Genesis 17:23–27
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
For many modern Christians, faith is a private, internal feeling, a mental ascent to a set of propositions, a warm sentiment in the heart. It is something you have, not something you do. But this is a thin and watery gruel compared to the robust, muscular faith we see in the patriarchs. The faith of Abraham was not a quiet, personal opinion. It was a world-altering, household-shaping, history-bending force. In the first part of this chapter, God Almighty appeared to Abram, changed his name to Abraham, and established the covenant of circumcision with him. At ninety-nine years old, he was promised a son through his ninety-year-old wife, Sarah. But attached to this glorious promise was a demanding, and what we might call awkward, command. He and every male in his household were to be circumcised, and this was to be the perpetual sign of the covenant in their flesh.