12. AN UNEXPECTED PROMISE |
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Have you ever planned a surprise party for someone? Sometimes it is difficult to keep a secret. It isn't easy to look someone in the eyes and talk with them, knowing that you are hiding something. Particularly when that secret knowledge is something good! In this lesson we will learn about a time when God talked to Abraham, but couldn't tell him everything he was planning for him. He gave Abraham mysterious instructions that left him baffled. What was the mystery Abraham couldn't understand? Let's start with another story first.
During the Korean War and after months of taking brutal attacks by the North Koreans, the combined forces planned a strategic counter assault. The assault was so successful that a whole section of the North Korean army was isolated and the freedom of tens of thousands of Koreans was secured.
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu (a pseudonym) was one of those who planned the attack. He was a fair and honest man who commanded the respect of all those under him. The Korean War needed more men like him, and the Americans were simply lucky to have the help of such a brilliant strategist and commander. In his Battalion were 700 Turks with a fierce reputation. One of those who belonged to their ranks was Sergeant Major Mehmet Çakmak, a soldier who gave the Turkish army its good reputation. Although a little impulsive, he was also faithful, fearless, followed commands and knew how to give them.
After meeting with the international coalition, Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu called his trusted friend Sergeant Major Çakmak for an emergency meeting.
"Çakmak, we will attack the North Koreans tomorrow and you have the responsibility of destroying a key bridge. This is an incredibly important assignment, and I have chosen you specifically for it. I want you to take private Emet with you as your assistant."
The last sentence caught Sergeant Major Cakmak by surprise.
"Sir, Private Emet?"
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu calmly replied,
"Yes, I have specifically selected him as your helper. He is my promise to you of a safe return."
The words seemed odd and so Sergeant Major Cakmak spoke his mind.
"Sir, may I share a thought? I have a man in my platoon, Sergeant Levent, who is like a son to me. He is a good man, he fears nothing and I believe he will serve me well in the mission you are sending my team on."
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu in a calm, kind way simply said.
"No. Use the private. Sergeant Levent can't do what Private Emet can do for you. He is your man for this mission. I have other plans for Sergeant Levent. As I said, Private Emet is my word for your safe return. You will obey my orders."
Sergeant Major Çakmak snapped to and saluted his officer. And that was the end of the matter. Cakmak rallied his team and made preparations for the daring assignment to destroy the bridge behind enemy lines.
In the dark of night the team of sixteen men stealthily moved through the mountain trails to the bridge. Because the bridge was guarded heavily on either end, the plan was for the men to swim down-river and climb up beneath the bridge to set the dynamite. All went as planned. Private Emet performed his duties skillfully, but all the while Sergeant Major Cakmak couldn't help but think,
"Certainly Sergeant Levent would have done just as well or better. What was my commander's motive?"
The Turkish soldiers retreated far enough to detonate. With a burst of brilliant orange against the night sky the bridge went down.
As Sergeant Major Cakmak and his demolition team were escaping the scene, they came across four North Korean soldiers. It was obvious these men were scared out of their minds to meet UN soldiers. They fled into the forest, but not before spraying one blast of machine gun fire. It was then that Sergeant Major Cakmak got hit.
The bullet had smashed through his right shoulder. The men made a stretcher from two tree branches and a sheet. They raced the Sergeant Major as quickly as they could through the forest. But the going was difficult at night and their commander was losing blood rapidly. They finally saw the glowing lights of a Red Cross medic outpost.
The soldiers truly cared for their dear leader and woke the doctors for immediate help. The doctors took one look at the mangled shoulder and at the pale face of the man and said,
"This man needs blood immediately."
The Sergeant Major in his now weak voice said,
"Leave me for dead. I am an O negative blood type. You'll never find it."
Just then Private Emet stepped forward,
"I too am O negative sir. You may have my blood."
It was then that Sergeant Major Çakmak remembered his Lieutenant Colonel's words.
"I have specially selected him. He can do what Sergeant Levent can't do. He is your promise."
The Lieutenant Colonel had done his homework. One man in the Battalion could save his life and the Lieutenant Colonel had foreseen it all. The Corporal closed his eyes, and rested in the good hands of the doctors as Emet's blood flowed into his veins. He lived to thank the Lieutenant Colonel personally and never again questioned his decision-making skills. From that day on, Cakmak knew that the right solution wasn't always the one that seemed so obvious.
