Covenants

Exalted Father

a meditation on Genesis

For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned it to him as righteousness.” - Saint Paul

Whereas the story of Adam and Noah seemed like counterpoints to each other, the story of Noah could never truly be the final fulfillment and answer to the story of Adam and the need to restore the marred image of mankind. And the clearest hint we had to look for salvation beyond Noah was that the original promise to the serpent was still in flux and not addressed in the story of Noah and the Ark,

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.”

Noah’s story never identified the woman. And that’s exactly how Abram’s story starts. The scripture says,

“Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”

Whatever happens next in the story of Abram, we know that we have to pay attention to what happens with his beloved wife, Sarai.

And so, let’s keep that in the echo of our minds as we progress through the episodes of the life of Abraham and his sons as told in Genesis, beginning with his call from the Lord and moving into the tales of his children, grandchildren, and even their sons. One thing we will draw to the forefront of our mind, over and over, is how true the old saying is “the New is concealed in the Old, the Old revealed in the New.” We will see Jesus as we step through the rest of the stories of Genesis. For the New fulfills and completes the Old.

Moreover, the gist of the story of salvation, and especially the stories of Genesis, is an exalted father (Abram’s name meaning in Hebrew) who deeply loves his only begotten son, and yet this beloved son must suffer to save humanity and all creation. This is the story we saw with Adam, this is the story of Noah, and this is the story we will see with Abraham and his sons. We shall see how profoundly the stories of Genesis are an allegory of Christ. The New fulfills the Old.

The Call

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”

God calls Abram, and promises an old man land, fame, and a great nation to come from him, so great a fame and fortune that all the families of the earth will find blessing in him, truly the father of all. If only, he heeds the call.

And as we know, Abram “believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.” After the stories of Adam and Noah, that is a powerful statement by the Holy Spirit.

For with Adam, the son of God lacked faith and disobeyed the word of the Lord. Noah, on the other hand, found favor in the Lords eyes and showed what righteousness was, for he “did all the Lord commanded him.” But the details of Noah’s righteousness are a little vague, as the nature of that story was not necessarily to give us a hero to emulaste, though the story does that, but to shine a light on Christ and the Church, to give humanity hope in judgement and salvation. Judgement in that evil will be addressed forcefully and cleansed permanently from the earth; salvation in that humanity would be saved by the Righteous One of God. The story of Noah is overtly Christological, it’s about Jesus and the Church and it’s hard to see what righteousness by faith looks like in one’s own journey, though we know we must heed all that God commands us, and that salvation will come by being part of God’s family. To expand on salvation via God’s family, we have the story of Abram, the exalted father of our faith, a man who walked the hero’s journey with God.

Yes, what Abram embarked on is what Joseph Campbell called the Hero’s Journey. In short, our hero receives a call to adventure out of his ordinary world, and through the the guidance of a mentor, he accepts the call, crosses the threshold of “no return” of which there is “no going back” until after the mission is accomplished (if at all). On the adventurous journey, the hero faces tests, makes allies, confronts enemies, as he goes forward to his ultimate test, trusting his only begotten son, whom he loves, fully to God. When he does so, he achieves the mission God has for him, receives his reward, and takes the road back sharing that reward with all the world, the world that finds its blessing in his beloved son.

Donald Miller has a very simple and beautiful description of the hero’s journey - a hero has a problem, meets a mentor with a plan, who calls the hero to action and helps the hero avoid failure and achieve success.

Abram is our hero, and in the 12th chapter of Genesis is called to adventure, the mission God has for him. God has the promise of land, fame, and a nation for him if he accepts the call and goes on this journey with God. Along the way, he will face enemies, meet allies, and be tested as he proves himself righteous. And in the end, the whole earth will find blessing through him. Of course, the God who is creator of all, including the best stories, knows how to tell a story that gives us an amazing hero to emulate.

And as Saint Paul and the other scripture writers attest, his heroism starts because Abram “believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” As our hero, Abram shows us the way to live our lives, in faith. Trust the Lord. And throughout the story, we see how Abram deals with tests, enemies, and allies and shows us how heroes live in the world, how godly heroes operate. We see what righteousness looks like in the circumstances of our lives through Abram’s story.

As we go on this journey with Abram, we’ll begin to notice something key for those of us living in the New and Eternal Covenant, the key that unlocks a great mystery. And that lock is opened by paying attention to Abram’s name. Abram means exalted Father.

Abram’s story is a pattern for how God our Father will save the world. Because the main tests in Abram’s life center around his son, his only begotten son, the son of the promise. And in that relationship, between the Father and Son, will be found the salvation of the world, the way that all the families of the earth will find blessing, which is the ultimate fulfillment of Abram’s call.

