Uncomfortable S2 - Day 5
God confirms his covenant with Abram
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
Well, this is awkward and uncomfortable. And it is not the circumcision that I am talking about. Rather, it is that phrase in the very first verse: “serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.” This is coming to Abram (Abraham) when he is 99 years old, and has not lived a blameless life.
Abram has had a sordid past. And let us not forget about the whole episode with Hagar and Ishmael (Ch.16). God seems to want to start something new with Abram, so much so that he was willing to give Abram a new name and even give his wife a new name.
Have you ever had a nickname that you didn’t like? I’ve had a few, and I always loved going to a new place because those nicknames would usually be left behind with the old crew and place. It would usually take a while for the new crew to develop something that captured who I was for those new people and that new situation.
Abraham, who has not made the best decisions over the last few years or decades, is now admonished to be faithful and blameless from here on out. This is uncomfortable because he was still the same guy who had been asked to leave the city of Ur and follow where God was leading him. To his credit, he did just that; however, he also made a few mistakes along the way.
What I find uncomfortable is the incredible trust God is willing to put toward Abraham after his foolish mistakes. Is God really ready to love and trust us this much?
He is willing to love and trust us in ridiculous and uncomfortable ways. While this is good news, it can also create an uncomfortable situation in that God seems to charge us more than we often trust. Is God that optimistic about us that he would jeopardize himself and his plans to let us participate in them?
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
Well, this is awkward and uncomfortable. And it is not the circumcision that I am talking about. Rather, it is that phrase in the very first verse: “serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.” This is coming to Abram (Abraham) when he is 99 years old, and has not lived a blameless life.
Abram has had a sordid past. And let us not forget about the whole episode with Hagar and Ishmael (Ch.16). God seems to want to start something new with Abram, so much so that he was willing to give Abram a new name and even give his wife a new name.
Have you ever had a nickname that you didn’t like? I’ve had a few, and I always loved going to a new place because those nicknames would usually be left behind with the old crew and place. It would usually take a while for the new crew to develop something that captured who I was for those new people and that new situation.
Abraham, who has not made the best decisions over the last few years or decades, is now admonished to be faithful and blameless from here on out. This is uncomfortable because he was still the same guy who had been asked to leave the city of Ur and follow where God was leading him. To his credit, he did just that; however, he also made a few mistakes along the way.
What I find uncomfortable is the incredible trust God is willing to put toward Abraham after his foolish mistakes. Is God really ready to love and trust us this much?
He is willing to love and trust us in ridiculous and uncomfortable ways. While this is good news, it can also create an uncomfortable situation in that God seems to charge us more than we often trust. Is God that optimistic about us that he would jeopardize himself and his plans to let us participate in them?
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