At 99 years of age, Abram (meaning ‘exalted father’) was renamed Abraham (meaning ‘father of nations’), and his wife Sarai was renamed Sarah – both of these changes made by God.  God repeated His promise, clarifying that the covenant people would be born of Sarah (Isaac), and laid out the terms of Abraham’s obedience (and that of his descendants forever).   This began the practice of circumcising males at 8 days of age, a symbol of surrendering to God the very essence of self & generations to follow.  (The Apostle Paul later writes of the importance of circumcising the heart – a metaphor for surrendering self-will to participate in the promise of God).

Three men visit Abraham & Sarah, receive hospitality, and make sure Sarah hears the announcement that she’ll be giving birth within the year, causing her to laugh (pregnant? an old barren woman?).  Is anything too hard for the Lord? (no)

The three begin to leave, and Abraham walks with them toward the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah.  As two go on, One, the Lord Himself, stays behind to let Abraham know that the towns have become irreparably wicked and will be destroyed.  Abraham begs for the lives in the cities, knowing his nephew Lot & family has settled there.  God promises to spare the cities if ten righteous people can be found.

Lot, sitting at the city gates, seeks to be hospitable to the two arriving visitors.  They first declined, then were persuaded by his insistence and went into the home for a meal and a night’s rest.  The men of the cities surrounded the house & demanded the visitors be brought outside for an orgy. Lot begs them to take his virgin daughters instead, and the men, revealed to be angels, blind the angry mob as they drag Lot back inside and tell him to gather his family & head for the mountains.  His daughters’ fiances think him to be joking, and remain in the cities.  Lot begs to stop short of the mountains, instead choosing a small town some distance away.  At daybreak, the reluctant family is literally dragged out of town & carefully instructed to run without looking back.  Lot’s wife looks back and is transformed into a pillar of salt .

Having escaped with their lives, Lot’s daughters decide that incest is the way to ensure their family name is carried to a new generation.  They get him drunk, sleep with him, and two pregnancies declare their plan successful.  The Moabites and Ammonites, future enemies of Israel, are born of this choice.

Abraham & Sarah moved to an area named Gerar, led by King Abimelech.  Again Abraham instructs his wife to tell people she is his sister, fearing that he would be killed for her beauty.  Abimelech claims Sarah, but again God steps in to defend her honor, warning Abimelech that he is a dead man if he touches this married lady.  Insulted, Abimelech demands an explanation then provides Abraham with his choice of land, some livestock, servants, and money so that she is publicly vindicated.  For Sarah’s sake, God had prevented all the women of Abimelech’s household from becoming pregnant, and reversed that limitation once she was restored to her husband.

True to God’s promise, Sarah gave birth to Isaac within the year, and he was circumcised on the 8th day per the covenant.  A celebration & feast marked the day of his weaning, and the servant Hagar with her son Ishmael was sent away from the household of Abraham.  God spoke to both Abraham and Hagar, assuring them that this boy would also become a great nation.  When the water provided for their journey ran out, Hagar went away from her son so as not to watch him die, but God pointed out a well and she fed him from there.  He grew up to be an archer and married a woman selected from Egypt.

Abimelech and his army commander came to Abraham, acknowledging God’s favor and requesting a treaty, that Abraham and his descendants would not deal falsely with Abimelech and his descendants.   They discussed the matter of a well that Abraham had dug, and made their treaty in the place they named Beersheba.