Moreover, in the New Covenant, the one that fulfills and not abolishes, we’ll see that holy fathers are the ones who offer the beloved Son to the world. The holy Catholic Church has an even greater fulfillment in the New Covenant because in parishes and churches all across the earth, we have holy fathers (holy Abrams) who offer the only begotten son of our Heavenly Father on consecrated altars across the world. Truly, our holy fathers live by faith, like Abram, and live out that faith in wonderful ways, emulating Abram’s passion alongside God’s beloved son as our holy fathers present Abraham’s test for all the world.

And so, with the story of Abram, we shall consider simply some of the many episodes of his life, for his life reveals the pattern of salvation to be found throughout the scriptures and across the covenants, seeing how what we experience in Jesus was foretold in Genesis.

And those who believe like Abram will see life in God’s holy name, the holy name by whom the world is saved, and blessed, and loved. That name is Jesus.

Melchizedek

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him…”

One of the many interesting episodes of Abram’s journey is his encounter with the high priest of God, early on in his story. Melchizedek, King of Salem (‘peace’), whose name means “King of Righteousness,” is an enigmatic and mysterious figure of the Old Testament. In fact, there is more spoken of him in one brief letter of the New Testament than all of the Old Testament. For he is only mentioned in three places, in the story of Abraham, in a vision of King David, and in an exposition in the letter to the Hebrews. That’s it as far as the sacred scriptures testify.

The lead up is interesting. Lot has gone on Abram’s mission, but they have separated. Abram and his wife Sarai were in the land of inheritance, but they went down to Egypt due to famine, a theme to be expanded on later in the stories of Israel, Joseph, and Jesus. When they returned they had been so bountiful through famine that they could not dwell together in the land. And so they separate, Abram lets Lot chose the land he wants and they separate. After, the Lord promises Abram,

“Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants for ever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, yoru descendants also can be counted.”

After Abram separates from his nephew, God promises Abram descendants so numerous they cannot be counted. A barren old man, promised descendants uncountable, and of course, Abram believed the Lord.

But Lot has fallen in with sinners, for his neighbors were wicked. And when they went to war, Lot was captured among many others. But someone escaped and told Abram. And Abram gathers his men and saves his kinsman “Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.” After this ordeal, Abram meets the mysterious Melchizedek. The sacred writer records Abram’s encounter with the mysterious figure,

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was Priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God most High, Maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

That’s it. That’s all that we hear of Melchizedek in the scriptures for about another 1,000 years, when King David sees him in a vision and records it in Psalm 110. Here is King David’s vision:

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my RIGHT hand, till i make your enemies your footstool.”

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes! Yours is dominion on the day you lead your host in holy splendor. From the womb of the morning I begot you. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a Priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

THe Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

And we won’t hear about Melchizedek for about another thousand years, after the resurrection of the risen Lord, where the Hebrews writer sees in this enigmatic figure prophecies of Christ which he expounds on in his letter to his kinsmen.

Truly, this is a mystery, but thankfully we have the light of the Spirit to shed some light. So, let us have a few reflections of our own.

One is the theme of righteousness. Here, Abram, whose faith is “reckoned to him as righteousness,” meets the King of Righteousness who is also the King of Peace while returning home from war and rescuing his nephew. This King is also Priest of God Most Hight, so a model of Christ who is both king and priest. And this priest, like Christ, offers bread and wine in his liturgy celebrating the exalted Father’s victory over his enemies. This King-Priest blesses both Abram and God Most High, clearly working a prophetic ministry as well. Yes, Abram, the one by whom the whole earth will be blessed, is blessed by this King of Righteousness and Peace.

And it is very good that our priest king in Genesis offers bread and wine, for these are the two most appropriate elements to offer as the King of Righteousness and Peace. For both, bread and wine, are food and drink that undergoes its own passion. The elements of grain and the vine must suffer to become the delight of God and man.

Moreover, humanity fell by eating fruit from the tree. Would it not be appropriate for us to be restored by eating grain from the field and drinking fruit of the vine? Grain that is crushed and mixed with water, heated over a fire, all to become bread to be crushed in our mouths and digested in our bodies. Fruit of the vine, refreshed by God’s rains for an abundant harvest that is picked and tread and crushed to be imbibed by men and become the delight of our hearts.

Melchizedek is clearly a Christ figure, as well as a eucharistic story, right in the early episodes of Abram’s life, in the story of a clear victory of Abram over his enemies. And that victory is celebrated in the form of communion with Bread and Wine.

1,000 years later, King David, sees Christ in a heavenly vision. And in this vision, he notes that the Lord says to his Lord - yes, even great King David has a Lord - and sees God offer King David’s Lord authority, dominion, kingship, and eternal priesthood. Again, a prophecy of Christ foretold a millennium before it was accomplished.

