Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Ah mih Friends, when they say that man plans but God directs his footsteps, it’s no lie nuh. Today is what…the fourth day we talking about the saga of our Father of Faith Abram? And believe me, on that first day I had no intentions of writing about Abram, I was checking out stuff on war and violence because of a seeming upsurge in the strife and violence currently holding our world in grip. But obviously the Most High God Jehovah had other ideas in mind, and somehow He led me to Abram’s story and caused me to take the initial leap of faith, since I had no idea what to write. I guess He figured that in these stressful, worrisome times it was wiser and more important to talk about faith than the negative happenings consuming Mother Earth. But now we come to Ishmael’s birth. ‘And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.’ (Gen.16:16) Wow! Abram was 86! And note, he wasn’t done yet. But such is the might and power of our God, who oftimes likes to do things out of the ordinary to gain our attention and also glorify His Holy Name. So it was another thirteen years before God appeared to Abram again, and this time He gets right down to brass tacks; promises to make an everlasting covenant between them and multiply his seed greatly. ‘And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.’ (Gen.17:3-7) Oh my Friends, can you imagine what’s going on in poor Abram’s mind? He’s on his face before God, who’s promising all these wonderful things, but Abram’s already 99, and has only one child, yet the Lord’s talking about multiplying his seed exceedingly. Abram must have been confused, for though the Lord had kept His other promises, the one about children only came true because they took matters into their own hands. Otherwise they would still be childless. And then the Lord wants to change his name from ‘Abram’ which meant ‘High or Exalted Father,’ to ‘Abraham,’ meaning ‘Father of a Multitude.’ He must have wondered if all of that would come from his only child Ishmael. The Lord also promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants forever, if they kept His covenant. Then the Lord informed Abram of his duty under the covenant. Remember, most times we also have a role to play in the Lord’s plans. ”Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations; he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed…and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child…that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.’ (Gen. 17:10-14) Yes my people, the Lord does drive a hard bargain, and that’s where the rite of circumcision was born in the Hebrew nation. That was the proof positive that a man was part of God’s chosen people; a people uniquely dedicated to God. It was to be an outward sign of an inward dedication to God, and any Hebrew who did not observe it was cut off from the covenant community. And what did Abraham, the Father of Faith do? ‘And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the self same day, as God had said unto him. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised.. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised…’ (Gen.17:23-25) Oh Friends, all I can say is that Abraham was certainly a better man than me yes! And poor Ishmael.. Steups! Remember Abraham had over three hundred fighting men plus those who didn’t fight, and they were all circumcised in one day, without benefit of our modern surgical procedures and painkillers. Can you imagine the confusion, the moaning and groaning in Abraham’s yard that night and for days to come? Brother! For even at eight days old, in our modern age, circumcision is a rather painful procedure, especially during the healing process. Now note, this is one time I’m talking from hearsay. (smile) But that act of obedience does say a lot about Abraham’s character; apparently he wasn’t one to dawdle over decisions. And I can see why the Lord blessed him so much, for the same day the Lord brokered the covenant, Abraham accepted it, by having all the males in his household cut. He didn’t even ask for time to think about it, like many of us would have done, then decided the task was too onerous and declined the offer. No, Abraham made the decision to trust the Lord right then and there, then got up and did his part. My people, do we accept God’s word, His promises like Abraham did, without hemming and hawing? We should, because that’s what singles us out from the unbelievers. Circumcision is no longer necessary to prove our faith since Jesus brokered His covenant of believing in Him. But if we say we believe, then our actions still need to show that trust, that faith, that lack of doubt we claim, for faith is simply belief and trust in action. Our father Abraham put his money where his mouth was, and had all his men folk circumcised. So should we. Not the circumcision, (smile) but showing the faith and trust we have in our heavenly father by doing those things, which though difficult and/or painful, prove our unfailing obedience glorify His Holy Name. Let’s try to do that in our daily lives nuh Friends. Much LOVE!…a true show of faith…means taking faithful action…nothing less…
Ah mih Friends, when they say that man plans but God directs his footsteps, it’s no lie nuh. Today is what…the fourth day we talking about the saga of our Father of Faith Abram? And believe me, on that first day I had no intentions of writing about Abram, I was checking out stuff on war and violence because of a seeming upsurge in the strife and violence currently holding our world in grip. But obviously the Most High God Jehovah had other ideas in mind, and somehow He led me to Abram’s story and caused me to take the initial leap of faith, since I had no idea what to write. I guess He figured that in these stressful, worrisome times it was wiser and more important to talk about faith than the negative happenings consuming Mother Earth. But now we come to Ishmael’s birth. ‘And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.’ (Gen.16:16) Wow! Abram was 86! And note, he wasn’t done yet. But such is the might and power of our God, who oftimes likes to do things out of the ordinary to gain our attention and also glorify His Holy Name. So it was another thirteen years before God appeared to Abram again, and this time He gets right down to brass tacks; promises to make an everlasting covenant between them and multiply his seed greatly. ‘And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.’ (Gen.17:3-7) Oh my Friends, can you imagine what’s going on in poor Abram’s mind? He’s on his face before God, who’s promising all these wonderful things, but Abram’s already 99, and has only one child, yet the Lord’s talking about multiplying his seed exceedingly. Abram must have been confused, for though the Lord had kept His other promises, the one about children only came true because they took matters into their own hands. Otherwise they would still be childless. And then the Lord wants to change his name from ‘Abram’ which meant ‘High or Exalted Father,’ to ‘Abraham,’ meaning ‘Father of a Multitude.’ He must have wondered if all of that would come from his only child Ishmael. The Lord also promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants forever, if they kept His covenant. Then the Lord informed Abram of his duty under the covenant. Remember, most times we also have a role to play in the Lord’s plans. ”Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations; he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed…and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child…that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.’ (Gen. 17:10-14) Yes my people, the Lord does drive a hard bargain, and that’s where the rite of circumcision was born in the Hebrew nation. That was the proof positive that a man was part of God’s chosen people; a people uniquely dedicated to God. It was to be an outward sign of an inward dedication to God, and any Hebrew who did not observe it was cut off from the covenant community. And what did Abraham, the Father of Faith do? ‘And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the self same day, as God had said unto him. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised.. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised…’ (Gen.17:23-25) Oh Friends, all I can say is that Abraham was certainly a better man than me yes! And poor Ishmael.. Steups! Remember Abraham had over three hundred fighting men plus those who didn’t fight, and they were all circumcised in one day, without benefit of our modern surgical procedures and painkillers. Can you imagine the confusion, the moaning and groaning in Abraham’s yard that night and for days to come? Brother! For even at eight days old, in our modern age, circumcision is a rather painful procedure, especially during the healing process. Now note, this is one time I’m talking from hearsay. (smile) But that act of obedience does say a lot about Abraham’s character; apparently he wasn’t one to dawdle over decisions. And I can see why the Lord blessed him so much, for the same day the Lord brokered the covenant, Abraham accepted it, by having all the males in his household cut. He didn’t even ask for time to think about it, like many of us would have done, then decided the task was too onerous and declined the offer. No, Abraham made the decision to trust the Lord right then and there, then got up and did his part. My people, do we accept God’s word, His promises like Abraham did, without hemming and hawing? We should, because that’s what singles us out from the unbelievers. Circumcision is no longer necessary to prove our faith since Jesus brokered His covenant of believing in Him. But if we say we believe, then our actions still need to show that trust, that faith, that lack of doubt we claim, for faith is simply belief and trust in action. Our father Abraham put his money where his mouth was, and had all his men folk circumcised. So should we. Not the circumcision, (smile) but showing the faith and trust we have in our heavenly father by doing those things, which though difficult and/or painful, prove our unfailing obedience glorify His Holy Name. Let’s try to do that in our daily lives nuh Friends. Much LOVE!…a true show of faith…means taking faithful action…nothing less…
SCRIP-BITS 