The Covenant
Genesis 17:1-27
Introduction
An overriding theme throughout the scriptures is that of covenant. The term covenant, as it is used in the Bible, describes how God relates to man. The theme of covenant runs from the Genesis to Revelation. In fact, one could say that at the heart of God’s plan of redemption is the notion of covenant. At the heart of biblical history is the idea of covenant.
The idea of covenant is not exclusive to the biblical record. Studies of other ancient texts have revealed that the idea of covenant permeated the ancient Near East. Covenants were common between governments and those being governed. Kings would enter into a covenant with the people, a covenant that would regulate the behavior of the government and the governed. The government promised to protect if the governed promised allegiance, support, and tribute to the government.
A covenant in its simplest definition is a promise between two parties that is binding by either a verbal or symbolic oath. God would use the idea of covenant as a means of relating to man, but God would expand upon its simplest form.
There are several characteristics of God’s covenants with man. One such aspect is that God’s covenants with man are unchanging. They may be superseded or replaced, but they cannot be changed. God’s covenants with man throughout the scriptures have had many additional details added along the way, one common theme that runs through all of God’s covenants is the unchanging truth that God declares, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” That God will be their God and they shall be his people is the heart of the covenant between God and man.
Another characteristic of God’s covenant with man is that they are divinely imposed and initiated. God takes the initiative in entering a covenant with man. It is God’s desire to have a relationship with man, and therefore he initiates this desire of relationship through the concept of covenant.
The implication of God’s covenantal relationship with man is stated early on in the biblical record. The first evidence of a covenant between God and man is found in the Garden of Eden before the fall. God enters into a covenant with Adam. God promises to take care of Adam, to provide for Adam, and all Adam has to do is abstain from eating of the one tree within the garden. Adam would not keep his part of the covenant because in Genesis chapter three we find Adam disobeying the Lord’s command.
This disobedience on the part of Adam brought death, both physical and spiritual death. Sinful man is now separated from holy God, and thus the relationship between the two is severed. From this point on the covenant would be, not a covenant of works, as in Genesis chapter two, but know it would be a covenant of grace, a covenant means that it was an undeserving covenant, yet God extends it to sinful man anyway because of his goodness.
The first implication of this covenant of grace is declared in Genesis chapter three verse fifteen where the Lord says that the seed of the woman is going to crush the seed of the serpent. We see the covenant of grace explicitly declared in Genesis chapters six between God and Noah.
In Genesis chapter six the Lord grow weary of the sinfulness of man and no longer wants to strive with man, therefore he pronounces judgment upon humanity, but this judgment would not effect Noah because Noah would find favor in the eyes of the Lord. Some say that he found favor because he was a righteous man, but I contend that he found favor with God, and because he found favor with God he was a righteous man. God’s covenant of grace is not based upon man’s goodness, but God’s goodness.
God’s covenant of grace continues to be explicitly declared as well as expanded upon with the life of Abraham. God would call Abram from his hometown of Ur and lead him to a land of promise. The covenant declaration is declared in chapter twelve, it is reiterated in chapter thirteen, and in chapter fifteen of Genesis it is sealed with an oath. Yet, the Lord would not stop expanding and adding details to his covenant.
In the seventeenth chapter of the book of Genesis we find the Lord not only reiterating his covenant of grace with Abram, but also expanding upon it as well. Nevertheless, God does not stop expanding and adding to his covenant of grace in chapter seventeen of Genesis. Throughout the biblical record we find God expanding and adding details to his covenant of grace through the Mosaic Covenant, the David Covenant, and his covenant of grace comes to its fulfillment with the New Covenant, through the person of Jesus Christ.
Those of us who have placed our faith in Christ are participants in God’s covenant of grace. Therefore, the covenants that were declared before the New Covenant are covenants that are truly affecting us.
It is important that we understand the idea and nature of God’s covenants because the seventeenth chapter of the book of Genesis is consumed with the concept and idea of covenant. The Hebrew word “Berith” is used no less than thirteen times in chapter seventeen, underscoring the need to understand the idea of covenant within the biblical record. The word “Berith” gives the picture of “cutting a covenant.”
