Written and compiled by Gary Kukis

Preface:   I need to come back to this doctrine and edit this down to 20 or 30 pages. This is taken from the Basic Exegesis study, from a dozen or two lessons.

The last recorded incident when God spoke to man was God speaking to Noah when he exited the ark (Gen. 9:1–17). 300 (or 1200) years have passed since then (recall the difference between the Hebrew and Greek texts). It is possible that during this time, the incidents recorded in the book of Job took place.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, God is speaking to Abram. We do not know what has led to this. We do not know anything about Abram’s background, apart from his family lineage recorded in the previous chapter. We do not know in what form God is. We may reasonably assume that Abram has believed in Jehovah Elohim (which will be confirmed in Gen. 15:6), and Jehovah Elohim is speaking directly to Abram.

Recall that Abram was originally living in Ur of the Chaldees (near the Persian Gulf), and now is living with his father northeast of Canaan. He is actually fairly close to the land where God wants him to be.

This informally introduces the concept of the geographical will of God. There is a place where God wants us to be. This is obviously related to the will of God, a doctrine that we will cover in an upcoming lesson.

Terah (Abram’s father) has moved his family to Haran (also transliterated Charan) and they have lived there long enough for it to be called his country.

There is a point to Abram leaving his father’s house. Abram is 75 years old and he lives in the shadow of his father and he is under the authority of his father. Abram has to separate himself like a man, and raise his family separate from his father. Abram cannot be seen as the patriarch of his family if he is living in his father’s shadow under his father’s authority.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your family and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

The final word in this verse is the Hiphil (causative) imperfect (future and/or continuous action) of the very common verb râʾâh (רָאָה) [pronounced raw-AWH], which means to see, to look, to look at, to view, to behold; to perceive, to understand, to learn, to know. In the Hiphil stem, it means to cause to see, to cause to look; to show; to cause to see [with pleasure]; to cause to know, to cause to learn; to cause to experience [evil or good]. Strong's #7200 BDB #906. God is going to show Abram this great land that He is giving him; and the imperfect tense indicates that this will be a process, not a singular event. That is, Abram will not go into the land, park himself in one spot, look around, and think, “That’s not bad.” He is going to walk throughout much of the land over a period of decades. God will prosper Abram as He shows him the land He is giving to him.

Gen 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

This begins what is called, the Abrahamic Covenant, which will be repeated and added to throughout the next few chapters. God is making specific promises to Abraham. This is known as an unconditional covenant—these things will come to pass no matter what Abram does. The first thing which God promises is, He would make a great nation from Abram.

In subsequent chapters, it is going to be clear that God blesses Abram. Before he dies, Abram will have been blessed with several children, all born past the time that he was able to sire children. Abram will also be blessed materially; Gen. 13:2 indicates that his material wealth had become great. He had another wife after Sarai had passed away (Gen. 25:1); he had many servants (Gen. 24:2, 35); and vast possessions (Gen. 24:35).

God also promises Abram that, in his life and through his descendants, he would be a blessing to all mankind. The greatest blessing from Abraham to mankind will be his Son, Jesus Christ.

Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those cursing you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

God’s original promises are made directly to Abram. In vv. 2–3, we find the 2^nd person masculine singular suffix again and again, which refers to Abram. However, we may reasonably apply this to the not just Abram but to his descendants as well. It makes little sense for all the families of the earth to be blessed by Abram alone. However, God will work through Abram.

This blessing and cursing promise continues to this day, to all those who are descendants of Abraham (Jews), and to all of those who have any sort of relationship with his descendants.

As an application of this, today, the United States is in a precarious position. We have a high debt, we have a nation with large numbers of dependents, we have great enemies in the world (Islam and communism, 2 of the most powerful forces for evil in the history of mankind); and yet we are the most prosperous and the greatest nation in all of human history. Part of this comes from our alliance with the modern-day nation Israel. The people there are the seed of Abraham, and God watches over them, despite the fact that many of them are unbelievers. We are blessed greatly because of the Jewish population in our country and because of our relationship to Israel. “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.”

