June 8, 2022
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1
After Ishmael was born there were thirteen years of silence between God and Abram. Then He reconnected with Abram to bring his attention back around to the covenant He had made with him earlier (see Genesis 15:18).
Let us compare God’s counsel to human ideas. When Abram and Sarai were yet childless, Sarai presented Hagar, her maidservant, to her husband (see Genesis 16:2). This pagan practice was so widespread that it had ceased to be considered a sin. Even Abram did not question it at the time, but passively went along, in a similar way to that of Adam when he went passively along with eating the forbidden fruit. It is beyond the scope of today’s devotional to explore all of the reasons why this was a terrible idea. But suffice it to say that it is imperative to cooperate with God and align one’s life according to His ways. Going against His instructions is not at all the same as “helping” Him to fulfill His promises. Human wisdom and logic do not compare to God’s ways.
Before Isaac was born, the LORD brought about some significant changes, each one pointing to the necessity of heeding divine counsel over that of humans: He changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5), introduced circumcision (v.10), changed Sarai’s name to Sarah (v.15), and utterly destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities of that plain. There are many valuable lessons to learn in God’s actions between the two births (Ishmael and Isaac), but one of the obvious ones is the sanctity of marriage, the purpose of sexuality, and its role in growing and developing individuals who are equipped to overcome the devices of Satan, the master deceiver.
God is working patiently to extricate each of us from a worldwide culture saturated with heavy-handed pagan influences. To this very day, there are prevalent pagan practices which are presented under a manmade premise of honoring God. While there may seem to be an immediate reward that follows a human work, it is a fact that human work outside the will of God ushers in future troubles. On the other hand, present obedience brings future blessings!
Tomorrow we will examine another widespread pagan practice that is outside of God’s will, yet billions are being told that it pleases God…
Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us. Deuteronomy 6:23-25