Sarah, Mother of Many Nations and Ishmael Father of a Nation

Covenant with God

Signs of God's Covenant

Circumcision

Genesis 17:15-17, 20-22 Message

15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, “And Sarai your wife: Don’t call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I’ll bless her—yes! I’ll give you a son by her! Oh, how I’ll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, “Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?”
20-21 “And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I’ll also bless him; I’ll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He’ll father twelve princes; I’ll make him a great nation. But I’ll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year.”
22 God finished speaking with Abraham and left.

For Reflection

We, humankind, are so impatient.  As Queen sings "I want it all, and I want it now." We are as eager as Abraham to meet our Lord and Savior.  And also as Abraham, we sometimes become doubtful that the promise of God will ever be realized.  We forget that God's time is not our time. We abandon the mystery of God and we are skeptical when God promises that which we find unrealistic or impossible. Our spiritual insight is limited by the rationality of human perception and our faith is defined by our impatience.  With misapprehension, our tenacity wanes.

The procreation sanctified by God and re-established with Noah is now passed on to Isaac.  God grants Abraham's prayer for Ishmael but builds on the promise of Isaac.

Pray
Pray for the patience to wait for the attainment of the promise of God.  Pray for the wisdom to accept the sacred mystery of irrationality in a world that prefers rationality.  Pray that when your soul yearns for the unbelievable, the impossible, and the doubtful, you accept the mysterious truth.