Sketching HIStory #20

Gen 17, 18 – Covenant of Circumcision
Child of Promise

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

ABRAM > ABRAHAM

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “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. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” [Gen 17:1-8]

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

SARAI > SARAH

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” [Gen 17:9-16]

What about Ishmael? You can read about it HERE.

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” [Gen 18:1-5]

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” [Gen 18:6-10]

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” [Gen 18:10-15]

After the meal, the visitors got up to leave and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then, two of them parted ways leaving Abraham with the Lord.

Where are they going? We will find out in our next post.

Sketching HIStory #19

Gen 16 – Hagar

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” [Gen 16:1-2]

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. [Gen 16:3-4]

When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

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

“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. [Gen 16:5-6]

The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

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

The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant and you will give birth to 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.”

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. [Gen 16:7-14]

So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. [Gen 16:15-16]

Sketching HIStory #17

Gen 12 – Abram, Pharaoh & God

There are times in our lives that we make decisions that are contrary to God’s will which may threaten His plan. In Genesis 12, Abram, whom the Lord God had made an incredible promise with, made a blundering decision that endangered God’s plan. But here we will learn a fundamental biblical truth that God’s plan are not easily derailed.

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. [Gen 12:10]

As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” [Gen 12:11-13]

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. [Gen 12:14]

And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. [Gen 12:15-16]

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. [Gen 12:17-20]

Sketching HIStory #16

Gen 12 – God Prophetic Promise to the Nations

The last person that God spoke to was Noah in Genesis 6, but then He was silent for 470 years until He spoke again to Abram, 11th generation on the family line of Shem.

Abram grew up in the city of Ur in the lands of the Chaldeans. This very ancient city was located by the Euphrates River in mordern day Iraq. In Genesis 11, Abram’s father, Terah was divinely inspired to leave Ur and head toward Canaan. Instead of trekking west through harsh desert, they followed a well traveled caravan route until they reached Haran which was located in an area in modern day border of Syria and Turkey. But then Terah settled in Haran and eventually died there. Afterwhich God spoke…

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” [Gen 12:1-3]

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CRIMSON THREAD

How was Abram being a blessing to ‘all peoples on earth’ a Crimson Thread?
Abram, though a nomad all his life, was incredibly rich and highly respected where ever he went. But his world in respect to the entire earth was in reality limited to the lands of Canaan and a small part of ancient Egypt. So, was God’s rhetoric a poetic exaggeration like the way fathers would… well… sometimes highly praise their own sons? God did not and does not exaggerate. For we now know that Abram did become a blessing to ALL the nations thousands of years after he passed away. As to he being part of the Crimson Thread, his later direct descendant is Jesus Christ.

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So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. [Gen 12:4-5]

Let me talk a little bit about Sarai. Scripture emphasized in Genesis 11 that she was barren but gave no other details. In those days, the barrenness of women were considered a divine punishment for their sins. For women, this was a thing of great shame. In Sarai’s case, her being barren was indeed God’s doing, however He was not doing it to punish her. His plan for her like Abram was also to ultimately bless mankind. But from her point of view at that particular time of her life, she felt the shame not knowing why.

Now, at the second half of Genesis 12, Sarai was described to be an incredibly beautiful woman and that beauty will be cause for Abram to interfere in God’s plan. We’ll cover this in my next post. Meanwhile, I wanted to draw something of her beauty and took the liberty of using a well known cinematic beauty of Angelina Jolie to be Sarai. Frankly, if a role of Sarai ever come about, I hope she would be cast.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Tag: Sarai

Sketching HIStory #20

Gen 17, 18 – Covenant of Circumcision
Child of Promise

ABRAM > ABRAHAM

SARAI > SARAH

Sketching HIStory #19

Gen 16 – Hagar

Sketching HIStory #17

Gen 12 – Abram, Pharaoh & God

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. [Gen 12:10]

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. [Gen 12:14]

And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. [Gen 12:15-16]

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. [Gen 12:17-20]

Sketching HIStory #16

Gen 12 – God Prophetic Promise to the Nations

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CRIMSON THREAD

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Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. [Gen 12:6-9]

Gen 17, 18 – Covenant of Circumcision Child of Promise

ABRAM > ABRAHAM

SARAI > SARAH

Gen 16 – Hagar

Gen 12 – Abram, Pharaoh & God

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. [Gen 12:10]

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. [Gen 12:14]

And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. [Gen 12:15-16]

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. [Gen 12:17-20]

Gen 12 – God Prophetic Promise to the Nations

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CRIMSON THREAD

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Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. [Gen 12:6-9]

Gen 17, 18 – Covenant of Circumcision
Child of Promise