Genesis 17

The blameless life is lived committed to the plan of God.

Last week Stacy and I were on the 15 and witnessed just how easily people get annoyed these days. It was a Friday, traffic was heavy, a truck merged into the lane ahead of a car driven by someone who then decided to lay on their horn for at least a quarter of a mile. The truck barely cut him off.

We hate to be cut off! And it is more than on the road…

When relationships go south; when kids violate the house rules; what are the ramifications? They are cut off.

It’s even in conversation. You are saying something important and the other person talks over you or hangs up, “they cut me off!”

It’s grievous. The result usually of a wrong, violation of a rule or the law; what is right and good.

In our text today we have some cutting off… Adding gravity to God’s promise to Abraham and humanity, requiring him to put some skin in the game.

As we encounter this, hopefully we will notice it pointing forward to another cutting, one that makes way for our blameless life. Two movements: The Sign & The Signal.

The blameless life is lived committed to the plan of God.

The Sign

In the timeline of our study of Genesis, thirteen years ago we saw Hagar being seen by God - El Roi - the God who sees.

Remember, Abram was anticipating the covenant with Yahweh where his name would be great and he would be a great nation, his offspring as vast as the stars in the sky.

But ten years into the promise there was no fruit, no heir, no kids.

Ten years. In our reading of the text that doesn’t seem like a long time, but in perspective, that has been my whole tenure as pastor of Reservoir.

Waiting for a very clear promise from God; we can understand getting antsy, impatient.

And at the time Abram was 86, Sarai, his wife, had borne him no children, so she did what was normative for the surrounding culture. A servant was provided to produce an heir. Ishmael was born, his name meaning “God hears.”

But this was a promise Yahweh was going to accomplish, not custom.

Now 13 years later, Abram is 99 and Yahweh appears and declares himself to be God Almighty. He calls Abram to walk before Him and be blameless, “that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

In our experience with Abram all we have had has been restatement of the same covenant over and over. More dramatic expressions of contractual obligations than others, but still promise, reminder, reminder, reminder.

And the frustratingly beautiful thing is, the Bible is the consistent reminder of God’s promises to his people. We need the reminders because we forget the promises. We get distracted, impatient, sinful. Covenants stand.

God's covenants are not just historical promises; they are living truths that affirm His faithfulness to us today, inspiring us to trust in His plan for our future. To learn to rely on him and surrender our plans for his!

God doesn’t change so he comes to Abram and changes him to Abraham, the father of a multitude of nations.

The covenant doesn’t change but we get an expansive expression of it.

Genesis 17:6–7 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. [7] 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.” (ESV)

“I will be their God.” This is personal, belonging, safety. He is committed to his people.

And then comes the sign that will show their commitment to him.

Genesis 17:10 “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.” (ESV)

Any male in his household. “So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.”

“The Dual Nature of the Covenant: Genesis 15 and 17 are two sides of the same covenant. Genesis 15 emphasizes God’s unilateral promise and Abraham’s faith being reckoned as righteousness, while Genesis 17 adds the bilateral dimension of covenantal obedience and the sign of circumcision.” Michael Bowles

A sign of commitment, of recognition of God’s plan, his promise.

“Circumcision involved Abraham’s powers of procreation — the area of life in which he had resorted to fleshly expediency — and had so failed. Man’s best plans and strength of will would never bring about the promise. For Abraham circumcision was an act of repentance and a sign of dependence upon God for the promise.” Ken Hughes

Things will keep seeming impossible, Abraham is again invited in to trusting Yahweh to keep his word, that now includes a son - Isaac “he laughs.” The promise is so far beyond probably that Abraham faithfully laughs wondering how two people far past their prime would have a son.

Some of us are waiting on promises that seem laughable; not to Yawheh.

Faithful obedience counted as righteousness, and now a term of the contract meant to remind generations to come.

Genesis 17:14 “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.” (ESV)

The curse of covenant is to be cut off.

Like Adam and Even, cut off from the garden, now guarded with a sword. Like Cain cut off from city life made to wander. Like those at Babel, cut off from each other by confusion.

The sign is significant. The sign follows the reality, not the other way around. Covenant is sure, sign is faithful response.

Abraham is obedient. Secures blessing for Ishmael (who he spent 13 years thinking would be the sole heir) then his whole house was circumcised that very day. His faithfulness flows on for generations.

A constant reminder of the covenant. The commitment to trust God and follow his way, eventually his commands, as that which is best.

Circumcision would become more than a merely external sign, however.

Circumcision as Covenant Sign: Genesis 17 introduces מול (circumcision) and ערלה (foreskin) in the context of the Abrahamic covenant. It’s more than a ritual—it’s a typological pointer to the greater redemptive reality of heart circumcision.

Moses later charged Israel with duplicity, as they wanted to have the benefits of the covenant even while they were resistant to the God of the covenant. He spoke of an inner circumcision of the heart (Deut. 10:16; 30:6).

Deuteronomy 10:12–17 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, [13] and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? [14] Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. [15] Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. [16] Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. [17] For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. (ESV)

Interior commitment, not external ritual. But faith to trust his promise, his plan, and to obediently walk it out.

