Solomon Aggrey - Following His Glory

‘By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.’ (Hebrews 11.11-12). Isaac, the promised son born out of faith, was like a resurrection son, a type of Christ. Unlike Ishmael, the seed of Isaac came through the circumcision (cutting of the foreskin) of Abraham.

Scripture says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God (James 2.23, 2 Chronicles 20.7). God Himself called Abraham His friend (Isaiah 41.08). It means Abraham did not just walk in God presence, but he also walked with God as a friend. In other words, Abraham had a very close relationship and fellowship with El Shaddai, just as Enoch and Noah had with Elohim.

God Himself said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing …?’ Abraham interceded on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah as a friend of God and also as a priest. Abraham, like Enoch, received the revelation of God’s plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Jews, ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’ (John 8.56). Therefore, Abraham like Enoch and Noah lived beyond his time. As a friend of God, Abraham might have seen God’s face, but was silent about it.

Of the three patriarchs Enoch, Noah and Abraham, who were perfect and walked with God, it was only Abraham with whom God made an everlasting covenant which included his seed. ‘This is my covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants [seed] after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.’ (Genesis 17.11)

The Hebrew word for sign is ‘owth’ (oth). It means signal, flag, beacon, mark, standard, memorial, omen, and symbol. For Noah and the future generation, the sign was a rainbow. It showed the mercy and the love of God to mankind at the same time pointing to something new; a new way of dealing with corruption. For Abraham and his seed, the sign of the covenant was circumcision.

Circumcision was a pointer to a new way of holiness and to their destiny as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Every seed of this nation must pass through circumcision. Why? It is a sign of not walking in the flesh but walking in the Spirit. ‘To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace … they that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Romans 8.6-8).

The Bible says Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. It was possible that other nations were practising some form of circumcision. But God said, ‘He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generation …’ ‘Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.’ (Gen 17.12, Gen 21.4).

Why the eighth day? Science has proven that in a newly born child the blood has no clotting ability. Therefore, any form of bleeding may prove fatal. In modern times the medics may give vitamin K to a new-born child to initiate production of the blood coagulating protein, called prothrombin. In the 20th century, it was scientifically acknowledged that prothrombin is at its highest level, throughout the life of the person, on the eighth day. So, God, as the Creator, was way ahead of modern science.

Circumcision involved the cutting off of the foreskin of the male genital organ. It is the sign or the mark of separation of the heart from the things of the flesh and the world (Romans 2.28-29). It was the sign that they were tamiym, just as God had told their father Abraham, a sign that they were God’s people. The seed of Abraham would cast a shadow on the earth, or become God’s image on earth, through whom the whole world would be blessed and be reconciled to God.

The covenant with Abraham also included the Promised Land, which was a picture of heaven. ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’ (Genesis 13.14-15). Bible says the Lord appeared to Isaac, the son of Abraham, when he decided to go to Egypt in the time of famine, saying, ‘Do not go to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept my charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.’ (Genesis 26.2-5).

Before the Mosaic Law was enacted, Abraham knew about the charge of the Lord, the commandments, the statutes, and the law, and kept them to the pleasure of God. So, the commandments, the statutes and the law could be seen as a shadow of God’s own image. In them God revealed His nature. The blessing of Isaac, Jacob and the children of Israel was due to the sacrifice of one man, Abraham. ‘Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed’, who is Christ.’ (Galatians 3.16). So, through the Seed, Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman, the whole family of the earth is blessed.

The Bible does not mention in what form El Shaddai appeared to Abraham. The same God appeared to Isaac and introduced Him, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham, do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.’ (Genesis 26.24). Again, the Bible does not tell us in what form El Shaddai appeared to Isaac.

Isaac also begot twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the elder, but it was Jacob who by divine choice carried the seed of promise. Jacob gave birth to 12 sons and those sons became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. The same God, El Shaddai, appeared to Jacob as he fled from his brother Esau.

‘So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said; “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

Genesis 28.11-14

Jacob perceived, ‘This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ (Gen 28.17). He called the place Bethel, the house of God. Here again the Abrahamic covenant was confirmed and renewed in Jacob. The same promise given to Abraham applied to Isaac and Jacob. When Jacob returned to Bethel, after 20 years in exile, God told him to build an altar to the God who appeared to him when he fled from Esau, his brother. ‘And he (Jacob) built an altar there and called the place El Bethel (God of the house of God) because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.’ (Genesis 35.7).

The Hebrew word for ‘appeared’ used in Genesis 35 verse 7 is ‘galah,’ meaning to uncover, unveil and to reveal. The word suggests the idea of the exposure of one’s nakedness. So, at Bethel, God uncovered Himself to Jacob. In other words, God revealed a mystery about Himself. First, there was a gulf, a chasm between the earth and the heaven. Secondly, the chasm was bridged by a ladder or staircase on which one could ascend step by step to God. Third, angels were ascending and descending on the staircase. Fourth, God stood at the top of the staircase.