?) that he really will possess the land promised to him. Now God does something really weird... why does Abram need to get all these animals and cut them in half? And why not the birds? Well simply, these animals are used in rituals later for Israel, and when sacrificing birds, they are not to be cut in half (lev 1:17). Many believe that the birds of prey in verse 11 resemble Israel's enemies, and the torch and the fire pot and flaming torch in verse 17 to mean God's presence. Abram then goes to sleep and is told a prophecy about what the Israelites were currently going through!! Coincidence? I think not!!

Now, God makes a covenant with Abram by getting the torch and fire pot to pass through the animal carcasses. The covenant is that Abram's offspring will posses the land, and by using both offspring and land, this unconditional promise links to the earlier conditional promise of Abram becoming a great nation. So why did God say all this to Abram? Most likely to change the conditional promise to an unconditional one, which is kind of oddly similar to what Jesus did on the cross. When Jesus died, not only has He made it clear that faith in Him is all that is needed to be counted as righteous, by abolished the law, He has made it so that our salvation is not based on conditional sacrifices needed to be made, but one unconditional sacrifice made in unconditional love that is available to all men.

God bless all of you!