WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.520 We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:12.080 And I'm delighted to be leading us through Genesis chapter 17 today, if you want to get your Bible or swipe there on your devices. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.560 But let me ask you this question as you're doing that. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:22.320 If God promised to do something that seemed impossible to you, would you trust him? 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:30.239 Can God do what appears to be impossible when it comes to human reason? 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:46.799 When we closed out our study of Genesis chapter 16, Abram and Sarai were 86 and 76 years old, respectively, yet God had still promised them a son plus innumerable descendants. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.200 How did the couple manage trusting God together? 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:56.079 How many times did their faith waver or falter? 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.399 How many times, for instance, did they become impatient? 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:10.799 And did that impatience ever lead to some kind of frustration with God's delays or to a marital argument or to a sleepless night? 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:25.599 These are really good questions when you start to think about how long we have between chapters, even here, because Genesis 17, verse 1, opens with a statement that Abram is now 99 years old, which means Sarah was 89. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:33.680 And if the couple had had difficulty conceiving before, what hope would there have been now? 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:45.040 Then verse 1 goes on to tell us also, and you'll you'll read this with me in a second, that Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, dot, dot, dot, I'll leave that hanging because we're going to read in a second. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:52.799 But here's where we get God reaffirming his promise after 13 years. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:02:05.519 You can do the math yourself, but from 86 years of age at the close of chapter 16 to 99 years of age at the opening of chapter 17, 13 years go by. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:06.640 What would God say? 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:07.519 Nothing had happened. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:12.000 They hadn't had a child, they hadn't had a son, the first of any descendants. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:19.280 How did Abram respond to God as God appears to him and speaks to him again? 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:29.039 And what does it mean for the rest of us who years and years and years later trust in or put our faith in this God of the Bible? 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:30.960 Join us now. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:41.280 I think I think you'll really enjoy this study that we're going to call the unhurried, mystifying, but faithful covenant God of the Bible. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.639 All right, so chapter 17, and it goes just like this. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:53.599 Now, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:54.800 I love this. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.520 I love when God reveals himself so clearly to someone in the pages of Scripture. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.199 And we're always looking for that, aren't we, when we go to Scripture and we read it. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.199 How does God reveal Himself here? 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.800 And uh this is one of those times where it becomes really clear. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:17.120 El Shaddai is the title that God has here and is revealing to Abram. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:19.199 And it is used, oh, good grief. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.400 I think it's like four dozen times throughout the Old Testament. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:28.319 So he says, I'm God Almighty, I'm El Shaddai, walk before me and be blameless. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:33.680 Some of your translations might say, walk before me and you will be blameless. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.400 And uh, which is right, which is wrong? 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.000 They're both right, I think. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:51.680 Um you walk before the Lord, you're uh the the idea there is that you're walking with his approval, you are uh seeking his wisdom, his ways, you're walking in his will and in the paths of righteousness. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:53.919 So walk before me and be blameless. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:01.520 And then verse two, I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.759 So you heard me emphasize those two little words, I will. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.240 They appear, I think it's 16 times in this chapter. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:17.519 This chapter is really all about God, and it's all about God saying, I will, I will, I will, I will. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.319 And I love that because I'm always, I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for God's will. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.040 And I'm concerned and interested in learning about God. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.839 And how is it that he's the Almighty? 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.439 And how is it that his promises apply to me over the years? 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:39.920 And do I sometimes maybe get it wrong when I'm trying to discern what his promises really are from scripture? 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:44.959 Do I, do I just proof text, just lift something out myself and and claim it? 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:56.079 Can I, or is there something about these promises that are unique to Abram and unique to Sarah here in this space-time history, this little slice of that? 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:57.759 Well, let's continue our study. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:04:59.199 I think some of this will become clear. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.680 But he God, when he speaks, he says, I'm God Almighty, walk before me, be blameless. