Covenant and Commitment (Genesis 17:1-27)

For thirteen years there has been a dark cloud growing over the tents of Abram and Sarai. The Scriptures don’t specifically say this, but we can imagine. Thirteen years of domestic gloom has been hanging over the family, who, as a result of impatience with God, has become a dysfunctional community. Familial friction is the new normal. Ishmael, Abram’s and Sarai’s plan B, shortcut heir, is moving toward manhood, his untamed, contrary nature increasing the tension that was already present. Sarai is still barren, and well past childbearing years. Every single day, the mother-son relationship observed between Hagar and Ishmael most likely crushed her spirit.

Abram surely loved Ishmael. He was his own flesh and blood. And certainly, the combination of Ishmael’s insolent ways and the bitterness between Hagar and Sarai, whom he also loved, tore at his soul. If Ishmael was not the solution to a couple with no heir, no legacy, no future, how in the world would Abram ever be the father of many people who would inherit and possess a great land?

After all, it’s been 23 years since God’s promise. And now, considering the bleakness of the past thirteen years, the promise seemed far, far away. Hope was fading; and deep inside his soul, Abram knew it wasn’t God’s fault. But why couldn’t God accept the customary solution to a childless couple?

Thirteen years. God’s silence gave Abram plenty of time to think about his sin; his lack of trust in the Divine promise. He was living the consequences. Centuries later, one of his heirs would write in Proverbs 21:9 “Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.” What if you live with two wives who hate each other, and a son whose entire nature is disruptive? We can imagine.

It might have seemed to Abram that God was on the other side of the world. He may have thought that after twenty-three years, God had forgotten. If he’s like you and me, and he is, he likely figured he had committed enough blunders — the fiasco in Egypt, not to mention that teenager causing all kinds of havoc in the camp — he was getting what he deserved. Maybe. We don’t know for sure, but we can imagine.

Well, there’s something that Abram didn’t know; and it’s likely that we also don’t know: God uses our failures and their consequences to grow our faith. That’s what God was doing with Abram; but he didn’t know it.

The story in Genesis 17 is a pivotal chapter in the Bible. It’s a story about how God came again to Abram to elevate his faith and to confirm His promise. Did Abram deserve it? Do we? No. Fortunately, however, God is merciful.

Moses began this story by reminding us of Abram’s age: 99. And then, surprise, surprise, God appeared to him again. Not only Abram, but we as well, are surprised by God’s amazing grace and mercy. God promised Abram a son, not of himself and Hagar, but of himself and Sarai. But as already mentioned, after waiting a long 12 years, they designed their own plan for a son and heir. Those who don’t understand God’s nature might say, “Well Abram blew it. He’s going to have to settle with a son like Ishmael, a wild donkey-like man who is wired for disruption. But no, “The Lord appeared to him. We might be fickle, but not God. He always fulfills His promises, and He’s not about to allow a mere mortal to interfere with His redemptive plan for all humankind. Don’t forget, this not just about an heir for Abram, it’s also about a Savior for humankind.

Yes, it’s been 23 years, but God has an infinite memory. He’s returned to remind Abram and Sarai of the promise and to put a sign on Abram’s life that the promise will be fulfilled. God begins the conversation by stating His name: “I am God Almighty.” That name alone tells us that …

1. God has the POWER to make things HAPPEN. (17:1-8)

The Hebrew is El Shaddai. This is the first time this Divine name is used in Scripture. It implies both God’s sovereignty and power. It describes God as one who make things happen by means of his majestic power and might. It’s God saying: “I am able to fulfill the awesome hopes that I have set before you: a multitude of people, a land for them to possess, and many nations that will come from you. There’s no need to help me, no need for a plan B, no need to resort to fleshly expedience, no need to impatiently attempt to fulfill the promise in any second-rate way. Everything—all your life and all your future—lies in this: I am God Almighty!”

Genesis 17:2 “I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

Abram’s response was appropriate. What else can we do before God Almighty but hit the floor, facedown, in worship. That’s what Abram did, and that’s what we should do. Fall facedown before God and repent of our attempts to usurp God’s plan, repent of all the times we’ve been too impatient to wait on His timing, repent of replacing God’s thoughts and God’s ways with our puny schemes, repent of playing at God instead of trusting Him.

