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Week VII - The Call of Abraham
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The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”
– Genesis 12: 1-3
GOD’S COVENANT WITH ABRAM:
The Lord is clearly the God of human history. God wants to be inextricably linked to the life and destiny of Abram by entering into a covenantal relationship with him and his descendants. God begins small, but this small family will grow into a big clan, and through his grandson Jacob, will multiply into the twelve tribes of Israel in the land of Egypt. Eventually Abram’s people will become a nation, and Jesus, Savior of the world, will spring from the root of David of the tribe of Judah.
As is typical in a covenant, God makes promises to Abram. Abram’s descendants will become a great nation. God will bless him abundantly and make his name great. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in him. And God is so protective of Abram that his enemies who curse him will be cursed by God. Abram on his part promises to obey God. At the age of seventy-five, with his wife and nephew Lot, he leaves Haran the land of his ancestors, and travels towards Canaan.
ABRAM’S FAITH IS TESTED:
Abram’s willingness to trust God’s promises is severely tested. Ten years have elapsed and Abram is now eighty-five years old. A part of God’s promises has been fulfilled as Abram has become a wealthy man and his flocks have greatly multiplied. However he is childless. In chapter 15, God reiterates His promise to Abram: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield; I will make your reward very great (Genesis 15:1).” Abram is not impressed, and says in response, “O Lord God, what good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer? (Genesis 15:2)” Then God shows Abram the heavens and insists that his children will be uncountable like the stars. And to show Abram the divine resolve, God asks him to prepare for a solemn covenant enactment. Instead of one animal being slaughtered, three animals, a turtle dove and a pigeon are slaughtered. The three year old heifer, three year old she-goat, and three year old ram are split in half and a pathway is made between the split carcasses. According to the tradition of covenant-making, the two parties entering into covenant would walk through the split parts and then sprinkle the blood of the animal(s) on each other as a way of symbolizing their sharing of the same blood or life. In other words, the two have become one entity and through promises to each other will live their lives in meaningful union. Covenant-making was considered so sacred and solemn, that any serious breach could result in the death of the offending party.
Abram has completed his task of splitting the animals and placing each half opposite the other. As he awaits God’s coming, he spends his time shooing away the birds of prey. Given the practice of not addressing God directly as a mark of profound respect and reverence, the Hebrews came up with pseudonyms. Abram falls into a trance and a deep, terrifying darkness envelops him, harbingers announcing the presence of the All Holy One. Then the Lord God appears in the form of a smoking brazier and a flaming torch. God reiterates the promise to Abram. And then a very unusual thing happens. Only God passes through the split parts, as if to say to Abram, that the Almighty God could be discredited and disowned, the equivalent of ‘death’, if He reneged on His promises. Then the Lord reiterated the covenant again with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River [the Euphrates], the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the Jebusites (Genesis 15: 18-21).”
A SKEPTICAL ABRAM:
Even after Abram participates in this solemn covenant ceremony, he does not seem to be convinced. For ten years now Sarai had not borne him any children. They find it difficult to take God’s promises seriously. Desperate and humiliated, Sarai advises Abram to have a child through her maid, Hagar the Egyptian. Abram heeds her request. During Hagar’s pregnancy, Sarai’s relationship with Abram sours as there is constant bickering and trading of insults between the two women. Finally Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. Abram was then eighty-six years old.
GOD’S CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO A DOUBTING ABRAM:
In Genesis 17, Abram is ninety-nine years old. God continues to reiterate the covenant with Abram by giving it some very specific features that characterize a lasting bond between God and Abram and his descendants. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah, thereby indicating very explicitly that they belong to God. Furthermore, circumcision of all males will be the sign of the covenant: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you must be circumcised (Genesis 17: 9-10).” Abraham is still unimpressed. He speaks to himself and says, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety? (Genesis 17: 17)” And then he addresses God and says, “Let but Ishmael live on by your favor! (Genesis 17: 18)” Abraham asks God to modify the parameters of God’s promise of children. In reply God says, “Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him… But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year (Genesis 17: 19-21).” Finally, Abraham seems to get it. From here onwards, he takes God seriously. His first step is to obey God and have himself and the male members of his family circumcised.
