Obedience to the Lord; Immediate and Vulnerable. Genesis 17:23-27

May the mumbling commence!

And Abraham obeyed.  The name change had not changed his response.  Just as Abram had done in the past, Abraham did when asked to wear the sign of the covenant on his body and on all the male bodies of his household.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

           

Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his servants, whether house-born or purchased – every male in his household – and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins that very day, just as God told him.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.  His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.  Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised the same day together with all the servants of his household, those born there and those purchased from outsiders – all were circumcised with him.  (Genesis 17:23-27)  

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.  Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.  And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.  (Genesis 17:23-27)

There’s much agreement between the NIV and Peterson’s work.  The emphasis remains on Abraham’s immediate and complete obedience to God’s command – “as God told him”.  These themes are important in Abraham’s life of faith.  They’re important to us as well in our faith walk.

The differences are minor, but, in this case, I truly like what Peterson has done.  He emphasizes the act of circumcision, the cutting off of their foreskins.  He also emphasizes a little more than the NIV translation that all men in the household were circumcised on the same day.

Now, most – if not all – guys out there are wincing in pain.  That would leave them tender for a few days at the very least.  That would also make them vulnerable in a land where they were aliens.  Foreigners are already vulnerable.  Now they were in spades.

Now that is faith, my friends, in the protection of God: obedience to the Lord to vulnerability.  Can we make the same kinds of decisions in our lives today?

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out