|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
Commentary on "The Two Covenants"
Day 4: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar
Overview
The author recounts the story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and the birth of Ishmael.
Observations
While the Abrahamic covenant was a covenant of faith, in Genesis 16 we see that God’s covenant promises are not based upon the strength of Abram’s faith. Abram believes in the Lord, but his faith is far from perfect. Abram again tries to fulfill God’s promises “in the flesh” by sleeping with Sarah’s slave Hagar and producing Ismael. We see that Abram’s failings do not invalidate the unconditional promises as God restates the covenant in chapter 17. So sure are God’s promises that God changes Abram’s name to Abraham "Father of a Multitude" at age 99.
God tells Abraham that Ismael will not be the heir and He gives Abraham the sign of the covenant, circumcision. Circumcision was intended to be a dramatic and graphic reminder that the promised seed would not come through the flesh, but by the Spirit. That is, the promised heir would not come by Abraham’s power through any means humanly possible. The heir would come by the power of God alone. The removal of the flesh of the male organ was a graphic reminder of this truth. In chapter 21 Isaac is born and we see that the child of the promise can not coexist with the child of the flesh. God tells Abraham that he will make another nation of Ishmael, but Ishmael and Hagar must be driven out of the camp. The symbolism seems clear. We are either operating in the flesh (under our own power) or in the Spirit (surrendered to God). We cannot combine the two modes of behavior.
Summary
- God’s promises are not dependent upon the level of our faith.
- God’s promises are sure despite our failings.
- They symbol of the Abrahamic covenant, circumcision, was a reminder that God’s promises are not fulfilled by the flesh, through human effort.
- Human effort and living by the Spirit are mutually incompatible.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised November 6, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 10
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 10
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 10
Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings
Please Support This Project
