Abraham and the covenant of circumcision

Story: Abraham and the covenant of circumcision

Passage: Genesis 17:1-14

Summary: God appeared to Abram and commanded him to walk before Him and be blameless. God promised that his descendants would be a multitude of nations. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. God commanded him to circumcise his offspring to set them apart from other nations.

Notes: God sure made a lot of covenants with Abram! And each one was more detailed and unbelievable than the one before it! In this passage God commanded Abram to : walk before Him and be blameless, to keep the covenant, to circumcise his offspring. God promised: to multiply him greatly, to make him the father of a multitude of nations, that kings would come from him, that He would be their God, and that He would give them the land as an everlasting possession. Abraham's response: fell on his face. This was an appropriate response to the holiness of God which Abraham had experienced. Abram means exalted father. This was interesting and probably frustrating since he was not a father until Ishmael. And once Ishmael was born his name changed to Abraham, which means father of a multitude. The Israelites were to be set apart through circumcision. This is significant because they were set apart by sacrificing their flesh. Today, we are set apart through the sacrifice of Christ. Our flesh dies and we are made holy, which means set apart.

Questions: Why circumcision exactly? Why did God choose this method to set apart His people? Has Abraham not gotten the point yet? Why does God have to keep making promises to Abraham? Does he not trust God? Why did God choose this timing to change Abram's name? Why right after the birth of Ishmael?

Lessons: We are called to be different. We have been adopted by Christ and are now His chosen people, set apart for Him. While we are no longer under the law of circumcision, we are still called to be set apart as holy!

Sarai and Hagar

Story: Sarai and Hagar

Passage: Genesis 16

Characters: Sarai, Abram, Hagar, the Lord

Summary: Sarai had no children so she gave her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife. Hagar got pregnant and looked on Sarai with contempt. Sarai treated Hagar harshly and Hagar fled. The Lord stopped her and gave her a promise concerning her son. So she returned and gave birth to Ishmael.

Notes: Abram and Sarai had a weird marriage! Earlier, Abram gave his wife to an Egyptian pharaoh and now Sarai is giving Abram and Egyptian servant as a wife! They had something for Egypt apparently! Egypt is generally used to represent sin in the Bible. So it might be significant that when Abram and Sarai make decisions that don't involve God, they end up marrying Egypt. This was Sarai and Abram's attempt to keep God's promise with their own efforts. Abram wanted a son and the more wives he had, the more likely it would be that he would have one. When Hagar had a son though, things went south. I'm not sure if Hagar was trying to pridefully rub it in her mistresses face that she had had a son while Sarai was barren. Hagar also might have been mad and felt like she was used. Either way, Hagar was a burden to Sarai and Abram gave Sarai permission to treat her harshly. This indifference on Abram's part shows that he didn't care so much for Hagar as he did for the son she gave him. The Lord stopped Hagar in her tracks though. I am amazed at this exchange. The Lord asked where she came from and where she was going. But He addressed her as the servant of Sarai so He knew very well where she came from and where she was going! She answered very honestly that she was fleeing from Sarai. The Lord told her to return to Sarai and submit to her. Even though she was being mistreated, the Lord wanted her to respect the authority which He had given her. If she was worried about her son's fate, God covered that next. He told her that her son's offspring would not be countable. This mirrors God's promise to Abram. In fact, Ishmael was Abram's firstborn and would be covered in the covenant God gave Abram. God then prophesied that Ishmael would basically be a loner. He would fight everyone and everyone would fight him. Interestingly, Islam traces its roots to Ishmael. This prophesy appears to hold true even today in the modern world. Muslims are sterotyped as being militant and basically loners. It is interesting that Abram received a blessing and then his two sons became the fathers of the two biggest religions in the world. Hagar obeyed God and returned to Sarai. She bore a son and Abram named him Ishmael. This tells me that Hagar had told Abram about her encounter and Abram believed her and obeyed God's command to name the boy Ishmael.