The covenant of grace between the Lord and Abram has already been cut in chapter fifteen where we find God commanding Abram to take several animals and cut them in half. After he did as the Lord said, Abram fell into a deep sleep and the Lord himself walked between the cut animals as a sign of his oath concerning his covenant with Abram, a covenant that dealt with both the promise of land as well as the promise of a seed.
It is in the seventeenth chapter that we find the Lord reaffirming as well as expanding upon his covenant of grace with Abram. The reason for reaffirming his covenant with Abram is probably found in the fact that in the previous chapter we find both Abram and Sarai felling to wait on God, resorting to human solutions for a divine situations, and possibly thinking that they had helped the Lord fulfill his promise. Therefore the Lord will reaffirm and expand upon his covenant with Abram. In reaffirming and expanding his covenant with Abram, we can see four aspects that arise out of God’s covenant of grace. The first aspect is that it is a covenant of comfort.
I. A Covenant of Comfort
The chapter opens with giving the reader the age of Abram, “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old.” If you look directly back in the last verse of chapter sixteen you read, “Abram was eighty-six year old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.” From the last verse of chapter sixteen to the first verse of chapter seventeen, some thirteen years had passed. This means that thirteen more years of waiting on God took place with Abram and Sarai. It also means that Ishmael is now the age of thirteen, the age of manhood in the Jewish tradition.
After thirteen years, we are told in verse one of chapter seventeen that “The Lord appeared to Abram.” God is appearing to Abram and in the revelation given to Abram is going to reaffirm and give more detail concerning the covenant between Abram and the Lord. In reaffirming the covenant with Abram we see three observations that reveal why entering a covenant with the Lord is a covenant of comfort. The first observation is the powerful nature of the covenant.
A. The Powerful Nature of the Covenant
In appearing to Abram, the Lord declares, “I am God Almighty.” The name translated “God Almighty” is the Hebrew name “El-Shaddai.” This is the first time that we see this name used in the Bible, but it will not be the last. This name is used some forty-eight times in the rest of the Old Testament. The point that the Lord wants to communicate to Abram by declaring that he is “El-Shaddai” is that of power. As the Lord reaffirms his covenant relationship with Abram he reminds Abram that he is the powerful God of the universe. He reminds Abram that the one in whom Abram has a covenant relationship with is the omnipotent and all-sufficient God who can do anything and meet any need.
This reminder would bring a great deal of comfort to Abram on his journey of faith. Abram would be comforted knowing that the God who promised to make him a great nation would be able to do it. Abram would be comforted knowing that the God who promised that his descendants would out number the dust of the earth and the stars of the sky would be able to fulfill it. Abram would be comforted knowing that the God who promised to be his protection and give him provisions would be able to meet his every need.
The powerful nature of God who enters into covenant with man by faith is the foundation of such a covenant. It is the fact that God is “El-Shaddai” the almighty God that gives assurance to those who are in a covenant relationship with God that God is able to fulfill his covenant obligations. The fact that God is “El-Shaddai is the reason God said with confidence in verses two, “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” The assurance of such a statement is found in the fact that God is “El-Shaddai.” Another observation that reveals that this is a covenant of comfort is found in the purposeful nature of the covenant.
B. The Purposeful Nature of the Covenant
After the Lord appeared to Abram and declared himself as “El-Shaddai,” we are told that Abram responded by falling on his face in verse three. Abram out of reverence, respect, and awe prostrates himself before the Lord. The Lord will then continue his reaffirmation of the covenant. But one will see that the Lord will now add more detail to the covenant.
The Lord says in verse four, “As for me, behold my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.” The key to this statement is the word “nations.” We have already noticed that the Lord promised to make Abram into a “great nation” back in chapter twelve. Here in chapter seventeen he is not only reaffirming that promise, but now he is expanding the promise. Not only would Abram be a “great nation,” but also now he will be the father of a multitude of nations.
How could this come about? How could Abram be the father of many nations? Sarai was still barren! Now, we must remember that the one who is expanding the covenant is El-Shaddai, God Almighty, who is all-powerful and can do anything. Therefore, God says two times that he will make Abram “the father of a multitude of nations” and in verse six he says, “I will make nations of you.” In addition, God says to Abram in verse six, “kings will come forth from you.”
