Abram is now 99 and Sarai 90 and still they have not seen God come through with his promise of a child for them. It was getting harder and harder to believe that this would happen, yet God continued to reconfirm his promise the whole time. So many reconfirmations must have been vexing for a man who just wanted to see fulfilment! In Genesis 17, God goes a step further and institutes a sign to reconfirm the promises made to Abram, now named Abraham. That sign was circumcision. All this time God is preparing Abraham to receive the promise, and part of his preparation is coming to understand how God works. Circumcision signifies an important aspect of the way God works. It was to be a sign of God’s covenant, in very much the same way that a wedding ring traditionally signifies the marriage covenant. But it also highlights the multigenerational nature of the covenant. God wasn’t just committing himself to Abraham. He was also committing himself to Abraham’s descendants. This is the reason for the choice of body part to be marked. It was to signify generation and the multigenerational nature of the promise. The ‘cutting away’ also signified what God wanted most from his people. It was a sign of the ‘circumcision of the heart’ (see Deuteronomy 10:16), that is, the exposure of one’s true inner self in a personal loving relationship with God. We now use Baptism to signify this (Colossians 2:11-12). God wants your heart, your love. You already have his love. He is unconditionally committed to you and your household.
Reflect on whether you have sought the blessings of God before God himself.
Read Genesis 17