Questions: How did Sarai receive Hagar once she had returned? How did she feel about Ishmael? How did Abram view Hagar? How does Islam fulfill God's prophecy? Why did Hagar treat Sarai with contempt?

Lessons: God keeps his promises in ways we would not expect. For example, we would not expect Him to let His promise apply to Ishmael, but it is obvious that God's covenant with Abram covered Ishmael as well as Isaac. Submission to authority is important. God recognized that Sarai had authority over Hagar. Even though Sarai was abusive, He wanted Hagar to return and submit to her. This matches up with the New Testament command to love our enemies and to submit to authority. Even when it doesn't make sense, we have to understand that God places authority over us and we must respect that.

God's Covenant with Abram

Story: God's Covenant with Abram

Passage: Genesis 15

Characters: The Lord, Abram

Summary: The Lord came to Abram in a vision and promised that He would reward Abram. This was right after his rescue of Lot. Abram got frustrated with God that he still didn't have a son. God promised to make Abram's offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness, but he still wanted proof. God had Abram give Him an offering. God told Abram that his descendants would be oppressed for 400 years but then they would be rescued. Abram saw a fire pot and a torch pass between the meat on the altar. God reaffirmed his covenant with Abram.

Notes: Abram was upset with God. He told God he would die childless, and then he used the word behold to emphasize his claim that God had not given him children. God began His conversation with Abram by calling himself Abram's shield. Abram could trust God to protect him and keep his promise. Abram then blamed God for his lack of offspring. God assured him that his heir would indeed be his own son. Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abram still wanted proof though. I find it interesting that Abram could ask for proof even after he believed. I wonder if he believed God's intentions but wanted God to guarantee His results. Whatever the case, God had Abram make a sacrifice. When evening came, God made a great and dreadful darkness cover Abram. God then appeared to Abram and told him about his descendants future hardships in Egypt. God promised that they would one day return and take the land! His reason was that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete. It is interesting that God was going to keep the Israelites suffering because a people group had not finished their sin yet. The fire pot Abram saw represented the fate of the Israelites in Egypt. The torch represented God's light and guidance. As we have seen, Abram seems to have had trouble remembering God's promise to him. God has confirmed his promise 4 or 5 times at this point! But God never seems to tire of making the promise to Abram. His promise never changes, it only gets more detailed.

Questions: Why was Abram's belief credited as righteousness? What made his belief special? Did the Israelites remember the prophecy about their deliverance when they were in Egypt? Was Abram angry? Or was he just confused at the way God was going about keeping his promise?

Lessons: God does not act instantly. He acts in His own time. When He promises something, it will happen, it just might not happen as soon as we expect. Often times there is a big picture we don't see! For example, God was going to let the Israelites suffer so that they could serve as his intruments of justice on the Amorites. If they didn't suffer, the Amorites sin would not escalate to the point where God was going to punish them. It took 400 years of Amorite sin to get Israel out of Egypt.

Abram Rescues Lot

Story: Abram Rescues Lot, Melchizadeck blesses abram

Passage: Genesis 14

Characters: Abram, Chederlaomer, The king of Sodom, Lot, Melchizadek

Summary: The king of Elam, Chederlaomer, was in cotrol of the land. Five kings rebelled and met the king of Elam in battle but they were defeated. Lot was captured. Abram heard that Lot was captured and took 318 men and set out to save Lot. Abram defeated the king of Elam and rescued Lot and his possessions. On the way back home, Melchizadek, a priest of God, blessed Abram and Abram gave 10% of the spoils to him.