Look at the Arabic nations in contrast. Whereas these nations have the potential of building hundreds of great cities like Dubai (which is an incredible achievement), they instead consume their resources on hatred. Nations like Iraq and Iran and Saudi Arabia have this potential along with the actuality of billions upon billions of dollars flowing into their countries. With this money, they could turn their backward desert nations into a paradise like Dubai. However, despite the great influx of wealth which Arab lands have enjoyed for decades, the Middle East is one of the most backward and wretched places of the world. The key is their hatred of the Jew. The Jews live in a postage stamp-sized country (approximately 0.2% of the Middle East) and they have made it beautiful and prosperous once again, even though they have no oil resources, and the Arabs, with all of their great wealth, are unable to do this. In the U.A.E., we see the potential that all Arabic countries have. However, most of these nations hate Jews and God curses those who curse Abraham and his seed. Hatred is expensive.

Spain is another excellent example. At one time, Spain was a world power, sending out explorers throughout the world. However, almost simultaneous to this was Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition, which resulted in both the execution and expulsion of Jews from Spain. This evil continued into the 1800's, by which time, Spain was no longer a great power. They became a third-rate power on a downhill slide since then. “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.” This is a promise from God which is as true today as it was 4000 years ago.

Gen 15:1–5 After these things the Word of Y^ehowah came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, "O Lord Y^ehowah, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Listen, You have given me no offspring [seed], and a member of my household will be my heir." And behold, the Word of the Y^ehowah said to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." 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."

The Word of Y^ehowah appears to Abram in a vision, and God identifies Himself as Abram’s shield, which is apropos because of the battle Abram had just been in (Gen. 14). God promises Abram that he would have a son, and that his seed would be multiplied like the stars in the sky. What God had promised would be exactly what God would bring about.

Then we have one of the most amazing passages in all the Old Testament: Abram believed in Y^ehowah, and it was credited to his account as righteousness. Or, more literally:

Gen 15:6 And he [Abram] had believed in Y^ehowah and He [God] therefore credits it [this act of faith] [as] righteousness to him [crediting righteousness to his account].

Gen 15:7 And He said to him, "I am Y^ehowah Who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

In Gen. 11, we studied God, through circumstance, and by direct command, taking Abram from the heart of early civilization, what is now southern Iraq, a little over 100 miles from the Persian Gulf; and they traveled up along the Euphrates River and then up the Balih River settling down in Haran.

Then God moved Abram and his wife from Haran to Canaan, which is where Abram is now. And God tells Abram, “I brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess;” the very land that Abram is standing on, this very land that God has Abram walking across, a small portion of which is under the control of Jews today.

This is the life which Abram has himself lived. He knows that, apart from God, he would not be where he is. He knows that, apart from God, he would be back in Haran, because Abram did not decide on his own to come to Canaan; God told him to go to Canaan (Gen. 12:1–3).

You ought to be able to point to several things in your life which are different because of Bible doctrine in your soul. There is information from God’s Word which has changed the course of your life. If you can honestly say that, you would probably be right where you are right now, even if you had not believed in Jesus Christ, then you have given testimony against your own spiritual life. This is quite obviously a personal inventory. If you have experienced any spiritual growth at all, then you ought to be able to point to dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions which you have made, on the basis of the Word of God, which have changed the direction of your life. God is reminding Abram of the most important decision of his young life, to leave Haran and to come to Canaan. And He said to him, "I am Y^ehowah Who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." If Abram is able to objectively examine his life, then his very life in Canaan—his great riches and success—all point to God’s guidance.

What God is doing here is giving Abram the big picture. Abram has this whole other life living along the Euphrates, probably in the shadow of his own father, with a life that is so nondescript that, Abram does not even record anything except his family line, his move from Ur to Haran, and the death of his father (which is recorded in Gen. 11:32, but had not actually taken place yet in the timeline our narrative). When he leaves Haran, Abram is 75 years old, and his father would be 145 years old (compare Gen. 11:26 to 12:4). Abram is not yet 100 in our passage (Gen. 17:1), so that is father is not yet 170 (his father will die at age 205—Gen. 11:32).

In any case, the big picture is, Abram moved to Canaan, as God directed him to do, and this has changed everything in Abram’s life. Over a period of 75 years, Abram had nothing to say about his life; however, over the past 20+ years, quite a bit has happened and Abram recorded this (or, Isaac or Jacob recorded it, based upon what Abram told them).

