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Scripture Reading: Gen. 16:16—18; 20:1-2, 10-13, 17-18; 21:1-3, 10; Col. 2:11; Phil. 3:3
God promised Abraham a son, but Abraham did not wait on God for his son; he married a concubine and gave birth to a son — Ishmael. After he begot Ishmael, there was a thirteen-year period in which God did not speak to him (Gen. 16:16—17:1). Although he begot a son, he wasted thirteen years. This is the experience of many Christians. Whenever we act according to the flesh, God puts us aside and allows us to eat the fruit of our flesh. In God's eyes that period of time is a total waste.
After Abraham begot Ishmael, during the long period of thirteen years, there was no peace in his family. However, the Bible does not show us that Abraham had any regret. On the contrary, he treasured Ishmael very much. We can see this from his word to the Lord: "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" (17:18). Although chapter fifteen tells us that he believed, there does not seem to have been too much pursuing on his part. Day after day, he still took satisfaction in Ishmael. According to our thought, if a man has been walking according to the flesh for thirteen years and still has no feeling of guilt, there must not be much hope for him. But we must remember that Abraham was called by God. God had a purpose in him which He had to fulfill; He could not give him up. Although he backslid for thirteen years and although God did not speak to him during all that time, He was working all the time. God does not give up those whom He has chosen. If He wants to gain a person, that person cannot escape His hand. Even though Abraham had failed, God still came and looked for him. We have to realize that no fleshly pursuit, struggle, fretting, or unrest will bring us forward. We should learn to commit ourselves to the hand of the Almighty. He will lead us as He sees fit.
After thirteen years, Abraham was ninety-nine years of age and was becoming old. He considered his own body as being already dead. Even if he wanted to have a son, he could no longer do it. Then God appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God" (17:1). This was the first time that God revealed His name as "the Almighty God." The name Almighty God in the original language can be translated as "all-sufficient God." After God revealed this name to him, He put a demand on him. "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." Although Abraham had believed that God is powerful, he might not have believed that God is all-sufficient. This was why he tried to do things by himself. God showed him that if he believed in God as the all-sufficient One, he had to walk before Him as a perfect man. Being perfect is being pure. God required Abraham to be pure and without any mixture.
After God showed this to Abraham, He said, "I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly...My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee...And 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. And 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" (vv. 2-8). God wanted to gain a people through Abraham, and God wanted to be their God.
What kind of a standing should Abraham and God's people take before they can become His people? God said, "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised" (v. 10). In other words, God wants a people, yet they must not have any fleshly activity, power, or strength. Who then are the people of God? They are those who have been circumcised. Circumcision is the mark of God's people. Those who were eight days old, whether they were born in the house or bought with money of any stranger had to be circumcised (v. 12). It was not enough to be born, and it was not enough to be bought. One had to be circumcised as well. We are all born of God and bought by God. As far as redemption is concerned, we were bought by God. As far as life is concerned, we were born of God. But if we are not circumcised, we will have no part in the testimony of the people of God. God told Abraham, "The uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people" (v. 14). Those who were not circumcised were to be cut off from among God's people. This has to do with the testimony. It means that those who are not circumcised cannot be vessels for God's testimony. A man may be redeemed and have life, but if he is not circumcised, and if he does not know the flesh-dealing cross, he cannot be of God's people; he still has to be cut off from the people.
Colossians 2:11 says, "In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ."
Philippians 3:3 says, "For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."
These two verses show what circumcision is. Simply put, circumcision is the removal of the flesh. What should be the attitude of those who are circumcised? They should have no confidence in the flesh and should not put their trust in the flesh. (The word "confidence" in Philippians 3:3 can be translated "trust" according to the original language.) Who are the circumcision? They are the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and who put no trust in the flesh. Therefore, circumcision deals with man's inherent energy, his natural strength.
How appropriate it was for God to say such a word to Abraham! God showed Abraham that whatever he did and begot by himself was just Ishmael. If the flesh is not dealt with, one will have no part in God's covenant. If the flesh is not dealt with, one cannot be of God's people and cannot maintain His testimony or participate in His recovery work.
The greatest problem among God's children is that they do not know what the flesh is! The flesh that many Christians know is merely related to the matter of sin. It is true that the flesh causes us to sin. But the flesh does not cause man to just sin. Romans 8:8 says that "those who are in the flesh cannot please God." This means that the flesh has tried to please God. Many times, the goal of the flesh may not be to try to offend God; its goal may be to try to please God. Romans 7 shows us that the flesh exerts great effort to keep the law, to do good, to do God's will, and to please God. However, it cannot make it. Our experience tells us that it is comparatively easy to deal with the sinning flesh, but it is very difficult to deal with the flesh that tries to please God. This is the flesh that tries to creep into God's work and service. This is the flesh that creeps into all the things of God.
