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")
Now we will see an extension of the covenant to show what God is going to do.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
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.
Here we see deeper into the promise to Abraham. Now we see that there will be some royalty that will be part of his seed. Kings shall come. And we see and even better promise that is given to Abraham, the covenant shall be everlasting. And it is. Just as our covenant is. Everlasting.
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.
Here we see it again everlasting. An everlasting possession. This will happen one day but right now it has not fully happen. They will have an everlasting possessing until the reign of the Messiah.
Keeping of the Covenant on part of God
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.
Here we see a wonderful token of God's love toward a man. God wanted his people to be separated from this world. He wanted them to be different. So he gave them a sign for themselves. A sign of circumcism.
Romans 4:11 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:
All must be circumcised under the covenant. All believers must be circumcised. When a child was 8 days old he was to be circumcised. This was important. But let us noticed. Circumcised was not the covenant nor the salvation but it was a symbol. They did not get circumcised to be a part of the covenant but were circumcised because they were a part.
We do not do good works to become a part of the kingdom of God but we do good works because we are a part of the kingdom of God.
We see here in the last verse that God makes provisions for choice. If man does not chose him then they shall be separated. But man had a choice and the covenant still stood.
Gods promise of Sarai
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.
The third thing that God wanted to talk to Abraham was about who the mother would be. And as we see that would be barren Sarai. 89 yrs old Sarah
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!
We see here that Abraham kind of chuckled. Maybe a disbelief reaction about what God was doing or maybe it was amazement at being used by God. Sometimes it is hard to understand so we chuckle. We may even doubt. But God is God and he can do and use whom ever he wants. If it is a barren lady he will. Why did God use Sarah? Why did he use an 89 yr. old barren lady?
Paul describes this in Romans 4:17-22
17. (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
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 reaffirms this and names Isaac which means, laughter. I believe to remind Abraham of his doubt and that it was given to him by the Almighty God.
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.
He still promises to bless Ishmael. Why? because it was Abraham's seed.
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah
shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
As we see here within the next year Isaac will be born. Abraham will be 100yrs old and Sarah will be 90yrs old what an amazing miracle God does.
22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from
Abraham.
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.
Abraham obeyed and all were circumcised.
