God’s Promise of Blessing

We continue exploring God's covenant with humanity with Abraham this time.  We look in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1-3, chaper 15, verses 5-7 and chapter 17, verses 7-11.  God’s plan of salvation included Abraham and his descendants—ultimately the nation of Israel—as His spiritual conduit to humanity. 

God’s choice of these people doesn’t mean they’re superior to other humans, but it does mean that God did choose them as His special instruments. Through these people, this conduit to humanity, God would bring a Savior, Jesus. Through Jesus, God would bring the hope of a saving relationship with Him to the whole world.  In short, God promised to bless all peoples through His chosen people.  God's blessing is extended to all.  All that is necessary is the choice to have faith that God will fulfill his promise in response to your choice.

First let's look at who Abraham was.

Genesis 12:1-3

1 The Lord said to Abram: “Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abram, son of Terah, was a descendant of Noah's son Shem. He looks to me to be the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandson of Noah.  For ME that relation would be my ancestors from 1650 to 1700, about 300 to 400 years ago. 

Abram was told by God to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and travel toward Canaan.  The Chaldeans were an ethnic group that lived in Mesopotamia c. 1000 B.C.  The Chaldean tribes started to migrate from the mountainous regions around the mountains of Ararat towards the southern part of Mesopotamia c. 900 B.C.  On the way was Haran. 

Abram and his tribe stopped for an unspecified period in Haran were God supernaturally visited Abram calling him with a  demand for faith. God called Abram to leave his past, present, and future in the hands of God; to leave behind everyone and everything he knew and journey to a place he did not know.

Six times in verses one through three the phrase "I will" is used in relation to the covenant God was making with Abram.  I WILL:

1. Show you – God provided Abram with a path to travel to achieve God's purposes.
2. Make you into a great people – You will be at the top of a lineage of a very large number of people.
3. Bless you – God promised to make Abram's life full of benefits, good things.
4. Make your reputation great and YOU will be a blessing – God would change Abram's name, meaning father is exalted, to Abraham, meaning father of a multitude. 
5. Bless those who bless you – Those who are of benefit to Abram's descendents will have benefits from God bestowed upon them, and of course we know that the Messiah came from Abram's lineage.  But God also says he will...
6. Curse anyone who treats you with contempt – those who are contemptuous of them will be cursed (a word derived from the word course)...have their course of life become harmful rather than beneficial.

Pretty specific terms.  The ultimate blessing of the Abrahamic covenant was Abram’s offspring Jesus the Messiah who offers us all a covenant relationship with God. All who repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ become children of God.

But how populous would Abraham's people become?

Genesis 15:5-7

5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

According to one astronomy web site about 2600 to 4500 stars are visible to the naked eye. This be a very large family tree. For example my working family tree going ONLY back less than 800 years demonstrates only 42 direct ancestors and only 120 people. Astronomy ALSO tells us that our solar system is located in the Orion arm of the Milky Way Galaxy (a term from the Greek galaxias kyklos meaning milky circle). It is estimated that our galaxy has somewhere between 110-400 BILLION stars – a VERY large family tree indeed!  

A current mathematical rationalization estimates the number of ALL Homo sapiens ever born to be 117 BILLION.  Just as an interesting comparison, the longest family tree on human RECORD is that of Confucius who lived circa 500 B.C over 2500 years ago.  His tree currently has more than 80 generations and includes some 2 million members.  1.3 million of them are still alive.  So Abraham's lineage, who lived more than 1000 years earlier than Confucius, should be greater still.  One geneticist estimates it reasonable to conclude it to be in the hundreds of millions. 

Abram was 75 years old when he left for Canaan and Sarai his wife was around 65 years old, and they had not yet had any children.  It it seemed miraculous to claim that hundreds of millions of humans would be born from, what to us seems to be, an elederly couple.  But verse 6 is one of the most significant verses in all Scripture and is a significant aspect of the gospel message. This is the first time the Hebrew verb for believe (aman) is used in Scripture. It has the meaning of to trust, having confidence in someone or something. Abram confidently trusted God to do what He said He would do. Despite the fact that at this time he did not have a son to be his heir, Abram accepted by faith what he could not see or understand. 

In reference to Abram’s account before God, he was a descendant of Adam as we all are. Because Adam, the first man, chose to appease his animal nature rather than his spiritual nature, archaic humanity and now modern humanity, had an animalistic course of life established for them by their choices.  But God blessed Noah and saved the single human species that exists today.  Abram, a descendent of Noah was still under the course (curse) established by Adam, but because of his faith, God credited righteousness  to his account. 

