GENESIS
● Chapter 17
Yahweh Reaffirmed His CovenantGen 17:1: 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.
The Word of Yahweh last came to Abram in a vision about 14 years ago. Abram was then 99 years old, and Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God”, that is, “I am El Shaddai”. Yahweh identified and declared Himself as being the One True God — “I am God All-sufficient, All-powerful (to make and to destroy); the Breasted One, the Irresistible One. I am that God who pours out blessings, who gives richly, abundantly, continually”.
Abram knew the many different gods that were worshipped among the people in Mesopotamia. Some gods which were made of wood, stone, and metal, had the Name of Yahweh invoked upon them by the worshippers; adulterated worship, nothing short of idolatry. In His appearance to Abram, the Almighty Creator, the Logos, made known to Abram that He was, not just Yahweh, but the El Shaddai, Yahweh Elohim, the LORD of Lords, the One and Only Elohim, the Only High and Mighty One, the Almighty Creator of the heaven and the Earth. This was a direct declaration, a clear revelation given to Abram.
After Yahweh had made Himself known to Abram that He was El Shaddai, He demanded of Abram: “Walk before me, and be thou perfect”. In Genesis 5:22, Moses wrote that Enoch “walked with God”. Enoch’s faith and daily living was hand in hand with the revelation of Yahweh, for how “can two walk together, except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3). Sin did not steal its way in between Enoch and His God; and Enoch was not found for God took him.
Abram was told to walk before the Face of the Lord God, and be perfect; that is, Abram was to walk habitually in His Presence, and be wholly blameless, upright, undefiled. There was the assurance that he was under Yahweh’s constant watch, under His perfect judgment, and thereby be assisted in his walk before Yahweh, to be perfect like Him. In the Lord’s call to get out of Ur of the Chaldee, Abram must have walked with God in the revelation he received, but he certainly did not walk before God as he should have for the next 29 years, especially the first 5 unfruitful years he had spent in Haran. Abram had weaknesses together with his strengths. He was chosen not because he was a good man, but because God was gracious to him (cf. Exo.33:19). God’s grace had been sufficient to see him through the years; His “right hand upholdeth” Abram in his walk with Him (by faith, in which he was imputed righteousness - Jam.2:23).
Old Name, New Name
Gen 17:2: And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3: And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4: As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5: 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.
6: And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.When Yahweh reaffirmed His covenant with Abram (cf. Gen.12:2-3; Acts 7:2-4), Yahweh stressed that to his seed He “will multiply...exceedingly”, that is, will enlarge — very greatly. With that, Abram fell upon his face to appropriate God’s covenant. It was not that God “will make” (Heb: nawthan) but rather that God “will give; will bring to realization” the things promised in the covenant. Yahweh accentuated that He would make Abram “a father of many nations”, and not just the father of “a great nation”. And with that, Yahweh made known the new name for Abram. Abram אַבְרָם was no longer his name, but Abraham אַבְרָהָם, for “a father of many nations have I made thee”. Truly, God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom.4:17). And surely, Abraham’s “soul followeth hard after” Him (Psa.63:8), for a new and deeper revelation of Yahweh – “I am El Shaddai” – dictates a deeper and blameless walk with Him. Yahweh had added to his name the breath of His Living Word — hei ה. To be called the “Father of multitudes”, when he was near a hundred years old, with a son who was known not to be the heir, must have been to his household and the nations around him a piece of senile presumption. It was certainly a trial of faith for Abraham to rest on God’s Word, His Promise; that LIFE would come.
“Father of many nations” (or “Father of a multitude of nations”) is fulfilled in a literal sense, for Abraham’s numerous offsprings would later spring forth from the twelve princes of Ishmael (by Hagar); the twelve tribes of Israel (by Sarah); and the descendants of the six sons of Keturah; royalty is found in many nations of these descendants. The Royalty of royalties is the King Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not just the King promised to the Nation of Israel, He is also the King of all nations; He is the King of kings. Though nations of people rejected Him, He is King to all who believe Him; all who are spiritually born, even they are kings and priests unto God (Rom.4:16-17; Rev.1:6; 5:10).
Gen 17:7: 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.
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.The everlasting covenant was between Yahweh and Abraham, and Abraham’s descendants throughout their generations. This covenant is two-fold; it will not fail, since Yahweh originated it. Yahweh would be, firstly, a God to Abraham as well as to his descendants as long as they continue in true worship. For He was the “God who pours out blessings, who gives richly, abundantly, continually”. Secondly, to all his spiritual seed (in Christ Jesus); with respect to the spiritual blessings of it, as the God of all grace, supplying and bestowing upon them grace and glory, which never becomes void. The covenant embraced all the land of Abraham’s sojourning; given to him and his descendants for an everlasting inheritance; and which was a figure of the heavenly inheritance, one which will be enjoyed by all his spiritual seed to all eternity.
Old Life, New Life
Gen 17:9: And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10: This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11: And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
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.
13: 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.
