5. Circumcision (Chapter 17)
Read 1-2. How many years had elapsed since Abram had come to Canaan? (24 years / 13 years since Ishmael’s birth.)
By this time Abram . . .
1. (waited a long time.)
2. (needed his faith reassured)
Note the different names used for the Lord. (faithful / constant – power.)
Why would God want Abram to know of His power at this point? (he was going to perform a miracle in Sarah’s womb.)
Romans 4:18-21 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Blameless =
(Hebrew word Tamim – means complete.
Live whole life in confidence God’s power can do amazing things.)
What does God
promise to do in vs. 2? (carry out His
covenant – already established it / now going to DO it.)
Read 3-8. How
does Abram respond? (humble awe – standing before the LORD!)
Abram = (exalted
father)
Abraham = (father
of many nations)
How has vs. 5
come true? (Abraham is the father of Jews, Arabs
physically and also spiritually of the believers.)
Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
How did vs. 6
come true? (David’s line.)
Once again vs. 8
reiterates the promise of the land. But
what is inseperably linked with the promise of land? (that He will be
their God – if not / then no land either.)
Read 9-14.
Notice how in vs. 9 the covenant started with YOU.
Circumcision was
. . . (common in ancient world according to Jeremiah 9:25 – as a hygienic or
puberty rite.)
According to
vs. 11 what was the purpose of circumcision? (A sign of the covenant.)
Was it a
condition of the covenant? (no – it
was a sign of it – a reminder of it.)
Jeske:
The male organ was singled out, the instrument of procreation by which sin
is transmitted from father to child.
Life needs to be purified at its very source. (153 PB)
(ALSO that Savior will come through seed.)
Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still
uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been
circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
To fail to be
circumcised in the Old Testament was a rejection of God’s covenant and promise
. . .
Exodus 4:24-26 At a lodging
place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah
took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.
“Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the LORD let him
alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to
circumcision.)
So God regarded a
failure to circumcise as . . . (a rejection of his covenant promise – cause to
be cut off from people.)
What do these
two covenant seals mentioned in this section tell you about God? (wanted Abraham and his descendants to be sure of his promise
– EVEN FOREIGNERS – no discretion on Abraham’s part.)
Circumcision was
in effect an Old Testament sacrament. How
so? (promise
attached to an action – which connected to the coming of Christ.)
What about
today?
Acts 15:5-11 Then some of the
believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The
Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.” The apostles and elders met to consider this
question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers,
you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might
hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart,
showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did
to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts
by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the
disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We
believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as
they are.”
Acts 15:19-21 “It is
my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles
who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food
polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals
and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest
times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
Galatians
5:2-6, 11-12 Mark my
words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will
be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be
circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to
be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from
grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for
which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has
any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. . . . Brothers, if I am still preaching
circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the
cross has been abolished. As for those
agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
What
similarities do we see between circumcision and baptism, and what differences?
Read 15-16.
Sarah = (princess – a royal title – if she will be mother of kings she
deserves a royal title. Sarai? Don’t know
difference between two.)
Notice how
specific God is in vs. 16. (give YOU
a son BY HER.)
Who were the
two most famous royal offspring of Sarah? (David and Jesus.)
Again, the
Scriptures note the power of this promise . . .
Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and
well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced
the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years
old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
Hebrews
11:11-12 By faith
Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled
to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on
the seashore.
Read 17-22. What
double response, both important for our Christian life, do you notice in
Abraham?
1. (humility)
2. (joyful) should be our view of worship.
What possible
reason do you see here why God made Abraham wait so long? (crushes us before he lifts us up. Make it completely impossible so room for
faith.)
How do we know
that Abraham isn’t requesting Ishmael to be the substitute for Isaac?
(God says yes in vs. 19 and then promises blessings to him as well.)
Isaac = (laughter
– reflective of what Abraham did in joy – a promise again.
What other
detail does God give about his plan in vs. 21? (time line – by this time next year.)
Notice how God
also involves Abraham in this whole process.
What does this tell us about how God works faith? (through the Word –
promises – engage the mind – intertwine the body.)
Note how Abraham’s faith was ...
1. (immediate
2. (complete
3. (trusting)