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:08.959 I will establish my covenant between me and you, I will multiply you exceedingly. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.120 He's 99 years old, and God's saying this again to him. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:17.040 And you wonder how's Abram gonna respond? 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.639 Well, verse 3 tells us, right? 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:29.519 And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:31.120 This is really amazing. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.680 Um, I'm not surprised that Abram fell on his face. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:41.759 Uh, even just the appearance of God, even just the voice of God speaking to him again. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:48.879 After 13 years, we have no record of any other voice from God or message from God or angel appearing to him. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:58.399 We just have this 13 years of everyday life and silence since the last time God stated his promise to Abram and Sarai. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.800 Thirteen years. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.000 It's a long time, more than a decade. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:09.519 And so many of us are so impatient all the time. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:10.639 I'm I'm impatient. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:20.720 I send a text, I'm impatient that the text has to go all the way up to the satellite and all the way back down, and because it's got a little photo in it or something like that, it takes more than two seconds, you know. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:25.759 We are so trained up in being impatient. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:34.000 And here, Abram, 13 years, God shows up, God speaks to him, and Abram's response is to fall on his face. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:38.959 Well, that's not just I'm overwhelmed, not I'm just exasperated, haven't heard from you. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.399 What have you done for me lately? 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:41.680 It's not that kind of thing. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:48.959 Back in their day and time, and over and over and over again, we see with Abram, um, his falling on his face, and we'll see it a couple times in this chapter. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:07:04.000 His falling on his face before the Lord is actually his sign of a resolute submission to God, a resolve to trust and believe God, to honor God, to respect God in the moment. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:14.000 Uh, he is going to be overwhelmed and in many ways astonished at what God says and how he continues to make these promises just like we would be. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:15.839 But let's see what goes, what happens. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.720 It says Abram fell on his face, and God was talking with him. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:33.360 Behold, my covenant is with you, and you'll be the father of a multitude of nations, not just one nation, not just one group of people, but looking all the way forward, I love this, looking all the way forward to the end of the Bible. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:40.399 This is Genesis, remember, all the way forward to Revelation, we're standing before the throne of God will be who? 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:45.439 People from every tongue and tribe and nation and people group. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:53.519 I'm telling you, if you pull the thread here in Genesis, your Bible crinkles all the way through to Revelation. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:54.639 It's all connected. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.199 It's got this one big meta-narrative. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:04.800 God in pursuit of a people he can call his own, and God making it possible for us to be reconciled to him. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:12.079 Sinners though we are, holy and almighty as he is, he has done everything necessary. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.959 And this is part of the storyline, and I love this thing. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:19.199 So now God's going to change his name from Abram to Abraham. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:25.519 Abram means exalted father, but Abraham means father of many nations. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:31.360 Uh, sort of the the uh you know broadening of the promise. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.440 Even as if God's just doubling down and saying, No, I know you're 99. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:37.519 I know it's been 13 years since the last time I talked to you. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.039 But no, this is really happening. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.919 And it's happening bigger than you could have imagined. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:42.320 All right. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.720 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.879 And I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:57.759 And I will, you could circle all of these I wills, by the way, in your Bible, or if you have that ability on your device to do that. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:08.720 Like I say, 16 of these, uh, at least 14, depending on which English translation you have, at least 14 times, but uh in many translations be 16 of them. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:22.639 So I will make you the father of multitude of nations, verse six, and I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:49.679 And verse seven, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you, and I will, verse eight, give to you and to your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:10:10.399 And so here we have, uh, as we have seen before, here we have God promising not only a progeny, you know, a line of descendants, but also the land that will be the promised land where the children of Israel will come and settle further down the line in history. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:20.720 Verse 9, God said further to Abraham, Now as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:26.960 This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:39.519 Every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:51.039 And again, you know, um this is one of those sort of awkward things to talk about sometimes, but this is one of those uh visible signs or seals of God's covenant. