Genesis 17: Abraham's Covenant and Symbolic Rituals - RAM

The document is an in-depth analysis of Genesis Chapter 17 from the Bible, focusing on Abraham’s covenant and rituals and their spiritual and metaphysical interpretations. It explores the covenant between God and Abram, including the change of Abram’s name to Abraham and the introduction of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. The material delves into themes like divine promise, spiritual transformation, and the symbolic meanings of names and rituals.

Genesis 17:1-2

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.”

S This is, in truth, the first introduction of the I AM or the understanding of the soul within, the force within that soul, or the God perfection coming to mankind. This is the promise, the covenant, or the first touching of the spiritual-mental in man by the spiritual intelligence or the holy movement or the Holy Spirit guiding man, coming to man. For now a man was present that could assume the mantle of a father of nations or a spreader of the word.

Q Is there any significance here – ninety-nine appears to be a nine which is completeness which ties in with just what you said. What about the thirteen years from eighty-six to ninety-nine?

S This is in developing the way or making the choice, as you have been given before. The four number which the thirteen here represents, is that which is God in action, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, three in one being the four, bringing forth then in the individual so inclined, the abilities to communicate with God, to accept the God presence and to use the God Force as a directing agent within the life. The ninety-nine here represents, yes, a nine in total, but also represents a nine in the mental and a nine in the spiritual, also, coming together, then, making a nine or the overcoming number or the finality of the being’s search.

Q Ninety-nine also being one short of the perfect number, one hundred?

S Which is God.

Q When the Lord appeared unto Abraham, was this in the form of meditation?

S This is correct.

Genesis 17:3-4

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.”

S The promise, or the spiritual promise, meaning the accomplishment for God and for self at this time, for God to become relevant to the self, for the understanding or for the progression of the spiritual. You have the distinguishing title of Father of Many, meaning here, of many others that they may follow the path or the understanding as established through the individual, but also the individual to begin to see and use the many natures of self or that which you would see as aspects to develop the way, the quicker way, and to give to others the more opportunities to face that self, that more then may overcome the past or the influences or the karmic as you would see them to be.

Q How can we begin to see and use the many aspects of self to develop the say, the quicker way, and give others more opportunities to face that self, that more may overcome the past or their karma?

S Become aware that as you search for the entity of yourself, as you know the entity to be, that you are using more the aspects of yourself, that the other aspects of yourself, almost a vicarious way, will grow the more even as you grow the more from the series of aspects that have and do participate in that which you would call this level living. Therefore, make thy eye single. As given so often before: have faith; remember that to develop one’s self you must leave the security of that which you would see as your home. And in this case the home is that which are the surroundings that give you the feeling of contentment, of solidity, et cetera. In some it is an actual physical leaving of that place where security has abounded, or for others it is that which is the security of a mental place or that which is the security of routine, routine friends, routine assignments, routine work. In the case of the entity that asks this question, it is to free the mind of those bonds which the entity held so close to self, especially of those things which bring the feeling of love for objects, certain people, and certain routines. You must free your mind that that of the mind may expand to others through the relaxation of that which are the physical-mental ties to this earth, replacing same with the mental-spiritual ties which are, then, the ties of the Lord and the Lord’s way. (10-143)

Genesis 17: 5-6

“Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”

S This is to establish the force, not only within the religious idea, but also in the ideal of man, of kings, of leaders, of strength, that though the leaders of man or the physical may be apart to a great degree from the spiritual nature, yet the spirit may guide those and establish laws that are palatable to the spirit and good for the physical-mental being.

Q I see two symbolisms here in the change of the name. The first being of spiritual significance where we go from Abba-Ram to Abba, Ra, and Hum or Ham, with Abba being Father, Ra being the Son, and Hum or Ham being the Holy Spirit or the bija [bija: meaning seed] mantra of the fifth chakra. Is that correct?

S This is correct.

Q And then also the addition of the letter “H” being – symbolizing fruitfulness here in the physical world.

S Or God in action.

Genesis 17:7-8

I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

S Here is the promise that man or those who follow Abraham would inherit, indeed, the ability to overcome the world. For Canaan, or Canan here, is that which is the lower order, or the physical order, or land in its crudest sense where mankind is physically bound to this earth. It is the promise that, here, the promised land is where you begin and where you begin to overcome that which is the physical-mental barrier to the spiritual nature. And the covenant is that the spirit is within selves and that you have a spiritual-mental being that may rise to the occasion; and nurtured by the physical-mental may overcome this world.

Q In reference to the mental-spiritual being that may overcome this world. How is this akin or analogous to the situation of the seven wise men who set forth for Bethlehem to the four who didn’t arrive there making it possible for the other three to do so?

S This is the sacrifice or that which each entity must come to which in itself is adversity. For all must come to adversity and what is the true adversity? Where self must sacrifice for others or, in self, sacrifice those things which are so dear to the ego-self, to the intellectual mind not controlled by the spirit. For what you take with you from this life is that which has been given for others. There is a difference between a smile of self-content or happiness and the smile that is in the giving of the spirit of the goodness to others. There is the smile that is the spiritual smile coming from within. There is the contentment in life of amassing that which your mind and your ego and your desires covet. There is the contentment of the spiritual giving to others, the spiritual serving of God. For in all things there is a mirror image, the mirror being that which is of the spirit but not of the spirit. In that which you will study as the Scriptures this evening you will see this in Lot as the example or the mirror reflection of Abraham the more spiritual being.

Q Then this doesn’t have any relationship at all to the wise men?

S Oh, but it does. For there was sacrifice that others may accomplish. For those who fell by the wayside made possible for those to reach their goal. [10-142]

Genesis 17:9

And God said unto Abraham, “Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.”

S This is the promise given by God saying, “there is a pattern and you will follow that. Regardless of what could happen the outcome will be as I have given.” This, then, was the law. This was then the fact, for it was so.

Genesis 17:10-13

“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. “

S Being in a time and a place that symbolism must have that which is visible, or visibility, to have significance or meaning to peoples or the people of that day; therefore, a sacrifice of the flesh was called upon. Whereas, in truth, the true circumcision is that which is of the spirit or the mind, rather, than of the physical body. But it had to have its beginning; it had to have its beginning in the physical before it could become that of the mental and then that of the spiritual-mental being. For, in truth, as mankind progresses, they get away from that which is the symbolic within the physical-mental range; even as mankind lost, in a sense, the need for the physical sacrifices of animals and beings and then proceeded to that which is the sacrifice of the actions and then to the sacrifice of the thoughts.

Genesis 17:14

“And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.”

S This is the reminder that you must pass on to others the knowledge through the actions whereby you live whereby you progress, so that they, too, may have a bedrock to build upon. For their sin becomes your sin or the missing of that which is the accomplishment that could have been.

Q Would you say that the sacrifice of the thoughts is the same as spiritual fasting? You have referred to spiritual fasting.

S In a sense, yes. Spiritual fasting even is more than just the sacrifice of thoughts. Spiritual fasting would exclude even those thoughts of self-improvement until those thoughts of self-improvement are only that which is given by God or the spirit within, rather than that which is the mental wishing or will of same. Do you understand what we are saying?

Q No.

S We thought not. We are saying that the true sacrifice, or the true act of seeking repentance here is to even forgo those thoughts of purifying self, those thoughts of bettering self, until those thoughts of purifying self, of bettering self, come not from the mental of self but from the well of God or the wellspring of God within your being, which is the holy nature of self, which is the Christ Force in action or the Holy Spirit moving in and touching the Christ Force. Then the thoughts become really non-thoughts for they are not from you but they are the law.

Q Then we are to work with our thoughts toward this?

S Oh, yes – of abandoning thoughts until the thoughts come unbidden. You’ll know the difference.

Q You speak here of a sacrifice given by the males. Was there also a sacrifice for the females?

S You have, see, in the writings here which you must understand that there was warfare between groups representing male domination and female domination of the writings of the worship. Here you have the dominance of those favoring or backing the use and power of the male side rather than the distaff side. You see this argumentative nature of people surfacing over and over again within the Scriptures. Therefore, you must take it as it is and understand that it is also meant for female. Remember, females have been and can be circumcised in the flesh also.

Genesis 17:15-16

And God said unto Abraham, “As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”

S This is the reality and the names themselves are the clue to the reality. The first name, Sarai, being that which, in truth, means bitter or contempt or critical; where Sarah is that which in all essence means princess or gentleness or favor in God’s sight. You have even as Abram became Abraham or the male side shown here, so also is the female side shown in its climb upward, for the next step then is the Mary or that which is perfection holding in self within and without for the perfection that is the Christ to be developed.

Genesis 17:17-18

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?” And Abraham said unto God, “O that Ishmael might live before thee!”

S Here is the doubt, even as one who is raised to a greater degree, who has found the path, who has been enlightened to a degree by understanding through the God within, who has met the I AM in that place within, and yet has not perfected self, the intellectual-mental self based in that which is the physical nature of this world still has its doubts, still has not reached that point that faith controls all and is the destiny.

Genesis 17:19-20

And God said, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall be beget, and I will make him a great nation.”

S You have now the division. You have that which is Isaac which represents the fruits of the spirit or that which leads to the overcoming of the physical through and culminating in the christed being; where Ishmael is that which is on the spiritual path, as given, who understands, to a degree, the spiritual nature, and yet represents even in his search or the search, as those of this nature are, or those nations, the binding to that which is the mental-physical or the physical world. Hence the great kings which are leaders of men and not of the spirit, of the nations that became the Muslem leaning nations or those who have the word of God and yet have not attained to that which is the Christ Consciousness as you are led to know it to be and therefore stumble and go astray in that which is misdirected zeal, that which is misdirected “spirituality.”

Genesis 17:21-22

“But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

S You have the promise through the more or less perfected female to be as the vessel or the peace. For it is in the female motivation or side of self that comes then at that time the development of the spiritual access to the ladder that you must climb to reach that plateau where you, too, may touch God or totally be with God for all time. This is shown in that which is given here as God left Abraham or the male or the dominating or the forceful or the pushing side of self and departed, leaving Abraham to then accomplish in the physical-mental world, using the promise of the spiritual. For he did not carry that which is the perfect thought but the female nature of self of each individual carries that perfected thought.

Q Is the female nature connected with the right brain and the male nature with the left brain?

S Physically and overtly, yes. But, in truth, no – they are entwined. But that is the spiritual nature and you are talking of the spiritual-physical, which is more or less yes – and no.

Genesis 17:23

And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

S Once again you have the nine and the four which is to say, you have an overcoming or the apex of a stage and the beginning of that which is new or a reverence or a referral to the God Force then working at all levels within self and beginning of a new era within the search or finding the path or the search for the path.

Genesis 17:24-25

And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Genesis 17:26-27

In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

S You are now following the established pattern that you will see all through the works of God; whereas you might term the ripple effect goes forth from that which is first started here, going out and out and out. This is the pattern that self must establish with working for God, using self as the stone that hits the water or the pebble that begins the concentric circles or rings of effect going forth, touching others. A