Prophet Abram also learned this lesson. There was a time when he thought he new how the future would play out, but God had a different plan. At the time, God's decision didn't make any sense to the Prophet. But by faith he accepted it, and only years later, did the whole mystery become clear. God knew something that Abram didn't. Let's read now from the scriptures starting with Genesis chapter 17 verses 1-6:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly. 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
Those are the actual words that God spoke to Abram the father of faith nearly four thousand years ago! It was a covenant that God made with him and is written down in Genesis 17 of the Tevrat. There is also a reoccurring theme in God's proclamation. He keeps reminding Abram that he would be great and remembered through his offspring. You can imagine how embarrassing it must have been for a man who had no children to be called "Great Father" for so many years! But now Abram at the ripe age of 99, with just one son, Ishmael, age 13, receives a new name. He would no longer be known as Abram, which means "Great Father" but Abraham the "father of many nations". Yes, Abram is the prophet Abraham!
Let us continue reading the story in Genesis chapter 17 verses 7-10:
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 9 And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Here the covenant symbol of circumcision was given to Abraham and all of his heritage as an "everlasting covenant." As a groom might give his bride gold at a wedding, God gave Abraham a special gift that would forever stand as a testimony of a promise that heaven had made with him. The symbol of this covenant was circumcision. Abraham’s heritage was to be different than the pagans. He was to be clean outwardly and holy inwardly. Later, God would say to those who wanted to deeply follow him that they needed their hearts to be circumcised!
The covenant was confirmed by blood. God gave his Word, while men bled, healed, and ever after carried a reminder in their body of God's promise. The scriptures tell us in Genesis 17:
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Now something else very special happened on that Sunnet day. Beyond the Sunnet covenant, God whispered a promise to Abraham. Let's read:
15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you! 19 God said, 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 offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Of course God loved Abraham's first-born son, Ishmael. So that very day a promise was made about Ishmael that he would become great, and be blessed. God promised to make him a great nation. God even foretold his future and said 12 princes would come from him. This wasn't enough for Abraham and he asked God, "Why do I need another son? Can't you carry out the "everlasting covenant” through my son Ishmael?" But God was firm in what he said. So there is a mystery here. Although Ishmael was part of the everlasting covenant because he was Abraham’s son and circumcised, there is something that Isaac, and only Isaac, will do in the establishment of that covenant. But God does not reveal what that is. Basically, "I have plans for Ishmael. But I know something about the boy Isaac, that you don't know." God's words exactly are:
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
And that was the end of the conversation. Just as Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu knew something that Cakmak didn't, so God knew something that Abraham didn't.
Consider the following story.
Once there was a poor retired elementary teacher in Istanbul who went looking for a second hand dining table with his wife. Every kuruş mattered to this couple, as they were trying to help their daughter through university. They took 200 TL and went from spot shop to spot shop hoping to find a good deal. They were having trouble because the wife kept complaining that the chairs were all wobbly. Finally in one spot shop the wife found a table she liked. While she was testing each chair the husband began to rummage through some carpets that were rolled up in the back. The husband asked the price of the rugs. They ranged in price from 70 TL to 100 TL. The wife meanwhile was quite proud of herself for bargaining the price of the table and seven chairs (the 8th had fallen apart) down to 180 TL. She asked the husband for the 200 TL. The husband however, handed the shopkeeper 100 TL and said, "I will take this old rug." The wife was upset! She didn't even hold her tongue, in front of the shopkeeper; she began to shout at him!
"What? We don't need a carpet! We came table shopping. You have promised me a table for nearly a year, and you spend this money like it was scrap paper! You are giving him his asking price! What are you a crazy man?"
The storeowner was embarrassed for the man, but what could he do? The old woman kept it up and sat down in one of the seven chairs.
"I won't leave this store with that flea infested old rug. Buy me this table, or I'm not coming home."
Finally, the husband put the rug on his shoulder, said farewell to the shopkeeper, went outside and waited at the corner for his wife. He knew his wife. After 15 minutes she came out of the store looking for him. She started to nag him more. The two of them and the rug boarded a bus and the wife pestered the old teacher the whole ride. The man just kept his mouth shut through the barrage of missiles his wife sent at him. They boarded a dolmuş and the wife continued her assault. They entered their 4th floor house and the husband unrolled the carpet on their floor. The edges were worn away, the tassels were frayed. One bare spot on one corner. The wife really let her husband hear her thoughts!
