What's special about 24?

You thought this post was going to be about Jack Bauer right? Sorry to disappoint you my friends. The number 24 is significant to today's entry because it signifies a special year. The story of Abraham in the bible is one that inspires faith. As a matter of fact, his story personifies what it means to be justified by faith. Abram's (who would later be named Abraham) story begins at the young old age of 75 (Gen 12:4). God appears to him and makes him a promise that he will be the beginnings of a great nation. Abram's great desire was to have a child of his own (Gen 15:2). God promises him that he will have a child, and Abraham believes! (Gen 15:6).

But like all of us, Abram also has his questions about how the promise of God will actually come about. There's a lot of story I'm leaving out (huge understatement here), but for sake of time, I'm going to pick up 24 years after Abram/Abraham's initial encounter with the Lord. By this time, Abraham and Sarah have come up with what I affectionately call "plan B". Using their own deductive reasoning skills, they figure that they will help things along, and thus Ishmael is born. I wonder how many times we have tried to "help things along" in our own lives, and out of our impatience we have birthed an Ishmael of sorts.

Now Abraham is 99 yrs old, and the Lord appears to him again (Gen 17:1). God reaffirms his initial promise to Abraham, talks about the covenant of circumcision, and changes Sarai's name to Sarah (I would love to blog some time about the Lord's habit of changing names, but we'll keep moving for now). Then God speaks those words to Abraham which he had longed to hear:

Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

From God's perspective, 24 years are just a vapor. From man's perspective, 24 years can feel like an eternity. Even though Abraham laughed when he received this good news (Gen 17:17), it was most certainly a laugh of joy and awe, because Paul tells us in Romans that Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God (Romans 4:20). But I wonder how often Abraham was mocked during those 24 years. How many times was he the object of ridicule and scorn?

Waiting for the promise(s) of God can be so difficult. As the days, weeks, months, and even years go by- we are often tempted to lose heart. Many of us have settled for a "second best" alternative, because what God has promised us seems just too good to be true. The longer we have to wait, the more weary in well-doing we can become. One thing I want to point to your attention is this phrase "at this set time" in Gen 17:21 that I posted above. We are usually willing to theologically agree that God knows the end from the beginning. But I find that on a practical level, we feel that the same logic does not apply. When God appeared to Abram at age 75, I believe that he knew that the process was going to take roughly 25 years. I'm not so sure that Abram knew that though.

Many of us are waiting today. We're waiting for our lives to take a turn for the better; for health to improve, finances to recover, marriages to be restored, fractured relationships to be mended. Maybe we don't have a "thus saith the Lord" promise like Abraham to fall back on, but we do have the promises contained in His Word. They are promises of peace, of joy, of restoration and wholeness. God came to Abraham in year 24 and told him that He was still going to do exactly what He promised He would do in the first place. I don't know how long you've been waiting, but I wanted to tell you that the same is true for you and I.

Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (ESV)

Until next time...

Be a Fan