Some people do not realize that man cannot please God by himself. They think that even though they were once a certain kind of person, now they can do good because their goal has changed since they have believed in the Lord. Such people do not realize that God is concerned not merely with changing their goals, but with terminating their flesh. If they want to please God with their flesh, God will tell them that the flesh cannot please Him. We must see that circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh, the very flesh that begets Ishmael, the flesh that tries to please God. Circumcision deals with the flesh that tries to do God's will and to fulfill His promise by itself. This was what God wanted Abraham to understand.
The greatest problem with God's children is that their flesh is not dealt with before the Lord. They believe in the flesh and put their trust in the flesh. The most obvious sign of unchecked flesh is self-confidence. Self-confidence is the characteristic of the flesh. Philippians 3:3 says, "We are the circumcision, the ones who..have no confidence in the flesh." To put no trust in the flesh is to have no confidence in the flesh. All those who have been smitten by the cross are broken. Although their person may remain, they have learned to fear God and no longer put their trust and confidence in themselves. Before a person is dealt with by the Lord, he quickly judges anything that comes his way. He opens his mouth and makes judgments quickly. But after a person has been dealt with by the Lord, he does not judge lightly; he no longer has any confidence. No one who makes quick proposals and believes in his own strength knows the cross. Such a person has never experienced the work of the cross. Once our flesh is circumcised, we will not believe in ourselves any longer. We will not be that full of confidence, and we will not express our opinions easily. Before the Lord, we must see that we are weak, powerless, helpless, and faltering.
God brought Abraham to the point where he realized that his flesh needed to be dealt with, and that the things he did during the past thirteen years were wrong. There was no room in God's promise for him to do or accomplish anything; all he needed to do was believe. At the same time, God showed him that his descendants for generations to come must be circumcised. This is the basic requirement to be God's people. The condition for us to be God's people in practicality is to have the mark of the cross upon our flesh. Circumcision is the mark of God's people. It is the proof of God's people. What is a mark? A mark is a characteristic. God's people have a characteristic, a mark, which is the denial of the flesh, the rejection of confidence in the flesh. God's people are those whose confidence in the flesh has been cut off. They are the ones who have lost confidence in the flesh.
It is a pity that so many Christians are so confident about themselves. They know how to believe in the Lord Jesus, and they know how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They know how to overcome, and they know how to live the Christian life. It seems that there is nothing that they do not know! They brag again and again about this and that kind of experience that they had on certain days of certain months. It seems that they are lacking in nothing! They may talk about how they fellowship with God and how they communicate with Him. They think that they know what God is saying concerning certain matters. They think that they know God's will concerning many things. They can talk about what God has told them to speak or pray at such and such a place and at such and such a time. To them, it seems as if knowing God's will is the easiest thing on earth! Yet they lack the mark of having "no confidence in the flesh." Such Christians are indeed in need of God's mercy!
The meaning of circumcision is to cut off the confidence of the flesh. It is to cut off the natural strength so that one no longer speaks and walks in a loose way, but instead becomes a fearful and trembling person.
After being dealt with by God for so many years, what kind of person did Abraham become? He became a person who had no trust in himself. Then God said to him, "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her" (Gen. 17:15-16). God had promised Abraham earlier that "he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." At that time Abraham had believed. After more than ten years, God came again and told him that he would have a son through his wife Sarah. What did Abraham do? He was not as bold as before. He did not have the faith that he had before. When he heard God's promise, he "fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" And he said to God, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" (vv. 17-18). This means that he had given up hope entirely in himself. He considered his own body as being already dead and Sarah's womb as being deadened. He could not recall how he had believed at the beginning. He might have said, "Perhaps I was young and could believe then. But now, how can I believe anymore?" In man's eyes Abraham had backslidden all the way. He had backslidden so much that even his faith was seemingly gone.
Actually, the little faith that Abraham had years ago was a faith that was mixed up with the flesh. It was a faith which begot Ishmael with the flesh. For thirteen years God put Abraham aside and brought him to his end so that he would be purified. It seemed as if Abraham had failed. Yet God was still working on him. We have to remember that God's work may not be with us when we are victorious, and God's work may not be altogether absent from us when we fail. We should commit ourselves to the hand of the ever-living Lord. As long as He has called us and has started His work in us, He will never give up. Even when we are weak and failing, He still carries on His work, and He is still leading us on step by step.
