The Covenant of Circumcision - (Genesis 17:1-14)

Being Blameless

Genesis 17:1–2 (ESV)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

What does it mean to be blameless?

(tā·mîm) תָּמִים- complete, unscathed, intact; blameless, without fault, free of blemish; impeccable;

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Deuteronomy 18:13 (ESV)

You shall be blameless before the Lord your God,

Now... do you think that Abram was without sin?

What qualifications might Abram have for God to choose him for this covenant?

Genesis 17:3–5 (ESV)

Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Notice that God is calling Abraham to take on a new identity.

The change of his name is meant to be a marker of a development in his relationship to God.

Abram-Exalted Father —> Abraham - Father of multitudes

Genesis 17:6–8 (ESV)

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

So, this conversation with God occurs thirteen years after Ishmael is born.

God, in spite of Abraham’s routinely poor decision-making, is still planning to keep his promise to make Abraham into a great nation.

Abraham is like… SUPER old.

Abraham is FAR FROM PERFECT.

But God STILL PLANS TO DO GREAT THINGS through Abraham.

It’s almost like… God is MAKING A POINT in doing things this way:

God always knew that we would need a MIRACLE to become WHOLE/COMPLETE/BLAMELESS.

Genesis 17:9–14 (ESV)

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

What does God say is the purpose for the covenant of circumcision?

The covenant of circumcision is a physical marker of a spiritual change.

God wants Abraham to walk before him and be blameless (ta-mim)

God knows that Abraham is unable to make himself blameless/without fault/complete

And so God gives this covenant to Abraham as a constant reminder that he and all of his people are SET APART for God!

Does this sound like this is a way for Abraham to show how pure and righteous he is?

Does the act itself mean anything without the relationship it represents? “sign of the covenant”

How do we relate this to our walk as Christians today?