4A12
© Jeff Stacey | Last updated: 23 October 2016
4A12. God’s Covenantal warnings to Abraham and his chosen descendants:
(a) Any uncircumcised male would be expelled from being one of God’s chosen people
(b) IF they were NOT wholeheartedly committed to God and did NOT believe His unchanging Covenantal declarations and promises or obey His Covenantal requirements, THEN God would make Himself known TO and THROUGH them negatively
4A12(title) God’s Covenantal warnings to Abraham and his chosen descendants
God had always wanted all people to share fully in the huge privileges He intended for them. So He had warned them of their accountability to obey His requirements, as well as the dire consequences of disobedience [1A12, 2A12 and 3A12]. This same direct connection between God’s requirements and warnings to obey them continued to apply under His Covenant with Abraham and his chosen descendants.
4A12(a) Any uncircumcised male would be expelled from being one of God’s chosen people
God simply required Abraham and all the males of his chosen descendants and their households to be circumcised as the “sign” of being His chosen people Gen 17:9-10,11. This was one essential way that they were to “keep His Covenant”. God warned that any uncircumcised male would be expelled from His chosen people because he had “broken God’s Covenant” Gen 17:14. That would be a dire consequence for that male in view of God’s profound Covenantal declarations and promises to him.
4A12(b) IF they were NOT wholeheartedly committed to God and did NOT believe His unchanging Covenantal declarations and promises or obey His Covenantal requirements, THEN God would make Himself known TO and THROUGH them negatively
Failure to believe God’s Covenantal declarations and promises was disastrous, as illustrated by the case of Esau Gen 25:29-31,32-33,34 [see 4B30(e) and 4B31(e)]. He readily forfeited his “birthright” on oath, merely to satisfy his hunger! Yet it represented his inheritance within God’s chosen people. This indicated that he really did not believe God’s commitments to him. He had placed no value on them and in effect despised them Gen 25:34c.
Failure to obey God also had catastrophic consequences, as demonstrated by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although the citizens of these two cities were not the chosen descendants of Abraham, their blatant disobedience to God’s requirements was obvious Gen 18:20-21, 19:4-5,9,14b. Yet Abraham asked God six times whether His judgment would come upon them even IF there were fifty or as few as ten “righteous” people there (this implied that “righteous” meant obedient to God’s requirements). God in grace said that even IF there were only ten THEN it would not come Gen 18:23-31,32-33.
But the only apparently “righteous” man Lot Gen 19:1,2,6-7 and his family were finally removed by God Gen 19:15-23,29b before He destroyed the two cities and their evil inhabitants Gen 19:24-25,29a. So God horrifically made Himself known negatively TO Lot and his family, as well as TO the two cities. Yet after all this Lot himself was disobedient to God’s requirement to do what was right. He got drunk Gen 19:33,35 and this led to further grossly negative outcomes THROUGH him and his two daughters Gen 19:36-37,38.
Arrow 4A11 -> 4A12
This arrow indicates the solemn accountability of Abraham and his chosen descendants to believe God’s Covenantal declarations and promised Covenantal gifts, and to obey His Covenantal requirements. IF they did NOT choose to do these THEN they would not be able to carry out God’s Covenantal commission. Instead they would suffer the dire consequences of their disobedience and unbelief, as God expressed His own nature negatively THROUGH them.