El-Shaddai would do great things through Abram and his descendants, but even more revealing of God’s power is the fact that he includes barren Sarai in the covenant in verse sixteen, “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people will come from her.” El-Shaddai, God Almighty would make Abram the father of multitude of nations and kings would come forth from him, and all this would happen through his barren wife Sarai.
The truth of Abram being “the father of a multitude of nations” and the truth that “kings will come forth” through him is realized early on in the book of Genesis. This truth is revealed in the Abram’s physical descendants, Keturah, Ishmael, and Esau. But the realization of this truth goes way beyond Genesis and Abram’s physical descendents.
Yes, Abram would be the father of a multitude of nations, and yes kings of people would come through him. But most importantly we find that kings would come through both Sarai and Abram. This is an implication of not just coming kings, but a coming king. This king will be the King of Kings. This King would be the one who dies for his subjects so that they may live. This King would be Jesus Christ. In the first verse of the gospel of Matthew it says, “the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is the promised seed, the promised king that would bring blessings to all tribes, to all tongues, and to all nations. Therefore, Abrams descendants would be both physical and spiritual descendants.
The Lord would then give both Abram and Sarai a sign of the purposeful nature of his covenant with Abram. He would change their names. For Abram the name change comes in verse five, “No longer shall you name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.” Because the Lord is going to make Abram “the father of a multitude of nations” he will now be called Abraham.
In Abraham’s culture a name had power. When a name was changed it was usually done so to reflect a change in one’s character or destiny. It was probably both in the case of Abraham, but more so to reflect the change of destiny for Abraham.
The name Abram means “exalted father.” The name Abraham means “father of a multitude.” One looks back to the past, the other looks forward to the future. One reflects the old that has passed away; the other reflects the new that has come.
God would not only reflect the change of character and destiny for Abraham, but he would do the same for Sarai as well, “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.” Sarai and Sarah have the same meaning in Hebrew, “princes.” The name change for Sarah was to reflect the reality of her having children, but also having her children being kings over nations.
The point that God is making with the name change is that of purpose. Every time Abraham and Sarah said their new names it would remind them that the covenant that they entered into with the Lord is a purposeful covenant. It would remind them that they had hope and a destiny.
God, by changing their name, was giving Abraham and Sarah a permanent sign of his purpose for their lives. Their purpose was to be the instruments that brought salvation to the world. Their purpose was to fulfill God’s divine plan of redemption.
As the Lord expands his covenant with Abram he in essence declares to Abram, “I have plan and a purpose: to bring salvation to the world. I will use you do bring that plan about. I will give your life purpose. I will give your life hope. I will give your life destiny. I will be your God and you will be my child. I will use you to introduce me to other people so that I can have a relationship with them as well.”
The same is true for the Christian who enters a relationship with the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ. When we enter into a covenantal relationship with the Lord we are given a new character and a new destiny. The apostle Paul said it like this, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new as come.” When you are given the new name Christian you can be assured that God has a plan for you life. You can be assured that the Lord wants to use you to tell others about a personal relationship with the Lord. When you are given the name Christian you can forget the past because the Lord has given you purpose, hope, and a destiny. You can be assured that your life has purpose and meaning now.
While I was studying at the Criswell College, I had many opportunities to work with the international students. Many of those international students were from Korea. I noticed that many of the Koreans were called by names such as Paul or Timothy. I came to find out that these were not their birth names, but instead they were their Christian names, names they would receive when they came to Christ, a name change to reflect their purpose, their hope, and their destiny.
The purposeful nature of the covenant is comforting for those who have a covenantal relationship with the Lord. Many people spend their lives looking for purpose, meaning, hope, and destiny for their lives, but fail to find it because they fail to find the Lord. One person has said, “Living without God’s plan for our life is like sewing with a needle without thread, or writing one’s biography with a pen empty of ink.” But that is not the case for the Christian. God’s purpose gives us the “Why” of life so that when we face the life we can know the “How” of life. The final observation that reveals that this is a covenant of comfort is found in the permanent nature of the covenant.