Abram could never have been perfectly righteous, but God declared him to be rightly related to Him because of Abram’s faith. God demonstrated His grace and mercy in His dealings with Abram.  This verse is foundational for understanding the doctrine of justification by faith. 

The course (curse) of all humanity is to chose our selfish animal instincts over our spiritual nature.  This keeps us separated from God...UNLESS we choose to seek to live by our spiritual natures.  Jesus, the Messiah, showed and taught us how this kind of living IS.  At the moment a person awakens to God's plan to reconcile humanity to the nature of God by placing faith in Jesus, God credits to that same account Christ’s perfect righteousness.  Or maybe saying it a different way, once we have chosen to marry God's Messiah God notes "oh, you are married to my son.  Well, he's got you covered.  You ARE part of the family!'  From then on we are covered as a family member and permanently reconciled to God.

OK let's get into some interesting stuff...circumcision.  I have found some good insights that might be of help to us in WHY circumcising a male child at 8 days old is a sign for the Abrahamic covenant.

Genesis 17:7-11

7 “I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” 9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.”

God chose Abraham and his descendants to live distinct lives in obedience to Him. It would be through their distinct relationship with God that we would receive the blessings promised to Abram/Abraham.  

The setting for Genesis 17 is that after God had given Abram a vision and promised to give him innumerable descendants, he and his wife, Sarai, had sought "help God out" by giving Abram a descendant through Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar. Humans! We can't leave it to chance that what God said will happen, will happen!  Let's do something ourselves.

This "help" led to the birth of Abram’s son Ishmael. In this passage, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him identifying Himself as God Almighty (El Shaddai).  He called upon Abram to live blamelessly in God's presence. God then reaffirmed that He would give Abram many descendants; Abram would be the father of many nations. To further emphasize this point, God changed his name from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”).  

I can imagine God saying: "Look dude, I don't NEED your help.  Now you will not just be the exalted father of yours and Sarah's lineage, but you will be the father of a multitude of nations.  Have you ever heard of sibling rivalry?!  Just wait until it is carried out on an international scale!"  "Oi vey!" It would seem then that, more than a reiteration of the same thing, the renaming of Abram from exhaled father to father of a multitude (of nations) is but another example of how humanity "screws it up" by not listening, or seeking to do it their own way when trying to help. 

Then GOD gives and confirms his covenant with Abraham, and the faith-full followers of God.  In verse 7 he describes this covenant as a permanent covenant between God and Abraham's offspring after him.  There is now another caveat – you AND every one of your males must be circumcised to serve as a sign of this covenant.  So closely is this stipulation associated with the covenant, God calls the act of circumcision “my covenant.” Abraham and his offspring were to demonstrate their obedience to God’s covenant by all the males being circumcised. This applied to all Abraham’s descendants in every generation. 

Internet source

God prescribed circumcision for all males when they were eight days old. The practice included all males who were part of Abraham’s household and those of his descendants, whether slave or free. Failure to be circumcised was breaking the covenant with God and those not circumcised were cut off from God’s covenant people. 

Ohhhh....Kay.  What does male circumscision have to do with anything?  Well, the name of our class is Christians Seeking Insight and I have found some new insights for your consideration.

God reveals that faith in God is the mechanism by which humanity is accepted by God and become heirs of his promises.  We receive the benefits of what God had done simply by trusting God as Abram did.  

To further conform that the righteousness of humanity is NOT dependent upon our obedience of God's law, take note that God credits Abram with righteousness BEFORE there ever WAS a Mosiac law.  In other words, the Moasiac Law is an assist to living UP to the righteousness in God that comes only through faith in God.

But why male circumcision?  The practice of circumcision is noted in Egyptian records from 2500 B.C., prior to Abram.  One theory is that beyond hygienic aspects or religious tradition, circumcision was meant to serve as a protection against males being sacrificed to the deities.  It seems that cutting off a part of yourself would, to humans, count as a pseudo-human sacrifice.  The Hebrews, however, have a much more thoughtful explanation.  

The Hebrew word for circumcised is mul. The literal meaning of the word is “to cut-off” and “in front of.” Mosaic Law required circumcision on the eighth day after birth.  Even  Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth in the temple in Jerusalem. 

The surgical style of circumcision that was performed on Abraham, Ishmael, and all of his male servants was a Brit Milah a relatively simple circumscision that, as the Jewish comedians like to point out, is just "nipping the tip."  Abraham was so tough that he performed this on himself...at age ninety-nine!  YIKES!

