The Covenant of the Torch. Abraham Park

(Gen 17:11), the physical mark on the flesh was to serve as a constant reminder of the everlasting covenant with God (Gen 17:13).

      After God renamed Abraham and instituted the covenant of circumcision, He renamed Sarai and said that she would have a son (Gen 17:16). Abraham’s wife, whose original name was Sarai, was given a new name Sarah (Gen 17:15-16). The name Sarai means “a woman of high rank” or “my princess,” which pertained only to herself. However, the name Sarah, which means “mother of nations,” is more embracing of others. This act of renaming Sarai also foreshows God’s redemptive plan to have Jesus Christ come in the line of Isaac, who will be born of Sarah, and that there will be many nations which will come to believe in Jesus Christ (Gal 4:26).

      Although God Himself gave Abraham the promise of descendants through the covenant of circumcision, Abraham did not believe that he could have a son, and he confessed his wish for Ishmael to live before God (Gen 17:17–18). However, God clearly said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (Gen 17:19). He reconfirmed that He would fulfill His covenant only through Isaac and not through Ishmael.

      7. The Birth of Isaac, the Covenantal Son (Gen 21:1–5), 2066 BC, Sixteenth Year of the Covenant of the Torch

      Abraham’s age, 100; Sarah’s age, 90 Ages of the godly ancestors at the time: Shem, 490; Arpachshad, 390; Shelah, 355; Eber, 325

      Twenty-five years after God first made His covenant with Abraham, He took note of Sarah and did for her as He had spoken in accordance with His promise. At last, when Abraham was 100 years old, God gave to him Isaac, the son of the promise (Gen 21:1–7; Matt 1:2). The phrase “took note” in Genesis 21:1 means that God “looked after,” “cared for,” and “had affection” for her. The Hebrew word for “took note” is and is used 285 times in the Old Testament alone. However, it is used for the first time in Genesis 21:1 and indicates that God visited Sarah, and looked after her. At the age of 90, Sarah was well advanced in years and beyond the age of childbearing, but God remembered His covenant, visited her, and looked after her so that she experienced the miracle of giving birth to Isaac. Abraham waited for 25 years after he first received the promise and blessing of . Today, miraculous blessings also await those who believe in God’s promise and wait patiently until the fulfillment.

      There were a few occasions when Abraham did not completely believe in God’s promise. However, Romans 4 praises Abraham’s faith. Romans 4:20–22 states, “Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

      Here, the phrase “grew strong in faith” seems to contradict the accounts of Abraham’s unbelief. However, the phrase “grew strong in faith” in Greek is an indicative aorist passive rendering of which shows that it is God, not man, who made Abraham’s faith strong. By the work of God, Abraham’s faith grew increasingly strong, that he was able to possess the kind of faith that God had desired. Although there were times in Abraham’s life when he did not believe, his life ultimately concluded in faith.

      Although we may have our past marred by unbelief, God will acknowledge our lives as lives of faith if that past is concluded in faith and repentance by the grace of God.

      Chapter 8

      The History of Isaac

      1. Hagar and Ishmael Are Cast Out to the Wilderness of Paran (Gen 21:8–21), 2063 BC, 19th Year of the Covenant of the Torch

      Abraham’s age, 103; Ishmael’s age, 17; Isaac’s age, 3

      Abraham drove out Hagar and Ishmael after Isaac was weaned (Gen 21:8–14). According to the Hebrew custom, children normally were weaned at three years of age (Exod 2:9–10; 1 Sam 1:22). Thus, Hagar and Ishmael were driven out presumably three years after Isaac had been born (Gen 21:8). Since Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac, he was most likely driven out around the age of 17 (Gen 16:16; 21:5).14 Although Ishmael was the son of a maidservant, Abraham had loved and cared for him for 17 years. Thus, their expulsion caused him much agony.

      Hagar and Ishmael were driven out because Ishmael had mocked Isaac (Gen 21:9). In Genesis 21:9, the Hebrew word means “to laugh” or “to mock.” When Isaac was weaned and a great feast thrown for him, Ishmael mocked Isaac, most likely out of fear that Isaac might become the rightful heir of their father Abraham’s inheritance.

      Later, the apostle Paul applied this episode to the situation in the church during his time.

      Galatians 4:29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

      Here, he who was “born according to the flesh” refers to Ishmael, and he who was “born according to the Spirit” refers to Isaac. During Paul’s time, those who were born according to the flesh (i.e., the followers of Moses’ law) rejected the gospel and persecuted those who were born of the Spirit through the gospel.

      This conflict will continue until the end of this world. The word persecuted in Galatians 4:29 is an imperfect active indicative form of the Greek verb signifying that Ishmael’s persecution did not end at once, but would continue until the end of time. Likewise, the persecution of the believers, the descendants of the promise, by those born of the flesh will also continue. History proves that the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, have continued to cause suffering for the Jews, the descendants of Isaac. However, in the end, those born of the flesh will be driven out, and the descendants of the promise will triumph and receive the kingdom of God as an inheritance (Gal 4:30).

      2. Isaac Is Given as a Burnt Offering on a Mountain in Moriah (Gen 22:1–18), 2041–2030 BC (Estimated), 41st through 52nd Year of the Covenant of the Torch

      Abraham’s age, 125–136; Isaac’s age, 25–36

      Abraham received the final confirmation of the covenant after he obeyed God’s command to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering on a mountain in Moriah (Gen 22:1–18). This same mountain in Moriah would later become the place where King David built an altar for the Lord and where King Solomon built the house of the Lord (2 Chr 3:1).

      Abraham offered up Isaac when Isaac was younger than 37 years old (somewhere between the ages of 25 and 36). After the incident in Genesis 22, Sarah died at the age of 127 when Isaac was 37 years old (Gen 23:1). Since Sarah was still alive when Abraham offered Isaac in Genesis 22, Isaac must have been between the ages of 25 and 36 when this event occurred.

      It must have been difficult for Abraham to have offered up Isaac since Isaac was a grown man strong enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice up the mount. The offering was possible because of Isaac’s complete trust in the faith of his father, and his personal faith in the God he served. In Genesis 22:6–8, the Bible twice reports that “the two of them walked on together,” suggesting that the two men had become one in faith regarding this offering.

      The scene of Isaac carrying up the wood for the sacrifice in total obedience foreshadows Jesus Christ’s act of carrying His own cross up to Golgotha to be offered as a sacrifice for all mankind in total obedience (Matt 20:28; John 1:29). Just as Abraham received the confirmation of the covenant by offering up his only son on the mountain in Moriah (Gen 22:16–18; Heb 11:17–19), so too, did God demonstrate His love for sinners by allowing His only begotten Son to be nailed to the cross in Golgotha (Rom 5:8).

      In