When Abram was 99, God told him “I am God Almighty. Serve me faithfully and live a perfect life. I will make you a promise, by which I will guarantee you countless descendants. (First, why you bragging? Second, this is his standard promise.)
Abram fell on his face. Then God said “I’m also changing your name. You will now be called Abraham because you will be the father of many nations. Kings will be among your descendants!”
Then God said “Canaan will always be your land and I’ll always be your God.”
“However,” God said, “You must obey the terms of this promise. Each male must be circumcised on the 8th day of his birth. This also applies to all servants, born or bought. If you don’t cut the foreskin, I’ll cut my end of the deal.”
Then God said he was changing Sarai’s name. “She will now be called Sarah.” Abraham looked confused, so God spelled it for him. “S-A-R-A-H, Sarah.” Abraham said “Use it in a sentence.”
God ignored him and said “I will bless her with a son and she will be the mother of many nations.”
Then Abraham bowed to the ground, but laughed in disbelief. I can’t be a daddy at 100, he thought. So he said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”
But God replied, “No, Sarah will give you a son. You will name him Isaac. Since you asked, I’ll also bless Ishmael. He will become the father of 12 princes. Isaac will be born around this time next year.”
After God left, Abraham circumcised all the males in his family, including the slaves. Remember, Abraham was 99 when he had his foreskin cut off.
Arsenio Franklin 