Genesis 11:27-32

As I read this passage I can’t help but notice how rough life was even for the guys and gals in the Bible.

Followed by the introduction of a dad (Terah), and his three sons (Abram, Nahor, and Haran), we go on a rollercoaster ride of news, rising high on emotion as Baby Lot is born to Haran, and then the devastating fall out of Haran’s death. I’m sure Terah was grieved over the fact his youngest died before him. Soon after these events the family is uprooted to a new place. While en route Terah dies, and Abram is thrust into the position of “Head of the Household”. Not only is Abram trying to pick up the pieces of a broken and grieving family, he’s also in a foreign land separated from everything he was once familiar with. To add insult to injury he discovers his wife cannot bear children, bringing the dilemma of not being able to continue the family name (which was a big deal in the ancient Middle East).

Abram was stuck in the territory of Haran, he had followed his father there in obedience and now he is in the place where God, his heavenly father, will begin to command and lead, and Abram will learn to follow his new father.

“Be still, and know that I am God”

Psalm 46:10

Sometimes I find myself forgetting the fact that these biblical heroes got run over by life just like you and I today. It’s encouraging to me to see that even with the difficult life that Abram had, in the end, God worked amazing things from hopeless situations. This gives me a bit of hope in my seeming hopeless situations.

Let’s be real, all of us have had times where it seemed like the whole world was falling apart on top of us, and we get buried alive under the rubble. I’m sure Abram wasn’t exactly stoked in the midst of his current difficulties. However, God had a plan, and He was going to use this broken life and family to establish peace, restoration, and salvation to the whole human race.

“It is only when our lives are hid with Christ in God that we learn how to be silent unto God, not silent about Him, but silent with the strong restful certainty that all is well, behind everything stands God, and the strength of the soul is that it knows it. There are no panics intellectual or moral. What a lot of panicky sparrows we are, the majority of us. We chatter and tweet under God’s eaves until we cannot hear His voice at all-until we learn the wonderful life and music of the Lord Jesus telling us that our heavenly Father is the God of the sparrows, and by the marvelous transformation of grace He can turn the sparrows into His nightingales that can sing through every night of sorrow. A sparrow cannot sing through a night of sorrow, and no soul can sing through a night of sorrow unless it has learned to be silent unto God -one look, one thought about my Father in heaven, and it is all right.”

-Oswald Chambers (If you will be perfect pg.91)

No matter what gnarly situation you might be facing today, remember that God is working the present difficulty together for His future glory… through you. (Romans 8:28) You are part of His plan, and believe it or not He is using you, and your situation, to prepare the way for the arrival of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus essentially takes the broken pieces and returns to us peace. (Jeremiah 29:11)

“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light…He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry and shout, He has made me desolate. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes. You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity…Through the Lords mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness…The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord…For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.”

-The Lament of the Prophet Jeremiah (Lamentations 3:1-32)

Genesis 17:10-14

On the eighth day following the birth of a baby boy, the child’s immune system was strong enough to go through the rough operation of circumcision; it was ideal to do this at such a young age mainly because it would get the painful experience over with and save the child some scary memories. Circumcision means “cutting around”… quite literally this was the procedure of removing the foreskin from the male reproductive organ. We see God instructing Abraham to carry out some out of the ordinary practices. However, this command didn’t exclude the adults (OUCH!).

What was the purpose for these commandments?

Did God just want to see Abraham go through pain?

Later in history doctors would find that circumcision is actually a healthy procedure that prevents infection to build in the private area of males. What seemed to be unusual and pointless pain, would actually be discovered later as most healthy and purposeful.

Sometimes we too hear God’s instructions and wonder why He would ask us to go through such painful and unusual procedures. As time passes, we begin to realize what seemed painful and pointless is actually God’s wisdom and grace saving us from infection and more pain.

This is also an illustration of God’s separation of clean from unclean, Holy from unholy. Circumcision was an outward illustration of what God would do in our hearts in the New Testament. Upon establishing the everlasting covenant with us He instructs us to separate ourselves from the unclean practices of the flesh (2 Cor. 7). God commands us to cut off the fleshy tendencies, freeing us up to live healthy and purposeful lives.

Is it painful? Yes

Is it appealing? Not really

Is it worth it? As Paul would tell us, “nothing will compare to this all surpassing glory of Christ.”

Genesis 17:7-8

According to this passage we are joint recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant. All the blessings and commands that given to Abraham and his seed not only would be for the Hebrew race later to be called Israel, but also included those who would be later adopted into the line of Abraham. Paul would describe it as being grafted into Abraham’s family tree. In the same way Abram and his descendants would receive the promise based upon their believing and obediently abiding close to the Lord, we too would receive this “everlasting covenant” of God’s favor through Jesus Christ who would come as a stranger in this land, and bring us God’s promise of eternal salvation and an everlasting possession in Heaven.

