SPIRITUAL SNACKS

Abraham

Time goes by and there is a man called Abram.  This is the man that God chooses to establish a covenant.

He told Abram that he would have a son and a covenant would be established through him.  Abram thought this funny since he was in his eighties and his wife, Sarai, was up there also. 

No matter how old you become, you can still have a sex life.  When God gives a gift, it lasts.  Thank you, God.  

Sarai wasn’t too sure that she could bear a son since she was already around her eighties; so, she had Abram sleep with an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar so she could build the family through her.  This was an acceptable arrangement back then, I guess.  The only problem was that this wasn’t in God’s will.  Abram and Sarai, perhaps, thought it was, but God definitely had other plans.

Even patriarchs and Godly people can make mistakes.  Man always tries to force God’s plans.  We have to realize that when God speaks, it will happen one way or another and we don’t have to outthink God.  We don’t have to try to make it happen.  God’s in control.  Everyone should relax and just go with the flow.

Hagar conceived a son named Ishmael and became arrogant towards Sarai because Hagar was able to bear children.  Of course, Sarai blamed Abram.

Genesis 16:5      Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I’m suffering.  I put my servant in your arms and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me.  May the Lord judge between you and me.”

This sounds like Adam and Eve, doesn’t it?  Blaming the other for eating the forbidden fruit.

Sarai mistreated Hagar; so, Hagar ran away.  An angel of the Lord came to her and told her to go back to Sarai and submit to her.

Genesis 16:9-12 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”  The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her: 

 “You are now with child and you will have a son.  You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.  He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

When Abram was 99 years old, God confirmed his covenant with Abram.  This was approximately 13 years after Abram had Ishmael.

Genesis 17:4-5   “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. –“

Genesis 17:8      “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.”

God changes Abram's name to Abraham.  This changes the meaning from "exalted father" to "father of many".  The land of Canaan was what is now Israel and some surrounding areas.  In fact, when Israel became a nation in 1948, they used these boundaries as a basis to determine the land area.

To secure this covenant, all the males were circumcised.  This circumcision was the mark of the covenant with God.

Of course, this brings up a humorous vision of how one would prove you were an Israelite, or of the Hebrew race, especially if you were in a public meeting place.  I can just see a guy sliding open a little window at the door and asking for proof of membership.  It seems like it would have been a lot easier to have the covenant marked in a more conspicuous place, like a person’s left ear lobe.  Maybe this was a little more humor on God's part.  It definitely was a harder way to prove your commitment.