Psa 119:18/19 Please open our eyes YHVH that we might see hidden and wonderful truths in Your Torah. Father we are strangers and sojourners here on earth, please do not hide the council of your commandments from us.
Blessed
are those to whom You have shown mercy to walk in Your Torah of truth in loving
obedience.
We ask
and thank You in Yahshua’s name – Amein.
ויהי אברם
Abraham
and the Covenant of Circumcision
Gen 17:1 And it came to be when Aḇram was ninety-nine years old,
that יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai – walk
before Me and be perfect.
First time use of ‘’El Shaddai’’ the ‘’breasted One’’
refers to fertility and abundant descendants.
Perfect – ‘’(Tamim) or wholehearted - we become complete by walking (התהלך) in covenant
obedience
Gen 17:2 “And I give (אתנה)My covenant between
Me and you, and shall greatly increase you.”
A paragogic ה (final ־ה)
an
added ending that enhances tone or emphasis without altering meaning ‘’ אתנה ‘’
ie YHVH was determined to give Abram His covenant promise to increase him
exceedingly exceedingly (במאד מאד)
CLV
ואתנה
בריתי ביני ובינך וארבה אותך במאד מאד
Only Abraham receives this exact wording:
But the content of the covenant — relationship
with YHVH, land, and enormous multiplication — is deliberately repeated to
Isaac and Jacob, marking them as full heirs of the same divine promise – see Gen
17:7
Gen 17:3 And Aḇram
fell on his face, and Elohim spoke with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 “As for Me, look, My covenant is with you, and
you shall become a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 “And no longer is your name called Aḇram, but your name shall be Aḇraham, because I shall make
you a father of many nations.
YHVH expands the meaning of Abraham’s destiny: Not
just one people (Israel), But many nations springing from him
(Israelites, Edomites, Ishmaelites, various Arab peoples, and spiritually “all
nations” in later traditions).
Gen 17:6 “And I shall make you exceedingly fruitful, and
make nations of you, and sovereigns shall come from you.
Gen 17:8 “And I shall give to you and your seed after you
the land of your sojourning’s, all the land of Kena‛an, as an everlasting
possession. And I shall be their Elohim.”
Gal
3:16 But the promises were spoken to Aḇraham, and to his Seed. He does
not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,”b
Gen_12:7 who is Messiah. Footnote: bAlso see Gen_17:7, Gen_22:18,
Gen_24:7.
Gal
3:17 Now this I say, Torah, that came four hundred and thirty years
later, does not annul a covenant previously confirmed by Elohim in Messiah, so
as to do away with the promise. (neither does the church have the power
change or annul the Abrahamic covenant)
Messiah is the ultimate Seed through whom the covenant
reaches its intended purpose. It was impossible for this covenant to come into
force, until the Messiah met the covenant conditions that were required in
order that these promises could be made possible. See Gen 15
It’s never been about an institution – Rabbinic or
Christian, it’s always been about a covenant – a family.
Deu
32:8 “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance When He
separated the sons of Aḏam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the
children of Yisra’ěl. (Elohim not Israel)
Deu
32:9 “For the portion of יהוה is His people, Ya‛aqoḇ His allotted inheritance.
Gen 17:9 And Elohim said to Aḇraham, “As for you, guard
My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.
Gen 17:10 “This is My covenant which you guard
between Me and you, and your seed after you: Every male child among you is
to be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 “And you shall circumcise the flesh of
your foreskin, and it shall become a sign of the covenant between Me and
you.
Gen 17:12 “And a son of eight days is circumcised
by you, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or
bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed.
Gen 17:13 “He who is born in your house, and he who
is bought with your silver, has to be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in
your flesh, for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14 “And an uncircumcised male child, who is
not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, his life shall be cut off from
his people – he has broken My covenant.”
Hegg argues that circumcision symbolizes faith and
obedience to YHVH's promises, pointing forward to spiritual realities like
"circumcision of the heart" (Deut. 10:16; Rom. 2:29). It's not
exclusively about marking Abraham's physical descendants but about covenantal
adoption that transcends biology.