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:11:13.039 Um, in our own day and time, um, we through the New Testament lens, we look at all of this, we see that the practice of baptism is now appropriately the sign of the covenant between each and every believer and Jesus Christ, in that we are united with Christ in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:21.600 And so when we baptize, folks, um, we will often do it do an explanation of what that's like because we practice immersion, immersion here. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:23.200 We'll immerse them in the water. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:40.000 They'll go down into the water, and it's as if they were being united with Christ as a visible display of their union with Christ in his death and his burial, and then they come back up out of the water to uh symbolize uh their being resurrected into newness of life and Christ. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:43.759 And it's a beautiful sign and symbol of the covenant. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:12:06.559 And here, of course, with circumcision, um delicate thing to talk about, of course, but every single day Abram will be reminded multiple times a day, he'll be reminded that he belongs to the God who makes promises and keeps promises, the covenant-making God and the covenant-keeping God. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:18.720 He belongs in every part of who he is, even the most intimate part of who he is, belongs to this kind of God that makes covenants and keeps covenants. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:19.519 And I love this. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:27.679 And that will be a sign and a and a symbol that we'll he'll pass on not only through his household, but through the generations to come. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.600 And let me finish reading this and he'll describe all of that for us. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:39.360 Um, you shall be uh verse 11, uh this is our verse 10, this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:48.879 After you, every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:13:13.519 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house, or who is bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your descendants, a servant who is born in your house, or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised, for thus shall my covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:19.120 And I know, you know, these guys are all going to be adults, and here Abram's 99. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:28.080 Now, uh babies nowadays are male children are typically circumcised uh, you know, while they're still in the hospital. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:33.600 But the idea here is that it's verse 12, eight days old or older. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:49.440 And it's fascinating to me that some of my medical friends will tell me when a baby is first born, when a baby boy is first born, it actually takes about a week before their blood is ready to uh uh to actually um uh uh form a clot. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:55.279 And so they, if they were to be circumcised before that eighth day, they would have bled out, they would have died. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:08.480 And so it's amazing how God, who has designed the human body, who's designed a world where science is even possible, it's amazing how that God, even in his instructions here, gives that kind of detailed instruction. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:15.279 Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, even the servants that are among you, okay? 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:24.159 Uh verse 14 but an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.320 He has broken my covenant. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.639 And so God takes this very seriously. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:45.519 Uh, and it's it's it's um it's very much an everyday, uh multiple times a day reminder to the heads of households back in their day and time that they belong to God, and every every part of them belongs to God. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:46.559 Really powerful. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:53.440 Then God said to Abram, as for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:15:01.840 And so God's not only changing Abram's name to Abraham, but Sarai is the name that his wife has been going by. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:03.759 Now she's going to be called Sarah. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:17.200 As far as we can tell, both of those words, those ancient uh Hebrew words, uh go back to sort of the the basic meaning is princess, and they're very, very similar. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.879 And it's almost as if God is saying, Oh, she's 89? 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.279 No problem, she's still a princess. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.440 And I love this about I love I love that about this. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:41.840 Um uh because indeed she's precious to him, and she's of course been wondering, and she's had the social stigma of being barren all of her life, all the way up now till um 89 years of age. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:48.000 And when she has Isaac, when Isaac does come along, it's only about a year from now, uh, from this particular time. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:56.159 Uh she'll be 90, and Abram, Abraham will be 100 years of age when God actually chooses to fulfill this promise. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:57.679 And the timing is just right. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.200 But for now, she's still being called princess, just a different version of the same word. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:11.120 Verse 16, God says, Another I will, and I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:16.000 Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.480 Kings of peoples shall come from her. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:27.440 So a little more detail given as uh God continues to reaffirm his promises to this precious couple, this precious aged couple. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:27.919 Okay? 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:34.240 Then Abraham responds in verse 17, and he fell on his face and laughed. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:41.039 So this time he falls on his face, uh, just as he did earlier in the chapter, and now he's falling on his face again, and this time he's laughing. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.519 And I really believe he's laughing for joy. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:51.120 I really believe that he is uh it's kind of this mixture of wonder and amazement and joy. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.720 I mean, come on, you know, it's it's sort of like, can that really happen? 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.759 I can't believe, you know, I can't believe you would say that, God, Yahweh. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:58.720 I can't, you know. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:09.599 And here's what happens: he fell on his face and he laughed, and he said in his heart, the the uh narrator here, which we think is Moses, is giving us some insight into this because this story had to be handed down. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:11.039 You gotta know that. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:17.759 Um, I mean, this must have been an amazing story to tell around the campfire for generations to come, right? 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:19.519 So here it is. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:25.680 Um He fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Will a child be born to a man 100 years old? 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.680 And will Sarah, who's 90 years old, bear a child? 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:37.039 And Abram evidently forgetting that his own father had him when his father was 130 years of age. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.279 But we always tend to operate within the context of what we know, right? 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.279 And what we're experiencing. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:52.559 And so where he's at right now, he's literally laying on his face, laughing out loud, and in his heart he's going, I just can't believe this is true, you know. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:18:05.440 And again, we've all had amazement and wonder to think that something we'd hoped for, dreamed for all our lives, um, wondered if God had forgotten us, you know. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:08.960 And yet here it comes, this promise. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.240 And um, and he's wondering about it and then thinking about it. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.839 Abram said to God then, oh, that Ishmael might live before thee. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.720 So he even offers up sort of an alternative to God. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.599 You know, I can't even imagine that to be true. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.799 Is it maybe maybe you meant Ishmael, you know, that kind of thing. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.200 We do that all the time in our prayers, don't we? 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:31.599 We we're always giving God alternatives, and I love this about the God of the Bible. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:41.839 He never has to have a plan, but he never has to have an alternative strategy because his plans and his purposes are always accomplished, aren't they? 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.079 And we need to remember that, don't we? 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.960 Even after 13 years, even when it seems impossible. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:54.000 Um, nothing is impossible with this sovereign God of the Bible. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:01.279 And so he offers a Ishmael thinking, oh, surely that's how you're gonna accomplish your your uh promises, God, or bring your promises about. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:08.960 But God said, No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac, which means he laughs. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:23.920 And so every time you call his name, you're gonna remind yourself, Abraham, that you laughed about this and that it created either such joy or wonderment or some collision of the two, whatever, but you're gonna be reminded of that. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:29.759 And then God says, I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:37.119 And as for Ishmael, and you know, lest you were kind of, if if you're out there wondering, well, what was going on with Ishmael and Hagar? 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.400 As for Ishmael, I've heard you. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:47.759 Behold, I will, God says, I will bless him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:54.799 He shall become the father of a tw of twelve princes, princes, and I will make him a great nation. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:05.680 And indeed, if you want to read ahead, you can see in Genesis chapter 25 that the Lord does that, that the Lord actually fulfills his promise even to Ishmael here as well. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.359 In other words, this God of the Bible is faithful. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:10.720 I love this about him. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:19.920 Verse 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:25.759 And so now God is becoming so specific, which he has not done up until now. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:34.240 But in chapter 12 and chapter 15, when the covenant's stated, um, here he comes, and he's gonna say, now it's gonna happen actually next year. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:39.519 And when he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham, verse 22 says. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.359 And now here's Abram's response, Abraham's response. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:44.240 Verse 23. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:21:00.720 Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all the servants who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's, Abraham's household, and he circumcised the flesh on their foreskin in the very same day as God had said to him. 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:06.799 Um, and again, if you know, if you're one of that crowd, and you know, it's it, boy, you just you want a what? 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.559 Yeah, I mean, you gotta find yourself asked, how about a temporary tattoo or something? 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.759 Wouldn't that be just as good? 