C. The Permanent Nature of the Covenant
The Lord declares the permanent nature of the covenant in verses seven through eight, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Twice the Lord refers to his covenant as an everlasting covenant. Just as the Lord committed himself to Abraham and his descendants is time, he also has committed himself to Abraham and his descendants in eternity.
At the heart of this great proclamation of the permanent nature of the covenant is the fact that the Lord says to Abraham, “I will be God to you and to your descendants after you” and “I will be their God.” God is committing himself not only to be Abraham and his descendants’ God in time, but also to be their God throughout eternity.
When God’s people enter into a covenantal relationship with the Lord through faith in Christ, The Lord becomes our God and we become his people, not just in this life, but also in the life to come. God binds himself to his people for eternity. This is the great security that we have as believers, that the Lord will always be our God and we will always be his people.
In 1937 the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was completed. The cost of such a project was seventy-seven million dollars. The bridge was constructed in two stages, two stages that contrasted one another. The first stage went rather slow. During the first stage some twenty-three men would fall to their death working on the bridge. The work on the first stage stopped because the constructions workers were paralyzed by their fear. Then some one came up with the idea of putting a safety net under the workers for their protection. The net cost around a hundred thousand dollars and was the largest net built and hung. When phase two began construction, ten men fell to safety because of the net. The work was done some twenty-five percent faster on account of the net. What made the difference? The comfort that came from the security of the net!
The permanent nature of the covenant brings comfort to those who have a covenantal relationship with the Lord. It comforts us to know that though we struggle with sin and strive to overcome it, yet at times fall short, the Lord will always be our God and we will always be his people. The permanent nature comforts because it guarantees us that we will truly overcome in the end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.
The eternal security of the believer is just as important of doctrine as the doctrine of justification by faith. Without the permanent nature, the eternal security of the true believer, the gospel would really be no gospel at all. Without the comfort of the permanent nature of the covenant relationship with the Lord, we, God’s people, will be the most miserable people of all. Without the permanent nature of the covenant, God’s people truly do not have any grounds for comfort. But thanks be to God, we have grounds for comfort, because he says that he will be our God not only in this life, but also in the life to come. We can be confident of the permanent nature of the covenant because the one who made the covenant is El-Shaddai, God Almighty, who is all sufficient and all-powerful. The second aspect of the covenant is that it is a covenant of consecration.
II. A Covenant of Consecration
As was stated earlier, God’s covenantal relationship with man is solely based upon his goodness and his goodness alone. God did not decide that we deserved to have a covenant relationship because that would be inconsistent with God’s righteousness and justice. On account of God’s righteousness and justice we deserved to be object of God’s wrath. But because of God’s goodness he extended grace to the undeserving by extending a means of entering into a relationship with him.
Although God’s covenant relationship with man is by grace, man still has his part to do. This does not mean that God’s covenant of grace is conditional; instead it means that those who have truly experienced God’s covenant of grace should respond to that covenant of grace in a way the reveals the experience of grace. We who live under the New Covenant say it this way, “one is not saved by good works, but saved for good works.” Good works are the result of regeneration. Good works are the result of experiencing the grace of God.
With all this said, we now come to the part of the covenant that reveals Abraham’s obligations to the covenant. In a broad sense Abraham’s covenant obligations are declared in verse one where the Lord says to Abraham, “I am God Almighty, walk before me, and be blameless.” A good paraphrase of this declaration might go something like this, “Abraham, I, the Lord, have saved you by grace. I have committed myself to you, and all I ask of you is that you live a life of obedience to me. This would show your love and devotion to me.” So you can see that from this phrase that Abraham as well as all who enter into a covenant relationship with the Lord are obligated to love the Lord with the way they live their life.
One way that Abraham and his descendants could truly walk before the Lord and be whole is going to be spelled out in verses nine through fourteen. In these verses we see God giving a sign of the covenant that he made with Abraham and his descendants. We know that this is a covenant obligation on the part of Abraham on the basis of the Lord’s statement in verse nine, “God said further to Abraham, ‘Now as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.” Abraham and his descendants had a responsibility within the covenant, one of obedience. And one such form of obedience was about to be given with the sign of the covenant.
A. The Physical Sign of the Covenant
Verse ten gives the physical sign of the covenant, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.” The physical sign of the covenant that Abraham was expected to keep was circumcision.
Circumcision, which is the removal of some are the entire foreskin of the male procreation organ, was widely practiced in the Near East. The oldest evidence of the practice of circumcision dates back to Egypt about 2300 B.C. It was believed to be used to mark slaves . Though it was widely practiced in the Near East, the reasons for the practice varied.
In the case of Egypt it was a mark given to slaves. In other places it was used as a rite of passage from childhood to manhood. It was also used as a mark of marriage. When males married they would be circumcised as a sign of that marriage. So as you can see, circumcision was a common practice in the Near East.
Yet, God would take something so common and give it special significance for his people For Abraham and his descendants it would not be a rite of passage from childhood to manhood. This is clearly stated in the Lord’s directions to Abraham in verse twelve, “and every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations.” For the generation to come it would be a ritual done, not at the age of thirteen, as a rite of passage, but instead, at the age of eight-days old as an act of obedience on the part of the parents. The sign of circumcision would be a mark of the covenant relationship between God and his people . The physical sign of the covenant held spiritual significance for Abraham and his descendants.
B. The Spiritual Significance of the Sign
Though this was a physical sign, it had spiritual significance tied to it. One word could describe the spiritual significance: consecration, and there are different aspects of the consecration. One significant aspect that must be communicated explicitly is that circumcision was by no means a sacrament that brought salvation. The outward ritual means nothing if it does not convey an inward reality of the heart. Several passages within the Old Testament declare this truth. Two such passages are found in the tenth and thirtieth chapters of the book of Deuteronomy. In the sixteenth verse of chapter ten it says, “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” In the sixth verse of chapter thirty it says, “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and he heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” Unfortunately, generations that followed Abraham would see this as a means of salvation, rather than a sign of a heart that had been circumcised. Thus, circumcision was to be a sign of an inward reality, a heart that circumcised by the grace of God.
Another implication of the spiritual significance is that of community. The sign of the covenant was a sign that that person has been set apart or consecrated into the community of God’s people. With this came a sense of belonging and community. It was a sing that the person belonged to God’s community of peculiar people, a people would be witnesses to the rest of the world of the grace of God. Not only did it mean that the person was set apart for the community of God’s people, it also meant that the person was also set apart to God. It was a sign of commitment to both the people of the community and the God of the community as well.
It is very important that we note from the text is that non-Hebrews, that is, Gentiles were welcome into the covenant community, but they still had to identify with the covenant community through means of circumcision. We see this truth communicated in verses twelve and thirteen where the Lord commands that servants and foreigners in Abraham’s household were also to be circumcised. The plan of God’s redemption was and is open to all tribes, all tongues, and all nations.
The spiritual significance can be found in the symbolic nature circumcision, in the fact that it was a sign that God has set a people apart for the purpose of being a community of people who belonged to him. But it also was a sign of being set apart for the purpose of holiness.
The people of God were to be different than the people of the world. They were to be holy, just as the Lord who called them is holy. They were to avoid the pagan rituals and lifestyles of the people around them. Circumcision was a sign of this consecration. It was a sign of being set apart for holy purposes. The cutting away of the flesh symbolized the death to self and sin. In symbolized that cutting away of human effort. It symbolized the cutting away of the old self and the coming of the new self. It was sing that if the inward reality has really taken place, then there will be a death to self and a death to sin take place in the life of the person who has a covenant relationship with the Lord.
So you can see the spiritual significance of the sign for the people of God under the Old Covenant. But one may ask what significance does it have for us who are in a covenant relationship with the Lord under the New Covenant.
Physical circumcision has no significance to the believer under the New Covenant. What really matters under the New Covenant is spiritual circumcision, a circumcision that is done, not by a literal knife, but instead by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The symbol of this inward reality is no longer physical circumcision, but now, under the New Covenant, the symbol of this inward reality is baptism.
Baptism is the initiation into the New Covenant. In the same manner as circumcision, Baptism has no saving merit. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward spiritual reality. Just as circumcision means nothing apart from the inward reality, in the same way Baptism does not means anything apart form the inward reality that it conveys. And just as circumcision became an empty ritual for many under the Old Covenant, baptism is also an empty ritual for many under the New Covenant. Many of people have been baptized in the name of Jesus and will not spend eternity with Jesus. This is because the outward ritual is not predicated by the inward reality of regeneration.