14: And 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.Yahweh is “I AM THAT I AM” — I AM LIFE; I AM SELF-EXISTING. The letter hei ה in Yahweh יהוה is the sound when one breathes out. Hei ה is LIFE, the breath of LIFE (cf. John 20:22). Having received a portion of Yahweh — His Name and His Life, Abraham אַבְרָהָם was then commanded to shed his blood through t
he act of circumcision. The change of name was God’s token to His part of the covenant; circumcision was the token of the other party. This was the obligation to be taken by Abraham and his household, and afterwards the nation – his descendants through Isaac and Jacob – “Every man child among you shall be circumcised...And he that is eight days old”.
Circumcision deals with the organ of procreation, and by cutting away of the flesh of the foreskin, God made it a token in the covenant; an obvious reminder of the Fall. Sin came into the world by an act that corrupted the life of Mankind, and the life is in the blood (cf. Lev.17:11,14). The woman that God gave to Adam was beguiled by the Serpent; seduced into fornicating with him (cf. 2 Cor.11:3). And being deceived, the woman was in the transgression (1 Tim.2:14). Her transgression had corrupted the blood of Mankind. She brought forth Cain; and Cain was the seed of the Serpent, he was a discrepancy. The unholy union of the two bloods – Adamic and Serpentic – resulted in death. Thus, there is nothing good in the flesh: the blood had been corrupted, and so “in Adam all die” (1 Cor.15:22a).
“And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised.” In God’s creation plan, the “seventh day” is the Sabbath, a period of repose — desist, put away (down), cease from exertion. Sabbath is the “sleep” before the dawning of a new day of life. The new cycle of life begins on the “eighth day”, a new beginning. Circumcision cuts off the old, bringing in the new. Blood must be shed for the remission of sin (cf. Heb.9:22). In this way, circumcision in the flesh became an emblem of spiritual circumcision (i.e., the purification, sanctification) of the heart, in the putting away the body of sin (cf. Deu.10:16; 30:6; Lev.26:41; Jer.4:4; Eze.44:7). Typologically, on Mount Calvary, our Lord Jesus Himself was “cut off” (by the shedding of His Blood – cf. Dan.9:26a), for the sake of His elect, to “passover” the “sabbath” and resurrect on the first day of the week. And fifty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the day after the Sabbath, the Spirit of the Life of Christ came upon the true faithful believers; the old life of the saints was cut off and a new life began. Truly, “...in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor.15:22b). The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was born. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor.5:17). “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” (Col.2:11).
“...and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” The physical sign of circumcision was the possession of all the land of their sojourning for an everlasting inheritance. Any descendant of Abraham who was not circumcised was outside of God’s covenant — “And 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”. [Note: This is the reason why the Lord sought to take Moses’ son. Zipporah, Moses’ wife, was angry with Moses, for he had not circumcised their son. Moses, for some reason, had failed in this duty (cf. Exo.4:24-26).] In the spiritual, the circumcision of the heart to all his spiritual seed, being Holy Spirit baptized, is an eternal promise of a heavenly inheritance. Since the uncircumcised male child of Abraham’s descendants was cut off from being a part of the chosen people of God, correspondingly the uncircumcised heart be cut off from being a part of the Heavenly Family of God.
Sadly, through the centuries, the eyes of the Jews are focused more upon the sign of the covenant (circumcision) than on the God of the covenant, thus losing sight of the spiritual circumcision through the righteousness of faith in the finished work of the Messiah. The Apostle Paul said: “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom.2:29). Read Romans 4:8-14 and Galatians 5:1-15.
Isaac’s Birth Promised
Gen 17:15: And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
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.
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?
18: And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!The covenantal sign was followed by a further revelation of the promised seed, that Abram would receive it through his wife Sarai. Sarai שָׂרַי, the dominative woman – princess, was no longer to be her name, but Sarah שָׂרָה, the noble woman – queen, for she was to become the mother of kings of nations. The promise was so immeasurably great that Abraham fell upon his face in worship. Apparently, Abraham must have received the revelation when God breathed also His hei ה into Sarah שָׂרָה, his wife. He laughed within himself and rejoiced in awe and happiness, in the absurdity and the expectation of him being a father at such an old age. Then he thought apprehensively of Ishmael; he said to the Lord, “O that Ishmael might live before thee!”
Gen 17:19: 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.
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.
21: But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
22: And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.Yahweh emphasized that Sarah, his wife, would bear him a son and he would call him Isaac יִצְחָק (meaning laughter, for Abraham laughed); and that Isaac and his seed would be the recipient of the covenant grace. As for Ishmael God would make him very fruitful; he would have twelve princes and become a great nation of people. And just before the Lord departed from Abraham, He again stressed to Abraham that His covenant should be established with Isaac, whom Sarah was to bear to him about that very time in the following year.
Gen 17:23: 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.
24: And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
25: And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26: In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
27: And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.So, on that very same day, Abraham took Ishmael his son, who was thirteen years old, and every male in Abraham’s household, those born in his house and those who were purchased with his money, and circumcised them, according to the words of the Lord. Abraham was also circumcised; he was ninety-nine years old. Yahweh’s covenant would be established, for the Lord God said it; Abraham believed it; he acted upon it; and that settled it.
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● Chapter 18 - coming