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:16.559 You know, you're thinking of alternatives, just like Abraham was thinking of an alternative here. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:19.279 Uh, but no, this is what God wants to do. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:26.160 And it's very serious and solemn, and God wants it to be taken seriously. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:31.279 And so, verse 23, he took Ishmael, who's now like 13 years of age, right? 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:36.960 And he took the servants, and all of them were circumcised, as God had said to him. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.799 Verse 24, now Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:48.640 And Ishmael his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:53.440 In the very same day, Abraham was circumcised and Ishmael his son. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:58.079 And to have that sacred ceremony together with Ishmael. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:14.240 Um I mean, it goes without saying they both would have remembered it for a long time, but for more than one reason, and there was a sacred nature to it, and this father and this son together on that day. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:21.680 And all the men of his household who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner were circumcised with him. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:29.839 And this is fascinating to me that God is establishing his covenant in such a beautiful and a permanent way. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.559 There's pain in it, that's correct. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.559 But it's personal. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:45.519 And it's it's it's a diverse group of people, people a variety of ages, from 13 to 99, and a lot of guys in between that. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:58.960 It's not just people who are Abraham's descendants, but it's people who are in the household, foreigners from either came from Egypt with them or somewhere along the way have joined the household as servants. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.759 Maybe this is the only way they could find employment. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.519 And because we know that Abraham is rich and wealthy. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:24.559 So on and on the possibilities go for the way this symbol, this seal, if you will, is going to remind everyone that the God of the Bible is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God, and that he um intends to bring salvation to his people. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.240 All right, so what do we learn here? 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:27.599 Let me throw up a couple of slides. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:31.039 First of all, the three chapters that talk about the covenants. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:35.440 God's covenant with Abram presented in chapter 12 for the first time. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:39.279 God's covenant with Abram ratified in Genesis 15. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:43.279 We studied that with the covenant, cutting of the covenant ceremony that was there. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:53.440 And then God's covenant with Abram reaffirmed in Genesis chapter 17 here as we have uh studied it. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:58.640 Now, what's the purpose of this covenant and what is God saying in all of that? 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:03.759 Uh well, let me just use this quote from Derek Kidner, one of my favorite commentators on the book of Genesis. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:06.720 And his economy of language is just amazing. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:13.759 If you want to get just a single volume uh commentary on Genesis, Derek Kidner's is a great one. 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:19.920 He said this spiritually, the essence of the covenant is personal, like the I will of a marriage. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.799 So the pledge I will be their God far outweighs the particular benefits. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.279 This is the covenant. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.519 The striking feature of the stipulations is their lack of detail. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.160 To be committed was all. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:39.359 Circumcision was God's brand. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:52.799 The moral implications could be left unwritten until Sinai, for one was pledged to a master, only secondarily to a way of life. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:25:00.720 And so you see that this covenant, again, like we learned from Rabbi Jonathan Sachs in our previous studies, this is personal. 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:09.759 This is very much God saying, what I want to give you is myself, and what I want you to give me is yourself. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:23.119 And again, another reason for why this is such a this covenant in terms of the choice of how God symbolizes it is such a very personal thing and intimate thing. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:27.680 This God of the Bible wants a relationship with you and a relationship with me. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:29.440 And that's at the heart of that. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:45.920 No matter what the symbol looks like itself, whether it's circumcision in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, and since water baptism where you're down in the water and back up, it's still very much a personal union or dwelling with our God. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:52.880 The sovereign God of the Bible is always and everywhere active and on the move. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:54.480 And he wants us to know that. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:56.400 And he's moving in your direction. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:58.559 He's moving in my direction. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:09.119 He's watching from the windows like the prodigal son's father, waiting for you, even if you're way off in a far distant country, waiting to just see you in the distance to turn around. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:09.839 One step. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:22.880 If there's a, and we've said it so many times before, if there's a thousand steps between you and God, the minute you take that one that starts the turn, where you repent and turn toward God, He He comes running out to you. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:28.640 That's how eager He is to live in a right relationship with you. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:34.559 So much more eager than we often are ourselves to be reconciled with God. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.559 Look at how this God of the Bible loves us so. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.240 He is the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:49.759 He's the sovereign God of the Bible, and he is always and ever, everywhere, active and on the move. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:54.160 The other thing is that I like to highlight from this chapter is God's absolute right of choice. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:57.759 When to appear and speak to Abram, what to call himself. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:04.160 Here he's revealing himself as El Shaddai, you know, God Almighty, with whom he will speak. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:05.200 God has that right. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:17.839 What to say, whether he's offering commands or promises, uh uh reaffirming his covenant as in this chapter, or giving instruction and warnings or judgments, uh, whatever. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:35.359 God is the one who has absolute right of choice in these things, who to claim as his own, who to give anything to, and what to give them, what to command, what to demand from anyone at any time, anywhere. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:42.400 This is the divine prerogative of the sovereign God of the Bible. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:28:00.640 Um, and so we have here in chapter 17 a reminder that even though this couple is 99 and 89, all right, don't let the odds or circumstances before you eclipse your faith in the sovereign God who is all around you. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.200 One more time, read that with me, as a matter of fact, will you? 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:12.400 Don't let the odds or circumstances before you eclipse your faith in the sovereign God who is all around you. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:13.839 Yes, that is so true. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:16.400 And he is all around you, he is all around me. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:26.319 And he is, as we see throughout the pages of scripture and all the way into the New Testament promises of Jesus, he promises never to leave us or to forsake us. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:30.559 That he is with us always, no matter what we're going through. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:32.720 I want to remind you of that. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:35.839 And and can you imagine this dear couple? 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:43.039 13 years of silence from heaven, 13 years of nothing after those promises were stated in uh chapter 15. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:47.119 13 years before God even shows up again to speak to them. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:29:02.400 And how um how many times, like I say, they they might have found themselves wondering if God really meant it, if God was really even there anymore, or had He abandoned them altogether. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:04.799 And maybe you feel like that sometimes. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.960 I know I have, in terms of my feelings, anyway, they come and go all the time. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.599 That's why I need God's word. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:16.079 And that's why we study through books of the Bible here at the village Shelby. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:29.759 See, faith grows by hearing the word of God, faith grows by believing and walking according to the word of God, and faith grows by trusting Christ, who is himself the living word of God. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:38.319 And as we trust Christ, and as we walk with him, even as we see it here in the life of Abraham, you see his faith growing. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:43.759 And we're gonna see it tested and tried and stretched even further in the coming chapters. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:30:05.359 But when that, when when we go through all of that, if it's Christ we're trusting and not ourselves, if it's Christ we're trusting and not the culture around us, if it's Christ we're trusting and not our wallets or our careers or the next opportunity or the next administration or the next political upheaval or whatever we're looking for. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:15.519 If it's Christ we're really trusting, you see, he will prove himself to be the faithful, sovereign God of the Bible. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:16.079 J.I. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:25.359 Packer says it this way: wait on the Lord is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:40.400 He's not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time. 00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:43.519 Or as that old song says, one day at a time. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:44.400 Yeah. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:46.960 This is an ongoing thing. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:53.839 See, we're called to continually wait on the Lord, but we don't wait in a hopeless way. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:58.000 We don't wait in despair, we wait anticipating. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:30:58.480 Why? 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:05.680 Because our faith or what we're actually waiting on is God Himself, not the circumstances to change. 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:18.799 Not the circumstances to go away or to or to go the way we want them to, or to go our in our timing, but we're waiting on the Lord because we trust the Lord. 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:24.640 I love the way Dale Ralph Davis puts this in his teaching on this chapter. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:33.519 He goes, we would prefer to have a deity with high blood pressure and one that gave promises with microwaveable instructions on them. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:35.680 But he doesn't do that. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:44.960 So having a covenant God is to have a God who baffles us with his strange and stubborn ways. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:47.119 I love the way he said that. 00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:48.000 That is so true. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:57.519 I do want to be able to program a microwave, you know, sort of response from God every time I want something or I want something to be out of my life. 00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:58.880 Maybe you're that way too. 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:01.200 Maybe you understand this sense. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:14.559 But one thing we find in the timeless truths of the Bible is that if we hurry the waiting, we might miss the wisdom and the glory that only waiting can bring. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:16.480 That's so true. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:25.279 Sometimes I'll listen to a preacher named Vodhi Bacham, and he said this once radical Christians are not people who jump around at concerts. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:29.119 Radical Christians are not people who just wear Christian t-shirts. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:34.480 Radical Christians are those who bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:44.960 Yeah, so if you want to be radical, really radical, you know, love, joy, peace, and even that last one, self-control. 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:46.640 Look it up in Galatians chapter 5. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:48.160 They're all listed there. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:53.200 And they're amazing, and they're the fruit of the Spirit at work in our lives. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:33:04.400 Bringing out, you know, meekness or kindness and gentleness and all of these amazing things that we can't just drum up ourselves. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:11.519 Because what happens is we're trusting in the God of the Bible who transforms us and changes us. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:21.359 We're not meant to be just Christmas trees that we stick little ornaments on of moral achievements and things we've stopped doing this and started doing this. 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:26.480 And, you know, that's just an endless parade of moral failures waiting to happen. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:30.480 The Christmas tree idea image is that's not who we're supposed to be. 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.720 We're supposed to be fruit trees. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:54.079 And the fruit grows because the tree is rooted and grounded in God's word, planted firmly by streams of living water, and the Holy Spirit is bringing the life, this fruit to life in our hearts, transforming us and changing us. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:34:03.920 See, um if you're if you're not like Abraham and Sarah trusting God, and I think they do a pretty good job after 13 years here. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:08.320 I'm not saying they're perfect, I'm not saying they're the ultimate heroes of the story. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:09.519 I think God is. 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:11.280 Uh, this chapter is about God. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:14.719 It's God who says, I will 15, 16 times. 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:24.480 Um, but we tend to focus on who gets the control in the pace or the direction uh uh or the outcome. 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:26.719 That's the way we all tend to think. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:30.159 And we're so used to all of that, especially here in the West. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:38.400 For Abram and for Sarah now, 13 years had passed with just everyday normal life. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:43.039 The question is, would they now, could they now trust God? 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.119 Because next year, of course, we know we've seen the rest of the story here. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.039 Isaac's gonna be born. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:53.039 And man, is that gonna be awesome? 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:57.519 Because his name will just give them joy and laughter. 00:34:57.679 --> 00:34:58.239 All right. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:00.239 So for us, what's the question? 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:02.960 What's the faith response God might be looking for? 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:04.480 Let me post it up on the screen for you. 00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:20.480 Can you find rest in the quotidian ordinariness of an everyday life, trusting the unhurried, mystifying, but faithful covenant God of the Bible? 00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:23.360 Great question to ask ourselves. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:31.039 Great question, I think, to be confronted with as you consider this story and think about all of it. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:43.360 Um, God has his own sense of timing, and if you knew, if I knew, everything that God knows, we might understand his timing and his pace and his direction and the outcome. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:45.679 We might understand all of that a little bit better. 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:50.800 The question, though, really is here's a God that's willing to make a covenant with us. 00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:58.480 As far as I can tell, that's not the kind of thing that any other gods do. 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:06.719 The other religious belief systems say follow these rules and you might appease the angry deity. 00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:34.880 But with the Christian faith, with the gospel, with the God of the Bible, who in all of the Old Testament points to and finds its fulfillment in Jesus Himself, what you have is a God that provides everything necessary for you and for me to be reconciled to God Almighty in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:41.760 The question is will we wait on the Lord? 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:52.480 Will we lift up the empty hands of faith and trust in him and rest in his promises as we wait on him?