Where “He will be our God”.

Genesis 17:5

Here Abram gets a new name. What he once was is no longer, and what is to come is how Abram will be known from now on. In the same token we see this truth presently at work for us as recipients of salvation.

We as the redeemed of Christ find that what we once were in our natural sinful state is no longer, God the father sees us now through the blood of Jesus Christ and “calls those things which do not exist as though they did” God sees us in the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).

We also see that those who faithfully abide and obey the Lord will also receive a new name, we will see the face of our Savior and He’ll come close and whisper in our ears a new name that no one else will know, and we too will be “friends of God” as Abraham.

Genesis 17:1-4

As I’ve matured and become familiar with the truth of Jesus Christ, I’ve learned to recognize what part of the covenant I’m responsible for, and what part God takes care of. The facts are salvation, holiness, and righteousness is all taken care of for me by Almighty God…Jesus Christ.

When He said, “It is finished”

Everything that we in our natural ability could not do for ourselves, the Lord in His supernatural power completed for us. There is one thing that we are responsible for however, that is to partner with God in what He has established for us.

“Yeah right” you might think.

“All I’ll do is fall on my face again” you say.

But once we’ve accepted Jesus into our lives we aren’t the same.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”2 Corinthians 5:17

By faith in Jesus we who were dead in our sin and falling short of Holiness, were made alive in Christ and made righteous through His blood.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”2 Corinthians 5:21

One thing that freed me up was when I understood what God truly desires of me. When God told Abram to walk before Him blameless, He meant whole, or unimpaired, or abiding entirely with truth, the word in the Hebrew actually means “Perfect”. As we learn in the New Testament we can walk perfectly before the Lord by the blood of Jesus Christ and in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. By Christ’s blood I’m no longer impaired by sin, and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit I am able to abide in the truth of God’s word.

The part of the covenant that I am responsible for is that I choose to receive all that God has done for me by faith, therein the power of the Holy Spirit strengthens me supernaturally to “abide in the light as He is in the Light” (1 John 1:5-10). God will never make that decision for me; it is our choice by our God given free will to respond to God’s gracious love. This is what is so amazing and unique about Christianity. If we by faith choose to trust in Jesus and keep in step with the Spirit we aren’t left to go at it all alone.

All other religions will tell you that if you can’t earn it or if you don’t measure up you’re a lost cause…but Jesus Christ tells us, “His yoke is easy and His burden is light” He partners in salvation with us, “working in us to both will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13).

No matter how many times you find yourself falling flat on your face, God is there saying, “behold, My covenant is with YOU!”

Genesis 17:1-4

God once again begins a conversation with Abram. Not more than a moment after God tells Abram to walk before Him, Abram falls on his face. In a sense the same is true for all of us, God desires us to be “Holy as He is Holy” (Lev. 11:44, 45 1 Peter 1:16) and calls us to “walk worthy of the gospel we have received” (Eph.4), but the fact is we all fall short of His glory and fall on our faces.

When I was younger in my walk with the Lord this used to bum me out big time. Every time I heard God’s voice speaking love and life towards me, I would be tugged down by the enemy’s lying voice. I would hear him telling me, “You’re a mess up.” Failure after failure would be like another weight that I would carry and after a while I felt as though this whole Christian life was too heavy for me to handle. I would have thoughts like:

I could never measure up.

I could never be righteous enough.

I could never be holy as God wants me to be holy.

God went through all that trouble on the cross to save me but I just keep blowing it and letting Him down.

The wonderful truth is that God’s voice is never one of “accusation” but of “affirmation”.

As Abram fell God didn’t scold him, God came near and said, “As for me, behold, My covenant is with you” in other words God told Abram, “You’re the guy I want to bless, even though you don’t have it all together, I want to bless you.” God’s covenant stood firm, the only thing that could separate Abram from the blessings was if he chose not to walk with the Lord. Had Abram said, “This all sounds good… but I’m not interested.” God would have let him go. But like Noah, and Enoch before him, Abram now had the opportunity to walk with God…and he did.

The same choice is in front of us daily. God simply asks if we will choose to agree, believe, and obey we too will see our blessings “multiply exceedingly”.

Genesis 17:1

Abram was 75 years old when he arrived in Canaan, 86 years old when he fathered Ishmael, and now thirteen years later God shows up again to talk. Abram is now 99 years of age and “as good as dead” (Romans 4:19) meanwhile God shows up and says, “Abram I’m still going to complete my promise just like I said.”

