Genesis 17 Rest in His grace. Where is the peace and security in this passage or if you don’t see it in this passage then in your knowledge of God’s larger plan of redemption and Christ’s work?
17:2 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
God didn’t say a covenant. He said My. I perceive this as singular. As if He is saying, the only one that matters. It has eternal implications.
Abram means: exalted father. He was called exalted father all his life. He was called exalted father in his 20s and 30s, when having children was normal. He was called exalted father into his 40s and 50s when his parents started questioning their family legacy. He was called exalted father into his 70s and 80s, when his friend’s were becoming grandparents. As his parents passed. While Sarai remained barren.
What bitterness did he struggle with? What were his prayers for mercy? For forgiveness?
Abram and Sarai were not the only childless couple in their era, nor would they be the last. Hannah came long after Sarai. Gideon’s unnamed mother followed her. Jesus met the woman who hadn't ceased hemorrhaging. Isaiah spoke of childless women in chapter 54,
“Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
He no doubt spoke of the covenant and of Sarai. I think he also spoke from personal perspective, seeing women around him who endured childless seasons and lifetimes.
My name is Amanda. It is the Latin word for loveable and some translations attribute its meaning as worthy of love. I know the juxtaposition Abram has lived with his name. Tearfully, I confessed recently that I do not see myself as someone who is worthy of love.
We would not point a finger at Abram, saying he did not deserve to be an exalted father just as you would not point your finger at me, saying I am not worth of love.
This is the place of grace. God’s undeserved favor could have been seen in Abram’s life as it Hannah’s was: in the gift of a promised child. God was endlessly gracious to Abraham, giving him the name and covenant of being a father of a multitude. God has been endlessly gracious to me. I am not worthy of love. No, this isn't a statement of humility or even one of self-degradation. I, left to my own ways, curse the name of God, defile my body with addictive behaviors, and waste away my days as if there is an endless supply of them. It is because of His grace I was saved. It is in His undeserved favor that I have been made worthy of love. He does not desire for me to stay in the place where I feel unworthy of love. Just like He changed Abraham, His covenant love has changed me.
