Wednesday 09 April 2014

Background

Abram was now an old man and yet despite being very rich withmany servants, slaves and large herds (Genesis 13:2), he had no children. Status wasnot only reflected by material wealth but also by the size of yourfamily. He had left his homeland with a promise from God that hewould be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:2) and yet many years later therewas still no sign of that promise or of his life beingfulfilled.

In the previous chapter his wife Sarai encouraged Abram to havea child, and an heir, with her slave girl Hagar (Genesis 16:2), which lead to the birth ofIshmael. However Abram continued to doubt that God would trulybless Ishmael (Genesis 17:18), which makes this repeateddiscussion about becoming the father of a multitude of nations allthe more important yet in the mind of Abram, increasinglyimprobable.

To underline the commitment God is making to Abram, God bothenters in to a covenant with him and changes his name to underlinethe point. From now on he will be known as Abraham, which is takento mean "ancestor of a multitude".

This is an important moment in the history of the Jewish peopleas it is from this point that they can record their own descent andrecognise the faithfulness of God who stuck by this covenant. It isalso something Jesus himself will refer to when he talks about theimportance of being descended from Abraham (John8:31-58) as we shall see in readings later this week.

To Ponder

• God not only promises that Abraham will have a multitude ofdescendants, but also promises him "all the land of Canaan" (v. 8).Pray for the many peoples who now live in Israel andPalestine.

• Pray for those who are unable to have children of theirown