When God repeated to Abraham that his wife Sarah would bring forth a son, he fell upon his face and laughed. Was he laughing at God? No, he was really laughing at himself. It was too impossible of a situation for him. Yet in the midst of such a situation, he believed in God. It is strange that in easy situations, it is hard to believe in God, while in hard situations, it is easy to believe in God. Easy situations do not help a person believe in God. When a man reaches a desperate situation, he truly believes in God. Hence, God always guides us in two ways: He causes us to trust in Him by bringing us to the end in our environment and by bringing our flesh to its end. The lesson from the environment is outward, while the lesson from circumcision is inward. For Sarah's womb to be deadened was an end in the environment; this was something outward. For Abraham to be circumcised was for his flesh to be brought to its end; this was something inward. We must be brought to our end before we can believe in God. If our flesh is dealt with, we will believe in God whether the environment is smooth or difficult.
God does not want a mixed faith, but a pure faith. We should not believe only when things look bright and we have confidence in ourselves. We should believe simply because God has spoken. Abraham could not believe in this way thirteen years previously. But now he was brought to the point where he considered his body as being already dead and his wife's womb as being deadened. The faith which he now had was a pure faith; it was one that believed in God alone. His previous faith was based on God and on himself. His faith now was based on God alone because all his strength was gone, and there was nothing left in him; everything was finished. Abraham's laugh confirms this: To him everything in him was finished. Yet God said to him, "Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (17:19).
We should take note of this fact: God wanted Abraham to beget Isaac, not Ishmael! God will never accept any replacement of His work. After He waited for thirteen years, He still wanted Abraham to beget Isaac. Ishmael can never satisfy God's heart!
Genesis 17:23-24 says, "And 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. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin." Abraham's circumcision was his acknowledgment that he was through, that his flesh absolutely could not make it. As far as his own condition was concerned, he could not even believe in God's promise. But just when he could not believe anymore, the real faith came in! When he could believe no longer and when he could do nothing anymore, he truly trusted in God. It seemed as if he believed and, at the same time, was unable to believe. There was only a flicker of faith in him. Yet this flicker of faith was the pure faith. Abraham's condition at this time is described in Romans 4:19-20: "And not weakening in his faith, he considered his own body as already dead, being about a hundred years old, as well as the deadening of Sarah's womb; but with regard to the promise of God, he did not doubt in unbelief, but was empowered by faith, giving glory to God."
In chapter eighteen, after Abraham believed and was circumcised, his fellowship with God became more intimate. This shows that he was indeed a friend of God. Genesis 18 is a special chapter. This chapter speaks of three things: (1) fellowship, (2) knowledge, and (3) intercession. These three things are intimately related, and they are the special enjoyment of a Christian who has been following the Lord for many years. We can only cover them briefly.
"And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre" (Gen. 18:1). At the end of chapter thirteen, Abraham was dwelling by the oaks of Mamre, which was in Hebron. Hebron means fellowship. For God to appear to Abraham meant that Abraham was standing on the ground of fellowship. "And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him" (18:1-2). This is a very peculiar portion of the Old Testament. God visited Abraham, not as the God of glory, but in the form of a man. It was as if He came to Abraham in plain clothes. God's appearance was fully in the position of a man. Therefore, Abraham did not feel that it was God who appeared to him. "And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat" (vv. 2-8). This was Abraham's fellowship with God. Abraham was led by God to the point where he could communicate with God as a friend!
Then the subject of the son was brought up once more. Chapter seventeen speaks of Abraham laughing. Chapter eighteen speaks of Sarah laughing. Abraham was ready; he could communicate with God. While they were conversing outside the tent, Sarah was listening in the tent door, and while they were speaking to one another, Sarah was laughing within herself. God pointed out Sarah's laughing (vv. 12-15). This was fellowship. God became a man and communicated with a man. This is the fellowship between God and His people.
"And the men rose up from thence...and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way" (v. 16). This is fellowship. This is being God's friend. Once there is fellowship, there is knowledge. This kind of knowledge is not just the knowledge of the Bible but the knowledge of God. When Abraham fellowshipped with God, he acquired a knowledge of God. "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (v. 17). What a word of intimacy! God was treating Abraham like a friend. Then God said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know" (vv. 20-21). This means that God revealed His secret to Abraham. Before the Lord, Abraham was able to know what other men could not know. God's will is revealed only to those who walk with Him. The preciousness of walking with God lies in the fact that we can know God.
After God told Abraham of this secret, Abraham immediately entered into a work of intercession. Intercession is governed by fellowship; it is also governed by knowledge. With fellowship there is knowledge, and with knowledge there is the burden for intercession. The prayer that Abraham offered was a prayer that issued from his knowledge of God and his sympathy for God. Abraham drew near and said to the Lord, "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?...Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (vv. 23-25). Abraham stood on God's side to pray; his prayer was fully on behalf of God's righteousness. In other words, his prayer was not to move God's heart but to express it. Hence, a prayer that knows God's heart is not a prayer that changes His will, but one that expresses His will. Abraham's prayer was a prayer that knew God's will; it was a prayer that expressed God's will. He was truly God's friend!
Abraham passed his first test. The bringing forth of Ishmael with his fleshly strength was over. Humanly speaking, he had done everything, and Isaac should have been born. But before the incident in chapter seventeen was barely completed, another came along, and he was tested a second time concerning the matter of his son.
Genesis 20:1 says, "And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar." Abraham committed the same mistake as he did in Egypt when he called Sarah his sister. After he was rebuked by Pharaoh of Egypt, God brought him back. But in chapter twenty he went to Abimelech of Gerar and committed the same mistake. It is difficult for us to understand this. How could he fall to such a low state after he had reached the peak of fellowship in chapter eighteen? Chapter twenty relates something that was not mentioned in chapter twelve. Abimelech rebuked Abraham, saying, "What hast thou done unto us?..What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?" (vv. 9-10). Abraham said, "Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother" (vv. 11-13). Hence, the root of this matter was not in Egypt, but in Mesopotamia. His failure in Egypt only exposed the root. The root of failure was in Mesopotamia. Therefore, when he went to Gerar, the same thing happened again.
God dealt with Abraham in order to show him that he and Sarah could not be separated. In Mesopotamia he thought that he and Sarah could be separated, and that during times of peril the couple could become brother and sister. Abraham was standing on the ground of faith, while Sarah was standing on the ground of grace. On man's side, it is faith, and on God's side, it is grace. Faith and grace can never be separated from each other; they must always be together. If grace is taken away, there is no faith, there is no people of God, and Christ cannot be brought forth. But Abraham thought that he could be separated from Sarah. The root was planted in Mesopotamia and exposed in Egypt. Now it was exposed again. God was removing the root that had been planted in Mesopotamia. If this matter had not been taken care of, Isaac could not have been brought forth. In order for God's people to maintain His testimony, there is the need for faith and grace. It is not enough to have faith alone, and it is not enough to have grace alone. God showed Abraham that he could not sacrifice Sarah and could not be separated from her.
It is interesting that "the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife" (v. 18). After Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, "Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children" (v. 17). After this incident, Sarah begot Isaac in chapter twenty-one. This is amazing.
The women in the house of Abimelech could not bear children. Why did they bear children again when Abraham prayed and God healed them? Others could have prayed for this, but Abraham's own wife had never borne a child. How could he pray for the women in the house of Abimelech? This was indeed a difficult thing to do. But in this matter, the root which Abraham had planted in Mesopotamia was dug out by God. He realized that for his wife to bear children was something entirely up to God. While he was praying for the house of Abimelech, probably he did not have any confidence at all in himself. His confidence was in God and not in himself. Now Abraham was fully delivered from himself. He did not have a son, yet he could pray for others to bear children. His flesh had truly been dealt with.
This is the second test Abraham went through concerning his son. He learned the lesson from this test that God is the Father. Although his wife and the women in Abimelech's house were the same and could not bear children, he prayed for the women of Abimelech's house. He did it because he knew that God is the Father. He knew that power comes from God and not from himself. If God wants to do something, He can do it. With Him nothing is impossible. Abraham had to pay a price to pray for the women of Abimelech's house. The price was himself. What he prayed for was what he himself sought after. God was asking him to pray for something that he had not had for his whole life. God was touching him on this matter. Hence, in praying for the women of Abimelech's house, Abraham ceased all activities of his self. Only one who did not think about himself and did not consider himself could have prayed for the women of Abimelech's house on that day. Thank the Lord that God brought Abraham to the point where he could truly look away from himself. He could do this because he knew God as the Father.
We have to remember that there are two meanings to the name Father. God is our Father, and His relationship with the believers is a father-son relationship; this is very intimate. This is something which many Christians realize at the time of their regeneration. But there is still another lesson we have to learn. God is the Father in the persons of the Trinity; everything is of Him. This is the meaning of God the Father. He is the Father of everything, the Father of all things. This is the other meaning of God the Father. Abraham learned this lesson. He could pray for the women of Abimelech's house, not because he had clusters of children in his house, but because he saw that God is the Father. Through the begetting of Ishmael, Abraham learned to know God as the Father. In this incident with Abimelech, he learned to know God as the Father once again. Therefore, after this incident, God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and brought forth Isaac.
