Theological Commentary: Click Here
No sooner do
we leave the story of Hagar, hearing God’s call for her to obey Him and return
to Sarah, that God comes to Abraham and reminds him of the covenant. In fact, it is in this chapter that God
changes Abram’s name (Exalted Father) to Abraham (Father of many nations). Pay very close attention to what it is that God
says.
God reminds
Abraham that his offspring will be numerous.
God reminds him that his people will receive the land of Canaan as their
inheritance. God reminds him that it is Sarah who will bear him a son. God also reminds him that He can take care of
Ishmael, too.
However,
make sure that you keep reading. Look at
what God continues to say. “You will
keep my covenant.” Abraham’s part of the
deal is obedience. Abraham’s obedience
begins with submission to God.
Do you hear
the continuation of the pattern that we started to hear in the example of Hagar
yesterday? Hagar was told to obey. Then, she was told to submit. She was told to submit in spite of any
hardship that she might face.
This is the
pattern. God doesn’t ask for us to do
grand things. He doesn’t ask us to rule
the world. He doesn’t ask us to dominate
over others. God asks us to submit. He asks us that we keep our covenant with Him
by submitting to Him.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment