I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
So, is there a difference between walking ‘with’ God, and walking ‘before’ God? I don’t know. And if there is, I don’t know what that difference would be anyways. Just for reference, though, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. Enoch walked with God and was no more. Noah walked with God and had his family saved from global destruction. And here, God tells Abram to walk before him, and be blameless.
Be blameless. God is going to make him blameless, perfect, righteous.
Or, and this idea pretty much blew my mind when I first thought about it, what if it just means: blameless. Free from blame. What if after all the junk that just went down in chapter 16, with Ishmael and everything involved with that, what if after all that, God comes and says: “It’s ok. Here, let’s go for a walk. I don’t blame you.”
I will confirm my covenant between me and you…
“Yeah, you messed up. But it’s ok. I’m still going to honor this covenant. I’m going to make you great, no matter what you do or how bad you screw up. And I’m not going to blame you for the mistakes that we both know you’re going to make.”
Abram fell facedown…
Yeah. That’s about how I felt too.
Abram à Abraham
Abraham. Father of many. And in a way, God shows what it means to be ‘born again’ as he opens the door to the next part of Abraham’s life, and gives him a new name to match it. A name of promise.
Hey look, covenant, covenant, covenant, covenant…I’m getting a vibe that this chapter has something to do with some sort of covenant. “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Yep. There’s a covenant. I knew it. Also, it’s not some sort term deal, but an everlasting bond that is to be passed down from Abraham through his descendants for generations.
You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant…
Whoa now. I was all for this you being my God, and all the land being mine, and me being a great nation and everything, but come on now, that’s not really what you mean, right? Wait, it is? You want me to what? To my what?!?
So anyways, my first question is whether Abraham even knew what this was. I mean, this is the first mention in the Bible about circumcision, and I can’t imagine it was really a popular thing to do at the time, so I wonder if God had to explain the process, and how that conversation went. For that matter, even if Abraham did know what was being asked, I can’t even imaged what was going through his head at that moment…
Besides all that, we then have the obvious question: why? Seriously, why is God including this as part of his covenant with Abraham?
First off, as a sign. “It will be the sign of the covenant…” As generations pass, relatives can lose track of each other, or your heritage can get jumbled, or whatever. I mean, do you know your great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents? Or anything about them at all? Yeah, I didn’t think so. However, circumcision is something very specific that is to be passed down through Abraham’s descendants, so that as the nation grows, they can always be assured of where they came from. They came from Abraham. They have a covenant with God. And his promises are still true. It’s an identifying mark. A reminder. They are special. Unique. Chosen by God.
As a side point, hygiene was definitely more of an issue at that time, and this procedure could definitely have helped to avoid certain infections or diseases. So it also served as somewhat of a sanitary measure.
Sarai à Sarah
Like Abraham, Sarah also gets a new name, as she begins her new section of life. A life in which she will actually be able to have a son.
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.
Now we get a little bit more clarification of the promise, just so nobody’s confused any more.
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed…
Well, sort of not confused. It’s still confusing. Abram and Sarai can’t have kids. They’re too old. Ah-ha! Luckily we have spiffy new name changes to fix that problem. All is new in the world. Anything is possible.
If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!
Then God said, “Yes, but…”
Hey God, I hear what you’re saying and all, but if only you would do it this way, it would be good. I mean, I have a son already, just bless him. “Yes, but…” Yes, it may be good, but I have something better planned. Yes, you think you understand, but I have things in store that you can’t even begin to imagine. Yes, you want good, but I want to give you great. Yes, but…
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him…
Oh, I’ve got great things planned, but here, have the good as well.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.
Hey, the baby already has a due date. We’re really nailing down the specifics here. Making sure everybody’s on the same page with who is supposed to be having what baby, when.
Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.
No waiting around. No time to start questioning if that was really what God said, or what he meant. The directions were clear, and Abraham acted. Immediately.
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