Genesis 16
16:2 This was pretty normal practice of the day. It makes me wonder what socially acceptable and even normal things we do now that are against what God wants. I'm sure there's lots of them.
16:4 Now the "problem" was clearly with Sarai, not Abram. Even though the Bible had clearly told us that, it was probably Hagar getting pregnant that made the household in general confirm this.
16:5 Sarai is clearly offended. And blames Abram for her hurt.
16:6 Sarai continues to respond poorly. Now, this was kinda her fault in the first place, for suggesting it (granted, Abram shouldn't have gone along with the plan). Now she's eating her own fruit and not liking it, so she's going deeper. Kinda like Cain - when he had opportunities to repent, he pouted and sulked and offended more deeply. God isn't here in person talking to Sarai about her choices, but it's still obvious that she's making herself and everyone else miserable with her choosing to keep on this path of abuse.
16:9 Interesting that God ordered her to go home to an abusive home. That wouldn't be culturally acceptable today.
16:10 God promised her reward.
16:13 This is one of my favorite verses, and one that I think of often. Hagar gets pregnant, becomes haughty toward Sarai, gets abused and runs away. God finds her, tells her to return to the bad situation, and promises both hardship and great reward. Hagar then gives God a name. Does anyone else in the Bible actually give God a name? She calls him "The God Who Sees". She knew that God saw what she was enduring, and that she was understood and rewarded for her hardship. I'm always reminding myself of this. God sees. God knows. It's nice to be seen and cared for.
16:14 She didn't just name God, she named the Spring too. I don't think I ever noticed that before.
16:15 God told Hagar what to name the baby, but Abram actually named the child.
16:16 Abram was already 86 when Ishmael was born. Not exactly young. How long were people living in those days? (looking back.... Abram's dad lived to 205... so people probably weren't super old at 86 yet.)
Genesis 17
17:1 The Bible is emphasizing Abram's age - he's clearly considered too old for having kiddos. God opens his command with "I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless." This seems like a really daunting charge to me. But one that I want to do also.
17:2 God renews his promise to multiply Abram greatly.
17:4 God is initiating an agreement with Abram. God promises.
- Abram will be father of many nations - x2
- extremely fruitful and many nations and kings come from you
- offspring will have all of canaan as land
In addition to three times promising lots of offspring (many nations), God refers to Abrams offspring another three times. So the repetition is practically six times in these few sentences. That's a lot.
God also renamed Abram to Abraham.
17:9 Abraham's part in the deal: he and his offspring are to keep the covenant of circumcision. ("circumcision" the word is repeated four times).
Incidentally, both Muslims (Arabs) and Jews still keep this, as both still circumcise boys. And they still dwell in the land God promised.
17:15 Sarai gets a new name too. I wonder if she's the only woman in the Bible to be renamed? I'm pretty sure she's the only woman in the Bible to have her age recorded at her death.....
17:16 Sarai gets a similar blessing to Abraham. She is promised a son, and that she will produce nations, kings and peoples.
17:17 Abraham clearly thinks that both he and Sarah are too old to be having kids.
17:20 Interesting that God making Ishmael into nations seems a bit like an afterthought, after Abraham asked God to just make Ishmael the promised one and not make them have to deal with another child.
17:25 I can't imagine that circumcision was pleasant for either a 99 year old man or a 13 year old boy. I think there's a reason they do it when kids are babies now...
17:27 Abraham had a pretty large household - over 300 fighting men, right? My guess is that this community was in a world of hurt for a few days there. I'm impressed that Abraham took God this seriously and did it.
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