Genesis Chapter Seventeen
Read Genesis 17:1-8
– God’s Covenant with Abram
v.1 “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.”
Thirteen years have
passed since Ishmael was born. Abram and
Sarai have apparently learned patience and that God keeps his promises when He
feels that the time is right. Perhaps it
is that patience that has convinced God that now is the right time. Abram is now 99 years old, Sarai is about ten
years younger, they still have no child but that is about to change.
God commands Abram to
“WALK BEFORE ME, AND BE THOU PERFECT.”
We know that Adam walked with God in the garden before sin came into the
world and that Enoch walked with God afterward (Genesis
“For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God,
a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” Deuteronomy 10:17
“Thou shalt fear the LORD
thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his
name.” Deuteronomy
v.2-3 “And I will make my covenant between me and
thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3And Abram fell on his
face: and God talked with him, saying,”
God renews his promise and his covenant
with Abram and talks with him directly, leaving no doubt what he wants and what
Abram is to do. As most others have done
when brought before the Almighty, Abram falls on his face in worship, honor and
perhaps even fear.
v.4 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and
thou shalt be a father of many nations.”
God’s covenant with
Abram was not restricted to the land of promise but included that he would be
the father of many nations. We already
know that through Ishmael he is the father of all Arabic peoples. Through Isaac he would become the father of
all
Romans 4:17 “Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be by grace;
to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is
of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the
father of us all,
And also in the
Galatian letter that we all, you and I, if we are Christ’s are also heirs of Abraham.
Galatians
v. 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. 6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”
At this time God also changes the
name of Abram. Abram meant “exalted
father”, Abraham means “the father of a multitude”. Not only would he the father of kings, rulers
on this earth; confirmed by the Holy Spirit in the genealogy recorded in
Matthew:
“And Jesse begat David the king; and David the
king begat Solomon of her that
had been the wife of Urias;” Matthew 1:6
But also of the
Son of God:
Matthew
v.7 “And 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.”
God made two covenants with Abraham
and his seed that was to follow him. They are the land covenant with his
physical seed and the everlasting covenant with his spiritual seed. In the word of God written to the church at
Rome Paul makes a distinction between the physical seed and the spiritual seed.
Romans 9:7-8 “Neither,
because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:
but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are
not the children of God: but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
Abraham would have
seed from the flesh, not all of whom would be faithful to God. But Abraham would also have spiritual seed;
seed of the promise to bless all nations who would be faithful to God.
v.8 “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.”
In this verse God renews again the
land promise for the children of Abraham, a promise that he communicates to
Exodus 6:7-8 “And
I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall
know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out
from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you in
unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an
heritage: I am the LORD.”
Read Genesis 17:9-14 – The Sign of God’s
Covenant
v.9-10 “And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my
covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10This
is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me
and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.”
Stephen calls this covenant the
covenant of circumcision in his sermon:
Acts 7:8 “And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and
circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.”
Was circumcision limited to Abraham
and Isaac? No, all the household of
Abraham were included; Ishmael and “EVERY MALE AMONG THE MEN OF ABRAHAM’S
HOUSE” (Genesis
v.11 “And
ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the
covenant betwixt me and you.”
This token was required until the
promise was fulfilled but is not required of Abraham’s spiritual seed today. Why would that token be removed by God?
Romans 4:11-12 “And
he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the
father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that
righteousness might be imputed unto them also:”
Galatians 5:6 “For
in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but
faith which worketh by love.”
God removed this
token of his covenant because the covenant that it represented was
removed. The descendant of Abraham
through whom God would bless all nations (Jesus Christ) came and those
blessings made available. Its purpose
was completed, fulfilled.
v.12 “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.”
After eight days, any male child
born to any descendant of Abraham, any male child born in that household of a
descendant was to be circumcised. In addition
any male brought into a household as a servant or slave was also to be
circumcised. This included the Son of
God:
Luke
What is the significance of doing
the circumcision at the age of eight days?
“On the eighth day after birth, the
amount of prothombim present actually is elevated
above 100 percent of normal, and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is
the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothombim levels are at their peak.” (Reason
& Revelation, Apologetics Press, July, 1993)
v.13-14 “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. 14And 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.”
God’s punishment for failing to
follow his command is quite simple; since he has broken God’s covenant he is
cut off from God’s blessings. God would
no longer consider that person His child, he would be disowned.
Read Genesis 17:15-22 – God’s Promise of
Isaac
v.15 “And
God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name
Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.”
God also changes the name of Sarai
to Sarah. Sarai means “my princess”,
Sarah means “a princess”. With the name
Sarai the meaning seems to be restricted to a certain father or family, while
the name Sarah expands her relationship as “a princess” to multitudes or so the
commentators think.
v.16 “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.”
Just as Abraham was to be the father
of nations and kings of nations, so too was Sarah to be the mother of nations
and kings of nations. As well, it would
be through Sarah that all nations of the world would be blessed.
v.17 “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?”
Abraham and God are having a
conversation, Abraham is skeptical of what God is promising. He’s 100 years old in general terms; Sarah is
90 so how can two people that old bear a child.
We see here also that not only was the birth of Jesus a miracle but the
birth of Isaac as well.
v.18 “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!”
In this verse Abraham is actually
praying or stating a wish for his son, Ishmael.
It was his desire that Ishmael would live before God as he has done. Some
commentators also think that he was asking God not to abandon Ishmael
completely when his son Isaac was finally born.
However, we already know that Ishmael was to be a “…WILD MAN, HIS HAND will
be AGAINST EVERY MAN AND EVERY MAN’S HAND AGAINST HIM…” (Genesis 16:12).
v. 19 “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.”
God heard Abraham’s prayer, repeated
and confirmed his plans for Abraham and Sarah to have a son; a son through whom
he would continue the seed promise made to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Abraham would have a son through whom God
would make an everlasting covenant, consequently as spiritual children of
Abraham we are also spiritual children of Isaac as well.
Galatians
v.20 “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 he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
God repeats the promise that he had
made to Hagar through the angel to Abraham.
Ishmael will be blessed as well but in a different manner. He will be fruitful and multiplied exceedingly,
bearing twelve princes. Confirmation of
the fulfillment of this promise is found:
Genesis 25:12-16 “Now
these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son,
whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13And
these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their
names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Ne-ba-joth;
and Ke-dar, and Ad-beel, and
Mib-sam, 14And Mish-ma, and Du-mah, and Mas-sa, 15Ha-dar,
and Te-ma, Je-tur, Na-phish, and Ke-d-emah: 16These are the sons of
Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes
according to their nations.”
v.21-22 “But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22And
he left off talking with him, and God went up from
Abraham.
God repeats again that Ishmael will
not be overlooked, will be blessed greatly but that it is through Isaac through
whom God will continue his covenant. “AT
THIS SET TIME IN THE NEXT YEAR”, Sarah will conceive and bear their son. At this juncture God ends his visit with
Abraham.
Read Genesis
v.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.”
Not only is Abraham circumcised but
as God commanded Ishmael and all the males in Abraham’s household. No hesitation, no delay, “IN THE SELFSAME
DAY”, Abraham obeyed God’s command. He
did “AS GOD HAD SAID UNTO HIM” and did not ask why or wherefore. God’s will was not only a law to Abraham but
also a reason; he did it because God told him to. He didn’t do like we probably did when we
were children and have to be told “I’m your father and I told you to.” What God requires we must do and Abraham
understood that.
v.24-25 “And Abraham was ninety years old
and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And
Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin.”
Abraham is 99 years old and Ishmael
is 13 when they are circumcised.
v.26-27 “In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised,
and Ishmael his son. 27And all the men of his house, born in the
house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.”
God’s commandment was universal to
those in Abraham’s household. Everyone
associated with him was to be set apart from those who lived around them. Again he didn’t try to put it off his
obedience to God until a “CONVENIENT SEASON” as did Felix in Acts 24:25 but obeyed God while his sense
of duty to God is still fresh in his mind.