Witness the awe-inspiring transformation of Sarai to Sarah and the divine promise that shatters the constraints of age and barrenness. This episode journeys through the sacred moments when God seals His covenant with Abraham, revealing the promised son Isaac and foreshadowing the arrival of Jesus through a virgin birth. We ponder Sarah's name change, a profound acceptance of the gospel, and the implications it carries for the salvation narrative. As laughter initially escapes from Abraham, we navigate his astonishment at the thought of fatherhood at an advanced age and the tender plea for Ishmael. Yet, amid personal desires and doubts, God's unwavering plan emerges, designating Isaac as the bearer of His covenant—a powerful prelude to the theology of sovereignty and grace.
The rite of circumcision stands as more than a physical act—it's a potent symbol of faith in the coming Messiah. In this discussion, we uncover how this ancient practice marked the faithful and how Abraham's belief, pre-circumcision, deemed him righteous, establishing him as the father of all who follow in faith. Delving into misinterpretations among Jews who equated physical circumcision with salvation, we seek to correct these perspectives, emphasizing that it is through faith in Christ, the promised Messiah, that salvation is truly found. Join us as we decode these rites and affirm the everlasting path to deliverance through faith—a message as relevant today as it was in the times of Abraham and Sarah.
Welcome again to the mysteries of God's Word. Last week you may remember God appearing to Abram and calling Abram to walk before him blameless, and then telling Abram that his name would no longer be Abram, but his name shall be called Abraham. This week, god continues that discussion with Abraham, letting Abraham know that it will be through Sarah that the promised child comes. We'll be starting in Genesis 17, verse 15. And God said to Abraham as for Sarah, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and, moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she shall become nations. Kings of people shall come from her. In these first two verses we hear God giving Sarah a new name and calling her Sarah. Now, her old name, sarah, meant my princess, and the name Sarah simply means princess. This name change to Sarah shows God's adoption of her as his own child and it implies that Sarah, by this point, had also accepted the gospel message about the coming Messiah. Now, back in chapter 15, verse 4, god had already told Abram that his very own son would be his heir, but we saw Sarah and Abram try to bring about that heir on their own power. And here in Genesis 17, verse 16, god declares to them that this son of promise will come through Sarah, that she will be blessed, that she will be the mother of nations and that kings of peoples shall come from her. You may remember from our discussion in chapter 16, sarah is past the age of childbearing. It is impossible for her to have children at this time. Naturally she's gone through her change in old age. You may also remember that Sarah had been barren all of her life. So now God is going to bring about a child from a woman who's been barren all of her life and gone through the natural change, so that it's obvious to all men it's impossible for her to have children. And this promised child coming from a barren womb is one of the ways God continues to show his sovereignty in the salvation of his people. Perhaps even more significantly, god is foreshadowing that one day he will bring forth a child through the womb of a virgin.
Speaker 1:
God is foreshadowing for Abraham this part of the Gospel right here, picking up in verse 17,. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself Shall a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who's ninety years old, bear a child. And Abraham said to God oh, that Ishmael might live before you. We see in these two verses the natural reaction from man looking at things from an earthly perspective. Abraham, seeing things through the experience of his own eyes and what he perceived as the reality of natural life, fell on his face and laughed. And he says to God Shall a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who's ninety years old, bear a child? Abraham was just overtaken by God's statement that a child would be born to them and Abraham's initial feelings are of doubt and the very thought makes Abraham chuckle. And in verse 18 we see Abraham says to God oh, that Ishmael might live before you. Here we see Abraham's love for his son, ishmael, and Abraham pleas for his son, ishmael, to live before God and that Ishmael might be this chosen child. This is the plea of every parent who desires that their child would be eternally saved and that their child would live right before God. Abraham's not questioning God or his plan here, now that it's been revealed, but his heart is aching for Ishmael.
Speaker 1:
Picking up in verse 19, we read God said 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. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall have twelve princes and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear you. At this time next year, after we see Abraham pleading with God that Ishmael might live before him, essentially pleading that Ishmael might be saved and live for the Lord, god says, no, how difficult for Abraham to hear that. But God says Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son and you are to call his name Isaac. Now, isaac was the child of promise through the womb of a barren woman, prefiguring the virgin birth of Jesus Christ himself. God speaks here of establishing his covenant with Isaac, because his eternal covenant is established with those who are born of the Holy Spirit, those who believe and trust in the promised Messiah. Scripture declares that Isaac was a born-again child of God and God said but for Ishmael, I have heard you, the Lord heard Abraham's pleas and the Lord is going to establish Ishmael as a great nation. Although Ishmael will be a son of Abraham's flesh and a heartbreak for Abraham, god will be with Ishmael, establishing him as a nation. God says that 12 princes will come from him and later in Scripture we learn that Ishmael established these kings of Arabia. Ishmael lived in the northern Arabian Peninsula and tradition still holds that his sons are the ancestors of that area. But God says I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear you at this time next year. Again, god reaffirms to Abraham that the covenant promise through the Messiah will be with Isaac and Isaac will be born to Sarah at this same time next year.
Speaker 1:
Verse 22,. When he had finished talking with him, god went up from Abraham. I want to pause at this short verse because I think it's significant. It says God went up from Abraham. What an amazing statement that God is ascending into heaven before Abraham Another beautiful aspect of the gospel message being shown to Abraham being foreshadowed even as the ascension of Jesus Christ here during the days of Abraham. So after God goes up from Abraham in verse 23, then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all those born in his house, or bought with his money every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that very day, as God had said to him, abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, and Ishmael, his son, was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day, abraham and his son, ishmael, were circumcised, and all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. After God gives the symbol of circumcision to his covenant with Abraham, abraham that very day circumcises every man in his camp.
Speaker 1:
Here's a little refresher from last week on circumcision.
Speaker 1:
Circumcision is an outward sign of Abraham's inward faith, and this outward act of obedience that Abraham is now doing to his entire camp is a sign of the eternal covenant that God is making with Abraham, and God asks him to do it to everyone in his family and everyone under his roof throughout all generations.
Speaker 1:
This circumcision in the flesh symbolizes faith in the Messiah, which was the circumcision of the heart. Later, many Jews fell away from trusting in the Messiah. Instead, they came to trust in this fleshly act of circumcision that through their obedience, by being circumcised, they somehow were securing eternal life. They began to trust in this command rather than trusting in the promised Messiah. And it is the faith of trusting in the promised Messiah which is the faith of Abraham, and that's what circumcision was meant to represent. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised, and he had been following the Lord almost 25 years and had already been declared righteous because of his faith for many, many years. Abraham is the father of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, that we are saved, and that is what circumcision was meant to represent Faith in the Messiah. Join me next week as we look at the story of Sodom in Gomorrah. God bless you this week.