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. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.”Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 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. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”
God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 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.”
Abraham means "father of many nations." Already, even before God's covenant with Abraham - before his name was changed - God had told him that he would be a blessing to the nations.
But up until this point, the son that Abraham believed would be the fulfillment of this promise, had not materialized. He had fathered Ishmael with Sarai's (now Sarah's) servant, but Sarah was still barren.
And yet God persisted with the promise.
God persists with Abraham over and over again. And over again over again, Abraham looks for ways to try his own way at forcing God's hand: have a son with a slave girl. Make a relative his heir. To bring God's will about with his own effort.
Because perhaps he was tired of waiting. He had left his tribe and everything he knew and he wasn't getting any younger. Neither was his wife.
But God initiates a covenant. Now God's promise to make Abraham a blessing to the nations will be sealed with a bond that will follow Abraham's descendants.
God's part will be to make Abraham the father of many nations; to make him fruitful; to given him the land of Canaan (thus lifting up Noah's age old curse on his grandson).
And for their part, Abraham's sons and all the males of their tribe will be circumcised. A rather literal reminder perhaps of being "cut off" from God should the covenant be broken?
God persists.
On God's time.
Not on ours.
And it's hard - often - to reconcile that. It's hard to live in a culture where "now" is one of the most important words and be patient with God's time.
But God persists. God persisted with Abraham and persists with us. The covenant with Abraham will play out now over and over through scripture because the promise made to Abraham wasn't just about Abraham.
It was about God's and God's people. It was about God's people being a blessing to all the nations. Abraham would only perhaps get a hint of what that meant.
He was just the beginning.
God persists with Abraham over and over again. And over again over again, Abraham looks for ways to try his own way at forcing God's hand: have a son with a slave girl. Make a relative his heir. To bring God's will about with his own effort.
Because perhaps he was tired of waiting. He had left his tribe and everything he knew and he wasn't getting any younger. Neither was his wife.
But God initiates a covenant. Now God's promise to make Abraham a blessing to the nations will be sealed with a bond that will follow Abraham's descendants.
God's part will be to make Abraham the father of many nations; to make him fruitful; to given him the land of Canaan (thus lifting up Noah's age old curse on his grandson).
And for their part, Abraham's sons and all the males of their tribe will be circumcised. A rather literal reminder perhaps of being "cut off" from God should the covenant be broken?
God persists.
On God's time.
Not on ours.
And it's hard - often - to reconcile that. It's hard to live in a culture where "now" is one of the most important words and be patient with God's time.
But God persists. God persisted with Abraham and persists with us. The covenant with Abraham will play out now over and over through scripture because the promise made to Abraham wasn't just about Abraham.
It was about God's and God's people. It was about God's people being a blessing to all the nations. Abraham would only perhaps get a hint of what that meant.
He was just the beginning.
God of blessing, grant us patience when we expect your time to be ours. When we seek our way before yours. When we forget how persistent you are and that you are the God of all people, not just out small selves. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment