Today we look again at God’s promises to Abram in light of his age. Compare Gen 17:1 with Gen 16:16. How much time has now passed since the last time we saw Abram? His son Ishmael has just reached the teen years. Here, in the first verse, God declares to Abram yet another name for Himself, “God Almighty”. And with this new name, we are introduced to the Hebrew name “El Shaddai”. God reveals to Abram another facet of Himself. Record this new name for God in your journal.
Read the commandment God gives to Abram here in verse 1. While the NIV translates the second part of it as “be blameless”, the KJV translates it as “be thou perfect”. God has given Abram a pretty tall order here. We know it is not possible for any human being to be perfect, since man brought sin into the world back at the Garden of Eden, but we can be made blameless through our faith in Christ. However, I want you to know that the meaning here comes from a word which, in the original Hebrew, probably means something a little closer to ‘whole’ or ‘complete’. So God is telling Abram to walk faithfully, giving to God wholly of himself. His faith should be complete. Isn’t that how God wants us to establish our relationship with Him? To be in it completely… not just halfway? God has already established, in previous chapters, that He credits righteousness (sinlessness or blamelessness) to our account based on faith. And here, He wants Abram’s faith to be whole, or complete.
We see again, in verse 2, God repeating His promise to Abram. He surely knows that Abram has had doubts. This is why He is telling Him to walk faithfully. God is about to fulfill His promise of establishing a line through Abram and Sarai and He knows that Sarai and Abram have waited a long time. What is Abram’s immediate response (vs 3)? What does Abram say in this position? Such humility before God! Have you ever been so awed by God that you fell facedown before Him? If we actually understood how truly Almighty God really is, we would do the same. And God repeats the promise yet another time in verse 4.
This is a significant point in history. God is repeating His promises. He has given Abram a standard to meet. And in verse 5, we see that God changes Abram’s name. What is the new name He gives him? The name ‘Abram’ means ‘exalted father’ but the new name, “Abraham”, means “father of many”. The new name God has given to Abram commemorates what is happening. God is about to fulfill His promise to establish His line through Abram and Sarai and establish an everlasting covenant with His people. Why is God doing these things through Abraham (Neh 9:7-8, Rom 4:16-17)?
In verses 6-8, God summarizes His promises to Abraham as part of the covenant He is making on this day. List these promises in your journal. In verse 6, He promises “kings will come from you”. What does Matt 1:1 tell us about this? Compare this description of God’s covenant with Abraham here in verses 6-8 to Christ’s relationship with His followers in John 15:1-8. God has always been interested in a relationship with His people. Just as He wanted Abraham to walk faithfully with his complete self, so Christ wants Christians to have a similar relationship with Him. Is your relationship with Jesus all that it should be?
This covenant, however, came with stipulations for Abraham. Read in verses 9-13 what God expected in return from Abraham and record these stipulations in your journal along with the promises. He was asking that Abraham and his household be circumcised. This would be a physical sign in their bodies, albeit totally private, that they belonged to the Almighty God. Notice that this requirement did not just include Abraham and his offspring. Every slave either bought or born into his household must also comply. There were no exceptions. Notice the rules that God later gave to Moses concerning the Passover celebration (Ex 12:48).
Please understand an important point here. Abraham’s obedience was important to receiving the promises. However, his justification before God, his salvation from his sin, had already been accomplished as a result of his faith (Rom 4:9-13). That will always, for all of us, be the case, that salvation is based on our faith, rather than on anything we may or may not do. We can never be justified by our good deeds (Eph 2:8-9). But the New Testament speaks of a circumcision of the heart. In light of Rom 4:9-13, Gal 2:15-21, is there anything you need to ‘cut off’ from your life to bring about a closer relationship with the Lord?
Continuing on in this tradition of circumcision, when were newborn males to be circumcised (vs 12)? God continued this requirement when He gave The Law to His people through Moses (Lev 12:3). And this point of The Law was still being obeyed by Mary and Joseph at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:21) just as it had been done in Abraham and Moses’ times. In verse 14, what were the consequences for not complying with this requirement?
What instruction does God give to Abraham in verse 15 concerning his wife, Sarai? We do not know the meaning of the name ‘Sarai’, but ‘Sarah’ means ‘princess’. And in verse 16 God goes even further to ensure that it is clear that Sarah is the chosen mother through whom the promises will be fulfilled. The promise of kings, fulfilled in Matt 1:1, is specifically connected with her also in this verse. This is very significant in that it establishes that God’s promises were to be passed through Sarah’s offspring and not down through Ishmael.
What is Abraham’s response to this declaration from God (vs 17)? Why do you suppose he laughed? I doubt very much that he found this funny. Do you think he may have found this absurd? Perhaps he had already concluded, in his own mind, that God’s promises would be fulfilled through Ishmael. I’m sure it seemed unlikely to him that a woman of 90 years could bear him a son. She would surely have been past the menopause years at this point. Most likely, on some level, Abraham thought that Sarah’s barrenness was beyond God’s ability to overcome. Don’t we think that about our own problems sometimes? But God specializes in the impossible. Don’t ever forget that.
We see in verse 18 that Abraham makes an appeal to God for Ishmael. By this time, Ishmael would have been 13 years old… probably about the age to be considered a man back in that time. I’m sure that Abraham had come to love him very deeply and to think of him as his sole heir. It would have been logical for Abraham to have posed such a question to God, at this point, about Ishmael’s rights as the first born. However, in verse 19, God reiterates that the promises are to be passed through Sarah’s line. That was God’s plan from the beginning and it hasn’t changed just because Abraham and Sarah had taken matters into their own hands and had another child through the slave woman, Hagar. What does God decree as the name of the new child? The name ‘Isaac’ means ‘he laughs’. With this name, God is giving Abraham a constant reminder of just how Almighty He really is.
What does God then promise to do for Ishmael (vs 20)? The first son has not been forgotten by God. And we know, from history, that Ishmael went on to father the Arab nations (Gen 25:12-16). But God reiterates, once again in verse 21, that the covenant is to be passed through Isaac, not Ishmael. When does God say that the child will be born? Then what happened (vs 22)?
In verses 23-27, we see Abraham obeying God’s instructions for circumcision. How soon did Abraham obey God? How old were Abraham and Ishmael when they were circumcised? Who exactly was circumcised that day? Before circumcision, Abraham and Sarah had been unable to produce offspring without resorting to their own machinations. But now, through the power of the Almighty God, a legitimate heir was to be born.
Review Rom 4:11 again. What exactly did circumcision represent? How does that make Abraham the father of all who believe? Now, before we leave this topic of circumcision, there is something we need to discuss for clarity. Circumcision was definitely commanded in the Old Testament. And it was definitely required under The Law, as given to Moses. But please understand that, for New Testament believers, Christ’s death on the cross makes The Law obsolete concerning circumcision. Christians are, in no way, obligated to be circumcised for spiritual benefit (Gal 5:1-6, I Cor 7:17-24).
Responding to God: Speak honestly with God about your relationship with Him and whether you are in it wholeheartedly or if there are parts of you that you hold back. If you have never fallen face down in worship of Him, you may want to try that humbling experience before a truly Almighty God. Do you believe there are obstacles too big for God to overcome? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you have faith that God is truly ‘Almighty’ and to help you to always obey Him immediately and completely. If you have never heard the song ‘El Shaddai’ which celebrates the Hebrew names for God, find it on the internet and listen to it. It is truly worshipful.
Further Research: To learn more about circumcision, use a concordance or online Bible to search for occurrences of the word ‘circumcision’.
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