Genesis:
I am guilty, like Sarai, of pushing things forward rather than waiting on God. Poor Hagar and poor Ishmael (and poor Abram) would never have had to go through all that conflict with Sarai if she had just waited on God to fulfill his promise.
Circumcision is just one more thing like animal sacrifice that symbolizes the seriousness of being in relationship with God. Ain’t for the faint of heart. Circumcision was like saying “If I am not loyal in faith and obedience to the Lord, may the sword of the Lord cut off me and my offspring as I have cut off my foreskin,” (Zondervan’s NASB Study Bible note, Genesis 17:10).
This passage always makes me think of Muslims and Islam, because they trace back to Ishmael, and their version of the story is different.
Job:
Bildad puts salt on Job’s open wound. He’s even worse than Eliphaz.
Ichthus77 