When Abram was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to make a covenant with him. His old identity as Abram, had been modified for he was now named as the father of many nations. "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee." (Chapter 17: 5) Then God told him that he would make his offspring consistent together with nations of him and that kings should rise from them, for the covenant will be established between both and the seed after thee in the generation. But what was this agreement? "This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." (Chapter 17: 10) Yes, that's right; It all depended on Abraham's descendants' circumcision.
Circumcision is a topic that has always brought shocks and gasps among the crowd when it is mentioned. But for some strange reason, I find it to be perfectly normal. Actually, I think there might be a cause that explains why I see it completely natural. Now here comes my religious point of view. When a Jewish boy is born, in order to welcome him into a covenant between God and the children of Israel, a religious ceremony is held on the eight day of the child's life in which a ritual of circumcision is performed. This is done in order to mark the covenant with God in the child's flesh. The importance of being circumcised is one similar to the reason given in the Bible, to connect with God and keep the promise that was once made. "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." (Chapter 17: 14) Now, by slightly analyzing this, the Brit Milah was enjoined by Abraham which is one of the fathers of Judaism and since I'm a descendant of Abraham and Sarah, it is a mitzvot (a good deed) to be circumcised.
"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah [shall] her name [be].
And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations; kings of people shall be of her." (Chapter 17: 15,16)
So Sarai was no longer Sarai and Abram was now Abraham, and they were blessed and given a child, but now it was a child of both. The idea sounds splendid, but for them considering that one had one hundred and the other ninety years old, it was a joke. But the Lord was serious. He stated that Sarah shall bear a son indeed, and he even named their future child. Isaac, the one that He will establish an everlasting covenant with.
Later on, the same two men (or angels, I'm not quite sure) that went to tell Abraham that no matter his age he will still have a son, go to Lot who was in Sodom where they end up in his house for the night. "And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." (Chapter 19: 3) People passed by and asked Lot for the two men, they wanted to have sex with them. People...hmm, so this means that homosexuality was present and that men in that time really wanted to have intercourse with other men. However, these "people" were unlucky, since Lot said they couldn't. It seemed as if Lot was protective and comprehensive, but then he tells the people that passed by, that he has two daughters inside that they can lay with and do anything that they want with them. The gay guys disliked the idea and attempt to intrude, but the two men inside blind the people so that they can't reach the door and tell Lot to leave Sodom with his daughters and wife for the Lord will burn the city. So, Lot and his family left to Zoar, where they hid in a cave. They must have been desperate to lay because for some reason, Lot's daughters decide to get their father drunk and lay with him in order to "keep the genes alive". They took advantage of their old fathers' state for pleasure and supposedly, needs.
I previously cited when mentioning the two men and the feast that they were welcomed with in the house of Lot. What is so important about this? Again, I will relate this with Judaism. For some reason, it says "and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." To begin with, last month I was celebrating Pesach, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the story in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. During those days, I couldn't eat flours and had to base my diet upon the matzah, flat unleavened bread. I find it very interesting how these two men were served with unleavened bread since they weren't in a hurry (such as us when leaving Egypt) and Egypt hasn't been mentioned as an actual setting in the Bible. So, I wonder from where did this unleavened bread idea come from? Does it symbolize something? I hope to answer those questions soon.
Abraham and Sarah now have their son so Hagar and Ishamel with the help of God, who gives them water to survive. Then, God decides to test Abraham to see if he feared Him as he had to. He does this by telling him that he has to sacrifice Isaac. With no hesitation, Abraham proceeded and when he was close to commit this command, the Lord told him to stop and since he did, God realized that Abraham did fear him. Because of the loyalty showed by Abraham, the Lord blessed and told him that he would take control of the cities.
Sarah passed away, and when Abraham noted that he was getting old, he told his servant that he wanted a wife for his son but she had to be from Isaac's native land and that he couldn't get there. The servant followed his orders and brought back Isaac's future wife, Rebekah. "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's [death]." (Chapter 24: 67)
Love is in the air, or should I say tent?
No comments:
Post a Comment