Perhaps you’re in a similar situation.

You’ve heard God’s promises, you know His voice, but it’s been so long and still you see no tangible evidence to the fulfillment of His promises. You might feel like you’re “as good as dead”. In this situation God would remind us just like He reminded Abram that He is our “Shaddai” or Almighty God. This is the first time in Scripture God uses this name for Himself. The name is similar to the Hebrew word for mountain, which is interesting because throughout the Bible Mountains are viewed as unmovable and certain. What might seem like an unmovable and certainly impossible situation is certainly possible for God (Matthew 19:26). When encountering mountainous difficulties you have but to look to Almighty God and know that those mountains of trouble that have towered over you for so many years are on their way to being cast into the sea. Leaving you available to witness the ocean of opportunity that God has prepared for those who fix themselves to trust and obey.

“So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in our hand; do to her as you please.”  And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.”

Genesis 16:6

This is so like us, we foolishly make decisions apart from God, and then we start lashing out on everyone around us when we start to reap what we have sown.  Here we see that neither Abram nor Sarai showed conduct becoming of those who were faithful to God; the Bible is so honest like that, showing both the good and the ugly in every particular story. 

The great thing is that God comes to the rescue and redeems the gnarly actions of Abram and Sarai.  I like that, because I too have behaved foolishly, I have gone out of God’s will and lashed out on people when I had to pay the piper for my stupidity. 

God is so faithful to us even when we blow it and turn people off to God like Sarai and Abram did here with Hagar.  Praise God that He faithfully “sees” and intervenes in each of our lives, not only redeeming our mistakes but at the same time reconciling everyone to Him.

Genesis 16:1-4

Abram had heard God’s voice tell him he would father many nations, have many descendants, and have an heir. It doesn’t get much clearer than that when hearing a promise about having children.

What is it that made Abram stop waiting for God to fulfill His promise and take matters into his own hands?

Some would say it was waiting thirteen years, which did play a part I’m sure, but I believe it had more to do with what voice Abram was listening to, the presumptuous voice of Sarai instead of the Lord’s voice of provision.

In the Ancient Middle East it was a huge embarrassment to not have an heir to carry on the family name. Sarai felt as though she was a failure and shaming her husband and family. Abram I’m sure wasn’t necessarily voicing God’s promises in faith seeing that He so willingly took Hagar as a surrogate mother. So what we have here is an important lesson on what to do when waiting on the Lord.

Zuwd is the Hebrew verb meaning to act presumptuously; it implies arrogance, pride, rebellion, and insolence. Throughout the Bible we see many different characters actually sinning when acting presumptuously… Korah, Miriam, Aaron, Saul, some kings and prophets, to name a few. We see that to presume our own ideas instead of proclaiming God’s promises is a big mistake. When Sarai tried to save face in the embarrassing situation of not being able to have kids, she actually acted in rebellion to God’s promise by urging Abram to make things happen with Hagar. Abram in turn sinned by ignoring God’s voice and listening instead to Sarai’s presumptuous advice, which only lead to division, heartache, and strife.

When we choose not to believe God’s promises we sin and bring hurt, heartache, and division to our lives and the lives of the ones we love. Abram would later learn that God always intended to do just as He said, and would receive the blessings that only God could bring.

I suggest if you also want to be one who experiences God’s power and blessing at work in the promises meant for you, you too will believe, proclaim, and wait upon the Lord’s promises until God sees fit to establish them.

Save everyone a whole heap of hurt and simply trust God, you’ll find it to be more rewarding than you think.

Genesis 15:17-18

God made a covenant with Abram; both parties were to pass between the pieces. It seems however that the Bible never makes mention of the fact that Abram passed between the pieces. The only mention made of any movement through the pieces is that of the smoke and burning torch of God. Smoke and fire, clouds and darkness, all these images are illustrations of God’s judgment often seen in parables in the gospels as well as illustrations in prophetic visions in both the Old and New Testaments.

What’s up with this picture?

Why the Solo Sizzle and Shuffle by God?

Knowing that when passing between the pieces of the dead animals, Abram would be held to a standard higher than he could keep, God went on ahead of him and passed through and completed the covenant. In a way saying to Abram, “not only will I be faithful to my side of the bargain, but I will help you uphold your end of the covenant as well.”

Not only does God show this truth in the completion of the covenant with Abram, but He illustrated this same thing to us when Jesus poured out His blood and said, “It is finished”. God would pass between the gates of hell and rise again showing us that He had fully consumed sin and death, faithfully holding up His end of the bargain and empowering us with the indwelling Holy Spirit so that we might “Abide in the Light” of His covenant and enjoy the wonder of His promise.

How cool is that?