Of course, at this stage, it is no wonder, for our God not only is mighty to save, but he is mighty to proclaim his eternal salvation, accomplish it, and share news of it unto the ends of the earth. He was doing this across many of the stories of Genesis, let alone throughout the rest of human history. And he was announcing it millennia before he would accomplish it. It was prophesied; it was foretold; it was fulfilled..

Deep Sleep and Covenant

“Your own son shall be your heir”

Immediately after the episode with Melchizedek, God makes a covenant with Abram. Now, remember, God has made promises to our hero, and Abram has “built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord,” but we have not yet had mentions of a covenant with Abram, only promises. Part of the hero’s journey is setting forth in faith, and as we walk by faith and not sight, God gives us greater and greater sight into his holiness and mission. And after Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, this is when the promises shift into a covenant that God makes with Abram.

For,

the word of the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, “fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

But Abram said,

“O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Behold, you have given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

Abram remembers God’s promise of descendants and asks God about that promise. And God confirms to Abram,

“Your own son shall be your heir” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the LORD; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Soon after, a sacrifice occurs. God has Abram bring a heifer, she-goat, and ram - all three years old, and a turtle dove and young pigeon. The animals are cut in two, the birds are not. And the scripture writer notes,

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and behold, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.

A little later, after God foretells of the slavery of his descendants for four hundred years in Egypt, the scripture writer further notes,

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram.

Like Adam, Abram goes through a deep sleep. Though, since he already had a wife, there was not one fashioned from his side but instead the promise of a son and descendants and land for them. And it wasn’t Abram who walked between the animals confirming the covenant, but God passed through the carcasses himself and confirmed the covenant. The covenant is based on a promise from God, and that is the surest way to secure a promise, have it be delivered and depended on by God. For it was God alone, in the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch, who passed between the animal pieces.

And some might question, why only two representations of God and not three that pass through the bodies? In this case, God is confirming the dual nature of Christ. For it is not the Trinity that was offered in sacrifice, but the Son. Our Heavenly and Exalted Father offers his Son, God made flesh as the worthy sacrifice. The Word of the Lord, Jesus, is fully divine and fully man. And so it was Christ Jesus who passes between God and man in this promise to Abram. Hence, the light of the world, God’s divine presence made incarnate, in this case via smoking fire pot and flaming torch, and not the Holy Trinity, who passes between God and man. God alone is bound in this covenant with Abram, and Christ the God-man, fully God and fully man, fulfills it.

So, as we continue the story of Abram, we see early on clear Christological passages in Melchizedek’s blessing by God Most High as well the covenant made with him as a deep sleep falls upon him and the promise of a son to come is confirmed.

I suppose, we could have spoken many things regarding this passage and chapter, including the faith of Abram to believe a promise made in daylight about stars yet to be seen. But these are enough that we believe in the promised son of the Father, Jesus of Nazareth, the one by whom all promises of God are fulfilled.

A New Name

“Now sarai bore him no children”

But, with every hero’s journey, the hero needs to face tests. And one of Abram’s big tests comes after receiving the covenant from God. And the scripture writer gives us a clue, for the next lines are found in Chapter 16,

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was hagar; and Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

We see immediately from the point of view of scripture, Abram faces the test of trusting fully in God. How does a barren couple bear a child? And Abram makes a similar mistake as Adam. One might sympathize more with the ladies, Eve and Sarai, for their mistakes, the scripture is unclear if they have heard the promise from God. But we know without a doubt, both Adam and Abram heard the promises direct from God. And yet, they had their moment of doubt and listened to the voices of their wives rather than trust fully in the promise of God. Thankfully, God’s promises are based on his faithfulness not ours. We just need to keep faith in God who is faithful. As Isaiah the Prophet writes,

“He who believes will not be in haste.”

Unfortunately, rather than wait on God to accomplish his word, Abram heeds Sarai and bears a child with Hagar, a son named Ishmael. But, the holy Mother of the promise is not Hagar, nor is Ishmael the son of the promise and true heir of the exalted father.

One can understand Sarai’s position. As a loving wife, she desires her husband to be able to fulfill the word of the Lord. And so, she offers Hagar, she offers surrogacy. She is a barren woman, possibly past the age of conceiving, for the scripture notes later, “The way of woman had ceased to be with Sarah,” which is a polite way of saying she is no longer fertile.

And one can understand Abram’s point of view, tasked with this incredible promise from God, this covenant, surely he must have felt like he had to do something to fulfill it. Surely he had to act before it was too late, he was old after all and his wife was barren.

The pain they both felt must have been significant. And they thought in a very human way attempting to help God. And so Sarai told Abram to take her handmaid as a surrogate. But Abram and Sarai are repeating a similar type of mistake as Adam and Eve, not by eating the fruit of the wrong tree, but instead by planting seed in the wrong woman. In this case, they lacked full obedience to God. But let us remember Saint Paul’s words,

These things were written as an example for us.