Furthermore, baptism symbolizes that one has died to self and sin and now lives in newness of life in Jesus Christ. When one is baptized they are submerged under the water as a symbol of death with Christ. Then one is brought up out of the water as symbol of newness of life in Christ. It is the reality of the new life in Christ that enables God’s people to live holy and righteous lives. It is the new heart that comes from our relationship with the Lord that enables God’s people to love him with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength.
The symbol of Baptism is also a sign that we are members of the body of Christ, that we are a part of a community of grace, and that we are to be committed to the community of faith, and more importantly to Jesus Christ, the head of the community. It is sign that we belong to a peculiar people and that we should be different than the people outside the community.
Many have heard the name Matthew Henry, a great theologian of old. In fact, I would not be surprised if many of you have his commentaries on the Bible on your shelf. But how many of you have ever heard the name Philip Henry? Philip Henry was the father of Mathew Henry, and it seems that his father had a great influence upon his son. Philip Henry penned some words for his children that would become their baptismal statement. This statement declares the truth about the covenant between God and man being a covenant of consecration:
I take God to be my chief end and highest good.
I take God the Son to be my prince and Savior.
I take God the Holy Spirit to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comfort.
I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions and the people of God to be my people under all conditions.
I do hereby dedicate and devote to the Lord all that I am, all that I have, and all I can do.
And I do this deliberately, freely, and forever.
At the heart of this statement is the reality that a covenant of God is a covenant of consecration, set apart for holy purposes, set apart for glorifying purposes, set apart to be a peculiar people, the people of God. We are a people controlled by the Spirit of God, a people who live a supernatural life, by faith, instead of a natural life, by carnal instincts. A third aspect of the covenant that is revealed in this passage is that of challenge. That is, God’s covenant is a covenant of challenge.
III. A Covenant of Challenge
This aspect is revealed in Abraham’s response to the Lord after he tells him that his wife Sarai, whose name is now Sarah, is going to have a child. God promises a child and that child would come through not only Abraham, but also his wife Sarah.
After the Lord tells Abraham that his wife Sarah will have give birth to a son, and that from her will come nations and kings, Abraham responds almost like he did back in verse three of chapter seventeen where we read, “Abraham fell on his face.” In verse three Abraham is responding in reverence, respect, and awe at the appearing of the Lord, but that is not the case in verses seventeen.
In verse seventeen we are told that after Abraham heard the news of Sarah having a child in verses fifteen and sixteen that “Abraham fell on his face and laughed.” It is in this response that we see that the covenantal relationship with the Lord is a covenant of challenge. When we enter into covenantal relationship with the Lord, he is always going to challenge us in our daily walk; our life of faith, and that is what he is doing with Abraham. The Lord will first challenge the limitations of Abraham’s faith.
A. A Challenge to Abraham’s Limitations
Some believe that Abraham’s laugh was a laugh of doubt, that is, Abraham doubted God’s ability to fulfill is promise, but that is not the case. Abraham is not laughing because he doubts the promises of God, but instead he laughs because his faith has put limits on God. God wants to challenge Abraham’s limitations of faith by pushing his him beyond his limits. The Lord does this when he declares that Sarah is going to be the one to have the promised son.
Abraham is a great man of faith. He has had his mess ups along the way, but he has matured in his faith, in spite of his mess-ups. But Abraham still has room for maturity, and will always this side of heaven, and it is here in this response that we see the limitations of his faith.
The limitation of Abraham’s faith is revealed in verse seventeen, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart ‘Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Abraham believes that God is going to bring about his promise, but he feels that by promising the child through Sarah that God has set himself up for failure. Here is a man who has put limits on the omnipotence of God. Here is a man whose faith is limited because of his human comprehension of the situation.
I can hear Abraham saying, “Lord, that sure is ambitious, but you are setting yourself up for failure. I mean Lord I am hundred, Sarah is ninety years old, come on Lord!” The Lord would not only challenge Abraham’s limitations of faith, but he would also challenge Abraham’s comprehension of the situation.