Remembering that circumcision is a sign of the Abrahamic covenant, it therefore is symbolic.  It symbolically represented cleansing from the depravity of sin as the result of faith in God.  So closely related  to the covenant promise itself, the Lord calls the sign of circumcision “My covenant”. God commanded Abraham to apply the sign of circumcision to the male reproductive organ since, in procreation, spiritual corruption passes from generation to generation. This corruption started with Adam and spread to all his posterity—Christ alone excluded as he was not "made" from humanity, but rather Spirit alone and carried by Mary. 

Since all have received a sin nature from Adam, God promised that He would deal with that corruption and bringing renewal by means of a bloody judgment. This was the basis of animal sacrifice, and this was the basis of Jesus' sacrifice – exchanging life for life. In this way, circumcision was typifying the covenant promises of the gospel.

The act of “cutting” formed the signatory element of circumcision. The cutting away of the foreskin of the flesh denoted God’s promise to cut off covenant breakers from His presence, His people, and His blessing.  It simultaneously, represented the cutting away of the filth of the fallen, sinful human nature. This was the promise of the covenant blessing in the gospel. If the demands of the covenant were met, God would fulfill His promise to cut off the sin of His people. The promise of spiritual renewal was also intimately bound to the promise typified in the sign of circumcision. 

Circumcision, like the Passover, also served as a blood sign of the gospel. Blood had to be shed if God was going to justly cut away the corruption of fallen human nature. This points to the blood of Christ as the fulfillment of that which circumcision typified in the old covenant. 

Circumcision pointed to the need for the bloodshed of Jesus. Significantly, Jesus first shed blood when He was circumcised on the eighth day. This was part of the redemptive-historical nature of the covenant sign of circumcision. On the cross, Jesus fulfilled the promise of God to die for the sins of His people. The sins of the elect were imputed to Him.  Jesus was “cut off from the land of the living”. The promise of the covenant curse, typified in the “cutting off” element of circumcision, was enacted against Jesus at Calvary. By His sacrifice, Jesus “cuts off” the filth of our sin. 

But WHY the foreskin of the male?  Hebrew rabbis' note that circumcision weakens the male organ without actually harming the organ of generation.  They also note that the "sexual desires of the circumcised man are moderated".  The bodily sacrifice caused to that organ, he says, does not interrupt any vital function, nor does it destroy the power of gen­eration, but it does counteract excessive lust.

In Deuteronbomy Moses told the Israelites that God wanted them to circumcise their hearts and to no longer be stiff necked. God symbolically connected circumcision with a new, changed heart, a symbolic sign of new, spiritual life.  The Spirit circumcises our evil hearts and gives us new life. So, circumcision symbolically represented cleansing from the depravity of sin. 

God teaches through the apostle Paul that the “True Circumcision” are Christians, that is, those who have believed in Jesus Christ because their hearts have been transformed, or we can say symbolically circumcised. So, it does not matter to God if a male has a circumcised or uncircumcised penis. The true circumcision is faith in God resulting in righteousness — a transformed heart and life.

But why circumcise a baby? The circumcision is performed when a child is still not aware of what is happening. Why not wait until the age of accountability? This is because the Jewish connection to God is intrinsic. One Jewish commentator described it as:

whether our minds believe in God or not, whether our hearts love God or not, our souls know God. We can join the covenant with God even without being consciously aware of Him, because subconsciously we already know Him.

The fact that God commanded it to be applied to all the male offspring on the eighth day represented this sign as an aspect of the new creation. In a seven-day week, the first and the eighth day are the same. As the first day represents the day of creation in Scripture, the eighth day in the old covenant often represented the new creation. 

The number seven represents nature—seven days of the week, seven colors of the rainbow, seven musical notes (do re mi, etc.); the number eight is the number that surpasses seven, and thus represents the miraculous, what is beyond nature. Circumcision is done on the eighth day because the Jewish people survive on miracles. Jewish history defies or surpasses the laws of nature. They welcome a new Jewish child into this miraculous existence on the eighth day of his life, as if to say, “Expect miracles!”

We each have instincts and natural tendencies that are inborn, but that need to be refined. “I was born that way” does not excuse immoral behavior.  We are, like the act of circumcision, to cut away any negative traits, no matter how innate they may seem.

As the rainbow was the sign or symbol of the Noahic covenant, circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant—God’s relationship with Abraham and his descendants.  Later, Moses called the Israelites to circumcise their hearts, meaning repent and live holy lives before God. 

The covenant God was confirming with Abraham is relational. God is a personal God who would be in relationship with both Abraham and the following generations of his descendants. This relational aspect of the Abrahamic covenant lays the foundation for Christians to be Abraham’s spiritual offspring through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, fulfilling God’s divine promise. 

God's promise of blessing extends to all those with faith in the God of Adam, Noah, and Abraham.