Session #9
Covenant 3b: Abraham
Why might God have asked Abram if He could count the stars? what point might God be making?
God does not just abandon us we are on board with great and/or difficult things. Rather He is absolutely present, even if we are not aware of this. In these sorts of situations, God will remind you of His presence. He did this for Abram.
After all the turmoil and strife of getting Lot back, Abram was likely emotionally in need of reassurance. In this way, God upholds our humanity and not just
Verse 3 reveals exactly why this is.
God is well aware of the gift He is giving Abram.
FOCUS Notes:
Even after Abram lets go of Lot (Gn 13:11), he still has room to grow. The Lord speaks to him, telling him not to fear, but Abram respectfully reminds God of his problem: He has no son, no heir to inherit this promised reward. The name “Abram” means “exalted father,” which seems more like a cruel joke than anything else to this elderly man.
God responds to Abram by bringing him outside: “Number the stars, if you can,” He says; “just so shall your descendants be.” Scripture then tells us that Abram put his faith in the Lord. This is a breakthrough moment for Abram — but the author includes a subtle detail later in the chapter that makes this story all the more dramatic. In verse 12, it says, “as the sun was about to set.” This means that when God asked Abram to count the stars, it was actually broad daylight. So, in fact, Abram couldn’t count the stars. He is told that his descendants will be like these stars…which he couldn’t see. With this image, God is once again reminding Abram, “You can trust Me. Even though you can’t see how this is possible, it will happen.” Abram “believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gn 15:6). God then elevates his promise of land and a nation to a covenant (Gn 15:7 – 21).
Oftentimes, we are afraid to let go of our “Lot” because we can’t see the outcome. Regardless of whether the reward is visible, we must trust in God’s faithfulness. This does not mean we trust Him to give us what we want or eventually make our plans come true; when we give everything to God, we won’t necessarily be rewarded by getting it all back. But what He promises is far more satisfying: He gives us Himself. In the face of our problems, His answer is always, “I am with you” — not necessarily, “I will fix it.”
Genesis 16:2–4
What's going on God? It has been ten years and no heir! what the heck man!
Adam and Eve overlap
Ten years go by, and Abram still has no heir. In a moment of desperation, Sarai tells Abram to take matters into his own hands: Sarai gives her maid, Hagar, to Abram to start a line of descendants. Abram doesn’t object; he sleeps with Hagar, as a kind of “surrogate mother.” She conceives a son, Ishmael. This was not what God had in mind, but because this child is Abram’s offspring (and God keeps His promises), Ishmael’s descendants will become an entire nation: traditionally, the Arab people.
Initially, God seems silent about Abram’s behavior, but the consequences will be revealed later in the details of the narrative. Immediately after the Hagar incident, the narrative jumps 13 years — to the next time Abram hears God speak.
God's promises are realized in the Covenant relationship.
The promises we read about previously for safety, glorification, and kingdom
Abram gets his name changed to Abraham. This will be
This time, God has a different tone: “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…” (Gn 17:1). At this point, Abram reverently falls prostrate. God refers to His second promise: that He will expand His covenant so that Abram’s line will bring forth not just a nation, but a royal kingdom — and He makes another covenant to prove it. At first, it may seem like Abram’s misbehavior is rewarded. However, a closer look shows that, like a good father, the Lord is using this as a teaching moment for Abram.
God spells out the terms for this covenant: circumcision. It is a sign of the covenant, but it is also God’s response to Abram’s sin. Where the crime was committed, there also the punishment is given.
God also changes Abram’s name to Abraham — from “exalted father” to “father of many nations.” Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah. A change in name signifies a change in mission, a constant reminder of the promise., and these “many nations” will be the fruit of both his sons, Ishmael and Isaac (who is not yet conceived). In other words, God will bless Abraham with descendants, but His plan includes Sarah as the mother.
Abraham and his household respond with obedience. God is faithful, and within the year, Sarah at last conceives and gives birth to Isaac, the son of the promise (Gn 21:1–3).3
We also notice the word "everlasting" used.