At this point in time, Abram is a very rich and successful businessman; people all over Canaan know and respect him, and he has just changed world history with a tiny army. This is what God wants Abram to recognize. However, what God is saying to Abram flies right over his head. He focuses on what God said, which has not been fulfilled yet. “You said You are going to give my people this land; how do I know that is true?”

Gen 15:8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I will possess it?"

If you are not careful, it appears as though there is a contradiction here. Gen. 15:6 reads: “And Abram believed in the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Two verses later, Abram is asking God how can he know that he will possess the land, which indicates a distinct lack of faith. As explained, Gen. 15:6, Abram exercised faith in Y^ehowah some time ago, and that faith was credited to him as righteousness. However, here we are, maybe 20–50 years later (God told Abram to leave Haran nearly 25 years ago), and now Abram is expressing some doubt. This ought to strike you as a little odd, because Abram has just defeated the greatest army of his day with a handful of men. However, so it is with the believer in Jesus Christ. We have good days and we have bad days.

So Abram asks God a reasonable question, for a person who has ignored much of what God has said and much of his own life. God promised him a son, and he doesn’t have a son yet. Now God is promising him this land, and Abram says, “Okay, God, You say You are giving me this land—how am I to know that’s true? I don’t even have the son yet”

Interestingly enough, God does not perform some miracle or sign to answer Abram; This would have been the easiest thing in the world. God could have given Abram a vision of Moses leading the Jews, poised on the eastern border of Israel. God could have caused an earthquake to affect everything around Abram, except for the ground upon which he stands. However, God makes a covenant with Abram instead. No great future visions; no miracles.

Gen 15:9 He said to him, "Bring Me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

When I first became a believer, and heard or read passages like this, it just seemed like random animals being used. “You own a goat, right? Let’s use that as well.”

This heifer is never used in the Levitical sacrifices. It is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, except by Moses in Deut. 21. Here, when a man is murdered, and the culprit is not known, a heifer is beheaded near a stream, and the priests are to wash their hands in the stream, to be cleansed of this murder. Punishing someone for murder is not just the right but the duty of a client nation to God, and when they fail in that duty, a heifer is offered up as a substitute for the murderer. This represents a failure in their ability to carry out their solemn duty. This also indicates that, no matter what the situation, justice must be done. There must be a payment for sin.

Later, sacrificing a heifer is associated with Samuel naming David as king (and David represents Jesus Christ in His 1^st and 2^nd advents). 1Sam. 16:1–5

The heifer, therefor is associated with both failure (Abram’s failure of faith in this passage); as well as with the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross (which was an unjust taking of a life, before which, Pilate washed his own hands); and with Jesus Christ during the 1^st and 2^nd advents. This is the Person with Whom Abram is making a covenant—Jesus Christ, the revealed member of the Trinity.

The female goat is found more commonly as a sacrifice in the Old Testament. However, like the heifer, this is its first mention in the Bible. The Levitical offering of a goat appears to be tied to rebound (naming one’s sins to God—Lev. 4:23, 28). Now, why does Abram need to restore his walk with God? He has called into question God’s veracity. He has implied that he is losing faith in what God promised him. So he needs to be restored to fellowship.

Like the other two animals, this is the first time a ram is mentioned. The word translated ram actually has a number of other meanings: a strong man, leader, a chief (Ex. 15:15 Ezek. 17:13); a mighty tree (Isa. 61:3 Ezek. 31:14); and pillars, door posts (Ezek. 40–41). I believe what is suggested, with the ram, is the power and the strength and the preeminence of Jesus Christ.

The idea of the 3 years is, this would be the age of these animals in the prime of their lives, just as Jesus Christ, in His humanity, was in the prime of His life when He was hung on the cross.

The turtledove is mentioned here for the first time, and this was an offering often given when the person offering it was poor (and the same is true of the pigeon—Lev. 5:7, 11 12:8 14:22, 30). The pigeon in particular is the offering of a poor person. It does not matter our station in life in order to come to the cross—rich or poor, it makes no difference. Furthermore, the pigeon is representative of Abram’s relative poverty, compared to what God has promised him (Abram is a very successful businessman, but his holdings are far less than God will ultimately give his seed).

