"And I will bless her [Sarah], and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And He left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him." (Genesis 17:16-27)
Here, Abraham is told very clearly that the son that God promised him will not be the one that Abraham enjoyed that came from Hagar, but will come from his own wife, Sarah, instead, who is at this time ninety years old! Abraham fell on his face and laughed, yet we know that his laughter was not a disrespectful laugh of disbelief, or of sneering at God because the situation was ludicrous, but his laughter was one of joy and amazement at what God was able to do even with ones as old as he and Sarah.. We know this because had it been of unbelief, God would have dealt with Abraham differently and swiftly as God always does. Instead, God tells Abraham that his son's name will be Isaac, which means "laughter."
Loving Ishmael as his first-born, and up to that point, only son, Abraham boldly asks the Lord to bless Ishmael as well as this soon to be born son from Sarah. God first responds regarding Sarah's son, then responds to Abraham's request on behalf of Ishmael, telling him that Ishmael will be blessed with fruitfulness, with being the father of a large nation himself; but He reiterates that the special covenant that He is making is with Isaac and with the seed of Isaac after him. It is the child of the Spirit that is to be blessed with this covenant between God and man; not the child of the flesh.
Here, in the token [or sign] of the covenant, lies the distinction that later determined who were a people led by God and who were not; who were led by the spirit, versus being led by the flesh. Men, being the head of the households, were the only ones required to be circumcised; their commitment to God covered the whole family, including the servants, the males of whom were also required to be circumcised. The covenant guaranteed God as their protector, as the One who would bring blessings upon them, but obedience was also required of those led by God.
The first act of obedience, and we can see it was immediately being "the selfsame day," was that Abraham immediately had every male member of his household circumcised that very day, including himself and Ishmael. I believe this act of circumcision was not only painful but humbling to Abraham and those of his household; it had never been done before. Yet the benefits of it far outweighed the pain and embarrassment. They now carried in their own bodies the mark that they belonged to God; that God Almighty was their God!
But we will see as we continue in our study of the Bible that this act of physical circumcision was merely a "type" or "sign" of the circumcision of the heart that had already taken place in Abraham and Sarah and those of their household. In fact, in the New Testament we will see that the greater value is placed upon circumcision of the heart (pr a spiritual circumcision, a spiritual "belonging" to God) rather than circumcision of the flesh.
Those today who belong to God, who hear God and commune with Him, have that circumcision of the heart that marks the covenant they have with God through His Son Jesus Christ….for they are children of the Spirit, rather than children of the flesh.
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