Genesis 17, functions primarily as a sign of the
Abrahamic covenant—a relational and spiritual commitment to God
According to Tim Hegg, the apostle Paul used
"circumcision" as a shorthand or "code word" for the full
process of converting to Judaism (proselytism), particularly in the context of
first-century debates over Gentile inclusion in the covenant. This
interpretation is central to Hegg's exegesis in works like his commentary on
Galatians (Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians) and Fellow Heirs, where he argues
that Paul's vehement opposition to circumcision for Gentiles (e.g., Gal. 5:2–6;
Acts 15) targeted the rabbinic conversion ritual—not the biblical sign of the
Abrahamic covenant itself.
Isaac's Birth Promised
Gen 17:15 And Elohim said to Aḇraham, “As for Sarai your
wife, do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name.
Gen 17:16 “And I shall bless her and also give you
a son by her. And I shall bless her, and she shall become nations – sovereigns
of peoples are to be from her.”
In Genesis 17:15–16, YHVH changes Sarai’s name to Sarah (שָׂרַי שָׂרָה) immediately before announcing that she
herself — not just a surrogate — will bear the covenant heir.
Tim Hegg (and most biblical scholars) see this name
change as far more than a minor edit. It carries profound theological and
covenantal significance, especially when read in parallel with Abram → Abraham
in the same chapter.
Key Points of Significance According to Hegg and the
Text Itself
1.
From “My Princess” to “Princess” (Universal)
·
Sarai (שָׂרַי)
is usually understood as “my princess” (the -i ending is a possessive: my
princess, limited to one man or family).
·
Sarah (שָׂרָה)
drops the yod and means “princess” in an absolute, noble sense — a woman of
princely status for many peoples. Hegg stresses that this signals the expansion
of the covenant: Sarah is now the mother not only of Abraham’s immediate seed
but of “kings of peoples” and “nations” (Gen 17:16). The name change marks her
as a matriarch on the same universal level that Abraham now enjoys with his own
name change.
2.
Inclusion of the Woman in the Covenant Sign
In Genesis 17 the only physical sign explicitly commanded is male circumcision
(vv. 9–14). Hegg points out that the name change for Sarah is YHVH’s way of
giving the woman her own irrevocable covenant marker. While men receive a sign
in their flesh, Sarah receives a sign in her very identity/name. This balances
the covenant: both the man and the woman are renamed and re-identified by YHVH
Himself as full partners in the Abrahamic promise.
3.
Connection to the “H” in the Divine Name
(YHVH)
·
Abram → Abraham: YHVH inserts the letter ה (hey) from His own name
(Yahweh).
·
Sarai → Sarah: YHVH removes a י (yod) and inserts the same ה (hey). Hegg (following
traditional Jewish and Christian commentators) sees this as YHVH “breathing”
part of His own name into both Abraham and Sarah. It is a divine adoption
formula: they now carry the letter of the divine name in their identity,
showing that the covenant is not merely human but has YHVH’s own essence
imprinted on the covenant family.
4.
Reversal of Shame and Barrenness Sarai
had been defined by barrenness and social shame for decades. By renaming her, YHVH
redefines her future: “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by
her… she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (17:16).
The name change is the public announcement that her story of reproach is over.
5.
Abraham’s Response Shows the Weight of the
Change Abraham immediately laughs and says “Shall a child be born to a man
who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a
child?” (17:17). Notice he uses the new name “Sarah” even in his incredulous
objection — the name change is already in effect the moment YHVH speaks it.
Hegg’s Summary (paraphrased from his teaching on
Genesis 17)
“The renaming of Sarah is YHVH’s covenantal act of giving
the matriarch her own ‘sign.’ Just as circumcision marks the male body with the
covenant, the insertion of the ה
into Sarah’s name marks her identity with the divine name and promise. She is
no longer ‘my princess’ in a limited, barren story; she is ‘Princess/Mother of
Nations,’ elevated to the same international, royal level as Abraham.”
In short: the change from Sarai to Sarah is YHVH’s way of
exalting the woman, inscribing His own name on her, ending her shame, and
making her an equal covenant partner whose seed will bless the entire world — a
change every bit as significant as circumcision itself.