And thankfully, in the New Covenant, we have a woman fully faithful to the word of the Lord, Our Lady of Fertility, who is fruitful even when virgin. Barrenness, for those who believe, is no longer possible in the New Covenant. Now, that is not to say that couples no longer struggle with fertility or fruitfulness, some most certainly do. What we do say is fruitfulness in the New Covenant is different than a simple description of barrenness of womb or lack of seed from man. For the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed about the fruitfulness of both the barren and the eunuch in the New Covenant,

Sing, o barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not had labor pains! for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married.

And regarding the eunuch,

let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For Thus says the Lord, “to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off.

God has a plan of fatherhood and motherhood for us greater than we can imagine, if only we have faith and trust in his ways. The barren will have reason to joyously sing and the eunuch will have a name that never ends.

Thankfully, as we saw with Adam, our mistakes are not enough to diminish nor detract from God’s ability to do his will and fulfill his promises. God is loving Father even and especially when we behave as wayward sons and daughters. He has a plan to bring prodigal sons and daughters home. And that plan includes a transformation.

So, Abram will have to undergo a transformation to fulfill the plan God has for him. And what better way to denote a transformation than to be given a new name? Hence our heavenly Father transforms Abram to Abraham.

Behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of a multituDe of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for i have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and i will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.

And once again, we see names have meaning and help unlock layers to the story. As Abram, Exalted Father, the story is about the promise of a son. As Abraham, the Father of Nations, that story doesn’t go away, it still remains in the echo of our minds, but it starts to take on other layers that get reflected in the sons born to the father. That old story remains but it does take on new shape.

Now, as Abraham, God will guide him to live up to the meaning of his name “father of nations.” This old man with a barren wife is not only promised a son but he will be the father of nations. Only one son is truly heir to Abram’s promise, and yet nations will come from Abraham. But he has to do it God’s way. And to help him understand God’s way, our Father gives Abram a new name which signifies his divine mission as Abraham, Father of Nations.

Babies are given a name by their parents for the hope they have for them on this earth. And in the New and Eternal Covenant, it makes sense for believers when born again to receive new names for their new hope as children of heaven. So many, for example, chose to take on the name of a saint that represents their new role as part of God’s family.

More so, in the New and Eternal Covenant, it makes sense for a woman to take on a new name when they make marital vows. They take on the name of the family which they will hope to increase for future generations.

More even, it makes sense in the New and Eternal Covenant, that when bishops become holy fathers, they take on a new name to signify their new and exalted mission as head of the Church. That is just following the example and pattern established with Abraham, the Father of Nations.

These patterns are a fulfillment of the Old Testament types established by God and man in the old stories. A fulfillment because Christ came to fulfill not abolish.

And, not surprisingly, once again, we see Jesus taking actions of both divinity and humanity when he gave Simon son of Jonah a new name. For Simon’s name was changed to Peter (that is, Rock) when Jesus appointed him head of the Church. Jesus calling him “The Rock” signifies his divine calling. Christ does both a manly and a godly thing in renaming Peter. For Adam has authority to name the creatures of the world, and so our last Adam demonstrates his authority by giving Simon a new name. And God has authority to name those who have a special and divine mission, and so our God incarnate renames Simon to Peter,

“BLESSED are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And i tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock i will build my Church and the powers Of death shall not PREVAIL against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When we are given a name, whether in the Old or New Covenant, it is a reminder of our mission in God. Names mean something, and when people are given new names, that means something as well, it signifies renewed clarity on their divine mission.

Now, Abraham takes on a new identity as Father of Nations.

Now, let’s consider the price he has to pay…

Circumcision

“and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations.”

Now, the promised son is a sign of the covenant with Abram. But with the confusion of Ishmael, the son of the flesh and not the son of the promise, God renames Abraham and renews the covenant. And hilariously, he makes Abraham snip the flesh of his member as a reminder to trust fully in the Lord.

The original covenant with Abram has to be renewed with Abraham. And now, it takes on a reminder, a sign. When the covenant was with Abram, exalted father, the sign of the covenant was the promised son; but now, with Abraham, the father of nations, there needs to be a new sign of the covenant, and that new sign is circumcision.

And with circumcision comes a cost - pain, suffering, and even a little blood. In the previous covenants, the sacrifices were born by animals. The consequences of man were felt, but now, as a sign of the covenant, man himself (not females) must shed his own blood as his flesh is cut off. Of course, the flesh that is removed is literally the tip, a reminder of the sin committed with Hagar, both hilarious yet serious, as the Wisdom writer notes,

“That they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which he sins.”

We see the physical punishment is born by Abraham, not Sarah, though she undergoes her own torment, but it is the males who are the ones who carry the reminder in their flesh of the covenant with God. A reminder of our role as servants and protectors of our woman and families, but also a reminder of the way we are easily led astray and into sin.

