In His Time and Way

Well, last Sunday we left off the story of Abraham, and as we left him, he was, we imagine,

lying on his back in the field, looking up into the night sky, counting the stars.

God had made a wonderful promise to him that he would have numerous descendants.

He made a covenant with him that day, and Moses tells us in Genesis, back in chapter

15, that Abraham believed.

But the passage of time has a way of doing a number on our faith.

And even though Abraham has been given new details about how these promises will be fulfilled

and tangible symbols of God's assurance, doubt begins to creep in again.

This time, through the back door of his own household.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.

So she said to Abram,

The Lord has kept me from having children.

Go, sleep with my slave.

Perhaps I can build a family through her.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

So after Abram had been living in Canaan 10 years, Sarai, his wife, took her Egyptian slave

Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

He slept with Hagar.

And she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

Then Sarai said to Abraham,

You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.

I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she's pregnant, she despises me.

May the Lord judge between you and me.

Your slave is in your hands, Abram said.

Do with her whatever you think best.

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar.

And the story goes on from there.

It's been 10 years now since Abraham has entered the promised land.

On three different occasions, the Lord has said that he would give Abraham offspring.

And the last time, which we heard about last Sunday,

he said that it will be a son of your own flesh and blood.

But the time has passed by.

And a little bit more time.

And a little bit more time.

And still, no sign of this promised child.

This son.

It's been 10 years now since they first arrived in Canaan.

And they've tried and tried and tried.

Sarai is now 75 years old.

Menopause is long come and gone.

And still, no children.

Finally, we get the sense here that Sarah just can't take it anymore.

She's done with hoping in this impossible situation.

And so she comes up with a plan to kind of help God's promise come true.

But even as she first speaks of her plan to her husband, Abraham,

we can already tell that this is not a good thing.

Notice the words that she uses as she speaks to Abraham.

She says,

The Lord has kept me from having children.

Perhaps a little bit of frustration and bitterness there.

She gives the Lord the credit or perhaps the blame for why she has not yet conceived.

She gives Hagar, her maidservant, to Abraham.

Notice those words she says right at the end there, verse 2.

Perhaps I can build a family through her.

It seems as though Sarah is done with anticipating and waiting for what God has promised to do.

God has promised to build a family for Abraham.

But the Lord, he's the one who has kept me from having children.

Perhaps I can get the family that I desire for myself through this other way.

And to all of our disappointment, Abraham agrees with her.

This is the moment where we were hoping that Abraham would say,

No, Sarah.

I am yours and yours alone.

God made a promise and he's going to keep it.

And so we just need to keep waiting patiently.

But unfortunately, he doesn't say that.

He agrees to go along with the plan.

This whole episode is just dripping in how it's written with parallels to the Garden of Eden.

To that moment when Adam and Eve blew it together.

The writer, Moses, is signaling that what is happening here is not good.

This was a bad decision.

And we're not going to read the rest of the chapter, but we read a little bit of it there.

The results of this decision?

Heartache, pain, suffering, abuse, marital conflict.

The family, the sense we get is nearly torn apart.

This was not a decision of faith.

And at the end of it all, Hagar does bear a son for Abram.

And technically, he is Abram's flesh and blood.

But is this how the Lord meant for it to go?

The way that this whole story is framed by Moses tells us no.

Chapter 17.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him.

13 years later.

Ishmael now is just entering into his teenage years.

We can only imagine what this has been like for Abram.

As a 99-year-old man.

80 to 90-year-old man.

And the Lord appears to him again.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said,

I am God Almighty.

Walk before me faithfully.

And be blameless.

Then I will make my covenant between me and you.

And will greatly increase your numbers.

So the Lord appears to him again.

And there's probably two things in there that I think, at least to me,

kind of strike me as odd.

With what the Lord says to him.

For the first time in all of this, since the very beginning,

God is giving Abraham something to do.

A command to obey.

Requirements.

Up until now, it's been, I will bless you.

Period.

I will do all this for you.

Period.

He walked through the animal halves himself.

I'm going to make sure I keep all of my promises to you.

Period.

And now suddenly, it seems that there's conditions.

That the Lord expects something of Abraham.

Walk before me faithfully.

And be blameless.

That's interesting.

We'll come back to that.

The second thing that we notice is that the Lord seems to command these two things

as a condition for making his covenant with Abraham.

And then I will make my covenant with you.

And right about now, we're probably all thinking,

well, wasn't the covenant already made with Abraham over a decade ago?

That's what we talked about last Sunday.

How can the Lord now suddenly put conditions into it?

The simple answer is, and it's going to come out as we read on,

is that this is not a second covenant.

This is an expansion.

This is an official confirmation of that same covenant that's already been made.

And we'll see that in a moment.

So the Lord appears.

He kind of gives these introductory statements, these commands, this promise.

He sets it up.

And then in verse 3,

Abram fell face down.

And God said to him,

As for me, this is my covenant with you.

You will be the father of many nations.

No longer will you be called Abram.

Your name will be Abraham,

for I have made you a father of many nations.

I will make you very fruitful.

I will make nations of you.

And kings will come from you.

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.

The whole land of Canaan,

where you now reside as a foreigner,

I will give you as an everlasting possession to you

and your descendants after you.

And I will be their God.

So again, the Lord makes promises to Abraham.

One of the first orders of business with this covenant,

we're going to change your name.

No longer will you be called Abram.

Now you're going to be called Abraham,

which means father of a multitude.

And here's the first of the big promises.

I'm going to make you a father of nations,

of many nations.

Way back when the Lord first spoke to Abraham,

it was,

I will make you into a great nation.

But now the Lord enlarges the promise.

I'm going to make you the father of nations, plural.

Not just some,

not just a few,

but a multitude of nations,

many nations.

Wow.

The Lord goes on.

I will make you very fruitful.

Kings will come from you.

You see a lot of kings in the land right now?

Just wait and see.

Kings will come from you.

Some of your descendants will be them.

And there's more.

This covenant that I'm establishing with you,

it will be an everlasting covenant,

says the Lord,

between me and you,

and between me and your descendants after you.

And speaking of everlasting,

this land in which you're still living as a foreigner,

23 years later,

this land will be your everlasting possession.

This land will be your everlasting possession.

Permanent.

And then after all these great promises,

God makes the ultimate promise.

He says in verse seven,

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you.

to be your God.

I will be your God.

To be your God.

And the God of your descendants after you.

And I will be their God.

He says again in verse eight.

If all that God has promised up until now to Abraham isn't amazing and wonderful enough,

God now promises this incredible thing,

to be their God.

God.

And it's here that we,

the promises that have been made kind of come into focus and we start to see.

God is not interested in just giving Abraham the ultimate sweepstakes,

a huge contract for a generous portion of land and a,

and a huge family tree.

That's not what this is all about.

Those,

those are,

those are part of it.

But with this is all about this covenant that I'm establishing with you is so

that I will be your God and you will be my people.

This is about a relationship between God and Abraham.

A covenant relationship.

The closest picture that we have of this,

we don't really have covenant relationship that we,

you know,

that's like this today except marriage.

That's kind of the closest picture we have.

It's,

it's a relationship covenant where both people exchange promises.

And make vows to one another,

to be loyal to each other,

to be devoted to one another exclusively and permanently.

This is kind of a beginning of a picture of what God is envisioning,

what God desires with Abraham and with his descendants,

a permanent,

deeply committed,

devoted,

loyal relationship between me.

as God and you,

Abraham and your descendants.

It's to be a two way relationship.

And suddenly as we go back to the beginning comment where the Lord said,

walk before me faithfully and be blameless,

that it makes sense.

This is what the Lord has been after all along.

It's not just been about,

I'm just going to give you a bunch of stuff so you can be happy.

And then we'll go our separate ways.

No,

this has been about forging a relationship,

a deep relationship,

a committed relationship.

And so of course there's the expectation on Abraham's side of things,

that he will live in submission to God.

This is not a human,

human covenant.

This is a God and human covenant.

So we should expect that obedience is part of the overall picture.

That walking faithfully devoted to the Lord is part of this for Abraham.

I will establish this with you to be your God.

This is the ultimate promise in this whole covenant package.

This is really the goal and the direction of this covenant.

Verse nine.

Then God said to Abraham,

as for you,

you must keep my covenant,

you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

the covenant you are to keep.

Every male among you shall be circumcised.

The Lord goes on to lay out what is going to be both a condition and a sign

of this covenant relationship.

relationship and it's circumcision.

Abraham is to be circumcised.

Every male in his household is to be circumcised.

And from now on,

every male born into the household is to be circumcised at eight days old or a

week old.

Choosing not to be circumcised is choosing to break the covenant and will result in

being cut off from the people,

from the promises.

The Lord makes this circumcision a part of the covenant.

But he also says very clearly in here,

it is to be a sign of the covenant.

And so the question I want to answer this morning is how does that work?

And why circumcision of all things?

I mean,

probably most of us are wondering that.

Why that?

This is another example of God taking a human custom or tradition that was already

around and happening in the ancient world and setting it apart for his own

purposes.

So what's the symbolism here?

I don't want to be too graphic,

but first of all,

circumcision involves cutting off the foreskin.

It points back to the covenant that was cut with Abraham.

That's the language that was used last Sunday.

The animals that were cut in two.

Cutting is how this covenant is formed.

And so the symbol,

the sign of it involves cutting.

Second,

circumcision is permanent.

There's no going back from that.

There's apparently some kind of surgery today that they do,

but it doesn't sound like it really does a whole lot to,

to really reverse it.

It's irreversible.

It's a permanent thing.

Just as this covenant is permanent,

it's an everlasting covenant.

There's no going back on the words,

the promises that I've made to you.

And so the sign of it is permanent and it will serve as a constant reminder to

those who bear it.

Third,

the organ,

we call it that,

which undergoes the procedure is the organ for sexual reproduction.

And that corresponds to the promises that have been made.

That he would have seed,

offspring,

and be very fruitful.

They're directly related to one another.

And fourth,

it's a way for God to have his mark on his people.

But it's not like branding.

Something that you would do for cattle,

just to help other people distinguish

whose,

whose is your,

which ones are yours,

and which ones belong to someone else.

This mark is upon the most intimate and private part,

where God alone sees it.

And this points to the sacred,

and close,

and exclusive relationship that this covenant is all about.

This was a requirement that God gave to Abraham.

It was also a sign of the covenant.

And I want to stress this,

that this sign right from the get-go was always intended to go with,

walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

The relationship aspect.

Just because you were circumcised in the ancient world,

didn't automatically make you the Lord's.

In fact,

there's a couple instances later on in the Old Testament,

where some people missed that circumcision moment,

and later were circumcised,

and kind of brought back into the covenant.

And the Lord allowed that.

And as we'll find out with Ishmael in a moment here,

merely being circumcised is not enough to claim this covenant,

and the promises that were made in it,

for yourself.

The Lord is not interested in just giving another religious duty,

another empty ritual for his people to do.

His intention right from the get-go is that this goes along with a full-hearted devotion to him,

to this relationship that's being established by the covenant.

They're meant to go together.

And we can see this as early as Deuteronomy,

when the Lord is already talking about the need for his people to have their hearts circumcised.

He wants to see the covenant relationship lived out in here,

and not just on the outside in the body.

After spelling out the details of this sign of the covenant,

we hear a little bit more of what the Lord has promised in verse 15.

God also said to Abraham,

As for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai.

Her name will be Sarah.

I will bless her, and will surely give you a son by her.

I will bless her so that she will become the mother of nations.

Kings of peoples will come from her.

Verse 17.

Abraham fell face down.

He laughed and said to himself,

Will a son be born to a man 100 years old?

Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?

This is one of my favorite moments.

Carl's not here today, but I want you to picture him.

He's 91.

Add eight years to that.

Here's Abraham.

He's already fallen down once on his face before the Lord,

and so you imagine that he's kind of on his knees,

and the Lord tells him that he's going to bless Sarah

and give him a son by Sarah, his 90-year-old wife.

And this is his response.

He falls down on his face, and he laughs.

Look at what it says.

Look at what it says.

Note that it says,

He said to himself,

not to God.

He said to himself,

Will a son be born to a man 100 years old?

Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?

We don't really know exactly what he means by this.

I mean, some would say maybe he's got doubt and unbelief.

This is, that's ridiculous.

Others would just say, maybe he thought the Lord was joking with him.

Maybe he, maybe he just thought it was funny that,

what this would mean if the Lord really did this.

I mean, here I am 100 years old,

and I'm going to have a child,

a two-year-old that I'll be chasing around.

People are going to laugh at me.

This is,

we don't know exactly what he was thinking,

but he thought it was funny.

And he laughed.

The next thing that he says,

if only Ishmael might live under your blessing.

Lord, I'm 100 years old.

Let Ishmael, the son I've already got,

have the blessings.

That's good enough for me.

You don't have to do it this way.

This is, this is crazy.

I mean, look at us.

We're senior citizens here.

Then God said,

yes,

but your wife, Sarah,

will bear you a son,

and you will call him Isaac,

which means he laughed.

I will establish my covenant with him

as an everlasting covenant

for his descendants after him.

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 12 rulers,

and I will make him into a great nation.

But my covenant,

I will establish with Isaac,

whom Sarah will bear to you

by this time next year.

When he had finished speaking with Abraham,

God went up from him.

So what's the Lord's answer?

Abraham asks if Ishmael might bear the blessing,

might inherit the blessings and the promises.

The Lord's answer is,

well, yes, I will bless Ishmael,

but my promise is this covenant

will be for Isaac and his descendants

and not for Ishmael.

There's no reason given here.

It just seems that the Lord has his plan.

One guy looking at this

said it seems the Lord is stubborn.

I won't use that word.

I think it seems the Lord is committed

to his plan.

Not through Ishmael,

but through Isaac.

The promises,

the land,

it'll be for Isaac

and not Ishmael.

But notice how the Lord does

listen to Abraham in this moment,

which is amazing.

May Ishmael live under your blessing.

Yes,

I have heard you.

I know that you love your son.

He's precious to you.

And yes,

I will bless him.

And the Lord is not stingy

by any means

with how he promises

to bless Ishmael.

I mean,

many of these promises

are things that

the Lord has already said

to Abraham.

I will make him

into a great nation too.

You'll be the father

of a multitude of nations,

but I will make him

into a great nation.

I will greatly increase

his descendants,

just as I said

I would do for you.

But there's also

some differences.

He'll be the father

of 12 rulers,

12 tribal leaders.

not kings.

And that bit about

the land

and I will be

your God

and you will be

my people.

That's not there.

My covenant,

the greater promises,

the covenant

through which

I will be your God

and you will be

my people

is for Isaac

and his descendants

and not for Ishmael.

finally,

the Lord

gives Abraham

the specific promise

that long ago

he was waiting for.

By this time next year,

Sarah will bear you

a son.

A definite time frame.

Something to look forward to.

And so what does Abraham do

in response to all this?

Verse 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.

Abraham

acted in faith.

He took the Lord's word seriously.

He did what the Lord

told him to do.

Notice those little words

in 23.

On that very day.

It's actually twice

in that little paragraph there.

On that very day,

he obeyed God

immediately.

And he didn't just go halfway.

He did the whole household.

He went the full way

just as God

told him to do.

And this was no small thing.

Just a few chapters back,

we know that Abraham

has 318 trained

fighting men

in his household,

servants.

By now,

probably up to 400.

We're talking

setting up a tent

and getting

potentially 400 guys

to go through this.

And yet he does it

right away,

exactly as the Lord

told him to do.

Full-hearted faith

and full-hearted obedience.

Well, what do we learn

from all this?

What does Abraham

learn about God

through all this?

There's a lot here.

We see

back towards

the beginning here

that

while God

promises

to bless

the socks

off his people,

he doesn't just

give them a free pass

to,

oh,

you can live

however you want.

No,

there are good

and right expectations

that come along

with this.

This is about

a covenant relationship.

This is not just about

me giving you

a bunch of stuff.

It's the same for us

in the new covenant

with Christ.

As the apostle

Peter said

in his letter

to the churches,

he said,

be holy in all you do

just as the Lord

is holy.

Paul said it

in his letter

to the Philippians.

As you've always

obeyed,

continue to work

out your salvation

with fear and trembling.

Yes,

submission to God,

to the Lord,

obedience

is part

of the relationship.

It's not the basis

for the relationship.

That's grace.

That's the gift

of God.

But it's a part.

And speaking of relationship,

that's another thing

that we really see here.

The Lord is not just

interested

in giving us

all this stuff

and then having us

go our separate ways.

All along,

this has been about

establishing

a relationship

with a people.

And not just

any relationship,

not just a friendship,

but a deeply

committed

relationship

in which

he is fully

devoted to

his people

and his people

are fully devoted

to him.

The kind of relationship

that can only

really be

described by the word

covenant.

And even beyond that,

blood covenant.

The act of circumcision

was fitting

to describe

just how

sacred,

how close

this relationship

is to be.

How permanent.

We see again here

in this passage

that God is ever

so gracious.

I mean,

think of all the things

that God promised

to Abraham.

Father of multitude

of nations.

All this land,

I'm going to give it

to you.

Why?

What has Abraham

done to deserve this?

I mean,

look at how he

responded to Sarai

just a moment earlier

with this whole

Hagar

incident.

we're reminded

from last Sunday

that the Lord

did not see

Abraham

as righteous.

So why is he

getting all of this

grace,

this gift,

this promise,

this blessing?

Not because he

deserves it,

but because God

is gracious

and merciful

and wants to

give it to him.

to the sinner

from Ur.

We also see

the Lord's

graciousness

in how he

responds to

Abraham.

I mean,

here Abraham

is on his face

and he laughs.

God makes

one of the most

incredible promises

to him

and he laughs

in the face

of God's promise.

And the Lord

doesn't strike him

down.

he's gracious

to him.

He even

listens to

his request

that Ishmael

would be blessed

to.

He says,

yes,

I will.

We learn

from Abraham

that living

by faith

means taking

God seriously.

It means

obeying

immediately

and fully.

But if there's

one thing

that really

stands out

to me

in all this,

it's how

Abraham learns

here that

God will

keep his

promises

but that

he will do

it in his

way

and in his

time.

We sure

see that

here,

don't we?

God will

keep his

promises

in his

time.

The initial

promise was

made 25

years ago.

We've been

here for 10

years,

still no

progress,

still no

sign of a

son.

So we'll

try to help

God along

with it.

And even

then,

the Lord

waits another

14 years

till Abraham

is nearly

100 and

Sarah 90

before he

lets them

know that

it will be

yet one

more year

until the

promised

son is

born.

If there's

one thing

that we see

here,

it's that

God is

not in a

hurry.

He's

patient.

Abraham

and Sarah,

they think

he's late.

they think

he's slow.

But the

Lord has

his appointed

time and

he will

keep his

promise in

his time.

Perhaps

there's things

in your life

right now for

which you've

been waiting

for God

to act,

to intervene,

to do

something.

Prayer,

prayers that

you've

prayed.

Maybe you

feel like

God is

slow or

late.

maybe like

Sarah,

you're just

about ready

to take

things into

your own

hand and

find a

way to

get it

done

yourself.

But know

this,

our time

and the

brevity of

our lives

poses no

threat to

the promises

of God.

He is

able to

keep his

promise

no matter

what.

how Abraham

and Sarah

would have

been spared

all that

heartache and

pain and

suffering,

their family

nearly being

torn apart,

had they

only waited

for the

promised

son.

Secondly,

we see that

God will

keep his

promises in

his way.

He will

keep them

in his

time and

he will

keep them

in his

way.

God's

way didn't

seem to

be working

and so

Abraham and

Sarah

cooked up

a plan,

a different

way.

And for

13 years

Abraham has

been holding

this baby

boy,

he's been

chasing around

this little

boy,

now this

boy is

13 years

old,

he's been

looking at

Ishmael

as the

one through

whom God's

promises

would come

true for

13 years

and then

God appears

to him

and says,

no,

it won't

be through

Ishmael.

It'll be

a different

way.

It'll be

through Isaac.

I'm going

to do it

a different

way.

I'm going

to do it

the impossible

way.

I'm going

to reverse

menopause

for your

90-year-old

wife and

have her

bear a

son and

do it

that way.

And even

though Abraham

asks,

do it

this way,

the Lord

says,

no,

this is

the way

that I

will fulfill

my promise

to you.

This is

what you're

going to

name him.

The promises

of this

covenant

will be

his,

they will

not be

Ishmael's.

God will

keep his

promise,

but he

will do

it in

his

way.

Perhaps

there's

things in

your life

right now

that you

feel are

not going

the way

that you

want them

to.

Things in

which you're

wondering,

how can

you allow

this to

happen,

Lord,

when you

said,

fill in

the blank

in your

word.

If you

really love

me,

if you

really care

about me,

why is

my story

going like

this?

But it's

here we

see that

God doesn't

always do

things our

way or

according to

our plan.

Does it

mean he's

unfaithful,

unkind,

unloving,

distant,

uncaring?

No.

We must

remember as

Abraham saw

very clearly

that day

that he,

Yahweh,

is the

God.

God.

And we

are not.

He is

able to

keep his

promises,

but he

will do

it in

his

way.

This

kind of

makes us

uncomfortable

sometimes,

I think.

We want a

God that

we can

control.

We want a

God that

will at

least give

us a

sense that

we're in

control.

people.

But the

Lord,

Yahweh,

is free.

He's not

bound by

our

expectations

of him.

He's not

bound by

our

limited

point of

view.

He will

keep his

promises,

but the

horizons of

his promises

often stretch

far beyond

what we can

see or

expect.

and he

will keep

them in

his way.

And so

the question

this kind

of drives

us to

words is

this.

Will we

learn to

trust him

and walk

before him

faithfully

no matter

what?

No matter

what we

see or

don't see.

No matter

what we

feel or

don't feel.

No matter

whether the

situation is

improving in

the present

or not.

Will we

learn to

trust him

no matter

what?

And so

this morning

as we

close,

where do we

find Abraham?

Again,

we find him

lying on

his back,

this time

staring up

at the

ceiling of

his tent

with the

searing pain

in his

loins.

but confident

and rejoicing,

expecting

with great

anticipation

the miracle,

the impossible

that the

Lord is about

to do in

just a

year's time.

And that

is just the

prelude

of the

bigger and

greater promises

that God

has made.

all of this

part of this

wonderful

relationship

that God

has initiated

with him

and brought

him into

and confirmed

today

through this

covenant.

let's pray.

Thank you for

your word,

Lord.

It speaks

of a time

long ago,

but in

many ways

we go

through similar

things in

our lives

today.

Thank you

for the

encouragement

of your

word.

Teach us

to walk

by faith,

to live

by faith,

to make

our decisions

by faith,

not based

on what

we can

see,

Lord,

but based

on what

your word

tells us,

the promises

that you

have made

to us.

We thank

you that

you have

made great

promises

to us.

You've

spoken about

your return,

about a

great kingdom

that we

will be

a part

of

someday.

Lord,

by our

own

evaluation

of things

and time,

it's a

long time

in coming.

It's been

2,000

years.

But we

choose to

trust that

you will

keep your

promises,

not only to

Abraham,

but also to

us,

no matter

what.

It's in

Christ's name

that we

pray.

Amen.