Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Genesis 17:1-8 (NIV)
The Covenant of Circumcision 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [a] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [b] ; your name will be Abraham, [c] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 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. 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."
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2 comments:
How amazing it must be for Abram to experience such a miraculous blessing at age 99! Though people used to live longer back then, it's still a little awkward to see people being used by God at such an old age. But again, we simply have to understand and acknowledge the way God works with individuals differently the way He wants...It's interesting to see how God lowers Himself to this world and establishes covenants with people. God favorably looks at Abram -> Abraham as a righteous person who faithfully carries out His commands and acknowledges His Lordship. In turn, God pours out so many blessings to him and his household and later generations. What a lucky guy!
It is remarkable to see how God makes and fulfills his promises to Abram/Abraham. But I do not fully see/understand the connection (or lack of connection) between our "actions" and the "blessings" God grants us. To me there appear to be many faithful Abrams in this world who never get to become Abrahams -- at least in human eyes. Of course, God has specific plans for everyone so therefore it's hard to know who has been blessed or not based only on secular "success" or "failure."
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