Calling the wilderness wanderers to repentance, to turn back to God, to trusting and following his way, if they would:

Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (ESV)

Jeremiah, too, spoke of this spiritual circumcision as a vital ingredient of the new covenant pointing forward, beyond exile…

God’s purposes of grace are not held captive by human sin or adverse circumstances. He is the God who works out his purposes through weak and ordinary human beings such as Abraham and Sarah. It is God’s grace, not human merit, that determines the course, and the blessing, of our lives.

“Circumcision was a “sign,” not the essence of the covenant; the covenant depended ultimately on the spiritual allegiance of the parties. This spiritual dimension was inherent in the covenant as the expulsion of certain circumcised but disqualified members in Abraham’s household shows (e.g., Ishmael); spiritual circumcision was the test required of all those who would enjoy the favor of the Lord (Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4; Col 2:11). Hence the eternal nature of the covenant describes the spiritual regeneration of the believer.” K. A. Mathews,

What do we do with this?

It’s more than a ritual—it’s a typological pointer to the greater redemptive reality of heart circumcision, ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Paul calls it a “seal of the righteousness” Abraham had by faith (Rom 4:11)

Romans 4:5–12 “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [6] just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

[7] “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

[8] blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

[9] Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. [10] How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. [11] He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, [12] and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” (ESV)

This sign was pointing to the signal.

The Signal

Circumcision makes us blush, some of us. It’s gross, bloody, intimate. Cutting and the shedding of blood is the penalty of sin… it is modeling something for us.

But the sign is sensitive, vulnerable. So when there is mention of it being something other than physical we lean in.

This has been a question for the church - this is an everlasting covenant. When the church began to grow and gentile believers were added should they be circumcised? First century Jewish converts thought that maybe on the day of your baptism you should also be circumcised.

What’s the sign for us?

Romans 2:25–28 “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. [26] So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? [27] Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. [28] For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.” (ESV)

Paul encouraging the church to leave people physically the way they were:

1 Corinthians 7:19–20 “For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. [20] Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” (ESV)

Against those trying to force it on believers among the Galatian churches:

Galatians 6:15 “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (ESV)

“Typological Trajectory to Christ: Circumcision isn’t an end in itself—it’s typological. A progressive covenantal framework anticipates the heart transformation that comes through the new covenant in Christ. Genesis 17 finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the true seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16), and the sign gives way to the substance.” Bowles

So how do we get this new creation? That inward circumcision of the heart?

Circumcision of the heart = “When what you ought to do and most want to do are the same thing.” Tim Keller

“Our pleasure and our duty, Though opposite before; Since we have seen his beauty, Are joined to part no more:” John Newton

I seem so far off from that… If I have to strive to get there, maybe there is no hope!

Colossians 2:11–14 “ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (ESV)

“Jesus’ body was cut away for our sin. He was cut off from God for our sin and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; cf. Psalm 22:1). And all of this was so that we might be “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”’

The sign points to this signal of a new accomplished covenant of grace, that by the cross of Christ we are forgiven, made new, made offspring of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

Every believer is circumcised spiritually in Christ through the renewal that comes from Christ’s resurrection. So now in Christ it is no longer a matter of cutting our flesh, but he will demand your heart, that you would trust in his way, the truth, his plan. With commitment to him. That we would live relying on him, resting in him.

It increasingly comes as I see the goodness of God in the cross of Christ. As we are transformed by the work of the Spirit in us. As we endeavor to spur one another on to love and good deeds. And day by day, the ought and my want merge by the grace of God.

The walk of faith involves looking our difficult circumstances in the face and, with the promises of God, defying the discouragements, disappointments, and frustrations that tempt us to abandon hope in God. Nothing is too hard for God. Indeed, he has already done the hardest thing, in becoming one of us and dying for us (Rom. 5:9–10; 8:32); shall he fail to care for us in a thousand lesser ways?

He makes us blameless before him. How can we not live with joy and complete dependence on him?! Committed to his way.

It is the only response that makes sense when we grasp the mercy of God, the grace of Christ for us.

His ways are truly pleasant,

And all his paths are peace.

Our time in sin we wasted,

And fed upon the wind;

Until his love we tasted,

No comfort could we find:

But now we stand to witness

His pow’r and grace to you;

May you perceive its fitness,

And call upon him too!

Our pleasure and our duty,

Though opposite before;

Since we have seen his beauty,

Are joined to part no more:

It is our highest pleasure,

No less than duty’s call;

To love him beyond measure,

And serve him with our all.

The blameless life is lived committed to the plan of God.

Repent and believe. We like Abraham are in need of reminder, of aligning with God’s promises, turning from that which was our own striving and scheming, to the circumcision that is the cross. Debt paid, forgiveness, new identity, in him. For the first time, for the millionth time.

Walk before your God. Commit, go all in, again and again. Release more and more of your heart, your history, your hopes, your healing to Jesus for his glory and your good. Trust his plan, his ways, his word. And do all of it with his people.

He is not going anywhere. He is keeping his covenant. You are safe with Jesus. He will never cut you off.

Jude 24–25 “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, [25] to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (ESV)