B. A Challenge to Abraham’s comprehension
The limitations of Abraham’s faith would influence Abraham’s comprehension of the situation. Therefore, Abraham will propose an idea to God, and idea that will surely help the Lord fulfill his promise. We see this idea proposed to the Lord in verse eighteen, “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” This request was a request out of concern for Ishmael, but it was also a request that revealed a human comprehension of fulfilling the promise of God.
In Abraham’s limited faith he believed that it only made sense that God fulfill his promise through Ishmael. For Abraham and Sarah to have a child, well, humanly speaking, it was truly impossible. So Abraham give the Lord a sure fire plan that will work, but the Lord has different plans.
The Lord’s response to this request is a challenge to Abraham’s comprehension, “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” God rejects Abraham’s plan.
Instead, once again, the Lord reaffirms that Sarah will be the one who gives birth to the promised child. This time the Lord declares that the child will be a son, and that his name shall be Isaac. Isaac means, “to laugh.” The name Isaac would be a constant reminder to Abraham of his limited faith and God’s power. It would remind him that what seems impossible by man’s standards is in no way impossible by God’s. It would be a constant reminder that God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. It would be a constant reminder that the Lord is able to do far more than we ever ask or think.
God’s people, those in a covenantal relationship with the Lord, need to remember that the Lord is in the business of pushing us beyond our limitations when it come to the area of faith. One of my criticisms of the extreme charismatic movement is that it seems that they only live for the spectacular. Everything they do is or has to be a miracle. Though I criticize them for such extremism, I must also commend them for at least believing beyond their limits. I commend them for letting God push them beyond the limits of their faith. To many times within the non-Charismatic churches, that would include Baptist, we don’t let the Lord push us beyond our limits. We talk about the Lord being omnipotent, but we don’t let his omnipotence stretch and challenge the limitations of our faith or our comprehension. To many times we offer up Ishmael as an answer, when God wants to give us an Isaac.
C. A Challenge to Abraham’s patience
There is another challenge that comes from a covenantal relationship with the Lord, the challenge of Abraham’s patience. The Lord tells Abraham in verse twenty that Ishmael will be taken care of, he will be blessed, but the covenant will not be made with him, but instead it will be made with Isaac.
In reaffirming the promise of Isaac in verse twenty one, we see the Lord challenging Abraham’s patience, “But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” One more year until the promise of a child is fulfilled!
The Lord would fulfill his promise to Abraham some twenty-five years after he gave the promise to Abraham. For thirteen of those years the Lord was silent as Ishmael grew up. But now Abraham would have to wait one more year, a sure test of his patients, a sure test of his endurance. And Abraham would accept the challenge and continue to trust the Lord even though it pushed him beyond his limits and his comprehension.
IV. A Covenant of Compliance
Abraham’s final response to the Lord’s revelation is revealed in verse twenty three, “Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.” In this response we see Abraham’s obligation to the covenant of grace, and that obligation is compliance or obedience. Thus, making the covenant of the Lord a covenant of compliance.
Here we see Abraham obeying the command that the Lord gave him back in verse nine. Abraham’s response also takes the reader back to the very first verse where the Lord commands Abraham to “Walk before me, and be blameless.” Abraham’s response reveals that he was a faithful partner in the covenant relationship with the Lord.
Yes, the covenant was a covenant of grace, but an appropriate response to the covenant of grace on the part of those who receive it, is that of obedience and compliance to the Lord. Those of us who are in a covenantal relationship with God have a responsibility within the covenant, and that is obedience to the Lord. Obedience should be the outworking of the experience of grace that comes from being in a covenant relationship with the Lord. One person has rightly said, “We signify our covenant relationship with the Lord through obedience. ” I came across an old chorus that illustrates this point well:
“After all he’s done for me,
After all he’s done for me,
How can I do less than give him my best,
And live for him completely,
After all he’s done for me. ”
God’s covenant with man is a covenant of grace, a covenant of grace that brings comfort, a covenant of grace that brings consecration, a covenant of grace that brings challenge, and a covenant of grace that deserves compliance. After all that God has done for his children, the least we can do is show our love for him by means of obedience to him.