1Pe
3:1 In the
same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that if any are
disobedient to the Word, they, without a word, might be won by the behaviour of
their wives,
1Pe
3:2 having seen your blameless behaviour in fear.
1Pe
3:3 Your adornment should not be outward – arranging the hair, wearing
gold, or putting on dresses –
1Pe
3:4 but the hidden man of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a
meek and peaceable spirit, which is of great value before Elohim.
1Pe
3:5 For in this way, in former times, the set-apart women who trusted in
Elohim also adorned themselves, being subject to their own husbands,
1Pe
3:6 as Sarah obeyed Aḇraham, calling him master, of whom you became children, doing good, and
not frightened by any fear.
1Pe
3:7 In the same way, husbands, live understandingly together, giving
respect to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of
the favour of life, so that your prayers are not hindered.
Eph
5:31 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen_2:24.
Eph
5:32 This secret is great, but I speak concerning Messiah and the
assembly.
Eph
5:33 However, you too, everyone, let each one love his own wife as
himself, and let the wife see that she fears her husband.
Gen 17:17 And Aḇraham
fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Is a child born to
a man who is a hundred years old? Or is Sarah, who is ninety years old, to bear
a child?”
Gen 17:18 And Aḇraham
said to Elohim, “Oh, let Yishma‛ěl live before You!”
Gen 17:19 And Elohim said, “No, Sarah your wife is
truly bearing a son to you, and you shall call his name Yitsḥaq. And I shall establish My
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after
him.
Gen 17:20 “And as for Yishma‛ěl, I have heard you.
See, I shall bless him, and shall make him fruitful, and greatly increase him.
He is to bring forth twelve princes, and I shall make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21 “But My covenant I establish with Yitsḥaq, whom Sarah is to bear to
you at this appointed time next year.”
Gen 17:22 And when He had ended speaking with him,
Elohim went up from Aḇraham.
Gen 17:23 And Aḇraham
took Yishma‛ěl his son, and all those born in his house and all those bought
with his silver, every male among the men of Aḇraham’s
house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that same day, as Elohim
told him.
Gen 17:24 And Aḇraham
was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin.
Gen 17:25 And Yishma‛ěl his son was thirteen years
old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:26 Aḇraham
and his son Yishma‛ěl were circumcised that same day.
Gen 17:27 And all the men of his house, born in the
house or bought with silver from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Hegg’s Main Theological Conclusions about Hagar
1.
Hagar is never “cast out of the covenant.”
She and Ishmael are sent away from the inheritance of the land and the
messianic seed-line, but the covenant promises made to them (great nation, 12
princes, blessing) remain in full force. Circumcision continues in Ishmael’s
descendants (Gen 17:23–27 shows Abraham circumcised his entire household,
including Ishmaelites).
2.
Ishmael is a circumcised covenant member.
Hegg repeatedly stresses that Ishmael received the sign of the covenant before
Isaac was even born and 13 years before Isaac received it. This is
decisive proof (in Hegg’s view) that the sign (circumcision) does not
equal “being the seed of promise” or “being Jewish.” It simply marks covenant
membership.
3.
Hagar prefigures Gentile inclusion. Hegg
sees Hagar (an Egyptian) as the first Gentile covenant member by faith and
divine encounter. She believes the word of the messenger, names YHVH, and
returns in submission — all while still a slave. This becomes a type of how
Gentiles later enter the same Abrahamic covenant without having to become
physical descendants of Isaac/Jacob.
4.
The expulsion (Gen 21) is disciplinary, not
rejection. Paul’s allegory in Galatians 4 (“cast out the bondwoman and her
son”) refers to the Judaizers’ attempt to force Gentile believers under the
Sinai covenant and rabbinic conversion, not to Hagar/Ishmael being
outside the Abrahamic covenant. Hegg insists Paul is using typology, not
teaching that Ishmaelites are eternally excluded from YHVH’s promises.
Hegg’s Summary Statement (paraphrased from his Genesis
teachings)
“Hagar and Ishmael are full members of the Abrahamic
covenant through the sign of circumcision and direct divine promise. The
distinction is not covenant vs. no covenant, but heir-of-promise (Isaac) vs.
recipient-of-blessing (Ishmael). This is exactly why Paul can later say that
Gentile believers are ‘children of Abraham’ by faith without having to become
physical Jews — because Hagar and Ishmael already model that very reality in
Genesis.”
In short: Hagar is not the villain or the outcast of the
covenant story. She is the first named Gentile believer, the recipient of a
unique revelation of God, and the mother of a circumcised covenant son who
receives massive divine blessing — all while remaining distinctly
non-Israelite. For Hegg, that makes her an essential foreshadowing of
New-Covenant Gentile inclusion.
Example
of Hagar and Sarah
Gal
4:21 Say to me, you who wish to be under Torah, do you not hear the
Torah?
Because there is no Greek word for “legalism”,
often times Paul would have to use the phrase “works of the law” or even simply
“law” in place of the idea of legalism. Legalism is any attempt by man to earn
acceptance before YHVH by their own works.
“Under the Law” – What is the Meaning of this Critical
Phrase
https://pathofobedience.com/topics/under-the-law/
Gal
4:22 For it has been written that Aḇraham had two sons, one by a
female servant, the other by a free woman.
Gal
4:23 But he who was of the female servant was born according to the
flesh, and he of the free woman through promise.
Gal
4:24 This is allegorical, for these are the two covenants: one indeed
from Mount Sinai which brings forth slavery, which is Haḡar,
An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can
be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or spiritual one.
Hegg insists that most Christians (and many Messianics)
completely misread Paul’s allegory because they import later theology instead
of letting Paul define his own terms from the Torah itself
Gal
4:25 for this Haḡar is Mount Sinai in Araḇia, and corresponds to Yerushalayim which now
is, and is in slavery with her children.
Gal
4:26 But the Yerushalayim above is free, which is the mother of us
all.
Gal
4:27 For it has been written, “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear!
Break forth and shout, you who do not have birth pains! For the deserted one
has many more children than she who has a husband.” Isa_54:1.
Gal
4:28 And we, brothers, as Yitsḥaq was, are children of promise.
Gal
4:29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then
persecuted him born according to the Spirit, so also now.
Gal
4:30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the female servant and
her son, for the son of the female servant shall by no means be heir with the
son of the free woman.” Gen_21:10.
Gal
4:31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the female servant but
of the free woman.
Hegg insists that most Christians (and many Messianics)
completely misread Paul’s allegory because they import later theology instead
of letting Paul define his own terms from the Torah itself
‘’The allegory is not ‘Hagar = Old Covenant, Sarah = New
Covenant.’ It is not ‘Ishmael = all Arabs/Muslims, Isaac = all
Jews/Christians.’ It is not teaching that the Torah or the Sinai covenant is
slavery.
Paul’s allegory is laser-focused on the Galatian crisis:
·
Hagar represents the Sinai covenant as it was
being misused and added to by the Judaizers in “present Jerusalem.”
·
Their demand that Gentiles must be circumcised
and keep the whole rabbinic Torah to be justified turned Sinai into a system of
slavery.
·
Therefore, Paul says, ‘Cast out this
Hagar-and-her-son teaching!’ — meaning reject the idea that justification comes
through proselyte conversion and works. We (all believers) are children of the
free woman, Sarah — the Abrahamic covenant of promise received by faith alone.”
Hegg Stresses
Gentile believers do NOT need to become proselytes (“son
of Hagar/Sinai”) to be full members of the covenant. They are already children
of Sarah, the free woman, through faith — exactly like Isaac. Once they are in
by faith, they are free (and obligated) to obey Torah as beloved children, not
as slaves trying to earn justification.
This is why Hegg says the common supersessionist or
dispensational reading (“Hagar = Judaism/Torah, thrown away forever”) is the
exact opposite of what Paul is arguing. Paul is defending Torah (properly
understood) while rejecting the Judaizers’ addition of proselyte conversion to
the gospel.
Jer 33:14 See, the days are coming,’ declares יהוה,
‘when I shall establish the good word which I have promised to the house of
Yisra’ěl and to the house of Yehuḏah:
Jer 33:15 In those days and at that time I cause a
Branch of righteousness to spring forth for Dawiḏ.