What might Circumcision be directed at achieving?
Their hearts were the problem, removing the evil in it is what circumcision is a symbol of
Abraham must have thought, "Wait what? But I just got him. He is the one thing that fulfills God's end of the bargain" You will want to note the idea of the gift of the son. Abram only became "who" he is now because of the promise God made him and the follow-up on that promise in the person of Isaac. God asks Abraham to sacrifice the content of the promise, all that he had gained/benefited from having the relationship with God until this point what is God getting at here?
Realize the sublimity of the Covenant
We will look more into this as we approach the New Covenant and then
God may very well be asking the question "is this gift the end for Abraham?" Did He treat God as a means to an end? Does He now have all that he wanted?
What Abraham does reveals this is not the case, that He truly loves God more than His gifts
"Peter, do you love me?"
Abraham, in a concrete way, demonstrates his love for God, commitment to the covenant, and ready to spare nothing in the name of the love of God
Now we take another step in this story, Let us look at Joesph, Abraham's Great-grandson (The Son of Jacob, who is Isaac's Son).
FOCUS Notes:
We learned that God made three promises to Abram, each one corresponding to the next three covenants in the story of salvation. God elevates these promises to covenants that extend to Abram’s entire tribe. We also discussed Abram’s struggle to let go of Lot and how we need to let go of our own “Lot” in life. Finally, we discussed Abram’s faithfulness, even though he couldn’t see how God was going to fulfill His promises. The symbol of the stars reminds us to be faithful, even when we can’t see how things are going to work out.
It is important now to consider the scope of this covenant in comparison to the past covenants.
Sabbath - a couple and then a rainbow with a family, and now a nation
Abram had Ishmael with Hagar and Isaac with Sarai. Isaac had Jacob and Esau through Rebekah. Jacob's children formed the tribes from Leah and Rachel. Esau's formed the Edomites. Joesph came from Rachel. Therefore, Joesph is the son of Jacob and the great-grandson of Abraham.
*Lot's descendants with His daughters, formed the Moabites and the Ammonites when they had Moab and Ben-ammi, respectively (Genesis 19:36-38).
Sometimes the enemy will use what little righteousness we have against us, to discourage us and lose our trust in God's omnibenevolence, omnipotence, and/or omniscience. Even on modern Earth sometimes innocent people get falsely accused of crimes and victims are sooner believed than they are. However, regardless of what is happening without us, we are called to make not only the most of it for ourselves but others. This even plays into the question of evil which is answered in part by this dynamic God will always make the best of sin, man's worst decisions.
The false accusations without legitimate due process punishing the innocent will play into other stories as we continue through this study and even other minor Biblical stories. This event takes place after His brothers sold him into slavery when He was about 17 (see Genesis 37:2). About 13 years later he was raised to power in Pharoah's court becoming the vice-regent i.e. the co-steward of Egypt for Pharoah. The plot thickens as we continue...
Joesph, in the heat of the moment, uses temporary deception to test his brothers. Is he justified?
Moral theology answer: Unknown but questionable. Certainly, the charade has very positive outcomes that perhaps would not have happened otherwise but lying is also not exactly a moral action. Moreover, it is understandable that the brothers who sold him into slavery as a nicer gesture than killing him ought to be tested before being trusted especially coming from the the whom they attempted to kill.
The more He lets this charade continue the worse effect it has. However, again, we see something of a test like that of Abraham and Isaac in Chapter 22. Let us continue.
Now it is certainly crossing a line, we continue some more.
He finally ends the charade and confesses to being Joesph and forgives His brothers who wrong him. If your family sold you into slavery and you were suddenly apart for 13 years, and they need your approval, what might your reaction have been?
Wraps this up well
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says
59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father’s house,[1] and makes him Abraham, that is, “the father of a multitude of nations”. “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”[2]
60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church.[3] They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe.
61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.
[1] Gen 12:1.
[2] Gen 17:5; 12:3 (LXX); cf. Gal 3:8.
[3] Cf. Rom 11:28; Jn 11:52; 10:16.