Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 34
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
16:9–17:12
“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit
to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than
you can count.”
And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to
a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the
Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man,
as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and
everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all
his relatives.”
Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have
I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi
(which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found
between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was
eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
When Abram was n inety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and
said, “I am E
l-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a
blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee
to give you countless descendants.”
At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him,
“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude
of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be
Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of
many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will
become many nations, and kings will be among them!
“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you,
from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will
give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you
and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be
their God.”
Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of
the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each
male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your
foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to
generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after