Gen 15:10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.

Now, normally, what happens when a covenant is made is, those who are parties to the covenant walk between the pieces of animals in order to seal the covenant. The blood and the deaths of the animals seal the covenant, just as we have a covenant with God, based upon the death of His Son. In a sense, we walk through the Son in faith (“No man comes to the Father but through Me” —John 14:6b).

Gen 15:11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

These animal sacrifices represent a covenant between God and Abram, and this covenant is both about Abram’s son, his descendants, and the gift of Canaan to Abram’s descendants. This covenant is going to be attacked repeatedly, represented by these birds of prey, and Abram drives them away, protecting this covenant with God. Therefore, Abram is back in fellowship and he understands the importance of protecting and preserving this covenant, even though he has not a son as of yet.

Again, we have a parallel. All that God has promised Abram is based upon his son, in whom he must have faith for the other promises to have any sort of meaning. For us, the same is true. All of the promises of the Bible are based upon one thing—the Son of Abram. We must have faith in Him first and foremost (this may help to explain the genealogies found throughout the Bible; they testify to Jesus being the Son of Abram).

This covenant is the promise of God to Abram that his descendants would possess the land upon which he stood. The attacks upon this covenant continue even to this moment, when hundreds of Hamas rockets are fired each year into Israel, and groups of people—even nations—who today refuse to recognize that Israel has a right to exist. The leader of Iran has spoken of the complete destruction of Israel.

A contemporary bird of prey today would be Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said "Iran's stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region." One of the so-called Arab spring protestors proclaimed, "If the people are free in Egypt... they're going to go free Palestinians, they're going to destroy Israel. The country who control the United States is Israel!"

Israel may lose and regain that plot of ground on many occasions, but that region has been given by God to Abram and to his seed, and at some point in the future, in the Millennium, they will possess much, much more land in that region than today or at anytime in their history.

Gen 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

We have an unusual continuity here. God is speaking to Abram, Abram does what God tells him to do, and then there is a period of time which passes, which includes a frightful darkness.

This darkness represents various periods of time during which the Jews do not fully trust in the promises of God. These will be periods of time when God does not speak to any Jew, or periods of time when they have been expelled from the land (the 5^th stage of national discipline). God will certainly bring these things to pass; but there will be times when this is doubted and times when this covenant will be attacked.

Why do we have these periods of darkness? A lack of faith on the part of the Jews. God has given them promises, both short-term and long-term, and the Jews have chased after other gods. Or the Jews have questioned or doubted their spiritual history. Or the Jews have gotten so far into gross sins and idolatry that God punishes them with severe discipline.

Abram, despite all that has happened to date, has begun to question God and the validity of His promises. Abram overlooks all that has happened because God told him to go to the land of Canaan; and focuses one what has not yet happened. “How do I know that You are going to actually give this land to my descendants? I don’t have a son yet who is my heir.”

God gives Abram a taste of what is to come while making a covenant with him. This covenant is made with the animal sacrifices of vv. 9–11. The birds of prey which come down to eat the meat of these carcases indicate that Abram’s genetic line would be attacked again and again—right down to today, in the year of our Lord, 2011. All during this time, Abram drove these birds of prey away (this represents what God would do to protect the Jews). What Abram was supposed to do takes time. Getting these 5 animals and offering them up takes a few hours, and with the first carcass that Abram lays out, birds begin to circle; and Abram finds himself driving these birds away as he gathers the other animals.

This takes us to the end of the day; the animal carcasses are all laid out, the larger animals split apart with a walkway in between them; and then Abram falls into a deep sleep.

Gen 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

The darkness in which Abram finds himself is quit unusual. It is a terror of great darkness which comes down upon Abram. So Abram is in a deep sleep, but he perceives this great darkness around him.

God then will make a covenant with Abram, at which time God interprets this covenant, the birds of prey and the great darkness that fell upon Abram. So Abram is near these animal carcasses which he laid out; he is in a deep sleep, and he perceives great frightening darkness about him; and God speaks to him.

Gen 15:13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring [lit., seed] will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be slaves there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.

