Author: Beth Duncan

Genesis 17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,  

Today’s verses are all about obedience. God said it. Abraham did it. As commentary puts it, he did it promptly (without delay), completely (including all the males in his household), and daringly (incapacitating all of his fighting men, briefly, at once). That last one caught me off guard. I mean, it’s true. I get it. I just hadn’t thought about that aspect of his obedience.

Genesis 17:25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

Now I’m pondering what God wants me to understand this morning. Like Abraham, I doubt and fret, even when I feel fairly confident I am where He is calling me. I also don’t love change. That immediate obedience is hard for me, especially if it calls me out of my comfort zone or if it calls me to be daring in some capacity, and isn’t that what leaving your comfort zone entails? Putting yourself out there in a new, different way? Maybe that’s the lesson?

Genesis 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for Your fierce love. Thank You for understanding when I doubt and fret, yet calling me back into Your love and not casting me out because of my doubts. Help me to be obedient to what You are calling me to do, even when it pulls me outside of my comfort zone. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 17:27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 

One thing I notice about verse 20 is that God does choose to bless Ishmael, though not as the “son of promise,” even though Ishmael exists because Sarai and Abram became impatient in their waiting. Please know that that is in no way a slam. I understand the pain and heartache of waiting, I get why they did what they did. I love that God chooses to bless Ishmael, too, even though Ishmael was not part of His divine plan.

Genesis 17:21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 

One thing I notice about verse 21 is that the wait for a child of their own to fill their arms is still not over. I think we are at 14 years since the actual promise of descendants to outnumber the stars? When you want so deeply to hold a child of your own in your arms, a week, a month, a year can feel like an eternity, but 14 years? And there’s still another year for them to wait?

Genesis 17:22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 

Precious Savior, You are sovereign, gracious, and compassionate. Thank You. I don’t think it’s random that today’s verses show both Your compassion and Your promises that may take time. You love us. You have compassion on us when we struggle, even when the struggle is with Your timing. Help us never to forget that. Help us to shine Your light. Always. Amen.

Genesis 17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 

Today’s verses show me God’s sense of humor, which shouldn’t seem odd to me, but when I think of the attributes of God, humor is not the first thing that comes to mind. In verse 17, Abraham laughs to himself when God reaffirms his promise to make Abraham a father to many at 99 and Sarah a mother at 90, long past child bearing years.

Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

As a side note, commentary says Abraham’s laugh wasn’t cynical, it was more of a “laugh to self” when you know something seems impossible but you trust God can do it anyway. And God doesn’t seem terribly offended because He goes on to tell Abraham that the son that Sarah will give Him is to be named Isaac, which means “one who laughs” or “he who laughs,” according to Google. That strikes me as humorous because of Abraham’s response in verse 17.

Genesis 17:19a Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder of the importance and power of laughter. Thank You for laughter in our lives, especially when it brings joy to our hearts. Help us to find Your joy in each day. Help us to laugh and rejoice in You. Amen.

Genesis 17:19b I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 

I wonder if today’s covenant had anything to do with Abraham’s doubt. I’m not saying I blame him for doubting. He is 99 years old, was promised by God to be father of many, and is only, currently, a father to one, who was conceived because Sarai took matters into her own hands thirteen years earlier.

Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 

Could this covenant of circumcision be a physical sign given by God to Abraham so that even though God’s timing is so very different from Abraham’s, Abraham now has this physical reminder of the promise to help sustain him? I truly have no idea, though I can see it as a potential act of grace and compassion.

Genesis 17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 

Precious Savior, Forgive me that I have doubts like Abram, worries about promises You have made, freak outs about timing that doesn’t materialize on my timeline. Thank You for loving me through my doubts. Thank You for Your acts of grace, mercy, compassion. Always. Amen.

Genesis 17:12 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. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 17:5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  

At its heart, verse 5 feels almost a bit cruel–God is changing Abram’s name to Abraham “for I have made you a father of many nations,”–This said to Abram, father of only Ishmael, conceived with Sarai’s servant. But God is not cruel, so Abram, Abraham, makes the choice to trust His promise, even now at 99 years old, instead of being bitter about the current irony of the name change.

Genesis 17:6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

I find myself in a similar position when life hits me out of nowhere. Things can feel cruel and spiteful, but that is not who God is. He is loving, gracious, compassionate, kind, uplifting. He’ll “call a spade a spade,” but He doesn’t intentionally harm people or make them suffer. So I am learning to slow down, to breathe, to say to myself, “This feels cruel (or mean or spiteful or….), but that is not who God is, so there must be something else going on here. Jesus, Help me.” I’m definitely a work in progress here.

Genesis 17:7 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. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the knowledge of who You are and who You are to me. Thank You for the ability to say, “This feels spiteful, mean, cruel, but that’s not who God is, so what else is going on here?” Help me, even when the road is rough, to trust You, to draw closer to You, to shine Your light. Always. Amen.

Genesis 17:8 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.” 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 17:1 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. 

Commentary says that it has been 13 years since Abram had a visit from God (insofar as scripture tells us). Thirteen YEARS. Abram is now 99, and he has one son through his wife’s servant, but he has a promise from God that he will be the father of more descendants than stars in the sky.

Genesis 17:2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

I honestly cannot imagine. On the one hand, I have this promise from God–God!–that my descendants will be too numerous to count. On the other hand, I’m 99, and I have one child because my wife and I took matters into our own hands. I understand how Abram would question that promise. I get it. Jesus, Help me.

Genesis 17:3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 

Precious Savior, I know that Your thoughts are nothing like my thoughts, and Your ways are far beyond anything I could imagine (Is 55:8). I also know that Your timeline is not my own either. Forgive me when I doubt because things don’t happen in my timeline. Give me faith like Abram to believe Your promises, no matter the timeline. Help me to be faithful to You. Always. Amen.

Genesis 17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 16:13 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.” 

Commentary says about these verses: “Hagar thought her circumstances needed transformation; in fact, she needed transformation.” That seems to describe Sarai in this chapter as well–Sarai wanted a child, Hagar wanted…a position or some power instead of powerlessness, perhaps. But both seem to have in mind what should change in their circumstances to make their lives better.

Genesis 16:14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

Haven’t we all been there, though? I know I have. In my mind, I know exactly what should transpire, what the situation should be, what I should have or not have, do or not do, in order for everything to be just exactly right in my world. But life never quite works that way, and that’s the point here, I think. We don’t need circumstances to be exactly a certain way, we need Jesus as our center so that we can face whatever circumstances come our way.

Genesis 16:15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 

Precious Savior, It sounds almost trite to say we need You first so that we can handle everything else, but it is anything but. We need You, first and foremost in our lives, so that we can handle all the other things. Thank You for that reminder. Thank You for that truth. Thank You for Your love, Your goodness, Your presence. Thank You. Amen.

Genesis 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 16:9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 

Hagar is Egyptian. According to a brief Google search, she was Islamic, so the fact that the angel of the Lord appears to her in her distress and tells her that the Lord has heard her misery and has a plan for her and her descendants is interesting to me.

Genesis 16:10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

I wonder what Hagar thought of all of this. Was she a devout Muslim? She goes back to Sarai and Abram. Was that because she believed the angel of the Lord or because she had no other options? What can we learn from Hagar in these verses?

Genesis 16:11 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. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the ability to ponder Your word, for seeing things and wondering about things that I have not before. Help me to learn and to draw closer to You, always. Amen.

Genesis 16:12 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.”

Have a blessed day.