Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

mercy, God still blessed Ishmael—his descendants would mul tiply into a great nation. “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.” Genesis 17:20. History has proved this prediction true as far as any literal fulfillment is concerned, for the millions of Arabs living today are descended from Ishmael. Abraham, in his deep affection for his firstborn, was in dan ger of reading more into such a promise, than God had meant. To ensure that he did not, God reiterated the fact that even though Ishmael would become a great nation, yet the covenant would be with Isaac alone. “‘But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.’ When he had finished speak ing with Abraham, God went up from him.” Genesis 17:21, 22. Therefore, no matter how dedicated, self-sacrificing, and zeal ous they were, Abraham and Sarah’s attempts to advance the cause by their own devising could not be accepted by God. Even though He accounted Abraham’s faith as righteousness (see Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:3), this did not sanctify the wrong methods he used. When these principles are understood and ac cepted, we will be far less inclined to rest in the wrong idea that the course followed is not as important as good intentions. We will be more particular in making sure that we combine living faith with correct procedures, believing that God’s work can nev er be advanced by using human methods. We will place our trust in God’s ways, rather than our own ways. A change of name was given to Abraham, as a divine seal of approval, confirming the patriarch’s acceptance of God’s terms of kingdom building. No longer was he to follow his own ways in an attempt to fulfill God’s promises. From now on he was to have implicit faith in God’s ways. As a result, the true heir would be born to the patriarchal couple. This was reflected in the name change from Abram, meaning “exalted father”, to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations”, and also in his wife’s new name Sarah, meaning “Princess”, because she was to be the “mother of nations”.