All the while the retired elementary teacher was talking to himself softly admiring the carpet, and walking around and around it, he whispered, "Look at the medallion, the leaf design and the tulips." Then he rolled up the carpet and left with his wife still shouting from the doorway. The old teacher was gone for two days!
The wife, now repentant for her behavior was frantic that he might have left her for good. But on the third day the husband came back. He was dressed in a new suit and new shoes. He gave his wife a golden bracelet and made this announcement.
"My wife of 40 years -- you should know that they are delivering to you today a new table and chairs -- but you will need to go to our new home on the sea to dine at that table. The rug, my dear, was a Palace rug, the work of Hamza from the time of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror."
As the story goes, though they lived the remainder of their years in wealth, the husband refused to buy his wife more than seven chairs for their dining table -- just as a reminder never to question her husband again.
Just as the wise Hoja, stayed to his secret plan, even at the begging of his wife. So God had a plan. So often there is just one piece of information that we don't know. One detail that if we were to know it, suddenly God's plans would make perfect sense. Now prophet Abraham was better mannered than that wife! Though he didn't understand God's actions he kept his calm, and followed God's lead.
Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised that day. I wonder if they let Ishmael and old father Abraham ride on a horse? Was there dancing and music? Did Sarah and Hagar prepare rice, nohut and lamb? Or was the first sunnet a quiet private moment? We don't know. But one thing we can be sure, as Abraham lay their healing, he had to think to himself:
"Another son will be born to me. A miracle boy. Why God? What is your plan?"
Questions for Discussion
1) People rarely think of Sunnet as a "signature of a contract with God." Do you think it would be good for young men to think of Sunnet in this light?
2) Contracts and agreements are often broken, people divorce, people make dishonest trades and contracts are cancelled. Does God ever break contracts? If so under what conditions?
3) In this lesson God knows something that Abraham doesn't, and Abraham has to blindly believe. Abraham has to simply sigh and say, "God knows what's best." How does this apply in your life?
4) Could trusting God be another way to change your fate in a dangerous world?
5) Was it unfair for God not to use Ishmael for this special task? What could some of his reasons have been?
During the Korean War and after months of taking brutal attacks by the North Koreans, the combined forces planned a strategic counter assault. The assault was so successful that a whole section of the North Korean army was isolated and the freedom of tens of thousands of Koreans was secured.
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu (a pseudonym) was one of those who planned the attack. He was a fair and honest man who commanded the respect of all those under him. The Korean War needed more men like him, and the Americans were simply lucky to have the help of such a brilliant strategist and commander. In his Battalion were 700 Turks with a fierce reputation. One of those who belonged to their ranks was Sergeant Major Mehmet Çakmak, a soldier who gave the Turkish army its good reputation. Although a little impulsive, he was also faithful, fearless, followed commands and knew how to give them.
After meeting with the international coalition, Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu called his trusted friend Sergeant Major Çakmak for an emergency meeting.
"Çakmak, we will attack the North Koreans tomorrow and you have the responsibility of destroying a key bridge. This is an incredibly important assignment, and I have chosen you specifically for it. I want you to take private Emet with you as your assistant."
The last sentence caught Sergeant Major Cakmak by surprise.
"Sir, Private Emet?"
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu calmly replied,
"Yes, I have specifically selected him as your helper. He is my promise to you of a safe return."
The words seemed odd and so Sergeant Major Cakmak spoke his mind.
"Sir, may I share a thought? I have a man in my platoon, Sergeant Levent, who is like a son to me. He is a good man, he fears nothing and I believe he will serve me well in the mission you are sending my team on."
Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu in a calm, kind way simply said.
"No. Use the private. Sergeant Levent can't do what Private Emet can do for you. He is your man for this mission. I have other plans for Sergeant Levent. As I said, Private Emet is my word for your safe return. You will obey my orders."
Sergeant Major Çakmak snapped to and saluted his officer. And that was the end of the matter. Cakmak rallied his team and made preparations for the daring assignment to destroy the bridge behind enemy lines.