THE BIRTH OF ISAAC:
In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah receive visitors from God to announce the birth of Isaac within a year. There is still anxiety and doubt in Sarah about her ability to bear a son. She voices her disbelief when she overhears one of the visitors say that she would bear a son. “Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure? (Genesis 18:10-12)” God puts up with Sarah’s skepticism and the following year to the great rejoicing of this elderly couple, their son, Isaac is born to them.
THE TESTING OF ABRAHAM:
So far in the story, God’s fidelity to His promises is doubted and called into question by Abraham and Sarah. And God has come through with flying colors. The Lord God has been patient, steadfast, and inextricably linked to Abraham life and destiny. Now is the time for Abraham and Sarah to demonstrate their commitment to God, that they will obey in all things and be submissive to Him. In response to God putting Abraham to the test by asking him to offer Isaac as a holocaust to Him, Abraham is ready and willing to obey God in every minute detail, even though it might not have made sense to his way of thinking. Would God want him to sacrifice his son after waiting for so long to have him and now enjoying such wonderful years of joy and happiness with him? If Abraham had any doubts, he sets them aside and promptly obeys God. St. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, comments on Abraham’s steadfast faith: “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac; he who had received the promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be called.” He reasoned that God was able to raise from the dead, and so he received Isaac back as a symbol (Hebrews 11: 17-19).”
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HELPFUL ATTITUDES FOR PRAYER:
· The Lord is clearly the God of human history. God wants to be inextricably linked to the life and destiny of Abram by entering into a covenantal relationship with him and his descendants.
· Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure? (Genesis 18:10-12)” God puts up with Sarah’s skepticism and the following year to the great rejoicing of this elderly couple, their son, Isaac is born to them
· In response to God putting Abraham to the test by asking him to offer Isaac as a holocaust to Him, Abraham is ready and willing to obey God in every minute detail, even though it might not have made sense to his way of thinking.
· “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac; he who had received the promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be called.” He reasoned that God was able to raise from the dead, and so he received Isaac back as a symbol (Hebrews 11: 17-19).”
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER:
- Be faithful to your time of prayer, and make it between 20 and 30 minutes daily.
- Begin every prayer session with an earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit like the one I have composed for you: Come, Holy Spirit, and overshadow me with your gentle wisdom and power as I endeavor to sit at the feet of Jesus during this period of prayer. Purify my mind and heart as I seek to make the teachings of Jesus my priority in life, thinking, speaking and doing as He desires. You are the keeper of my soul, leading me into God’s heart. May I be docile and submissive to your wisdom and guidance. And may my life be a pleasing offering in your sight. Amen.
- Take one of the passages suggested for the week for your prayer. During the week you might want to ponder the question, “How would I describe my covenantal relationship with the Lord God?”
- Lastly, during your prayer make sure that along with reflection you also address God directly and listen for answers that you need.
- You can end your prayer with the following: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank you for your gracious companionship. I praise you for being my Creator, Savior and Lord. May I take your blessings to my day, and may your presence envelop and permeate all my thoughts and actions. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PASSAGES FOR PRAYER:
Genesis 12: 1-9: Abram’s Call and Migration
Genesis 15: 1-21: The Covenant with Abram
Genesis 16: 1-16: The Birth of Ishmael
Genesis 17: 1-27: Covenant of Circumcision
Genesis 18: 1-15: Abraham’s visitors
Genesis 21: 1-8: The Birth of Isaac
Genesis 22: 1-19: The Testing of Abraham
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- It would be important for you to become very familiar with ‘The Imitation of Christ.’ After the Bible, this classic is the most widely read. There are four books and 114 chapters in all. You could savor this book three times over if you read a single chapter each day of the retreat.
- It would be even more important for you to become familiar with the Bible, especially with the New Testament. Similarly, beginning with the New Testament you can choose to read a few chapters on a daily basis, and/or the ones recommended during this week.
- Try to do all your spiritual reading recommended for the week.
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Old Testament:
Genesis, chapters 12 through 23: The Story of Abraham
New Testament:
Hebrews, chapter 11: Faith of the Ancients
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- Journal for a few minutes daily about your experience with God in prayer and during the day.
- Your journal will help you with your sharing in spiritual direction
- Gradually patterns of insights, themes, consolations, and resistance to God’s promptings will emerge.
- Your journal will help you appreciate the Holy Spirit’s action in your being.
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