And so, Abraham and all the males of his household are circumcised, adults and children. And for the promised son, and future generations of males, the circumcision is on the 8th day. On that day of establishing the covenant with Abraham, adults and children were circumcised. A few, three in fact, practical points to make.

One, as mentioned, it is not only Abraham that bears this sign, but now all the males of the community. For males, this is a reminder to take heed and not make the same mistakes as Adam and Abram. Men, when you hear the word of the Lord, take heed to keep it; and make sure you teach it. Don’t let others be confused and tempt you to dismiss the full decree of the Lord. For,

The law of the lorD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
Making wise the simple;
the Precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
Enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.

So, now all the males who are part of Abraham’s family must be circumcised to participate in God’s promise to Abraham. Thanks be to God, Christ fulfilled this Covenant and now in the greater and New Covenant, Baptism, and not Circumcision, is the sign by which we participate in God’s blessing to Abraham. And this sign is open to all, men and women, adults and children, families and individuals, in short, all of God’s children.

Secondly, as males and leaders, not only are we to heed and teach and follow all the decrees of the Lord, but when we make mistakes, or have learning experiences, let us not be fooled and not think there will be no consequences. All sin has consequences. Even personal sins affect communities. And the sins of leaders, due to their role and influence, impact their communities even more. And so, God gave his male leaders in the Old Covenant with Abraham a funny and painful little reminder about the right way to follow all of God’s ways.

Lastly, for our purposes, why the 8th day?

Well, it’s the new week. When the baby of the Old Covenant with Abraham emerges from the womb and enters into life breathing air for the first time, they begin their first week on earth. A holy and powerful week. At the end of this first and potentially Holy Week, they rest. On the first day of the New Week, they are circumcised and fully enter into the Covenant made with Abraham.

In the New and Eternal Covenant, in the days of old, the Church used to baptize on the 3rd day. Since Christ resurrected on the 8th day, the new week of the resurrection was also a new creation in Christ. In this new creation, it made sense to baptize on the 3rd day because this is when life began in the 1st Covenant with Creation. It made sense to mimic that 1st Covenant in the Last Covenant, and so eternal life bursts forth on the 3rd day, the day of resurrection. And so, in the New and Eternal Covenant, the 3rd and 8th day are entwined as one, for the 3rd day of Christ’s resurrection is also the 8th day of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

And thanks be to Christ, the promised son of the Heavenly and Exalted Father, he follows all of God’s ways and fulfills the Old Covenants fully and perfectly! Otherwise, we would need to be circumcised to enter into God’s covenant. But the wisdom of the Church saw circumcision as unnecessary but baptism as vital. Hence, when Saint Peter recounts how Gentiles had received the grace of baptism by the Holy Spirit, he had them baptized (and not circumcised), and they all rejoiced in Jerusalem saying,

“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.”

A few chapters later, in the book of Acts, Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas encounter this same question, for Saint Luke records,

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

But when the Church gathered her apostles and elders to consider the matter, they understood by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that the great signs and wonders wrought to the Gentiles was a sign of God’s grace in that "we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” Hence, they sent a letter to the Gentile believers that said in part,

“For it has seemed good to the Holy SPirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. if you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

There was no mention of circumcision in the letter because when they had considered the matter, circumcision was a sign of the Old Covenant with Abraham that Christ had fulfilled. It was and is no longer necessary for salvation; now baptism saves, as prefigured in the story of Noah. In the New Covenant, we have baptism, and not circumcision, as our sign that we are a part of the chosen family of God. And in the greater and enhanced beauty of the New Covenant, this sign is available to both man and woman, for “male and female he created them.”

Would the greater Covenant exclude females from participating in the sign of the covenant? Of course not, for it is women that birth the children. Of course females in the New and Eternal Covenant should be baptized alongside their brothers by whom we are made into sons and daughters of God, born not of the will of the flesh but by the will of God who imparts to us his Holy Spirit at Baptism.

More even, would the greater covenant exclude children? Of course not, for if the Covenant with Abraham included both adults and children, likewise, the fulfillment of that Covenant is greater by allowing both babies and adults to participate.

Hence, we baptize babies in the New and Eternal Covenant. And God willing, if not on the day of birth we baptize on the 3rd day, a sign of the eternal life they are inheriting as children of God.

And also, we baptize adult converts. And they join the 3rd day of Christ by their reception into the Church on the easter vigil, the day of Resurrection, the 8th day of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the first day of them being a new creation in Christ.

Oh, yes, thanks be to Christ in his marvelous fulfillment of all the riddles and mysteries of the Old Covenants!

Our Lady

“Sarah shall be her name… and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her”

God’s beauty is shown forth in his tender love for barren old women. And it is a key part of the story of the all-important matriarch of the Hebrew people. In this case, the story of Sarai, who becomes Sarah.

