Mt. Zion Freewill Baptist Church Bible Study Wednesday November 20, 2024

Genesis 17TH Chapter 1ST Thru The 27TH Verse

Reaffirming the covenant Genesis 17TH Chapter

By the time we get to Genesis 17, the covenant looks impossible. Although God, who made the covenant, promised that Abram and Sarai would be a great nation, they are by now well beyond childbearing age. This chapter is about how God responds to this discrepancy. The themes of promise and that of demand are evident throughout the chapter.

1ST Verse: And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

2ND Verse: And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Thirteen years have passed since the last episode. Abram is now 99 years old and still has no children from his marriage to Sarai. In the first two verses of Chapter 17, God comes to him again and confirms the covenant he had previously made with Abram, telling him that he will be great in number even though he presently has no children.

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

4TH Verse: As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

5TH Verse: 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.

6TH Verse: And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7TH Verse: 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.

8TH Verse: 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.

As part of the confirmation, God gives Abram a name change that will reflect what he intends to do. From now on his name will no longer be ‘Abram’ (probably meaning ‘the father [God] is exalted’) but ‘Abraham’ (interpreted in 17:5 to mean ‘a father of a multitude’). This name change is followed by a reiteration of the promises:

I will make you very fruitful;

I will make nations of you and kings will come from you.

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant.

9TH Verse: And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

10TH Verse: 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.

11TH Verse: And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12TH Verse: 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.

13TH Verse: 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.

14TH Verse: 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.

God now placed one final covenant-related demand on Abraham and his offspring: circumcision. This surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis was typically done with a razor-sharp flint knife.

Joshua 5TH Chapter:2ND Verse: At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

3RD Verse: And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

On newborns it was performed when the boy was eight days old; no form of female circumcision was authorized.

This surrender of the first portion of the bodily instrument used to fulfill God’s first command to humanity (“Be fruitful, multiply,” Gn 1:28) symbolized the individual’s willingness to submit all of himself to God and to all of his covenant commands.

Genesis 1ST Chapter:

28TH Verse: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

15TH Verse: And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

16TH Verse: 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.

I will bless her

I … will surely give you a son by her

I will bless her

She will be the mother of nations

Kings of peoples will come from her.

Again, the impetus for the fulfilment of these promises will come from God. Again we see that this covenant, this relationship between God and this man, his wife, and all their children, is initiated and fulfilled by God himself. It does not rest on Abraham but on God.

17TH Verse: 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?

18TH Verse: And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

19TH Verse: 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.

20TH Verse: 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.

No kings were promised in Ishmael’s lineage, but from him would come twelve tribal leaders (Gen: 25TH Chapter:13–16), and his offspring would become a great nation.

21ST Verse: But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year..

22ND Verse: And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23RD Verse: 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.

24TH Verse: And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25TH Verse: And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26TH Verse: In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27TH Verse: And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

Quick Quiz

1. How old was Abraham when Isaac was born?

A. 50 years old.

B. 80 years old.

C. 100 years old.

2. What Book, Chapter and Verse can the answer be found?

A. Exodus the 1ST Chapter and the 5TH Verse.

B. Genesis the 17TH Chapter and the 17TH Verse.

C. Revelation the 8TH Chapter and the 12TH Verse.

3. What was the name Isaac Father when Isaac was born.

A. Abram.

B. Abraham

C. Father of many nations.

D. None of the above.

3. How old was Sarah when Isaac was born?

A. 89 years old.

B. 100 years old.

C. 90 years old.

4. What was the name Isaac Mother when Isaac was born.

A. Princess.

B. Sarah.

C. Sarai.

D. None of the above.

5. What Book, Chapter and Verse can the answer be found?

A. Genesis the 1ST Chapter and the 5TH Verse.

B. Matthew 2ND the Chapter and the 4TH Verse.

C. Genesis the 17TH Chapter and the 17TH Verse.