Genesis 17.15-22-Sarah the Progenitrix of Numerous Nations and Kings

Sunday January 22, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 17:15-22-Sarah the Progenitrix (Mother) of Numerous Nations and Kings

Lesson # 86

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 17:1.

This morning we will study Genesis 17:15-22, which records the Lord promising Abraham that his wife Sarai will be the progenitrix or in other words, the mother of numerous nations and kings.

Genesis 17:1, “Now 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.’”

Genesis 17:2, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Genesis 17:3-4, “Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.’”

Genesis 17:5, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.”

Genesis 17:6, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.”

Genesis 17:7, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.”

Genesis 17:8, “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:9, “God said further to Abraham, ‘Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.’”

Genesis 17:10, “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Genesis 17:11, “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

Genesis 17:12, “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.”

Genesis 17:13, “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”

Genesis 17:14, “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Genesis 17:15, “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.’”

In Genesis 17:3, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18, 19, 22, and 23, Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit employs the noun Elohim, “God” in order to emphasize God’s sovereignty and omnipotence indicating that God has sovereignly determined to give Abraham and Sarah the capacity to have a child in their old age.

The noun Elohim, “God” emphasizes to the reader that God is omnipotent or all-powerful and is able to bring to pass that which He has determined to take place.

Even though from the human perspective, it would seem impossible that Abraham and Sarah could have children when they were one hundred and ninety years old respectively.

Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

The name “Sarai” means, “my princess” indicating her honor was confined to one family into which she was born whereas “Sarah” means, “princess of multitudes” signifying that the kings of Israel would descend from her, even the greatest of Israel’s kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Sarah” is the only woman in the Bible whose name is changed and whose age at death is detail (Gen. 23:1), which reveals her importance to the plan of salvation.

“Sarai” her birth-name looks back on her noble descent whereas “Sarah” emphasizes her covenant relationship with Abraham and the transcendent God and looks ahead or foreshadows her noble descendants.

Genesis 17:16, “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

“Bless” is the piel (intensive) form of the verb barakh (Er^B*), which is used twice in Genesis 17:16 indicating that the Lord would endue Sarah with power to not only have a child with Abraham but that she would be endued with power to be the mother of nations and kings.

This is the first time that the Lord had informed Abraham that he would have a son through Sarah.

Up to this point, he believed that Ishmael was the son of promise.

The promise that Sarah would become “a mother of nations” refers to both Abraham and Sarah’s “national” posterity Israel and also their “spiritual” posterity, namely, “regenerate” or “born-again” Israelites and the Gentiles.

The “nations” in view here are not the Arab nations or the Ishmaelites since they are not descendants of Sarah but rather of Keturah and Hagar.

The promise that Sarah would become the mother of kings refers to the kings of Israel, both saved and unsaved as well as the king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Genesis 17:17, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’”

The fact that Abraham fell on his face after receiving this promise demonstrated his great humility and thankfulness to the Lord and caused him to worship God.

Warren Wiersbe defines worship, “Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are –mind, emotions, will and body-to what God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience and its practical side in objective obedience to God’s revealed will. Worship is a loving response that’s balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better” (Real Worship, 26).

If we paraphrase Wiersbe’s definition, we could say the following: Abraham is worshipping the Lord in that he is responding in his mind (said in his heart), emotions (laughter), and body (falling on his face) to what God is (omnipotent) and His promise to give him and Sarah a child in their old age and he is responding to God’s ability to bring it to pass.

Abraham was so overcome with joy at the Lord’s promise to give him and Sarah a baby boy that he fell on his face in worship of the Lord and laughed.

He did not laugh out of doubt but out of joy since the Lord did not rebuke him for his lack of faith as the Lord did with Sarah when she laughed after hearing the Lord promise Abraham again that he would get Sarah pregnant as recorded in Genesis 18:13.

Genesis 17:18, “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’”

Abraham mentions Ishmael not because he does not believe that God can give him and Sarah a child but rather he fears that this promise would cut off Ishmael from the Lord’s favor but as we will see this is not the case.

Genesis 17:19, “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’”

Though God would bless Ishmael, He emphasized to Abraham that His covenant with him was with Isaac alone and his seed.

Now, notice that in Genesis 17:17, Abraham said in his heart to himself “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” indicating that the Lord in His omniscience, read Abraham’s mind.

Psalm 94:11a, “The LORD knows the thoughts of man.”

The Lord responds to the question in Abraham’s heart even though Abraham never audibly expressed it to the Lord.

The name “Isaac” means, “laughter” and was designated by God to be the name given to Abraham’s son that he would have with Sarah since it expresses Abraham’s joyful faith in the Lord’s ability to fulfill this promise.

The fact that God directs Abraham to name this child of promise Isaac before he is born foreshadows, God directing Joseph in Matthew 1:31 and Mary in Luke 1:31 to name their first born son before his birth, “Jesus.”

Also, like the birth of Jesus, the birth of Isaac would be miraculous.

“My covenant” refers to the covenant that the Lord established with Abraham when he left Haran as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 and was enlarged upon in Genesis 13:14-17, Genesis 15:1-6 and Genesis 17:1-18.

The “Abrahamic” covenant was an “unconditional” covenant meaning its fulfillment depended upon the Lord’s faithfulness and not Abraham’s.

The “Abrahamic” covenant included not only “personal” (Isaac and land of Canaan) and “national” (Israel) promises to Abraham but also contained the “universal” promise of eternal salvation to all mankind through faith in Jesus Christ who is a descendant of Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah.

The promise “I will establish My covenant with him (Isaac) for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” indicates that the Promised Seed, the Savior, Jesus Christ would come through the line of Isaac rather than Ishmael.

Therefore, we see that Genesis 17:19, God is giving Abraham more information concerning the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15 who would defeat sin and Satan.

Up to this point in our study of Genesis, we have seen that the human nature of Jesus Christ would come from the line of Seth (Gen. 4:25-26; Luke 3:38) and Shem (Gen. 9:24-27; Luke 3:36) and then, as recorded in Genesis 12:3 God informs Abraham that Jesus Christ would be his descendant.

Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ.”

Genesis 17:20, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”

The promise that God would “bless him (Ishmael) and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly” means that God would not exclude Ishmael from blessing but rather He would endue Ishmael and his descendants with the ability to be prolific in terms of posterity.

God promises Abraham that Ishmael would be the father of twelve princes, which would comprise a great nation corresponding to Isaac who would be the father of the twelve tribes, which would comprise the nation of Israel.

Genesis 25:12-16 records the fulfillment of this promise to Abraham concerning Ishmael and his descendants.

Genesis 17:21, “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

Again, God emphasizes a third time that He was establishing His covenant with Isaac and not Ishmael indicating that Isaac was in the line of Christ.

God specifies the time informing Abraham that Isaac would be born one year from the time that He made this promise.

Genesis 17:22, “When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.”