'Elohiym Speaks

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

‘ELOHIYM SPEAKS

Gen 17:15-22

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!" 19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

NIV

First, we have to deal with Sarai getting her name changed to Sarah. We notice the same thing that happened to Abram’s name which is now Abraham with the ha sound of the H in JHHW, the name of God, we now see that God took the same ha sound, the same H or maybe the other H and put it at the end of Sarai taking the I away to change her name to Sarah. We wonder if there is any significance in taking the I out of her name. If it is often said there is no I in a team. It surely is not about that, but nevertheless, God inserted himself, part of his name into hers as he did with Abraham. We have already considered our new name written down in heaven on that white stone, and that we have a change in our identity including Christ, being called a Christian. Now we see God telling Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son, the true son named Isaac. Of course, we can look back and forward from the time of Abraham and know that through Isaac, Jesus would come into the world, as both Joseph and Mary were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We also know that God blessed Ishmael, making him a nation of twelve tribes, but looking ahead again we know they are not friends to the descendants of Isaac. There is one more interesting point that bears our attention. It was after God was finished speaking with Abraham, that God went up from him. What does that mean? Had God come down from heaven and stood on the earth and spoke face to face with Abraham? The Hebrew word used here for went up means ascend. God ascended back into heaven, which must mean that he descended from heaven. we have to go back to verse one when God appeared to Abram, the first meaning of the Hebrew word used as appeared is to see, to look at, as well as to see face to face, but can also mean to see in a vision, but nevertheless, considered that after God, ‘Elohiym, ascended, went up out of the sight of Abraham, perhaps much in the same way, Jesus ascended going up out of the sight of his disciples. Now, here is where the rubber meets the road for us. God does not change, so then we could expect to hear him speaking to us, should he need to inform us of his plan in our lives. Once again, we consider just how God could speak to us. Of course, we say we hear him through his word, the bible. Surely, we have considered the fact the Holy Spirit who dwells within us can inspire us, guide us into all truth, and even guide our path, we also know that word is a lamp unto our feet, but that is a general lamp for all believers to follow. As far as us as an individual walking with the Lord, we know God can do whatever he desires, and therefore, he can speak directly to us, giving us specific directions or information about his plan concerning our individual calling in this life for his purpose. Perhaps the reason we may not hear the voice of God, is that we are not listening or expecting him to speak directly to us, yet he can, and he will, if we are attentive, as we are being still and knowing that he is God.