Genesis 17 Strong Covenant

God gives Abram a STRONG covenant regarding his descendants. It is one that they will carry in their flesh as well as their hearts.

We took a broad overview of the coming year in Abram’s life the last time we were together. I want to get back on track with our story now. Today, God speaks to Abram and asks him to do something that will bring temporary but MEMORABLE pain. The result of this action will be a physical reminder of a spiritual decision for the rest of Abram’s life and for ALL his descendants.

As with any good ‘negotiator’, God didn’t start His conversation with Abram with ‘the stick’. He pulled out the ‘carrot’ first’. The ‘carrot’ is the thing that entices a person to come closer for the good things that they are about to receive. The ‘stick’ is the hard part that requires some sort unpleasant action.

Let’s get into our story and see for ourselves how the ‘stick’ and ‘carrot’ are used in it.

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Abram was in his usual early morning spot; looking out over the hills where his herds were grazing. He likes to start his day here; to see if anything looks as if it needs immediate attention. So far, everything looks good this morning.

As Abram turns to head down his well-worn path, a man is standing before him. Abram immediately knows who this is. It is an angel of the Lord. Abram falls to his knees and onto his face in an instant.

The angel immediately begins speaking God’s message to Abram. “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and may multiply you greatly” (verses 1b-2a).

The angel of the Lord reaches down and touches Abram’s shoulder and bids him rise. This is a message delivered best face-to-face.

“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, fir I have made you the father of a multitude of nations…”

Abram’s heart is growing more excited with each word!

“…I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you…”

Abram is about ready to burst with excitement but he says nothing. He continues to listen.

“… and 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 your offspring after you…”

Abram’s heart sings at this thought. “Imagine; my children worshiping and belonging to my God; the God of ALL creation.”

“…And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God” (verses 6-8).

The night that God passed between the portions of the sacrifice pop immediately into Abraham’s mind. He KNOWS that his children will possess this land. God has ASSURED him of this. But God says a second time that He will be the God of his children. THAT is worth more than ANY other promise ever made!

God’s messenger isn’t finished. It’s time to get down to the hard part. The part that will prove Abraham’s devotion to God. His willingness to personally sacrifice and to follow the Lord’s commands to the letter.

The angel of the Lord continues. “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations…”

Abraham’s ears perk up even more. “Whatever God asks of me I will do” he promises to himself.

“…This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins,..”

Abraham involuntarily cringes and covers his most sensitive area with his hands at the mention of this practice. He had heard of it while in Egypt. NOT something to be taken lightly.

“…and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you…”

THAT sealed the deal for Abraham. He WOULD do this as a sign of his commitment. No matter how much it hurt!

“…He who is eight days among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,…”

Abraham thinks, “Does this mean only those who are eight days old? Does it apply to those who are older?”

Abraham doesn’t have time to even ask this question before the angel of the Lord answers it. “…both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh and 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” (verses 9-14).

That TRULY sealed it. EVERY male in Abraham’s camp WILL wear this mark. Him and his son Ishmael included. He does NOT want to be cut off from his God!

Abraham is waiting for the angel of the Lord to complete his message. This is already a weighty message from the Lord, but he feels there is more to come.

Abraham is correct. The angel of the Lord continues with God’s message. “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name…”

Abraham face takes on a puzzled look. “Why is God changing her name” he thinks to himself.

“…I will bless her…”

“Ah ha” thinks Abraham. It is a gift from God.

“…and moreover, I will give you a son by her…”

Abraham falls on his face again and begins to quietly laugh as the angel of the Lord continues.

“…I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (verses 15b-16).

“Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety hears old, bear a child” (verse 17b) Abraham thinks to himself. Rather than asking the Lord this question, Abraham offers God an alternative. “Oh that Ishmael might love before You!” (verse 18).

God doesn’t scold Abraham but neither does He leave any doubt regarding this alternative of Abraham’s. “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him…”

“Sarah WILL have a child” Abraham tells himself with conviction. God has NEVER failed to keep His promises. And THAT is SOME promise!

God hasn’t forgotten about Abraham’s son Ishmael and He proves this to Abraham as the angel of the Lord continues. “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly, He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation…”

The angel turns up Abraham’s face as he hammers home God’s promise. “…But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you AT THIS TIME NEXT YEAR” (verses 19-21).

Abraham drinks in the angel’s final words. “Sarah shall bear MY son! Within a YEAR!!!” Abram wants to sit and contemplate the message of the Lord but there is MUCH work to do. He will ensure that EVERY male in his camp is circumcised before he lays his head down this night.

Abraham nearly ran down the slope where he had been meeting with the angel of the Lord. He rushes into his tent and asks Sarah where his flint knife is.

“It is with your sheering supplies” Sarah reminds him.

“You are so right my wife. I’m in such a hurry that my mind stopped working for a bit” Abraham says with a smile. Then he hurries right back out of the tent.

Abraham retrieves his knife from his sheering tools and begins to sharpen it. After it has a fine honed edge, Abraham begins to gather the men of his company. There are hundreds of men and boys. There are HUNDREDS of them in his company. He must be certain he doesn’t miss ANY of them. He does not want to cause ANY of them to be cut off from the Lord.

“Meet me at the shearer’s tent in one hour” he says to his men as he encounters each. He needs to hurry so that he can be back at the tent himself before the hour is completed. Abraham had the word passed to the most outlying herdsmen. He didn’t have time to fetch them himself.

Abraham drags a large clean but well-worn pelt into the sheep shearing tent. He places it on a table so that it covers only the upper half of the table. The lower half of the table is left bare. This will be the place where he and ALL the men in the company will receive the mark of the covenant; circumcision. Abraham also brings a large bucket of water and an empty bucket. The empty one will hold all that has been removed from the men in the camp. Abraham will decide what to do with these ‘remnants’ later on. The final piece of equipment brought into the tent for this task is the sharpening stone. The knife will need to be kept sharp as to cause the least amount of pain.

The first group of men arrive. Abraham tells them as a group what he is about to do to EACH of them AND why. Faces drain of color all around and hands instinctively move to protect this sensitive area, but none run away. Abraham also tells them that the women will attend the animals while they heal for the next week. It is not an easy thing for a man to watch his wife take up for him, but this will be necessary and he is their master. They KNOW that he is a good man and would never do something like this to them without a reason. Each man vows in his heart to be strong and to endure the pain in silence.

The wives have also gathered some distance away from the tent. They stand ready to care for their husbands and sons during their time of healing and to care for the animals as much as possible.

The first man is brought into the tent and lies down on the table with the fleece under his head and his lower body exposed. Abraham closes his eyes and asks the Lord to guide his hand. Expertly, Abram removes the man’s foreskin in one quick motion. Abraham tosses the foreskin into the empty bucket, splashes a little water on the wound to clear away the blood and allows the man to rise from the table.

The man and Abraham lock eyes as he readies to leave. There is pain in both their eyes. Abraham KNOWS what it is he is asking of his men. He too will feel the knife before the day is out. They nod at one another in respect and then the man ducks out of the tent, walking carefully so as not to cause anything to rub against his new wound. Abraham runs the knife over the stone a few times while the man exits the tent and before the next man arrives.

This process is repeated over and Over and OVER again throughout the day. Abraham always prays for the Lord to guide his hand before each time it is laid to the man’s member. Water is also used to wash the blood from the man and the table at the end of each procedure. The buckets are both changed out several times during the day too.

The fathers of the young boys have accompanied them into the tent with Abraham and his knife. The younger the boy, the more careful Abraham is and the more relatives are required to ensure the lad remains still. There is NO preventing the young from crying out in pain. And this pain is felt just as keenly by Abraham. These are his people. But he would feel even worse if his inaction caused them to be cut off from the Lord.

As evening approaches, there remains but two members of Abraham’s company to receive their mark of the covenant; Abraham and Ishmael. Ishmael is 13 years old at this time. He has been watching and listening throughout the day. He hears the screams of the young children. He sees the stoicism of the men and older children. He has heard his father explain why they must ALL endure this to be accepted by the Lord. Ishamel has decided that he will be strong and remain silent when his turn finally comes.

Abraham smiles at Ishmael as he enters the tent. He would reach out and touch his cheek but his arms are stained with the work of this day. Abraham looks to see who has accompanied Ishmael to help hold him still. Ishmael knows immediately what, or who, his father is looking for.

“I will do this on my own father” volunteers Ishmael.

Abraham’s eyes soften at the courage of his son. “Are you certain my son? It is quite painful. It would be no shame to need assistance.”

“I am certain father” replies Ishmael as he takes his place on the table.

Abraham nods to his son, closes his eyes to offer a prayer to the Lord, then quickly removes the foreskin of his own son. Abraham’s pride in his son shines from his eyes like lamps in a dark world as he cleans him from his procedure.

Abraham’s most trusted servant was one of the first men to lie under his knife. Abraham asked him at that time to be the one to circumcise him. He knows that this is not a task he can preform on himself. As Ishmael exits the tent, Eliezer enters.

Abraham hands the resharpened knife to Eliezer. Abraham takes his place on the table, ready to receive the mark that has been placed upon every male in his household and seal the covenant with his God. Eliezer has watched Abram’s skill with his own sons and is confident that, with the Lord guiding his hand, he can perform this task for his master. He breaths deeply and asks Abraham’s God for guidance before beginning the task.

Searing pain races through Abraham’s body and quickly becomes a bearable ache. The deed is done. Abraham rises from the table with the same effort the rest of the men endured. He carefully walks from the tent and nods to Sarah. She and her servants will finish cleaning the tent.

Abraham himself will dispose of the final bucket containing the foreskins. This will be a difficult task due to the pain, but it is not one that a woman should do. Abraham carefully carries the bucket to the fire burning outside of the camp. Both bucket and content go into the fire. “This is one bucket I don’t mind seeing go up in flames” thinks Abraham. He watches it burn for only a few minutes. He needs to go lie down.

Over the next week, Abraham and the men struggle with the pain. The third day was the worst! Not a man moved in the camp. The younger children were comforted by their fathers who shared in their suffering. The women cared for the animals within their pens with food and water. And the Lord blessed ALL the animals in Abraham’s care with peace during this time, as there was no one to take them to the pastures to roam.

One by one, the men heal and return to their tasks. ALL will remember this day, as well as be reminded of it each time they are called to unveil their member for use. A promise that they will NEVER forget.

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I’m going to say that it is a GOOD thing that God called for this to happen on the 8^th day of a baby boy’s life. My son and one of my grandsons went through this process, for medical reasons, when they were older. Their recovery was MUCH harder than my sons who ensured this as infants. My ex-husband didn’t even know that he was circumcised when our first child was born. He hadn’t known anything different and so assumed he wasn’t. “No one cut on me and no one is going to cut on my son!” Surprise! I wonder how many other men are oblivious to their status.

The actual act of circumcision wasn’t the main point in God’s promise to Abraham. God wanted them to have something personal to identify themselves as being part of HIS family. He could have chosen any symbol he wanted to. But by choosing circumcision, it is both private and public. It is not a symbol that is displayed for anyone to see at any time they choose, but neither is it something that is so taboo that no one will talk about.

Jesus didn’t demand that the gentiles who come to him be circumcised in the flesh. Rather, He says that we are to circumcised in our hearts. These commands were given through the original disciples and Paul to the church as it was birthed in the gentile world. Circumcision of the heart is the symbol that His children carry today.

Father God, THANK YOU for Your promise. For calling me a child of Abraham through faith. And, as a woman, I wouldn’t ‘qualify’ under Your law for circumcision. But as YOUR CHILD, my heart is surrendered to You and the old is cut away; circumcised. I bear Your mark inwardly and express it outwardly. Not as obvious as what You called Abraham to do, but just as important.

I have also discovered that I can ‘grow scars’ after that circumcision that need to be cut away again. Keep our relationship fresh Father God.

Today was one of those days when things had to be pulled away. I didn’t feel well and had no motivation to do anything. THANK YOU for pulling me out of that funk! THANK YOU for our time together today. I’m SO GLAD I came!!!