I wonder why God chose circumcision to be the sign of His covenant with Abraham (no longer called Abram at this point) Couldn't there have been another sign? And I'm pretty sure nowadays babies are circumcised before eight days, but 17:12 says, "he who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised." This just leaves me confused.
God obviously had a much larger plan than any of us could imagine. He could have smote Abraham and Sarah (no longer Sarai) for their sin, yet He blessed them, making them and their offspring into great nations, even when they mock/laugh at God when he said they would have a son (Isaac) at such old ages. God ALWAYS has a much bigger plan for all of us. We don't always see what that plan is, but we need to walk in faith and trust in it.
I find it interesting in chapter 18 that God and Abraham were more or less bartering to save the righteous from Sodom and not destroy them along with the wicked in the city. Why the back and forth? Couldn't God just say "I will spare the whole place for their sake" rather than going through all the numbers-50, 45, 40, 30, 20, then 10?
It is sad to see that Sarah thought she needed to take the promise of God into her own hands for it to be fulfilled. But, how often are we guilty of doing the same thing I wonder. God's Word has so many promises for us, but if we don't see Him acting in our timing and in the way we want Him to act, we doubt His existence and whether or not He's heard our prayer.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting that, just as Sarah laughed when she heard the plan of God to give her a child in her old age, so did Zechariah when the angel told him he would have a son - but he was struck mute (Luke 1)! Sarah made out much better. Looks like there are 2 lessons here: 1.) Do not doubt when God speaks words into your life and 2.) God doesn't always deal the same way with people, even for the same sin.
I've gotta say that Alex is wondering why God chose circumcision, too! Plus, if it was a sign for His chosen people, then why do all people (well almost all - Jews and Gentiles alike) do it today? When did an ordinance between God and His chosen people extend past them? I'll have to look into that one.
I forgot a couple of questions I had!
ReplyDelete1. "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." I thought it was interesting that God sent Abraham here even though it was Canaan who was cursed in a previous chapter. And we all know that the Canaanites were wicked people. Maybe they became so years after Abraham's arrival. (?)
2. Did you notice that in 17:12 it says that all members of your household - including those who are bough with money from a foreigner - needed to be circumcised? Why didn't God speak out against slavery? It sounds like He's acknowledging that Abraham had slaves.
3. Was the promise to Abraham conditional? 18:19 says, "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, SO THAT the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." Does this mean that if Abraham didn't keep up his end of the bargain, the promise would not come to fruition? Again, I'll have to look into that one. I can't believe how many questions keep popping up when you begin to read the Bible with a fine tooth comb!
O.K. So I did some looking into the slavery thing and here's what I found: Back in biblical times, people sold themselves into slavery when they needed money. They worked for a period of 7 years and then the contract was canceled. Additionally, the slaves of a household were afforded all the same rights as actual members of that household - except for the inheritance. I read one article that likened the relationship to an au pair - someone who lives in your household to take care of chores, etc.
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