Notes: This is the first recorded war in the Bible. Four kings went to battle against five. There is a ton of historical detail in this story. I really want to know how easy it would be to confirm some of this detail. Abram had 318 trained men born in his house. Apparently it was standard to always be ready to fight. I wonder if there were a lot of little skirmishes. Even with these men, Abram's 318 men would have probably been outnumbered by the armies of four kings! This devotion to family is impressive. The Lord blessed his efforts and gave him victory. This is confirmed by Melchizadek. Melchizadek is given very little background information, especially compared to the rest of the chapter. All we know is that he was the king of Salem. He was also a priest of God. God still had followers scattered around the Earth. Sometimes I feel like the only people who followed God in those times were those mentioned in the Bible. However, I suspect there were plenty of others who followed God, they just weren't part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Melchizadek blessed Abram and acknowleged that his victory came from God. Abram in turn gave him 10% of what he had. The king of Sodom approached Abram and asked for his people back. He was going to let Abram keep the possessions though, but Abram turned it down saying that he didn't want the king to think he contributed to Abram's blessings.

Questions: Who exactly was Melchizadek? Abram obviously respected him a lot. What was the king of Sodom doing during Abram's battle? Sodom was wicked and derserved punishment. Why did God continue to show them mercy through Abram? Was Abram outnumbered? And if so, by how much?

Lessons: The first lesson I get from this passage is that we need to learn devotion to family from this story. Abram risked his life to save his nephew. Also, any blessings or victory we get in life belong to God. Abram was not caught up in the possessions. He refused to let man think he had blessed Abram and he also willingly gave 10% to a priest of God. Everything we have is God's and comes from God!

Abram and Lot Separate

Story: Abram and Lot Separate

Passage: Genesis 13

Characters: Abram, Lot, God

Summary: Abram and Lot each had way too many possessions. The land could not support them both and their servants began to argue with each other. Abram decided they would seperate. He let Lot choose where to go first and then he would take what was left. Lot chose where to go and then God told abram He would give him all of the land he could see. And his descendants would be more numerous than the sand. Abram walked the land and then built an altar to God.

Notes: Abram and Lot followed God and He blessed them, but their material possessions were the cause of the strife which forced them to separate. Abram was selfless though in their separation as he allowed his nephew to choose where to live first. Lot chose to travel to the nicer looking land. The cities were wicked though. Lot chose based on appearance and not quality. I also find it interesting that the land was as well watered as Egypt. Apparently Egypt was a very lush country at this time! Once Lot had left, God showed up and affirmed His promise to Abram again! This was the third time He affirmed Abram in His promise! The first time God told Abram he would become a great nation. The second time He showed Abram where his land would be. This third promise told him just how large his land would be and how numerous his descendants would be. God told Abram to wander the land and look at it. It's almost as if God wanted to say, "I promised you I'd lead you to land! Look at this awesome piece of land that I have given to you!" Abram responded by building an altar to the Lord.

Questions: Why did Lot choose the land he chose? What kind of arguments developed between Lot and Abram's men? What was Abram's reaction to his land?

Lessons: God made His first promise to Abram quite a while before this event and His original promise was not very specific. We need to trust His call and follow Him before we know what the end result will be. It might take longer than we want, but God will keep His promises. The correct response to being spoken to by God is worship. As Abram built altars, we also need to worship God when He interacts with us.

Abram in Sarai in Egypt

Story: Abram and Sarai in Egypt

Passage: Genesis 12:10-20

Characters: Abram, Sarai, Pharaoh, God

Summary: Abram went to Egypt during a famine. He was worried they would find his wife beautiful and kill him to get her. His solution was to lie and tell Pharaoh she was his sister. He effectively gave his wife to Pharaoh. God sent plagues on Pharaoh and so he gave Sarai back and sent Abram and his people away.

