A fresh start in his spiritual pilgrimage begins for Abraham with ...

A Startling Encounter. (Read Chapter 17:1-16)

As Abraham is involved in the work of his mundane everyday life on yet another day of ordinariness, the unexpected! He has become used to not much happening each day. It would be easy for him to lose a sense of purpose for his life. But now, “The LORD appeared to him ...” (17:1).

   Several questions come to mind as we consider this startling experience for Abraham.

How Did The Lord Appear To Abraham?

Just how did the Lord appear to Abraham? Perhaps we will find a clue in the experience of others. Let’s explore a little further.

   We soon discover that Isaac experienced the same encounter with the Lord. “So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived. The LORD appeared to him there …” (Genesis 26:2).  No apparent clue here as to how the Lord appeared to him.

   When we come to the experience of Jacob however, a hint as to the ‘how’ emerges. Arriving at Bethel on his way to Haran to meet his bride, he set up camp for the night. “As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from earth to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down on it. At the top of the stairway stood the LORD …” (Genesis 28:12-13a). And then some years later, on the way back to his home country, he stopped once more at the same place, where he experienced the same encounter with the Lord. “God appeared to Jacob once again when he arrived at Bethel …” (Genesis 35:9). From these two accounts we may say that the Lord sometimes choose to make himself known to a person in a dream.

   A further discovery awaits us as we visit the life of Moses. He is working on the farm of Jethro his father in law. We find him in the wilderness, no doubt searching for some sheep which had strayed away. “Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up. ‘Amazing!’ Moses said to himself. ‘Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go over to see this.’ When the LORD saw that he had caught Moses attention, God called to him from the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ (Exodus 3:2-4). Another way in which the Lord reveals himself emerges here. He may choose to appear to us in some unexpected happening in our lives.

   But there is more for us to discover in this event in Moses’ life. As we found when looking at the life of Hagar,[1] the ‘angel of the Lord’ can be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ in one of his pre-incarnation appearances. God came to Moses in the person of Christ. Which is the way he has now revealed himself to all people. For “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly.” (Hebrews 1:1-3a). As Jesus himself said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9).

   Paul draws all these thoughts together in his letter to Titus, as he reminds the young pastor of the appearance of the Lord yet to come. “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self control, right conduct, and devotion to God, while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will be revealed.” (Titus 2:11-13).

   And as we await the coming of the Lord he continues to reveal himself to us through the Scriptures. This is why his word is so precious for those who walk with him. Like one of an earlier era discovered. “Your law is more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver … I rejoice in your word like one who finds a great treasure.” (Psalm 119:72, 162).

   Back now to Abraham. The Lord may have appeared to him in any of the ways we have discovered. It may well have been as the angel of the Lord, as with Moses, or in a dream like it was for Jacob. This leads us to ask another question.

What Did The Lord Say To Him?

So few the words but how vast the content!  

A fresh revelation.
   The Lord begins with a further revelation of himself. “The LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty.’ ” (17:1a). Allen Ross helps us to understand the significance of the name. 

This is the first OT occurrence of the title ‘God Almighty’ (`ēl šadday), which is used several times in Genesis (17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, cf. 49:25). Some scholars suggest that šadday is related to the Akkadian word šadû  that means breast or mountain or both. (Some words describing parts of the body were also used for geographical descriptions; eg. ‘mouth’ of a river, ‘foot’ of a mountain). So šadday, when used of God, refers either to His ability to supply abundantly (‘the Abundant One’) or to His majestic strength (‘the Almighty One’).[2]

 
   In this name the Lord is revealing himself to Abraham as one who is all sufficient and all powerful. One who is able to sustain him as a mother her child. One who will be a strong place of refuge in times of stress, like the rocky mountainous regions David found shelter in when his life was under threat during the reign of King Saul.[3]

A timely reminder.
   And then the Lord reminds Abraham of his calling as he adds, “…serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.” (17:1b). The Lord is calling Abraham to serve him with integrity. There could be no greater challenge, surrounded as he was by those who followed other gods and the sinful activities associated with the cults they spawned. The words of Micah to a later generation come to mind. “What can we bring to the LORD to make up for what we have done? Should we bow before God with offerings … No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:6, 8).

   The need for serving the Lord and personal integrity to go hand in hand was something Paul often referred to in his letters. While he was greatly moved to hear that the Christians in Thessalonica did just that, he wrote to encourage them to continue that way. “And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for they themselves keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God …Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You are doing this already, and we encourage you to do so more and more … God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin …God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives.” (1 Thessalonians 1:8-9, 4:1, 3, 7).

