Genesis 17-24... The important thing is to multiply

Another exciting chapter about god and beliefs, and...Circumcision?!

I think this was the easiest chapter to understand, and the idea it was trying to transmit was easy to grasp and understandable. I can start this topic by sharing what god said about circumcision, “it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you”. What I found very weird was that god obligated boys to be circumcised, I guess I never thought that belief applied to everyone, I thought it was much less common, and what surprised me was the very strict and not so noble anymore, god. Where everything he said was the law and it was either his way or the highway, I guess I didn't enjoy the characters much in this chapter. As I was reading the chapter in which Abram is introduced, I started to think about his name, I thought it was Abraham, but figured out it would explain itself as the story went on, and it did. When god says: "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee (Gen. 17)." Now it was all clear, I had always heard of Abraham but never Abram, I now realize it was the same guy. And in someway when god changes his name from Abram to Abraham, he is acknowledging more power unto Abraham, by saying that in someway the name Abraham shows more power than Abram... Weird, I know. Another thing I found interesting was that Abraham didn't want to have kids at age 90, when people in other bible stories have kids at age 400 or even more. Isn't that weird?

As I read these pages everything is just so new and so contradicting that my ideas get tangled up in knots, tightly wounded knots. God has always been introduced to us as a noble being, who only wants love and prosperity in our lives, and i'm not saying hes not, I just think that if god wanted to test Abraham's braveness and emotions, he could've found a less savage way other than killing his grandson. The god I know and believe in would not do such a thing, he would make him take a long journey in which he proves himself, but a life taken away to prove a point? Is that fair? And plus, if god knows everything and is so wise, why doesn't he know that Abraham is brave and has emotions? As I said... Very contradicting.

In this chapter we can see a very special bond between Abraham and god, I think Abraham is to god what Muhammad was to Islam. Abraham is god's messenger, or shepherd if you will, and that is why god gives Abraham such amazing gifts. He gives him everything he desires, kingdoms, children and many others, must be cool to have god by your side.

A thing about this chapter which I can't really explain well is the incest, the daughters sleeping with his old father, I can't even explain it: “do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”