As Sarai, she was surely Abram’s princess, his beloved wife and spouse. As Sarah, she is Our Lady, the woman of the promise. Behold, the woman and her seed.

Yes, not only was Abraham given a new name, but so was his wife, Sarah. And for Catholics, you see the root of the culture in our behaviors and respect for Mother Mary, Our Lady of the New Covenant, in the pattern we see begin with Sarah, Our Lady of Abraham. Sarah’s name translated means Our Lady. Like Isaac is a type of Christ; Isaac’s mother, Our Lady, is a type of Mary.

Of course, we were trained in the story of the fall in Eden to pay attention to the woman and her seed. And so, another critical sign of the covenant is not only the promised son, but Our Lady, the woman who brings forth the son of the promise. Mother Mary is the fulfillment of Sarah, Our Lady of the Old Covenant.

Now of course, there are differences. Mother Mary was a virgin, Sarah was barren; Mother Mary believed the word of the Lord, Sarah had her doubts and laughed at the angel’s proclamation; Mother Mary said “let it be done to me according to thy word,”, Sarah similar to Eve, said something like “try this fruit” when she offered her servant Hagar. In many ways the contrast is strong. But of course, the New Covenant fulfills the Old Covenant types. And that is why Mother Mary is even greater than the Old Testament types that point forward to her. In this case, Mother Mary is even greater than the great matriarch, Sarah, spouse of Abraham and mother of Isaac, Our Lady of the first son of the promise.

Thanks be to God, the true son of the promise is Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady! Is anything too hard for the Lord?

But now that God clarifies that the son of the promise will be born through Sarah (and not Hagar, or any other woman), there will be issues forthcoming that the Church foresaw as allegories of the relationship between God and his children. For God specifies,

No but sarah Your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

In the light of the New Covenant, Saint Paul sees this story of Abraham and his son to reveal insights about the unification of Jew and Gentile (nations) in Christ.

Now the promises were made to abraham and to his offspring. It does not say “and to offsprings” referring to many; but to offspring, Referring to one, which is Christ.

And so, in his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul explicitly addresses issues of the early Church, specifically in this case the gospel and the question of circumcision, highlighting the importance of faith.

FOr In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Again, the promise (that is, a son from Our Lady, the woman and her seed), and not according to the flesh (that is, circumcision). Saint Paul uses the difference between Hagar and Sarah to highlight the covenants.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

Saint Paul goes on to goes on to conclude that in Christ we are sons of the free woman.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you… For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.

Saint Paul ends the holy letter to the Galations with,

But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule.

And so, circumcision does not mean anything because Christ fulfilled the Old Covenants. Now, it is not circumcision that matters but faith; for faith in the promised son preceded the failure that led to the need for circumcision. And so, faith leads to baptism which is the sign of the New Covenant. Baptism is the sign commanded by Jesus, it is the sign of faith not failure. And Jesus is the true son of the promise, the beloved son of Our Lady, the one in whom we have faith.

Truly, there is so much more we could have said on these things, may the Holy Spirit draw to the mind of readers the more things He would teach, these are sufficient for now to know Christ Jesus is the son of the promise to Our Lady, let us continue with the stories of Abraham’s life.

Prophet

“he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you shall live”

Yes, there are many things we have neglected in the stories of Abraham’s life, not for want of desire, but for brevity and desire to focus specifically on some of the more overt allegories of Christ in the old stories.

Now, what we’ve shared to this point is not an all-encompassing list of how Christ fulfills the stories of Genesis, but simply lays out a pattern to recognize how incredibly Jesus fulfills even the smallest details of the stories of Genesis and the riddles and mysteries proposed by the Holy Spirit that find their fulfillment in Christ alone.

One item for us to note is how prophetic these stories are. For even the story of Abraham and his sons was used by Saint Paul to teach on the covenants to come - that they were foreshadowing of the Covenant with Moses and the Covenant with Jesus. So, even Abraham’s story, and the details of his life, were crafted and recorded as allegories for the Church to understand truth; past, present, and future. For the saying is true, the Old is revealed in the New and the New is hidden in the Old.

And so, we could have seen allegories of the Holy Trinity in the three angels of the Lord who Abraham received at the Oaks of Mamre, or we could have spoken of kingship in the covenants Abraham made with kings, or the priesthood in the sacrifices he offered and the altars built to call on the name of the Lord, or the intercessory prayers offered for cities, or the redemption of his kinsmen, or the exile from the promised land, or the exodus out of Egypt; for all these and more are important in the story of Christ and the holy Church, which is why so many of the New Testament writers focus on drawing truth from Abraham’s life. Truly, Abraham’s story is profound, all the more amazing when you realize it starts as an old man receiving a call to adventure from the Lord.

