Tuesday, January 5, 2010

January Fifth

I loved todays quiet time. It was great. I loved the study. I learned about Abram's name changing to Abraham, Sarai changing to Sarah,circumcision, Ishmael, and Isaac, and Gods cvenant w/ Abram. It was awesome because I am starting to feel like...it is reading a novel. Does that make sense? It is an enjoyable read vs. a study? I hope that you understand.
God is defanetly reaching me and I am sooo happy.(I was even able to stay focused with an almost five year old girlie down the hall yelling "is your quiet time over yet???") I can't wait to see what he does this year.

~God see's things so differently than me. Things that make me angry or see someone as bad or wrong or immoral he rewards. Why does Abram get rewarded when he didn't trust the Lord in Sarai getting pregnant. I am assuming that is why Ishmael was turned into a wild man.
~Thank God I am a woman. I have one sister. I have two little girls so I am not familiar except for the stories of circumcision. Now Genesis 17:12 states that from generation to generation,every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. Now I know that circumcism is pretty dominant in the states but is it done still on the 8th day??? I thought it was done right there in the hospital before mommy and baby come home? Or is it more for hygiene and tradition now????

I am soooo excited for my quiet time tomorow it has Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed and more!!
Have a great day!

1 comments:

Allison said...

If God punished us everytime we messed up, we would be in a world of trouble. God continually give us grace and mercy which is what you see in Abraham's life. Yes, we mess up and our mistakes and sins have long lasting consequences (in Abraham's case, Ishmael went on to be the line the Muslims follow) but God can use all things for His glory. God still made Abraham wait for the promise to be fulfilled, but in that waiting, Abraham became the man of faith we now know him to be (Hebrews 11). We are all like Abraham. We want things done now and in the way we want it done so we try to help God out to move things along. Look at where is got Sarah and Abraham. God uses our mistakes to teach us powerful lessons and mold us into the image of His Son!

For Jewish people it is still done on the eighth day as tradition says. That is what they call a bisque. For Gentiles, it is usually done in the hospital shortly after birth (had it done for all 3 of my boys) or shortly thereafter in the doctors office.

Circumcision was originally designed by God to be an outward symbol of the Israelites being "set apart", God's chosen people. Just wait until you read about all the male being circumcised after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years (the generation before had turned from God so the new generation wasn't circumcised until right before the battle of Jericho).

With Jesus dying for all people and not just Israelites, we are all God's chosen people so circumcision is not required by God anymore. It is mostly done for hygiene and "to be like daddy".