BRAGADAYJAH 46

In renewing His covenant with Abraham, God ordered the circumcision of the flesh of all male children born to Abraham and his seed thereafter. Every child of 8 days old shall be circumcised. This was to include not only blood offspring, but male children born to servants and others that were born within the household. Specifically, God commanded any male child that was not circumcised shall be cut off from Abraham’s lineage as being outside of the covenant of God and outside of that line through which Messiah was to come. Then God said, as for Sarai thy wife, her name shall be now Sarah; and I will bless her and give her a son. I will bless her and she shall be the mother of many nations, and kings of people shall come of her. At hearing God’s promise, Abraham fell on his face and laughed and thought in his heart, “surely, God, you a kidding me. How can I a hundred years old father a child with a wife who is ninety years old?” Catching himself Abraham asked God, “surely you are talking about Ishmael aren’t you? But God told him plainly, Sarah shall bear a son and his name shall be called Isaac. “And I will establish my covenant with him and his seed after him, for an everlasting covenant. As for Ishmael, God said, I will bless him too, and many Kings and nations shall come out of him also. However, God told Abraham further, my covenant shall be with Isaac and his seed, and this time next year, he shall be born of Sarah thy wife. So Abraham laughed at God’s words but now he would be serious. He heard the words he had waited 25 years to hear. This was a direct, definite promise. A year from now, Isaac will be born. More.

BRAGADAYJAH 45

Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. And 13 years later, when Abram was 99, God appeared unto him and told him; “I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly.” Filled no doubt with great emotion, Abram now falls on his face, prostrate before God, and so God talked with him. What would have been going through Abram’s mind as God told him for the umpteenth time as he had said before, “Behold my covenant is with thee; and thou shall be a father of many nations. As a matter of fact, your name shall be no more Abram, but Abraham for a father of many nations have I made thee. I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and Kings shall come out of 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 thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger; all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. By this time Abraham’s head would have been spinning. What could all this mean? He would have been wondering. Could it be that all this seed bearing and nation building was to come through Ishmael? His son Ishmael would have by this time be 13 and fast approaching manhood. He Abraham, was 99 and Sarai 109, surely past the age of child-bearing. So what is God saying to me, Abraham would have wondered; but God was not finish talking to him. More.

FREE CHABER BOOK

FREE CHABER BOOK GET A FREE COPY OF CRY OUT MY SOUL - THOUGHTS AND MEDITATIONS WHEN YOU PURCHASE ESCAPE OF PERISH – THE RAPTURE AND ANY OTHER CHABER BOOK. ORDER NOW IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. www.chaberbooks.com; or email: weekesdrjohn@yahoo.com Pay shipping and postage. (Cry out my Soul is a $20.00 value)

BRAGADAYJAH 44

Sarai might have been the first married woman to know the scornful look, the sneer and contempt of the other woman; but surely she was not the last for the profile of the other woman has not changed much. For it has been well said, that one of the things even the earth cannot bear is the way of the maid when she becomes the mistress. Be that as it may, Sarai now found cause to complain to Abram about her maid’s insufferable ways; but Abram smoothly parried and said, “She is your maid; do to her as you please.” So Sarai turn the screws on her maid Hagar so tightly that, when she could not take it any more she ran away. Soon after the messenger of the Lord met Hagar sitting by the side of the road and calling her by name, asked her what she was doing there. Hagar complained that she was fleeing from the face of her mistress Sarai to which the messenger of God advised her, “Return and submit yourself to your mistress.” Hagar must have been somewhat hesitant to obey; so the messenger decided to cheer her up not a little with some great news. “I will multiply your seed exceedingly so that it shall be numberless for multitude.” Furthermore the angel of the Lord told Sarai, “You are presently with child; and you shall have a son whom you should call Ishmael because the Lord has heard your affliction.” The news the angel had to give Hagar was good news and bad news. Yes you will have a son; he will be the forebear of many; but he shall be a wild and violent man. He shall be against every man and every man shall be against him. More

BRAGADAYJAH 43

“And Abram hearkened unto the voice of his wife Sarai.” Abram was clearly good clay; clay that needed a little moistening and a little squeezing, but good clay nevertheless; for clearly God looked upon him as a remarkable man. But what would have been even more remarkable would have been for Abram to say like Job said centuries later, “O foolish woman.” Many venal minds would no doubt come to the conclusion that Abram was glad for the offer of sexual pleasure; but I feel sure that no such lustful considerations entered his mind. The Lord God had promised him an heir; but God did not tell him by what woman; surely, Abram, having regard to the continued promises, and the respective ages of his wife and himself would have looked upon the idea as not at all outside God’s plan for an heir. So he accepted his wife’s offer and accepted his wife’s maid Hagar as a second wife. In course of time Hagar became pregnant, and with her pregnancy, trouble began to brew; for as soon as Hagar realized she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress Sarai. So now Sarai had reason to complain to her husband and even to question the wisdom of her decision for which she was prepared to take the full blame. More..

BRAGADAYJAH 42

Our story so far has made only brief references to Sarai, Abram’s wife, although we know she was always in the picture somewhere. Now the emphasis shifts to her and the fact that she was childless. She too, would have been even more bothered and concerned about their plight than Abram was. After all, a woman’s primary role in the family was to bear children; and a woman who could not do that was no woman at all. So yes, she would have been very concerned; but like most women, she came up with a plan to do something about. Sarai’s reasoning was that it was necessary that the family should have at least one heir. Surely God had told her husband that his seed would be as plenteous as the sand of the seashore; but He did not say anything about motherhood. Accordingly, Sarai reasoned, why not give one of my younger maids to my husband so that he may satisfy the deepest and dearest wish of his heart, namely to have an heir? And so it was that Sarai decided to solve the insoluble; after all she was an old woman now, and her husband was not far behind in age. Perhaps even now there was a seed or two left in him; so she had an idea that might just work. Here is how Sarai put it to her husband. “Behold now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing; I pray thee, go in to my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her.” What Sarai proposed was well within the custom and practice of the time. Note the words, “I may obtain children by her.” That was the law of servitude that continued down through the Roman Empire. Offspring of the slave girl was mere fructus, [fruit], and belonged to the master or mistress as the case may be. Would Abram accept? We shall see. More

BRAGADAYJAH 41

It would seem that God was angry at Abram because he yet doubted Him. So in reply to his question, God instructed him to kill a three year old heifer, a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, a turtledove and a young pigeon, and Abram obeyed and waited as he kept watch over the pieces of flesh he had cut up and laid side by side. Each time the birds swooped down to eat of the preparation, Abram drove them away and waited. What was God going to say to him? What was going to happen next? Abram had no idea; so he waited. One may but guess the thoughts that flooded Abram’s thoughts. Was God going to make a grand appearance? Was He going to do something spectacular? Abram waited. At nightfall he fell asleep and while he slept, he slipped into a dark and dreadful dream. In his dream God told him he shall surely produce seed; but his seed shall go into captivity and be afflicted four hundred years. They shall be enslaved; but God shall also judge that nation, out of which his people shall eventually come with great substance. And he Abram God assured him, shall die at a good old age. Later in the night, in the midst of the darkness, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp appeared and roasted all the pierces of meat; and God spoke again to Abram and again renewed His covenant with him, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the rivers of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates.” All this land have I given to your children for an inheritance. More