In the dark of night the team of sixteen men stealthily moved through the mountain trails to the bridge. Because the bridge was guarded heavily on either end, the plan was for the men to swim down-river and climb up beneath the bridge to set the dynamite. All went as planned. Private Emet performed his duties skillfully, but all the while Sergeant Major Cakmak couldn't help but think,
"Certainly Sergeant Levent would have done just as well or better. What was my commander's motive?"
The Turkish soldiers retreated far enough to detonate. With a burst of brilliant orange against the night sky the bridge went down.
As Sergeant Major Cakmak and his demolition team were escaping the scene, they came across four North Korean soldiers. It was obvious these men were scared out of their minds to meet UN soldiers. They fled into the forest, but not before spraying one blast of machine gun fire. It was then that Sergeant Major Cakmak got hit.
The bullet had smashed through his right shoulder. The men made a stretcher from two tree branches and a sheet. They raced the Sergeant Major as quickly as they could through the forest. But the going was difficult at night and their commander was losing blood rapidly. They finally saw the glowing lights of a Red Cross medic outpost.
The soldiers truly cared for their dear leader and woke the doctors for immediate help. The doctors took one look at the mangled shoulder and at the pale face of the man and said,
"This man needs blood immediately."
The Sergeant Major in his now weak voice said,
"Leave me for dead. I am an O negative blood type. You'll never find it."
Just then Private Emet stepped forward,
"I too am O negative sir. You may have my blood."
It was then that Sergeant Major Çakmak remembered his Lieutenant Colonel's words.
"I have specially selected him. He can do what Sergeant Levent can't do. He is your promise."
The Lieutenant Colonel had done his homework. One man in the Battalion could save his life and the Lieutenant Colonel had foreseen it all. The Corporal closed his eyes, and rested in the good hands of the doctors as Emet's blood flowed into his veins. He lived to thank the Lieutenant Colonel personally and never again questioned his decision-making skills. From that day on, Cakmak knew that the right solution wasn't always the one that seemed so obvious.
Prophet Abram also learned this lesson. There was a time when he thought he new how the future would play out, but God had a different plan. At the time, God's decision didn't make any sense to the Prophet. But by faith he accepted it, and only years later, did the whole mystery become clear. God knew something that Abram didn't. Let's read now from the scriptures starting with Genesis chapter 17 verses 1-6:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly. 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
Those are the actual words that God spoke to Abram the father of faith nearly four thousand years ago! It was a covenant that God made with him and is written down in Genesis 17 of the Tevrat. There is also a reoccurring theme in God's proclamation. He keeps reminding Abram that he would be great and remembered through his offspring. You can imagine how embarrassing it must have been for a man who had no children to be called "Great Father" for so many years! But now Abram at the ripe age of 99, with just one son, Ishmael, age 13, receives a new name. He would no longer be known as Abram, which means "Great Father" but Abraham the "father of many nations". Yes, Abram is the prophet Abraham!
Let us continue reading the story in Genesis chapter 17 verses 7-10:
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 9 And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Here the covenant symbol of circumcision was given to Abraham and all of his heritage as an "everlasting covenant." As a groom might give his bride gold at a wedding, God gave Abraham a special gift that would forever stand as a testimony of a promise that heaven had made with him. The symbol of this covenant was circumcision. Abraham’s heritage was to be different than the pagans. He was to be clean outwardly and holy inwardly. Later, God would say to those who wanted to deeply follow him that they needed their hearts to be circumcised!
The covenant was confirmed by blood. God gave his Word, while men bled, healed, and ever after carried a reminder in their body of God's promise. The scriptures tell us in Genesis 17:
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Now something else very special happened on that Sunnet day. Beyond the Sunnet covenant, God whispered a promise to Abraham. Let's read:
15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you! 19 God said, 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 offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Of course God loved Abraham's first-born son, Ishmael. So that very day a promise was made about Ishmael that he would become great, and be blessed. God promised to make him a great nation. God even foretold his future and said 12 princes would come from him. This wasn't enough for Abraham and he asked God, "Why do I need another son? Can't you carry out the "everlasting covenant” through my son Ishmael?" But God was firm in what he said. So there is a mystery here. Although Ishmael was part of the everlasting covenant because he was Abraham’s son and circumcised, there is something that Isaac, and only Isaac, will do in the establishment of that covenant. But God does not reveal what that is. Basically, "I have plans for Ishmael. But I know something about the boy Isaac, that you don't know." God's words exactly are:
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
And that was the end of the conversation. Just as Lieutenant Colonel Müftüoğlu knew something that Cakmak didn't, so God knew something that Abraham didn't.