Reassurance.
   Now comes the guarantee that will put meaning and purpose back into Abraham’s life. The promise the Lord gave to him in Mesopotamia is renewed. “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to make you into a mighty nation.” (17:2, cf. Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 7:2-4). Abraham falls to his knees in awe as he catches a fresh vision of God’s purposes. He looks beyond his present circumstances. The view is breathtaking—“the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations.” (17:4). This promise to Abraham is looking forward to the time when a new people of God will come together “… a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9). No wonder “he fell face down in the dust”(17:3)  before the Lord.

A new name.
   And still there is more for Abraham in this unexpected encounter with the Lord. Along with the reassurance of God's purpose for his life comes a new name as the Lord says to him, “What’s more, I am changing your name. It will be no longer Abram; now you be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.” (17:5). The significance of the change may be seen in their meanings. The Hebrew meaning of Abram is ‘exalted father’, while that of Abraham is ‘father of many.’

   Those who have been redeemed “with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:18)—also receive a new name. The Lord will reveal this name to them when he shows them into their new heavenly home. “Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17b). And, as the promise to Abraham indicates, people from all the social stratas of life are included—“kings will be among them.” (17:6).

An ongoing blessing.
   Another component in the assurance Abraham is receiving is that the covenant agreement made with him will continue to hold after his departure from this life. The Lord gives him this guarantee, “I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (17:7).

   This is an assurance that can be taken up by God’s people of every generation. The seed sown by parents now will continue to bear fruit in the lives of the children. Solomon reassures his readers, “Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.” (Proverbs 22:6). “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). The seed sown in the teaching of the Scriptures will germinate and the plant keep on growing, just as the Lord has promised, “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with the word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:11).

A new sign.
   The Lord now talks to Abraham about the sign of the agreement that he wants established. “ ‘Your part of the agreement,’ God told Abraham, ‘is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.’ ” (17:9-10). Circumcision was the sign that the person belonged to God. Paul explains.

The circumcision ceremony was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith  but have not been circumcised. They are made right with God by faith. And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. It is clear then, that God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God’s law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith. (Romans 4:11-13).

   Christian baptism has replaced circumcision as the sign that a person has now by faith found a right relationship with God. But just as the people of Israel began to trust in circumcision to bring them into a right relationship with God rather than by faith, so today many are trusting in baptism for their salvation instead of accepting by faith the sacrificial death of Christ. It is so easy to reverse the order. First comes faith then baptism as the sign. It is not the circumcision or baptism that produces the faith. Baptism is the sign that points to the faith already there.

A word concerning Sarai.
   Finally the Lord has something special to say to Abraham about his wife. “Then God added, ‘Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai; from now on you will call her Sarah.’ ” (17:15). Her name also is to be changed. She will be called Sarah, meaning ‘princess.’ Abraham now finds himself married to a person of royalty.

   Such is the experience of those who meet their life partners in the context of their walk with the Lord. At just the right time, sometimes when least expected, their paths merge. They fall in love. As the two begin walking together he finds himself walking with a princess and she with a prince.

   Finding just the right partner is to find treasure indeed. As one of the proverbs collected by Solomon puts it, “The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favour from the LORD.”(Proverbs 18:22). And as King Lemuel learned from his mother, “Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies. Her husband can trust her and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life.” (Proverbs 31:10-11).

   Sarah was just such a person. The Lord now reminds Abraham of several matters regarding this treasure God has given him. She is his equal. God’s blessing is not to be his alone. If Abraham is to be the father of many nations, Sarah is to be known as the mother of many nations. “And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. (17:16).

A Wavering Response (Read Chapters 17:17-18:15) 

Abraham is the first to respond. He cannot believe what God has been saying to him. He tries to transfer the promises to Ishmael. He cannot believe that he and Sarah could have a child at their age. “Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. ‘How could I become a father at the age of one hundred?’ he wondered. ‘Besides, Sarah is ninety, how could she have a baby?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Yes, may Ishmael enjoy your special blessing!’ ” (17:17-18).

   The Lord is not put off by Abraham’s disbelief. He now makes the promise very specific. “But God replied, ‘Sarah your wife will bear you a son. You will name him Isaac and I will confirm my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes will be among his descendants. But my covenant is with Isaac, who will be born to you and to Sarah about this time next year.’ ”(17:19-21).

   And then Sarah finds it equally hard to believe. As she listened to what God was saying to Abraham, “she laughed silently to herself,” (18:12). But the Lord answers their difficulty by assuring them that nothing was too hard for him and by repeating his promise that a son would be born to them. “Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? …is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son.’ ” (18:13-14). How patient the Lord is, allowing us to doubt and question, gently helping us to overcome our unbelief, just as he did for Abraham and Sarah. As we have already discovered, they were able to help each other to believe that God could do what he promised. “It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise.” (Hebrews 11:11).

As we listen in to this intimate conversation between Abraham and his God it is not surprising to find Abraham referred to several times in the Biblical record as ...