And He shall do right-ruling and righteousness in the earth.
Jer 33:16 In those days Yehuḏah shall be saved, and Yerushalayim dwell in
safety. And this is that which shall be proclaimed to her: ‘יהוה
our Righteousness.’
Jer 33:17 “For thus said יהוה,
‘For Dawiḏ there is not
to cease a man to sit on the throne of the house of Yisra’ěl.
Jer 33:18 And for the priests, the Lěwites, there
is not to cease a man to offer ascending offerings before Me, to kindle grain
offerings, and to slaughter continually.’ ”
Jer 33:19 And the word of יהוה
came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
Jer 33:20 “Thus said יהוה,
‘If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so
that there be not day and night in their season,
Jer 33:21 then My covenant could also be broken
with Dawiḏ My servant –
so that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne – and with the
Lěwites, the priests, My attendants.
Jer 33:22 As the host of the heavens is not
counted, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I increase the descendants of
Dawiḏ My servant and the
Lěwites who attend upon Me.’ ”
Jer 33:23 And the word of יהוה
came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
Jer 33:24 “Have you not observed what these people
have spoken, saying, ‘The two clans which יהוה
has chosen have been rejected by Him’? So they have despised My people,a no
more to be a nation before them. Footnote: a Psa_83:3-4, Ezk_28:24-26,
Ezk_36:2-6.
Jer 33:25 “Thus said יהוה,
‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the laws
of the heavens and earth,
Jer 33:26 then I would also reject the descendants
of Ya‛aqoḇ and Dawiḏ My servant, so that I should
not take of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Ya‛aqoḇ. For I shall turn back their
captivity, and have compassion on them.’ ”
This is our calling - 2Ti 2:2 And what you have heard from me among many witnesses,
entrust these to trustworthy men who shall be competent to teach others as
well.
Jud
1:24 And to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present
you blameless before the presence of His esteem with exceeding joy,
Jud
1:25 to the only wise Elohim, our Saviour, be esteem and greatness and
might and authority, both now and forever. Aměn.
Blessed
are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH
giver of the Torah – Amein.
Additional
Midrash:
Yes, Acts 15:21 is very frequently cited as an indirect
reference to the ancient Jewish practice of reading the Torah (and often
the Prophets) in a systematic, cyclical way in the synagogues every
Sabbath—what we today call the weekly Torah portions (parashiyot
hashavua in Hebrew).
Let’s look at the verse in context (Acts 15 is the
Jerusalem Council, ca. 49–50 CE):
Acts 15:19–21 (most English translations are similar)
“Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who
turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by
idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from
blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who
proclaim him, for he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (ESV)
James (Ya‘akov) is arguing that Gentile believers do not
need to be circumcised or take on the full yoke of the 613 commandments
immediately, because:
·
They will hear Moses (i.e., the Torah) every
Sabbath in the synagogues they already attend with Jewish believers.
·
Therefore they will learn the rest of God’s
instructions progressively as they hear the Torah read week by week.
This is strong evidence that by the late Second Temple
period (1st century CE):
1.
There was already a widespread custom of
publicly reading the Torah every Shabbat in synagogues in virtually
every city that had a Jewish community.
2.
The reading was sequential and systematic enough
that, over time, a person attending regularly would be exposed to the entire
Torah (“Moses…is read…every Sabbath”).
3.
Most scholars believe this reflects an early
form of the annual or triennial Torah reading cycle that later became
standardized.
·
In the Babylonian tradition (which became
dominant), the entire Torah is read in one year (the system used by almost all
Jewish communities today).
·
In the ancient Land of Israel, a triennial
(roughly 3–3½ year) cycle was common in the same period.
Either way, Acts 15:21 shows that the practice of weekly,
sequential public Torah reading on Shabbat was already taken for granted by the
mid-1st century, and James expects Gentile believers to learn the deeper
ethical and ritual details of Torah by hearing “Moses” portion by portion each
week.
So yes — Acts 15:21 is one of the earliest non-Jewish
references to what we now recognize as the weekly Torah portion (parasha)
system.