Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In God’s “GRAND NARRATIVE” story with our human race, PATIENCE and TRUST are two virtues God desires most for all humanity! We’re traveling with old Abram and Sarai these days and look how Genesis 17 begins: “When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty [El Shaddai] walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between Me and you, and I will greatly increase your numbers.” (Gen. 17:1,2)
Do the math my friends. When we first met Abram, he and his barren wife Sarai were leaving their homeland following God to a land God promised He would give them and where He would bless them with innumerable descendants. Abram was 75 years old back then!! (Gen. 12:4) So this means 24 years have passed and still Abram and Sarai are childless! So, how do YOU measure PATIENCE, especially patience with God?
Genesis 17 is another major ‘defining moment’ in God’s “Grand Narrative” because in this chapter God does several very important things which touch our lives today. So, let’s take a careful look, are you ready?
First… God changed Abram’s name to Abraham saying: “No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” (Gen. 17:5)
A huge number of people in the world today, living in several nations, especially in the Middle East or Central Asia, trace their ethnic heritage back to Abraham through Ishamel & Isaac. But when God spoke this promise to Abraham he was nearly 100 years old and still childless! Oh, the great faith it would take for Abraham to believe God could accomplish this promise!
Second… God established a very special, multi-faceted Covenant with Abraham beginning with this powerful spiritual statement: “I will establish My Covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (Gen. 17:7)
Years later God actually spoke, audibly, to about 1 million delivered Hebrew slaves, Abram’s descendants, at Mount Sinai saying: “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have NO other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourselves any image and bow down to worship it…” (Ex. 20:2-5)
Third… God again reaffirmed His land deed covenant to Abram saying: “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8)
For a third time Abraham hears God deed a large land area to him and his descendants. More than 20 years after God had first said this to Abraham (Gen. 12:7) God again confirms the LAND where Abraham has been residing for two decades will be Abraham’s and his descendants FOREVER!!
Fourth… God establishes ‘circumcision’ to be the irreversible covenant mark every male descendant of Abraham was to receive, from their parents, 8 days after birth.
This mark was intended to identify that child as born into this God – Abraham Covenant family! “Every male among you shall be circumcised…and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. For the generations to come every male who is 8 days old must be circumcised…My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.” (Genesis 17:10-14) This irreversible circumcision mark was for males only as the family blood line passed through the sons. It was to be done by parents as a symbol of their gratitude to God for blessing them with a son to carry on the Covenant heritage; but also their commitment to raise that son to know and honor the God of Abraham.
Fifth… God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah saying: ‘You are no longer to call your wife Sarai, her name will be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of many nations.” (Genesis 17:15,16) Sarah’s long patience would be rewarded by God with a son in her old age.
Sixth… God clarified for Abraham the important, clear distinction between his two sons with these words: “Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you are to call him ISAAC. I will establish My Covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants. And as for Ishamel…I will bless him, and I will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great people group. But My Covenant I will establish with ISAAC whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” (Genesis 17:18-21)
This, my friends, is a vitally important statement from God and should bring God’s clarity to the ongoing debate regarding ownership of the land of Israel. Both Jews and Arabs are descendants of Abraham, but God’s Covenant is with Isaac’s line and later, as we will see, through Jacob and his sons, descendants of Isaac.
Finally, please note the next line in Genesis 17: “When He had finished speaking with Abraham God went up from him!” (Gen.17:22) Those words, combined with Genesis 17:1 “The LORD appeared to Abraham…” suggest this was not a dream, not a vision but an actual appearance of God to Abrham for the purpose of a detailed, prolonged Covenant conversation. If so, this is probably an Old Testament appearance of God the Son, who later came to live on the earth as Jesus Christ!! Regardless of exactly how God appeared to Abraham, this experience was life changing for Abraham and foundational to the Abrahamic Covenant which continues through God’s “Grand Narrative” to our present day and beyond till the end of time!
Now we need to pause and ponder this! Genesis 17 is a cornerstone chapter in the Bible and the very same God who made this Covenant with Abraham still reigns over all things in our Universe, including planet earth, from His throne in heaven! Let’s worship God and thank Him for His supremacy and sovereignty with this glorious new worship song released only about one month ago, and I’ll meet you back here again tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: Genesis 17.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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