Studies In Genesis: Chapters 17 Series

Note: When doing a study on a book in the Bible you use a lot of resources. The major influence for me on this study of Genesis is The Genesis Record by Henry Morris.

Genesis 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;(El Shaddai)

walk before me, and be thou perfect.

It has been 13 yrs since we have a recording of God speaking with Abram. I believe that God was with him but he was separated from him. God did not dwell with man until the New Testament.

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

It was not until the New Testament that God came down and our bodies was the temple.

But we see that God appeared to Abram. After 13 yrs and He calls Himself El Shaddi, the almighty God, the all powerful one. Oh what an assurance it must have been to here this from God. God himself giving him a revelation to Abram. I am the Almighty. I am El Shaddi.

And now that you understand who I am then you must walk before me and be perfect. In my sight, in my holiness you must be perfect. This is how God would fulfill his promise and covenant if Abram would be perfect and walk before him. It is by obedience to God's word that we may have a covenant with God almighty. By obedience to walk perfect in God's sight.

Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.

Genesis 6:9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect

in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.

2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will

multiply thee exceedingly.

Here we again see this word covenant. And as we read on through this chapter we will see it 12 other times. So this must be a chapter of the covenant. Or even a chapter of the renewing of the covenant of God. "My covenant between me and thee" God comes down with man and makes a covenant with a sinful and fallen creature. What is the covenant that God made with us?

3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

These words of God were so powerful and Abram was so overwhelmed that at what God was saying that he fell prostrate on his face. Has God ever hit you so hard that you just felt like falling on you face before God? Oh, how long has it been since we have felt the wonderful and powerful presence of the Almighty God? How long has it been?

4. As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt

be a father of many nations.

Here we see this word covenant again it being reiterated just as he promised many chapters before. A father of many nations. Which is so true. Look at it now physically through Ishmael and Isaac and spiritually through Judaism and Christianity as shown in Romans 4:16.

Romans 4:16 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,

Reassurance of the Covenant by God

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.

Now we see God reinforcing the covenant with a name change. A change in the life of Abram to reassure him of the covenant. He will no longer be known as Abram("high father, exalted father") but now her would be known as Abraham("father of a multitude")