The Friend Of God. (Read again Chapters 17:1-18:15)

At a time of national crisis Jehoshaphat prayed, “Our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?” (2 Chronicles 20:7). The Lord speaks of the people of Israel as “descended from my friend Abraham.” (Isaiah 41:8). And still in the first century AD Abraham was remembered as God’s friend. “And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.’ He was even called ‘the friend of God.’ ” (James 2:23). Because of his faith Abraham has been justified by God, that is declared to be righteous. Now he is said to be ‘the friend of God,’ that is, reconciled with God.

   To become reconciled with a person is to become friends again after estrangement. It is the healing of a broken relationship. Once we were enemies of God, that is we lived in a state of hostility towards him. We followed the value systems of those who do not know God, as James reminds us. “Don’t you realise that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God.” (James 4:4). But now we have become reconciled with God, that is, no longer his enemies but his friends.

   Paul makes much of this in his letters. To the Christians in Rome he writes,

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgement. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. (Romans 5:8-11).

   And to the Christians in Colosse Paul writes,

For God in his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross ion his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (Colossians 1:19-22)

   Jesus taught his disciples that one of the indications that they were his friends would be the love they showed for each other.

"I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it—the greatest love  is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. You are my friends if you obey me. I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me." (John 15:12-15).

The amazing thing is that we did not first choose Jesus to be our friend but that he chose us to be his friends! Jesus continues his teaching, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. I command you to love each other.” (John 15:16-17).

Abraham As Intercessor.  (Read Chapter 18:16-33)

We now see Abraham, ‘the friend of God,’ interceding with God on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord does not keep his thinking about the cities to himself. “ ‘Should I hide my plan from Abraham?’ the LORD asks.” (vs. 17). The rhetorical question leaves space for the emphatic answer, ‘certainly not!’ “So the LORD told Abraham, ‘I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. I am going down to see whether or not these things are true. Then I will know.’ ” (vs. 20-21). The implication is that God’s judgement is about to fall on the two cities.

   This prompts Abraham to intercede on their behalf, no doubt thinking of the family of Lot who are living in the area. After nominating a series of numbers of righteous people which would cause the Lord to forego his judgement, Abraham finally asks, “LORD, please don’t get angry; I will speak but once more! Suppose only ten are found there?” (vs. 32). To which the Lord replied, “The, for the sake of the ten, I will not destroy it.” (vs. 32).

   Several things about the ministry of intercession emerge from this incident.

-         Intercession is a ministry for all who, like Abraham, are ‘friends of God,’ that is, those who have been reconciled with God, those who have been restored to a right relationship with him.

-         No one should ever be excluded from our prayers. It is not for us to make judgements about who to pray for. Paul encouraged Pastor Timothy to make intercessory prayer a part of the worship service. “I urge then, first of all, that requests, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Saviour who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV).

-         The outcome of our prayers is for God to decide. While his desire is for ‘all men to be saved,’ his sense of justice will not allow him to spare from judgement those who decline his offer of forgiveness and choose to continue in their evil ways like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did. Not even ‘the ten’ of Abraham’s prayer could be found there and so the destruction of the cities became unavoidable. This event is described in the following chapter of Genesis. There is a warning here for all cities like them. “And don’t forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.” (Jude, vs. 7). We note however that “God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.” (19:29).­

-         Only God knows when people have taken themselves beyond the influence of our prayers. It is never for us to decide when someone has committed the unforgivable sin that Jesus spoke about. “I assure you that any sin can be forgiven, including blasphemy; but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. It is an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:28-29). Only God knows when a person has reached this point. This is why Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, “Keep on praying.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

-         Intercession is a priestly ministry. Abraham may be seen to have received this ministry when ‘blessed’ by Melchizedek. “Then Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought him bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.’ ” (Genesis 14:19). This same priestly ministry of intercession is now given to Christian believers by Jesus Christ who is “a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 7:17). As “a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession” (1 Peter 2:9), God’s people are called to be intercessors. Their prayers on behalf of nations and their leaders, of family members, friends and even enemies are a pleasing aroma to the Lord. John describes the heavenly scene, “I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders … And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense—the prayers of God’s people.” (Revelation 5:6, 8). The picture comes from the tabernacle, when the Lord instructed Moses, “Then make a small altar out of acacia wood for burning incense … Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain, opposite the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. I will meet with you there. Every morning when Aaron trims the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. And each evening when he tends to the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord’s presence. This must be done from generation to generation. (Exodus 30:1, 6-8). All God’s people should set aside a time and a place to meet with the Lord each day. We learn from one of his prayers that David did just that. “O LORD, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.” (Psalm 141:1-2).

-         There are some people groups that are often left out of people’s prayers. “The LORD looked and was displeased to find that there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed.” (Isaiah 59:15b).  But prayers should be made for all people. As Paul reminded Pastor Timothy, "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity