Reading Genesis 15-18:15
We enter into one of the most important texts for which all Abrahamic faiths find their roots – the covenant (or two covenants) that God made with Abram. Also the text that continues to be the main dividing line that separates modern Islam from Judaism and Christianity. I present my reflection from the perspective of a Christian.
The flow of Chapters 15-17 are as follows:
1. Chapter 15: God’s covenant with Abram for an heir.
2. Chapter 16: Abram, Hagar and Ishmael.
3. Chapter 17: God’s covenant with Abraham through circumcision.
In the previous reflections, we saw how God called Abram out of the land of his father into the land of Canaan. Now that Abram has settled in this land, what next? God is going to speak to Abram again. One thing that is very much on Abram’s mind is who he will pass his inheritance to. In fact, this was Abram’s first response and in somewhat no relation to God’s message to him through a vision.
But God continues that Abram WILL have an heir. God led Abram outside and said “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Every covenant is sealed with a sign. A sign points to something. An exit sign is not the exit itself, but it points to the exit of a building. In the same way, God provided a sign to Abram through the stars. God seals the promise of an heir with the sign of stars. The stars point to God’s faithfulness to Abram that he will provide an heir, in fact God will do more than just providing an heir, He will provide heirs of heirs. While Abram is worried about the next generation, God had promised multiple generations.
But again, all these will be meaningless if not for how Abram responded. Verse 7 tells us, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Abram was made righteous not because of anything that he did or will do, but he was made righteous because he BELIEVED. He was righteous because of his faith. This is also one of Paul’s main arguments for believers, that we are made righteous because of our faith and not anything else. God’s model of righteousness is set, first through the example of Abram’s faith.
Now, Chapter 16 then goes on to narrate for us that the same question on Abram’s mind in Chapter 15 is still on his mind in Chapter 16. Abram took things into his own hands and conceived a child with Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian slave. This ultimately created some (for a lack of a better quantifier) conflict in the family. Hagar, bearing Abram’s first child, fled. But what follows is interesting.
From a Judaism/Christianity perspective, despite Ishmael (God’s chosen name for Hagar’s child) being a result of man’s intention, as oppose to God’s plan, God still enlarged the descendants of Abram through the line of Ishmael. But what follows from this will be generations of hostility and opposition from “everyone”. This is really puzzling. God has already shown that He is able to rectify man’s wrong-doings, as seen from the flood. YET, He did not choose this route this time. Instead, he made it long-suffering, not just for Ishmael and his descendent, but also for everyone who will oppose them.
This particular Chapter is puzzling. Why would God choose a route that causes long-suffering for mankind? I honestly have no answer or thoughts to this from my reflection. Instead of “righting the wrong”, this act seem to make things worse. Not only is Hagar already at odds with Sarai, descendants now will be at odds and worse. The only thing I gather is that God made a covenant and kept it. God could have kept it through other means, i.e. through the line he had chosen, but instead He decided to continue to keep the covenant.
Yet, from the time Abram had Ishmael (86 years old) to the time God appeared to him again (99 years old), Abram had no additional children. Why? This is immediately answered in verse 2. “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.” The quantifier is that Abram MUST walk faithfully and blameless. The act of taking things into his own hands, is a reflection of Abram’s unfaithfulness, and because of that, for 13 years, Abram had no additional children.
God made another covenant. The first covenant was that Abram will have an heir, this time the covenant is that Abram, now called Abraham, will be father of nations. Notice that these two are different. God had fulfilled and will continue to fulfil the first covenant through Ishmael and other descendants of Abraham. But here, in the second covenant, God is telling Abraham that not only will he be the father of a single nation, he will be the father of nations. On top of that, the land of Canaan will be inhabited by Abraham’s descendants. Again to seal this covenant, there is a sign – the sign of circumcision.
Immediately, God fulfilled the ‘nations‘ part of the covenant by promising a son to Sarah – a nation from the line of Isaac while blessing Ishmael, making him the father of twelve rulers, and into a great nation. More importantly, God had chosen to establish His covenant with Isaac and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.
The sign of circumcision was immediately performed, Abraham at 99 and Ishmael at 13. The covenant however instructed for male babies at 8 days old to be circumcised. Isaac will be the first male descendants (as we will see) who is circumcised in 8 days from birth according to the sign of circumcision, sealing his status and promise that God had made with Abraham.
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