Where is the most important point in a story? In the beginning? At the climax? During the resolution? In ancient literature, the most important point was often in the very center.

Ancient writers frequently used a skillful writing technique called chiastic structure. In this form, the second half of the story mirrored the first half, but in reverse order. Each half of the story converged on that all-important central point.

In this episode, we come to Genesis 17, the dramatic epicenter of Abraham’s life story. God appears to him, changes his name, tells him to mark his body by circumcision, and promises to bring a new baby boy from his wife’s barren womb. He will do it within one year. Then with those dramatic words God makes a dramatic exit. He simply vanishes.

The title of this episode is Marked at the Middle: When God reorders your identity and guarantees your future. This reflects the middle of Abraham’s life story, the middle of Abraham’s body, and the middle of Abraham’s identity. But this episode is not just about an ancient writing technique, or a personal story from long ago. God also wants to meet you and me right in the middle of our life, in the home of our secret thoughts and deepest motivations. He wants to reorder our identity and guarantee our future. The apostle Paul refers to this when he challenges us to be circumcised in the heart.

Time Stamps

00:00 Opening Comments

02:39 God announces his everlasting covenant

09:48 Literary Structure of the Abraham Story

12:42 Circumcision: Marked at the middle

23:48 Birth of Isaac Announced

36:08 Final Comments

Join me in this episode as we discover how we too can be marked at the middle.

Resource

Blog Post showing the chiastic structure of the Abraham story

Send me your comments or questions. I would love to hear from you.

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Musical excerpts from "Pour le Piano" by Claude Debussy (Public Domain) performed by your host.