But alas, for the sake of brevity, we shall simply mention these and move on to possibly the most important part of the story. For those with eyes to see, it becomes clear that Abraham’s whole life was ordered toward a major test - an ordeal centered on his beloved son of the promise. It is to this moment that we now turn our gaze.

Beloved Son

“Take your only begotten son, whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering”

There are so many passion stories in the world and in Genesis, and yet, the story of Abraham and his beloved son is possibly the easiest to see and identify as a hidden story of Christ in Genesis. For, obviously, Christ fulfills this story.

The story is found in Genesis, chapter 22. And the literary excellence is in full effect. We’ve now followed Abraham for decades, as he first receives the call out of his daily life and into his hero’s adventure with God. He has received divine promises, he has tried to satisfy them in his own ways to find out that God’s ways are higher than our own, and he has come to lean on God and learn from God that He is faithful and trustworthy to fulfill all his promises.

And so, the scripture records the testing of Abraham.

After these things God tested Abraham, and he said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only-begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which i shall tell you."“

This is the first time the word “love” is mentioned in the holy scriptures. Surprising, that the scripture waited so long to use the word love. For it didn’t explicitly use the world love when it recorded Adam’s joy for his bride, nor Abraham’s love for Sarah. But the first time love is explicitly recorded as a word is when it deals with the Father’s love for his only-begotten son. This was surely an allegory of Christ.

Likewise, in John’s gospel, the first use of the word love is when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about the love of the Father for his children. For the famous passage states,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

And so the parallels come to a head with this story of the testing of the Father of Nations, let us note a few of the details in the craftsmanship of story.

In both stories, the 3rd day is the day death transforms to life. In both stories, the beloved son carries the wood of his offering up the mountain. In both stories, God provides the lamb. In both stories, the son is laid on the altar of salvation. In both stories, the ram provided by God is harmed by thorns in a thicket, an allusion to the original curse for Adam, “thorns and thistles shall be brought forth to you” and fulfilled in our Christ’s crown of thorns, a crown not common to most kings who are accustomed to gold, silver, or other gems. And in both stories, the descendants of Abraham are exponentially multiplied as they conquer satan, sin and death by the blood of the lamb of God.

And so, in this story Abraham’s obedience is tested and his faith brings forth the righteousness of eternal life. From the perspective of common man, this is the most bizarre hero story in the history of humanity - an old dad offering his beloved son in sacrifice. But in the divine revelation of the Holy Spirit, this is the gospel proclamation of Jesus Christ foretold thousands of years before their fulfillment.

Praise be to Christ, the beloved son of the promise to Our Lady.

Behold, the only-begotten son of our Heavenly Father.

Bride and Burial

“I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that i may bury my dead out of my sight… after this, Abraham buried sarah his wife in the cave of the field in the land of canaan”

Of course, after the passion story of the promised son in Genesis, the next important point from the perspective of the New Covenant would be the son’s bride. And we get the mention of his future bride in a brief genealogy that mentions Rebekah before it returns to Abraham and Sarah. Unfortunately, before we hear of the story of the son and his bride, we hear of the death and burial of Our Lady.

Now, to us, thousands of years removed from the story, it may come as a surprise that so much of the story is spent on the death and burial of the matriarch of the Hebrews. And for those of us living under the New Covenant, this brings forth the question, what happened to Mother Mary at the end of her earthly sojourn?

If so much space was given to the death and burial of Sarah, surely Our Lady of the New Covenant is a greater fulfillment of the earlier types that pointed towards her.

And so, what happened to Mother Mary?

Surely, the daughter of the Heavenly Father, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the mother of God was cared for at the end of her earthly sojourn more than even the great Abraham cared for his wife at the end of her life.

For Abraham, in hope of the resurrection and awaiting the promises of God, bought land in the promised land and did so specifically to bury his dead, in this case, his wife.

In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection.

For if he were not expecting his wife who had fallen asleep to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to bury his dead. But Abraham, not only the Father of Nations but also the Father of Faith, displayed his faith for us his children by taking care of his wife’s body for the resurrection.

And if the earthly Abraham cared so much about the resting place of the mother of his only-begotten son, surely our Heavenly Father surely cared more for the body of the mother of our Lord?

So, what happened to Mother Mary?

Well, she’s alive! Alive and in heaven!

To see this, let us glean some insights from Abraham and Sarah first. For one, let us understand the responsibility.

As living husband, Abraham was responsible to care for his wife, in life and in death. And so, he buries her to prepare her body to rise in the resurrection.

For dust you are and to dust you shall return.

But, since the son of the promise has been raised from the dead two thousand years ago, the hope we have is life not death. To dust we may return, but as children of God it is to return to the heavenly Jerusalem, the place where death has no sting nor sorrow.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive… The last enemy to be destroyed is death… Thus it is written, “the first man Adam became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit… Death is swallowed up in Victory… Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus christ.

