Genesis 17: 1 - 27

¹And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.  ²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
 ³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
 ⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
 ⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
 ⁶And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
 ⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
 ⁸And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
 ⁹And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
 ¹⁰This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
 ¹¹And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
 ¹²And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
 ¹³He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
 ¹⁴And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
 ¹⁵And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
 ¹⁶And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
 ¹⁷Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
 ¹⁸And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
 ¹⁹And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
 ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
 ²¹But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
 ²²And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
 ²³And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
 ²⁴And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
 ²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
 ²⁶In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
 ²⁷And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

This is a bit more than usual; but, I am off tomorrow (sort of) and thought it would flow better if we spent some time on this part as it raises many issues. It begins with God talking to Abram, he says that he will make a covenant with him to multiply him; but, he also tells him to be perfect. Abram is not perfect and makes many mistakes; but, God kept his part of the deal. Abrams response to hearing God is to fall to the ground. That is a sensible reaction; but, it was not asked for by God. That was just how Abram felt, overwhelmed.

God now promises to make Abram many nations. God makes a covenant, an agreement with Abram. His agreement is just with Abram, not with his decedents. God makes other agreements with that nation of Israel; but, this promise is just to Abram. God next says that he will make his covenant with him and his descendents. I find that interesting. The second covenant is to be a God to him and his seed, decedents. God next states that he is going to give the land of Canaan to him and his descendents.

God then explains what Abraham's part of the deal shall be, he is to circumcise all of his family and servants. Those who are not circumcised are to be separated from the descendents. After this God says that Sarai shall also have a new name meaning a mother of nations, of many. God actually gave them their names, he doesn't name people often, it is so that others will understand the role they are to play.

God tells Abraham that he and his wife shall have a male child. Abraham cannot believe such a thing and falls to his knees laughing. He is in such disbelief that he wishes that his son by his servant would be before the lord. I want you to think about this for a moment, God speaks to Abraham and Abraham is clearly overwhelmed; but, he still cannot accept that he and Sarah will have a child. Why do you think that is?

Abraham was still a human living in this world, he probably doubted his own sanity on some level, that would be a human and rational approach. If God talks to you and you don't question your sanity then you might want to consider it. Faith and our relationship with God are not static things, they grow or reduce based on how we respond to one another. Faith, real faith, isn't just based on one thing, it is a journey as all relationships are.

God tells Abraham what to name his new son, he tells him to call him Issac. The name Isaac is generally considered to mean "he laughs or will laugh". My first guess is that this refers to his father's laughter at hearing that he will have a child. God also blesses Ishmael saying that he will make 12 princes come from him and a nation rather than 12 nations with princes. To discover Ishmael one should therefore look for a nation that had 12 princes.

 God ends this part going "up" from Abraham. Abraham the same day then has all that are supposed to be circumcised. I want to make a couple of points about circumcision. Christians don't have to do it, that is made clear in the New Testament. The next point is that there is a lot of questions regarding how much of the foreskin was removed and I don't know, it may have been minimal or the whole foreskin.

I have a relative who doesn't believe in circumcision. He has presented me with lots of information about it and I have read up on my own. Truth is, God said what he said. As a Christian (by the way circumcised as was common in the United States when I was born for possible health benefits) I would say that non-Jews do not need to be circumcises; but, there can be possible health benefits. That is an individual choice.

Why did God ask Abraham to circumcise everyone. God said why, it was evidence of their contract. It is easy to remember that you have an agreement with God when you wear it in your flesh. It has also been said that this was a sign to others; however, the Jews were not the only people who engaged in this practice so that is less clear.

I don't take a position on circumcision other than to say that it is not required for non-Jews. I will leave it to the Jewish community to determine what it means for them. Having said that, I would probably be more trusting and sympathetic to a Jew who was circumcised than one that was not. If the Israeli's claim that God promised them Israel and did not circumcise their male then it would sort of deny their right to have the land. You cannot claim a bible promise as rightfully yours if you violate it.