NOTES for Gen 17:1-9

“Then Abram fell on his face.” This is not the first time the Lord has spoken to Abraham; he is already accustomed to walking before His face and doing His will, but here he falls down and says nothing. How can we understand his feelings? What is this: fear, reverence, gratitude? In any event it is something immense, and his silence speaks for itself. Saint Philaret (Drozdov) describes this state in the words of the Psalter: “My soul faints for Your salvation” (Ps 119:81), or “pines away,” as the Synodal translation puts it. Although we cannot dare even to compare ourselves with the Patriarch, we too sometimes experience how what God tells us is so great that, when we try to contain it within ourselves, we understand that even if we cast aside everything of our own, there still will not be enough room... This happens after receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ; it happens when one reads something in the Word... We too are among those descendants who were promised to Abraham, regardless of our blood. It has become fashionable among the Russian intelligentsia to joke that we are all a little Jewish, but there is much truth in this. It is simply very important for us to understand that we are all one family tracing its origin to Abraham.