This morning, some of us—well probably all of us—need to fall facedown before God Almighty in repentance and worship.

Next, God gave Abram a new name. Genesis 17:5 “Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.”

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing God Himself and Abram (vv. 1–8)

It was a momentous act. Nahum Sarna, a Hebrew scholar well-known for his commentaries on

Later, God would rename Sarai as well. Both Sarai and Sarah mean “princess”. But God’s renaming her with His own new spelling gave the name new meaning. Through a son who comes from here womb, she will give birth to kings.

God’s renaming of Abram and Sarai was nothing less than a blessed reassertion of divine sovereignty over their lives. And every time people called him “Abraham” and her “Sarah” they would hear God’s promises and their identity in that promise afresh.

How has God called you to a new identity in Christ. What does it mean to be a child of God? What is His destiny for your life? How are you living under His mighty power and sovereignty? God’s promises often extend beyond our immediate circumstances. How can we trust in God's bigger plan? Food for thought.

Not only did God rename Abraham and Sarah, He also introduces the sign of circumcision as a physical mark of the covenant. This act signifies obedience and commitment to the covenant relationship. But why circumcision? Isn’t that a bit odd? What’s the point?

Here’s the point:

2. God MARKS us for OBEDIENCE. (17:9-14)

The rainbow: a sign of the covenant with Noah

The Sabbath: a sign of the covenant on Mt. Sinai

Circumcision: an old custom with new meaning

Like a wedding ring, it symbolized commitment

A part of the flesh involved in procreation. Instead of resorting to fleshly expedience, which failed before, he must wait on God’s created power. For Abraham, circumcision was an act of repentance and a sign of total dependence upon God for the promise

A reminder that covenants are ratified with blood

A reminder of the irrevocable nature of God’s covenant

All this points to one main thought: There is no way but God’s way.

How this flies in the face of conventional religious culture, which imagines that it is God’s duty to accept us apart from his directives as long as we are doing our best. Iain Duguid notes that many people approach God as if they were interviewing him for a job position for “personal deity in my life.” If the man in the sky fits the job description, being nonjudgmental and accepting, and allows us to determine what is right and wrong—he’s got the job. Lucky God!

And let every person today beware. Just as there was only one way under the old covenant, so there is only one way under the new. Jesus, who made the new covenant with his blood, said that he is the only way John 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The first sounds we hear from newly named Abraham is laughter. Genesis 17:17 “Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”

Abraham began well enough by falling to the ground on his face in the prostrate posture of deepest respect, just as he initially had done when the Lord said, “I am God Almighty” (v. 3). But as he lay in reverence, the old boy began to involuntarily convulse with laughter so that he laughed out loud! And then he addressed God, suggesting Ishmael’s name.

It’s so easy for us to say we believe in something that is far-off—like Heaven. But when we are asked to believe that God will do a something, especially a big something, within a specific time, we find believing much more difficult.

But God said, “No.”

3. Sometimes God says NO. (17:15-22)

Don’t forget, Abraham, it’s My way, and only my way. And notice what Abraham and Sarah are to name their son: Isaac, which mean “laughter.” I think that’s a sweet symbol of God’s recognizing faith’s struggle. He knows we struggle. That’s OK.

But we need to remember that God, a perfect loving Father, must say no to us when we are departing from His plan, His way, His Word. Don’t be astonished when you hear God’s no. And don’t be surprised when His yes is much, much better.

God’s plans often seem impossible. Faith does not negate doubt but invites us to wrestle with it. Bring your doubts to God, and He will muscle up your faith.

Abraham’s faith is confirmed by his immediate action: Genesis 17:23 “So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him.”

4. God demands IMMEDIATE obedience. (17:23-27)

Conclusion

God has the POWER to make things HAPPEN. (17:1-8)

God MARKS us for FAITHFULNESS. (17:9-14)

Sometimes God says NO. (17:15-22)

God demands IMMEDIATE obedience. ( 17:23-27)

Now God is speaking to us. It’s time that we embrace our identity in Christ, to walk in obedience, and to trust in God's promises.

Let’s make it practical:

How can you live a life of gratitude for the ways God’s power has made things happen in your life?

What are you asking God to make happen in your life today?

How has God marked you for obedience?

Are there times when there is too much daylight between God’s commands and your obedience?