And though Sarah died, she died in faith. Mother Mary lived in faith. She held in her arms the one in whom we have faith. She was full of faith in way we cannot comprehend as “she pondered these things in her heart.” And she was at the cross, seeing the moment inaugurated the new covenant and ushered in the kingdom of God. The moment which Saint Matthew records,

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs were also opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and Appeared to many.

Sarah had a living husband who buried her. Mother Mary, on the other hand, had an eternal son who cares for her. Her earthly husband, the great Saint Joseph, had passed. He was among the saints raised by Christ as witnessed by Matthew. And so, before Christ entered his ministry, her care was entrusted to her son. But as we know, her son went to the cross. And among his last words while crucified was about the care of his beloved mother. He told the disciple whom he loved,

When jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

His last will and testament on earth, before he pronounced the “it is finished” regarding the inauguration of the new covenant and fulfillment of the old, was to entrust the care of his beloved mother to the disciple whom he loved.

And it is this disciple, who in God’s providence, reveals to us what happened to our mother.

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

In the Old Covenant, the father of the faithful cares for the death and burial of Our Lady; in the New Covenant, our Heavenly Father cares for the dormition and heavenly assumption of Our Lady, Mother Mary. This is fitting for the New is greater than the Old. We are under a better covenant, with a better father, a better son, and a better mother, Our Lady!

For Our Lady of the Old Covenant we are told in the scriptures of her death and burial. In contrast, for Our Lady of the New Covenant, there is no mention of her death or burial, instead she is seen in heaven. And the testimony of the Church has many approved Marian apparitions over the centuries of her continued visitation of her children across seas and centuries and she shares the gospel of her son across time and cultures as part of her heavenly ministry on his behalf.

And the contrast we see dimly explains the vision of Revelation. At the end of her earthly journey, it is not necessary to bury her, instead she is brought into heaven. There is a thread of her heavenly assumption that begins in the story of the entering the Ark of heaven’s mercy, continues with Abraham’s care for his wife’s body, and will extended into the next stories of the Ark of the Covenant and the placing of the Queen Mother in the throne room of the heavenly King.

Hence, the Catholic teaching on the assumption of Mother Mary has its roots, prophecies and promises rooted in the predictions and patterns of the Old Covenant stories. Not only is it a fitting fulfillment of many Old Testament types of the Ever Virgin Mother of God, but it is a fitting fulfillment for the life of Our Lady of the New Covenant, the mother of the only-begotten son of the promise.

And so, Sarah was buried, but regarding Mother Mary, the testimony of scripture and the witness of the Church is she is in heaven, brought there by her son.

Of course, the New Covenants fulfillment would be greater than the Old Covenant figure pointing to Our Lady. For we have an even greater Sarah than even the one of Abraham, for we have the Sarah who birthed the true son of the promise. The one foretold in the protoevangelium, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed,” the Lady of the New Covenant, the woman revealed by Christ at the wedding at Cana and by him on the cross, and the woman spoken of in Revelation,

Then the dragon was Angry with the woman, and went off to make waR on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.

This is the woman who is with her eternal son in heaven. Praise be to God always!

Bridegroom

“Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her.”

The first time love is explicitly mentioned is between the father and his only begotten son. The second time the word love is used between that son and his beloved bride. The New Testament implications are clear. And Jesus teaches them. Because the story of Abraham and Isaac is the story of the Father seeking a bride for his son. The allegory of Christ continues strong in Genesis.

Hence in Saint John’s gospel, the first mention of love is in context of the passion, cross and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. The cross is Christ’s wedding vow fulfilled with his bride; the cross is when Christ’s bride, the Church, is fashioned from his side. A fulfillment of the early story of Adam and his bride. And that story is continued with Abraham and Isaac.

Key to notice, is the allegory of Christ continues. For Abraham commissions his servant to find a bride for his son.

Birthright and Blessing

“The elder shall serve the younger”

We saw this in the story of Ishmael and Isaac, and we will see it once again in the story of Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau.

But before there are sons, there is once again barrenness.

For the scripture records,

“Jacob i loved, but Esau i hated.”

But let us provide some context.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man”

Sons of Israel

“Fear not, for am i in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today”

Kings of Praise

“The scepter shall not depart from judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples”

Truly, the gospel of Jesus is found throughout the stories of Genesis. Yes, the passion and resurrection of Christ is throughout the first stories of mankind as well as in the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. These early stories are filled with details of the beloved son of God who was crucified, who died, resurrected and ascended into heaven. That good news was foretold by all the prophets, especially the Prophet Moses who compiled the stories of Genesis for the people of God.

And so, it is time we turn to the stories he lived out as God’s friend, leading his people from slavery to freedom. Let us hear the story of not only the sons of Israel, but the nation.

Next: Out of Water