Month: July 2022

Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

The Lord knows Abraham. He knows what his responses to His Gracious Covenant Promises would be. God’s foreknowledge knows this, but it did not make it happen. God did not choose Abraham because he knew ahead of time how he would respond. God chose Abraham to be the one who would bring God’s Salvation and His Savior into the world to bless all people out of sheer grace. God did not choose him because he knew he would respond in faith and obedience. Abraham responded in faith because God chose him by grace. Grace is always first, and then faith.

Here the Lord is referring to this response: he will command his children and his household after him. Abraham’s faithful response was to teach His family and succeeding generations the way of the Lord so that they would keep (believe) it. The ”way of the Lord” is grace and love; God is faithful to keep His covenant promises. Thank God Abraham taught his son and grandson, or the promise would have been stopped.

We also respond to God’s promise of salvation by “commanding our children.” The head of the household teaches the faith to the family by word and deed, teaching and example. He or she takes charge of their training and education. The fathers and mothers pray for their children and grandchildren and all generations to come. We pray that they will come to and remain in the faith that was ”once delivered to the saints.” Children who have been ”trained up in the way they should go” will keep the way of the Lord. ”The Way” is Jesus.

Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?

Sarah just had to laugh at the wonderful, impossible, amazing Good News that she would bear a child next year. ”I am in menopause, past the age of child-bearing, and my husband is too old also. God, you must be joking.” She laughed in unbelief, in outright denial of God’s word and promise. We can certainly sympathize with her, for our reaction would be the same.

Although she laughed ”within herself,” not out loud, the Lord outside the tent knew she did not believe. The Lord asked, ”Why did you laugh?” She denied it because she was afraid. She was afraid because she knew she was in the presence of the holy and all-knowing God. Fear is our first reaction to being ”found out” and judged by God. The Lord’s usual response is ”Fear not.” He did not in this case, but God went ahead and kept His Promise anyway. The impossible Gospel Promise does not depend on our faith, but on His grace.

The Lord’s response was to say, ”Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” The same thing happened when Mary was told she would have a son: she questioned, and the angel responded, ”With God nothing shall be impossible.” Then her second response was one of faith: ”Be it unto me according to thy word.” When the Lord asks us that rhetorical question (“Is it too hard for Me?”), we know the answer. Can the Lord give life to a dead-in-sin person like me? We don’t laugh.

Genesis 18:3-8 “Pass not away from thy servant…water…wash…rest…bread and comfort…fine meal, knead it, and make cakes…a calf and dressed it…and he took butter, and milk, and the calf, and set it before them.

Upon the appearance of The Triune God at Abraham’s home, he and Sarah and his servants set about with a scurry of activity to be hospitable and make them feel welcome. Hospitality was the usual nomadic custom in Eastern culture when guests showed up at one’s tent, but Abraham knew this was God and so he went to great lengths to make Him feel comfortable and welcome.

Abraham responded to the Lord’s coming with a welcome reception, even before God gave him “Good News of great joy.” He was just glad to see Him come to him. So it is with us when the Lord shows up with the Gospel. We respond to The Presence that comes to bring a wonderful message with receiving and welcoming hearts. We pray Luther’s hymn: ”Ah, dearest Jesus, heav’nly child, make thee a bed, soft. undefiled, Within my heart that it may be, a quiet chamber kept for thee.” When we hear the Gospel we respond with a hospitable welcome, making a home in our heart for the living God.

Our purpose is to make a comfortable dwelling for the Lord to “be with us.” We invite Jesus in and ask Him to ”pass not away” every time we hear and believe. The Spirit comes to live and to remain in us, though He can be ”grieved.” Sin grieves the Lord and makes un uncomfortable place for Him to be, but we live in constant and instant repentance and forgiveness. Faith is hospitality. Being hospitable is believing in Jesus.

Genesis 18:2 And he lift his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.

The Lord appeared to Abraham once again while he sojourned in Hebron. In this appearance He made the promise that this time next year Sarah shall have a son. This time the Lord appeared as three men. Perhaps this was a hint at the Triune nature of God. Abraham responded to God showing up by running to meet them and bowing down. He likely recognized them as God (in human form). Since the Lord had appeared and spoken to him seven times before, he was familiar with Him.

The Lord shows up in our lives with covenant promises in the Gospel and the Sacraments. For this reason we also run to church to meet the Lord who is coming to us to worship Him. Bowing down is an outward sign of praising Him for His majesty and thanking Him for His grace. We are confessing: ”Jesus is Lord!”

Whenever we hear the Gospel the Triune Lord God is appearing and speaking to us. Our response to the Gospel is an enthusiastic welcome of Jesus into our believing hearts. ”But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God [John 1:12].” May we all go to church to eagerly hear the Gospel and worshipfully welcome Jesus as Lord.

Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

The Lord had appeared to Abraham again and promised to bless Sarah and give her a son, and many descendants. His response was to laugh in unbelief in God’s face. This response is understandable, since God’s word here is preposterous: Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90. It can’t be possible!

Abraham did not laugh because it was funny, although there is humor in it. Abraham said, ”Surely, you jest!” He laughed in unbelief, and even mockery. It’s as if he is charging God with lying. He fell on his face, not in worship, but more likely doubled over in laughter.

He had such a relationship with the Lord that he could question God. We all must admit to having doubts and questions. But it is necessary that we work through the natural doubts in order to come to a stronger faith. It is better to be honest with God and struggle with His Word than to ignore both our own doubts and God’s sure word. Honesty will bring us to the place where we say, ”God said it; I believe it!” After we work through the initial questioning reaction, we believe, like Thomas.

