The Covenant and the Promise of a Son

Abram still has no child. The LORD speaks to him in a vision: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield.” He takes him outside: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars … So shall thy seed be.” Abram believes, and God counts it to him as righteousness. At sunset, a smoking furnace and a burning torch pass between the divided animals: God seals his covenant. But Sarai grows impatient and gives Abram her Egyptian servant, Hagar, who bears Ishmael. Thirteen years later, God appears to Abram, now ninety-nine years old: he becomes Abraham, “a father of many nations,” Sarai becomes Sarah, and circumcision becomes the sign of the covenant; the promised son will be named Isaac. Finally, at the oaks of Mamre, Abraham welcomes three visitors. One of them announces that Sarah will have a son. Sarah, who is old, laughs to herself. The answer: “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?”