Notes: Abram was a coward, plain and simple. He gave his wife to another man because he was afraid of being harmed. It is possible that he was concerned that if he died, God’s promise about his offspring would not come true, but even then his decision was based out of fear. When you think about it though, what standard did Abram have for marriage? Other than a direct revelation from God hich is not mentioned, Abram’s approach to marriage would have been based on the cultural norms. 2000 years into a broken world and the culture would have been extremely selfish. So Abram’s behavior is actually sort of understandable. I find it funny that the princes of Egypt praised Sarai’s beauty. Apparently men have always been obsessed with women and talked about which ones were the best looking. I could easily see this scene happening today so I enjoy reading about it happening back in Abram’s time. God blessed Abram through Pharaoh and then He punished Pharaoh even though he had no idea that Sarai was married. Was it unjust for God to punish Pharaoh who did not know he was taking someone’s wife? Was it unjust for God to reward Abram? No. Pharaoh deserved every plague that happened to him, as did Abram, as do we! God is allowed to do what He wants. As God told Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” He extends mercy to who He wants! Ironically, I suspect that if Pharaoh ever had thoughts of killing Abram, it was because Abram had deceived him. Pharaoh gave orders to kick Abram and his family out of Egypt along with all of their possessions. Apparently, he didn’t want his stuff back. One more interesting note is that when there was famine in the land, Egypt was the place to go to! Egypt must have been nothing like it is today!

Questions: How lush was Egypt? What did Sarai think of Abram’s plan? Was she on board? Why did God punish Pharaoh? What was Pharaoh’s reaction when He discovered the truth? Did Pharaoh believe in God as a result of this story?

Lessons: Lessons: God is not fair by human standards. But He is also not fair by His own standard! If He were, we would all be destroyed the instant we sinned! Also, this is an example of how not to treat your wife! No matter what Abram’s reasons were, I suspect that God was not consulted in Abram’s decision process. Abram acted out of fear. We have not been given a spirit of fear! Our decisions are to based in the power of the Spirit!

The call of Abram

Story: The call of Abram

Passage: Genesis 12:1-9

Characters: Abram, God, Lot, Sarai

Summary: God told Abram to leave his house and family and got to the land He would show him. He promised to turn Abram into a great nation. He took Lot and Sarai with him. When they had traveled for a while, God appeared to him and gave him the land he was on. He kept traveling.

Notes: Abram was told to leave everything he knew. This is crazy, but it is not just an ancient calling! This radical call on Abram's life is on every Christian alive today. Christ wants us to leave everything, our possessions, even our families to follow Him. When we obey, He will bless people through us just as He blessed people through Abram. We have the call of Abram on us today! I also noticed that Abram was not told where He was going. God did not say to leave his home and move to the land of the Canaanites. God told him to leave and go to the land which He would show him. We can't expect to wait for God to give us details before we follow Him. We have to trust His calling and focus on Him. Make Him our goal and He will lead us where He wants us to end up. I wonder why Lot went with Abram. It is possible that Lot had as much faith as Abram did as he also left his home to wander the earth. God appeared to Abram as they traveled and affirmed His promise. This is different from when God told Abram to leave his home because in this case, He appeared to Abram. Abram's experience was probably much more vivid and real. He would have no excuse to not follow now that the Lord had appeared to Him. We must remember that the Lord has revealed Himself to us as well through His word and His Spirit! We also have no excuse to not follow Him! Abram began calling on the name of the Lord. He understood his total inadequacy compared to God's holiness and he cried to the Lord for direction. Calling on the Lord makes me imagine there was a sense of desperation and helplessness involved here. Just a side note, Islam finds its roots in Ishmael, who is the son of Abram. Sometimes I wonder if these blessings and curses apply to Ishmael's descendants as well.

Questions: How did God appear to Abram? Is Islam a part of the blessings and curses involving Abram? Did Tarah come with them as they wandered?

Lessons: We are called to leave everything behind us to follow Christ. When we don't give everything, when we give the minimum amount of money, when we wait for the support of our family and friends, when we wait for more training or a more clear calling, we are saying that oney, family, friends, or convenience are more important than God. We are technically putting ourselves before God when we assume we deserve those comforts and God doesn't. Maybe we don't say that or even think it, but if you examine the motivation behind not obeying God's call to leave everything and follow Him, it is always because you are putting something before God. We do not need to know the details of His plans. We only need to trust Him and follow Him with our entire lives.