Why does Abraham try to redirect God’s attention toward Ishmael (v. 18)?8
Falling Down Laughing
Lectio
Dismiss the distractions of the day and enter into a quiet space where you can listen to God’s voice speak through the literary text. As you read, allow yourself to feel the physical and emotional aspects of the covenant God made with Abram and Sarai.
GENESIS 17:15–27
15God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” 19God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” 22And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27and all the men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
After allowing this Scripture to enter your mind and resonate in your body, continue your exploration through this commentary.
As God continued to reveal his plan, Sarai, too, is given a new name, Sarah, signifying her new destiny. God will end her infertility and give her a son. No longer will she be a barren woman; she will be the mother of nations, and kings of different peoples will come from her (vv. 15–16).
Abraham was so bowled over by God’s incredible words that he broke out laughing (v. 17). We are not told whether Abraham’s laugh was from surprise, skepticism, mockery, or joy. Perhaps it was a mixture of all of these, the spontaneous laughter that arises when one seeks to avoid being overwhelmed by a confusing cacophony of sudden feelings. The blessing given to Sarah seemed impossible, so Abraham tried to redirect God’s attention to Ishmael (v. 18). Hadn’t this already been settled? Wasn’t Ishmael the heir to the covenant? God assured Abraham that Ishmael would indeed be blessed: he would be the father of twelve princes who would become a great nation (v. 20). But Sarah’s son, Isaac, will inherit the covenant.
The name Isaac comes from the Hebrew root for “laughter.” Every time Abraham would hear his son’s name in the future, he would be reminded of God’s incredible, laughable ways. After Abraham had waited for so many years for Sarah to have a child, hoping against the evidence, God asked him to believe for just one more year (v. 21). Isaac, forevermore, would represent the triumph of God’s power over human limitations and doubt.
Immediately Abraham obeyed God, circumcising Ishmael, all males of his household and among his servants, and even himself, at age ninety-nine (vv. 23–27). Through the ritual of circumcision, the covenant would be renewed in each new generation. By performing the rite of circumcision, each child’s father acknowledged God’s role in the conception and birth of his son, renewing his own covenant with God and marking the starting point of his child’s spiritual journey.
The fact that only men bear the sign of the covenant on their bodies should not be viewed as evidence that women have an inferior relationship to God’s covenant. A woman’s entire body is involved in the conception, birth, and nursing of a child, linking her to her mother and her children and affirming her connection with the Creator. Men have a much more tenuous connection to the mystery of bringing forth new life. The mark of circumcision creates the awareness that a man’s sexuality is central to his spiritual identity. The ritual intensifies men’s connections to their fathers and their sons, and it heightens their sense of responsibility to raise their children in God’s path and to play a personal role in their children’s upbringing.
In the Christian tradition, the ancestral rite of circumcision illuminates the practice of baptism. Like circumcision for the Jewish people, baptism is an entrance into a new life and signifies loyalty to a community. The Jewish sign of the covenant became the model for the life of Christian faith through baptism, “a spiritual circumcision,” “the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11–13).
Continue to listen for God’s voice in Scripture and answer these questions:
Why does Abraham try to redirect God’s attention toward Ishmael (v. 18)?
Why is circumcision a ritual that marks the relationship between fathers and sons?
Meditatio
Spend some time seeking to personalize the text you have just read, asking yourself what the passage means to you.
What emotions might Abraham have felt when told that he and Sarah would have a son? What caused Abraham’s laughter?
Why is Isaac’s name so appropriate? When have I laughed when I didn’t know what else to do? Do I ever associate laughter with God’s revealing presence and sacred events?
In what ways is the Jewish ritual of circumcision similar to the Christian sacrament of baptism?
Oratio
Choose the words or phrases from this passage that have most clearly spoken to your heart. Use these words as the foundation of your own heartfelt prayer to God.
God of Abraham and Sarah, you are eternally faithful to your people. The wonders you work for us are amazing. Help me to trust you when I am besieged by doubts and fears about the future.
Continue to pray from your heart using the words and ideas of the Scriptures . . .
Contemplatio
Choose a word from the text to ponder. Allow this word to help you focus. When you get distracted in your silent prayer, use that word to bring you back into focus.
After your experience of contemplative prayer, write a few words describing this encounter with God.
Operatio
Abraham acted on the word he received from God. What must I do to remain faithful to God’s offer of covenant with me? What does God want me to do today to be obedient to him?