Genesis 17:11, 23 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 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 ubto him.

Abraham’s response of faith in God’s covenant promise called forth an immediate response of obedience. After the Lord made a covenant, then he gave a command: circumcise! The obedience of circumcision is the outward evidence of inward faith. Faith is defined in the NT as the ”circumcision of the heart.” Faith is not visible; circumcision, obedience, and good works are the visible fruit of faith. While ”faith is the evidence of things not seen,” obedience is the evidence of unseen faith.

Circumcision is a symbol of the circumcision of the flesh. Faith in Jesus is the crucifixion of the flesh, the renunciation of the devil, and the cutting off of the world. Circumcision was given by God as a ”token,” or a sign, of faith in grace. The OT believer remembered circumcision as a constant reminder of God’s Covenant of Grace. The NT believer remembers baptism as a constant reminder of Christ’s New Covenant of Grace. We need this reminder, because the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh are ever and always at war with our renewed spirit. Immediate obedience arising out of faith is the right response. Remembering our baptism daily is our instant response.

Genesis 17:9-10 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 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.

When God appeared to Abram this sixth time, He changed his name to Abraham. He reaffirmed the covenant promise of Seed and Land (Christ and the Kingdom). Abraham’s response was to ”keep the covenant.” This is interesting, because God had made a one-way covenant with Abraham, meaning that for Abraham there was nothing to do. He did not walk through the cut animals, so he was not bound by oath to any terms of covenant. So what did God mean by ”keep?”

Keep here means believe: believe Me, believe My promise, trust My Word, and simply receive the covenant blessings of unconditional love I am giving you. And the Gospel of the New Covenant does the same thing for us: God the Father unconditionally grants all the blessings and promises earned for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nothing is left for us to do but believe and receive. Our faith is counted to us as righteousness.

Any good work we do or devotion we perform does not add to or complete the finished work of Christ. But actually we diminish faith by thinking we have to do something to earn grace. Then good works come naturally out of faith. Faith is primary: keep the covenant!

Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him.

This is now about the sixth time God appeared to Abram and spoke to him, reaffirming the covenant promise. This time the Lord changed his name to Abraham and sealed the covenant with circumcision. Abram was 99 years old and it had been 14 years since God first called him. Though he had wavered, he still believed. His response to this appearance was to “fall on his face.”

Falling on one’s face and lying prostrate before a king is a physical way of showing honor, respect, and submission to a higher authority. It is the same with God, but with the addition of awe and worship. When we stand before the Lord God Almighty we cannot ”stand.” We are compelled to bend the knee and fall on our face. Why? For two reasons: 1) the holiness, majesty, glory, and power of God is awe-full and overwhelming; we feel our sinfulness and we buckle in shame; then also, 2) the love, mercy, and grace of God is awe-some and overwhelming; we cannot help but respond with thankfulness, praise, and worship. We fall on our face!

When the Lord speaks to us and touches us we are moved by the brilliant and powerful love of God pouring through us. This is how Abram responded to God’s presence, His Word, His Gospel, and His Covenant Promise. Thus our response to Law and Gospel is complete surrender and submission in faith. We gladly and willingly ”fall on our face.”

The alternative would be to fall on our face unwillingly and angrily at the Judgment; for ”at the name of Jesus every knee will bow [Philippians 2:10].” The Lord is speaking and making a covenant promise to you. Listen, and worship.

Genesis 16:9, 13 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands….And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me.

When Sarai saw that Hagar conceived, Sarai despised her and dealt hardly with her. So Hagar fled to a spring in the desert. There the angel of the Lord appeared to her, gave her a promise for her descendants, and said, ”Return to your mistress.” Hagar responded to the presence God and to the word of the Lord by returning and submitting.

Hagar responded in faith, saying, ”You are a God of seeing, and you look after me.” The Lord saw her in distress and cared. She believed God. He did not excuse her shirking her duties and running away nor did He remove the hardship, but He did see and He did care, and He gave her a promise. Knowing that God was there and gave a promise was enough for her to go back into a difficult situation and to thrive.

Now we know that God is everywhere and knows everything and sees everyone, but it requires faith to know that the Lord not only sees my need but also cares about it. He does not always take away the pains of life, but He does promise to be there with us and give us strength for every issue we must deal with. The ”God who sees” shows up in our life’s desert every time we hear the Gospel and receive the Sacrament. We respond in faith and the Lord who sees us gives hope and promise, love and grace, joy and peace. We receive it all with faith and we return to our life.

Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I will obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Sarai could not believe God’s promise that she would bear a child and have descendants. So she resorted to a human solution: let her maid bear a son for her. The child born to the coupling of Abram and Hagar would be considered as hers. This is certainly understandable: she had been barren all her life and now she was well past child-bearing age. It would be humanly impossible. She could not believe in the God of the impossible.

Abram consented to her suggestion and went along with her in unbelief. The effects of this action remain with us even to this day, as the Arab descendants of Ishmael and the Jewish descendants of Isaac are still at war. There is a consequence for this lapse of faith on the part of Sarai and Abram. Even the great ”hero of faith” had his doubts.

We also have doubts mixed in with our faith at times. We are not always able to trust the Lord to be as good and faithful as we say He is. But God is always good and gracious, and He will absolutely continue to be faithful to His promises. The Lord did give them the promised son, Isaac. And so God gives us His own Promised Son, Jesus. God’s promise, grace, and blessing is true whether we believe it or doubt. Faith receives; doubt says, ”I don’t want it.” Either way God does it. Faith does not make it happen; doubt does not prevent it from happening.