Christian Stories - Biblical Stories
When we read (Genesis 17: 9-14) we find God instituting the Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham and his seed. Basically this covenant would be a sign, seal or agreement that would be based on the requirements that God wanted Abraham and his seed to follow. Let's take a quick look at what those requirements were: 1) Every male rather child or adult shall be circumcised. This would be a seal, sign or some type of condition that God would require Abraham and the generations that came after him to practice and keep. 2) The flesh of the foreskin would be part of a bloody ordinance that would serve as some type of token or offering towards the Covenant of Circumcision. 3) As for the male babies, God wanted them to be circumcised on the eighth day after they were born and not before. This would give the male babies time to gather strength that would help them to endure the pain that was associated with the procedure. 4) God would then issue a strict warning on any male that did not follow the the requirements of the Covenant of Circumcision that was placed before them. That male would be cut off from the fellowship of his people along with the promises and privileges that were part of the covenant that God had made with Abraham.
After God had instituted the Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham and his seed, He would turn his attention to Abraham's wife Sarai. "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of people will come from her," God would say to Abraham. After hearing that his wife Sarai (my lady) would now be called Sarah (princess of a multitude) Abraham fell facedown and began to laugh. "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing," Abraham would think to himself. "Yes, but your wife will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him: I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year," God reassured Abraham as He departed from him. After hearing the message that God had told to him, Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male that was born in his household. He also took every male that he had purchased, and had them all circumcised just like the Lord had instructed him to do. Abraham was ninety nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen when he was circumcised. Abraham and Ishmael would be circumcised on the same day. 01) Introduction of Abraham - Before He was Called 02) The Divine Calling of Abraham 04) The Strife between Abram and Lot 10) Abraham the Father of a Multitude 11) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 13) Abraham Bargains for Sodom 14) Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed 16) Abimelech Angry with Abraham 
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