Consider the following story.
Once there was a poor retired elementary teacher in Istanbul who went looking for a second hand dining table with his wife. Every kuruş mattered to this couple, as they were trying to help their daughter through university. They took 200 TL and went from spot shop to spot shop hoping to find a good deal. They were having trouble because the wife kept complaining that the chairs were all wobbly. Finally in one spot shop the wife found a table she liked. While she was testing each chair the husband began to rummage through some carpets that were rolled up in the back. The husband asked the price of the rugs. They ranged in price from 70 TL to 100 TL. The wife meanwhile was quite proud of herself for bargaining the price of the table and seven chairs (the 8th had fallen apart) down to 180 TL. She asked the husband for the 200 TL. The husband however, handed the shopkeeper 100 TL and said, "I will take this old rug." The wife was upset! She didn't even hold her tongue, in front of the shopkeeper; she began to shout at him!
"What? We don't need a carpet! We came table shopping. You have promised me a table for nearly a year, and you spend this money like it was scrap paper! You are giving him his asking price! What are you a crazy man?"
The storeowner was embarrassed for the man, but what could he do? The old woman kept it up and sat down in one of the seven chairs.
"I won't leave this store with that flea infested old rug. Buy me this table, or I'm not coming home."
Finally, the husband put the rug on his shoulder, said farewell to the shopkeeper, went outside and waited at the corner for his wife. He knew his wife. After 15 minutes she came out of the store looking for him. She started to nag him more. The two of them and the rug boarded a bus and the wife pestered the old teacher the whole ride. The man just kept his mouth shut through the barrage of missiles his wife sent at him. They boarded a dolmuş and the wife continued her assault. They entered their 4th floor house and the husband unrolled the carpet on their floor. The edges were worn away, the tassels were frayed. One bare spot on one corner. The wife really let her husband hear her thoughts!
All the while the retired elementary teacher was talking to himself softly admiring the carpet, and walking around and around it, he whispered, "Look at the medallion, the leaf design and the tulips." Then he rolled up the carpet and left with his wife still shouting from the doorway. The old teacher was gone for two days!
The wife, now repentant for her behavior was frantic that he might have left her for good. But on the third day the husband came back. He was dressed in a new suit and new shoes. He gave his wife a golden bracelet and made this announcement.
"My wife of 40 years -- you should know that they are delivering to you today a new table and chairs -- but you will need to go to our new home on the sea to dine at that table. The rug, my dear, was a Palace rug, the work of Hamza from the time of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror."
As the story goes, though they lived the remainder of their years in wealth, the husband refused to buy his wife more than seven chairs for their dining table -- just as a reminder never to question her husband again.
Just as the wise Hoja, stayed to his secret plan, even at the begging of his wife. So God had a plan. So often there is just one piece of information that we don't know. One detail that if we were to know it, suddenly God's plans would make perfect sense. Now prophet Abraham was better mannered than that wife! Though he didn't understand God's actions he kept his calm, and followed God's lead.
Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised that day. I wonder if they let Ishmael and old father Abraham ride on a horse? Was there dancing and music? Did Sarah and Hagar prepare rice, nohut and lamb? Or was the first sunnet a quiet private moment? We don't know. But one thing we can be sure, as Abraham lay their healing, he had to think to himself:
"Another son will be born to me. A miracle boy. Why God? What is your plan?"
Questions for Discussion
1) People rarely think of Sunnet as a "signature of a contract with God." Do you think it would be good for young men to think of Sunnet in this light?
2) Contracts and agreements are often broken, people divorce, people make dishonest trades and contracts are cancelled. Does God ever break contracts? If so under what conditions?
3) In this lesson God knows something that Abraham doesn't, and Abraham has to blindly believe. Abraham has to simply sigh and say, "God knows what's best." How does this apply in your life?
4) Could trusting God be another way to change your fate in a dangerous world?
5) Was it unfair for God not to use Ishmael for this special task? What could some of his reasons have been?