Genesis 17
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Start by asking Garrett if he knows why the bird were not cut in half…
Read Genesis 17…
God Appeared to Abram (v1-2)
The last time he appeared to him without a vision or trance was in genesis 12 when He called him out of his father’s land. He was 75 years old then. Now, 24 years later, God appears to him again.
God is addressed as El Shaddai, the God Almighty… It is who God is. It conveys his power and majesty. And specifically it is used in Genesis in conjunction with the divine promise of Children and nations.
It is his title that God appeals to, it is his own nature and holiness that he appears to before he calls Abram to do two things…
Walk Before Me
Be blameless.
and in turn there will be two outcomes..
God will make or keep or confimr my covenant with you, and
I will increase you greatly.
It is a sad thing that this is not where we all start when we think of God. We tend to run to him in need, whcih isn’t a bad thing, but we have a mindset of getting what we want or need as if God is a divine snack machine.
God is holy, and just, and blameless. There is no shadow in him. There is not one hint of darkness. He is almighty. There is no weakness. He does not struggle. He gives and takes away. He opens the womb and closes the womb. He is the one who oversees all things as alpha and omega.
And that the covenant be confimred, God says, be blamesless as I am blameless and it shall be. So off the bat we should think, what? That the covenant is over… Abram won’t be blmaless! He has already proved that. Which makes God all the sweeter…
In God appearing to Abram, he falls on his face in worship.
God continues to speak to Abram, and in verse 3-5
God Changed Abram’s name to Abraham (v3-5)
Q- What is so significant about a name? Names carry weight, especailly with God. I have not looked it up but how many times does God come to people and tell them what to name their child? Names set a course, even today.
Q-Do you know what your name means? Mine is parced like this..
Seth = (hebrew)appointed or substitute
Robert = (German)Bright fame
Moorman = (English) Keeper of the moor
So all together. Appointed and seen keeper of the field. Spiritually speaking, I could say shepherd. Now, my parents just liked the name… But does God have a plan for my life? Yes. He has a plan for each and everyone of your lives. And my name is an identifying part of that plan on earth. But I know, one day, I will receive a new name, a spiritual name, and have a new purpose, as my earthliness is stripped away and complete holiness will be laid upon me.
Now, Abram measn exalted father… Whereas Abraham means father of a multitude. It is true, Abram was the father of one right now. But he was fatherly to his workers, to his nephew lot and his family, too. But he and his wife would have their own son and would be the patriach and matriarch of the covenant.
God says, I have made you the father of many nations… This is a promise that has already been divinely written, but is not yet realized. This is God’s plan. It will happen. What an amazing thing to know and hear.
What are some other promises of God that he gives to us?
God reminds Abraham of His covenant with him. (v6-8)
The first time we meet Abram is in genesis 12 when God calls to him, lets review what He says to Abram... (Genesis 12:1-3)...
Then, some years later, maybe even as many as ten, God makes it official in Genesis 15 and he added a picture to it. He told him, Genesis 15:5
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And now at least 13 years later, God adds to it further. Kings will comes from you. Not only this, but God says, it will be an everlasting covenant…
Genesis shows the progressive realization of this promise by including genealogical lists of Ishmael’s tribal rulers (17:16; 25:12–17) and Edom’s kings (36:9–43); allusion to future rulers in Jacob’s household is the blessing of Judah’s “scepter” (49:10; cf. 36:31.
UNlike the noahic covenat which is universal, the abrahamic covenant is specific. Not to the line of Ishmael, but through Isaac.
The last thing promise snad reminds him of is Land… Now Abraham and his family would settle in caanan, and Israel would inhertit the land through Joshua. But the inheritance would come to be known in the new testament as a spiritual promise as well. 1 Peter 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
The hope in the promise is that they would be a nation, a people, of God specificlaly and that he would be their God and they would be His people (Revelation 21:3-4)
Circumsision becomes the sign of the covenant(v9-14)
The circumcision is a sign of consecration, but circumsicion is not the fullness or the essense of the covenant. Kind of like baptism is not all it means to be a Christian… Read Romans 4:11
The covenant is fundamentally a spiritual relationship, founded and maintained by God’s elective grace, is apparent by the continuation of the covenant despite the repeated failures of the patriarch and his successors
In the same way, we are saved by grace through faith. Paul writes about this to the galatians, and he argues that the Christians, even gentiles, were heirs of the promise of God to Abraham.
Circumsicion is a symbol of removing the flesh, in trust of God. We can parelell this to Romans 8:6-8…
The New testament also shows us that many who were cirumsized were not true israelites. This is because the outward is to be a picture of the inward. Romans 2:28-29
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Regardless, circumsicion, an act of faith, an act of humiliation, of humbling yourself to God, and that took days to get over, this was the sign of being a part of the household of Abraham under the covenant of God. At Eight days old, those who were born through the fathers of promise, or brought in as a slave (Or again, a helper treated like family) was to be circumsized.
There is a great warning given by God about those that do not undergo circumcision. They will be cut off from his people and have broken the covenant all together. Breaking this custom was more than a separation from the community, rather the culprit in doing so rejected the Lord himself, that is, “broken my covenant.” The language “to break covenant” describes Israel’s apostasy (Isa 24:5; Jer 11:10; 33:21; Hos 6:7; 8:1; cp. Mal 2:11, 14)
God Changes Sarai’s name to Sarah (v15-22)
The name sarah is an updated form of Sarai and it means the same thing, princess. However, we see God pay special attention to Sarai. She is a part of this covenant. God promises to bless her, so bless her that she will be the mother of many nations… God calls special attention to this to give Abraham assurance of his wife too.
Now Abraham laughs… sure. Sarah was 90… And he pleas with God to show favor on Ishmael… That seems more reasonable to Abraham than to make a 90 year old woman pregnant…
More reasonable to us too. But God’s plans are not ours.
Verse 19, sarah WILL bear a son. And he will have the covenant made with him. God gives his name arleady. He already knows his name and why he has that name… God will confirm it again in verse 21…
Ishmael will be blessed, God said, I HAVE HEARD YOU. He will be blessed and will make 12 princes come from him. But kings will come from Isaac..
Now, before we move on to the last section, I want to ask, why have we stopped living and thinking in centuries?
Do me a favor, get on your phone and look up pictures of the Cologne Cathedral.... This cathedral was designed and started being built in 1248… The construction stalled in 1520 and was left empty until construction started on it again in the 1820s and was finished in 1880…
Noterdame de paris, The foundation stone was laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163, and the high altar was consecrated 23 years later in 1189. The choir, the western facade, and the nave were completed 60 years later in 1250, and porches, chapels, and other embellishments were added over the next 100 years.
St Peters basilica, the idea concieved in 1450s, started on in 1506, and completed in 1615…
This is just the idea of buildings… But what if we thought about our lives like this? What is we lead our decisions today through the lens of glorifying God, but building something of substance for our progeny after us. Setting the example, making memories, writing books, building a house. My dad is doing this. He is building a house he hopes ot last for 100 years or more before anything major needs to be done to it.
Proverbs 13:22, a wise man leaves his chidlren an inheritance…ACts 2:39, The promise of Christ belongs to our chidlren and those who are far off. Your Christian heritage and the inheritance of eternal life starts with you, the new covenant of God has been accepted by you, but how will you make sure it is handed down through the generations?
Abraham circumcises his household (v23-27)