The descendants of Abram will go into a land which is not theirs. Recall that, Abram’s descendants will have no land which is theirs at this time, apart from this promise from God. They will go to this other land (which is Egypt) and they will be in slavery there for 400 years.

The people of Egypt are the birds of prey who descend upon the covenant which God is making between Himself and Abram, and they would attack this covenant, making it appear as if these promises of God will never come to pass. The Egyptians are the first of many who would attack this covenant of God, down to the Palestinians today.

This is one of the prophecies in the Bible which will have a relatively immediate fulfillment. Within the next century or so, Abram will have a child, who will have twins, one of which will have 12 sons, and Abram’s grandchild and his children and their families will all go to Egypt. They actually resided in Egypt for 430 years (Ex. 12:40–41); they would be afflicted for 400 of those years (Gen. 15:13 Acts 7:6).

My thinking is, Genesis was written in portions; and every generation or so, some man of God would add to the book. Moses undoubtedly wrote the other 4 books of the Pentateuch (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)—he is called the author of these books in several places, but he is never said to be the writer of Genesis. It is possible that he edited Genesis, but I am of the opinion that Moses was given the book of Genesis at some point in his life or, most likely, the Jews had this book with them while in Egypt.

In order for this prophecy to have much meaning, it needed to be written down and for there to be some knowledge of it while the Jews are enslaved in Egypt. During this time of slavery, someone had to have these writings, these prophecies of God; and some of the Jews knew about these things. Let’s put it this way: they were supposed to know about these things. It is like believers in the Church Age; there are things we are supposed to know, but many believers do not.

As we will find out in the far future, the Jews in slavery had some knowledge of the God of Abraham, as they would call out to Him. This would suggest that they had the book of Genesis and knew some portions of it.

In any case, what we are reading would be fulfilled, but the prophecy and a part of the fulfillment are found in the same book, Genesis. For the most part, prophecies are not fulfilled in the same book in which they are given.

Now, if there are several authors to the book of Genesis, then this prophecy is actually prophetic—that is, one author records the prophecy and then another author records the fulfillment (or, a partial fulfillment) of the prophecy.

As I have suggested before, Genesis is a narrative written by several different authors, each one adding onto what had already been written. We will come to a very personal statement made by Jacob—something which only Jacob himself would have written (or one of his sons, to whom he revealed this). However, there is no reason whatsoever to credit Jacob with the writing of all of Genesis.

My personal theory is, Melchizedek had the Scriptures, recorded up to Gen. 11, and that he handed a copy to Abraham, who preserved and added to these words. This would explain why Abram, a man who had spoken with God on several occasions, could, in a very short time, place himself under the authority of Melchizedek. Only a man who had heard the Word of God spoken to him, could recognize this same voice in written form.

We have already studied the Seeds of Theology Found in Genesis. This, in itself, should have been quite amazing to you. How is it possible for a book written 4000 years ago to contain all of the basic strains of Christian theology? In the very near future, we will examine the “Lucky Guesses” of Genesis, chapters 1–15; and it will cause you to wonder, if Genesis is just a book like any other, how did the author get so many things right?

Back to the narrative: God continues to speak to Abram, telling him what would come to pass.

Gen 15:14 But I will bring judgment on the nation [Egypt] that they [the Jews] serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

Will come out is the very common Hebrew verb yâtsâʾ (יָצָא) [pronounced yaw-TZAWH], which means to go out, to come out, to come forth. Strong's #3318 BDB #422. This word in the Greek is exerchomai (ἐξέρχομαι) [pronounced ex-EHR-khoh-mai], which also means to go out, to come out. Strong’s #1831. Closely related to this word is exodos (ἔ́ξοδος) [pronounced EX-ohd-oss], which means, 1) exit, i.e. departure; 2) the close of one’s career, one’s final fate; 3) departure from life, decease. This is from whence we get the English word exodus. Strong’s #1841.

God promises Abram that He would bring judgment against the nation Egypt—the nation that they will serve—and that the people of Israel would exit Egypt with great possessions. This will be fulfilled in the book of Exodus. Remember this great darkness that came upon Abram? This represents the judgment that God will bring down upon Egypt, which is fulfilled literally in Ex. 10:21–23. The great darkness that Abram experienced is representative of the judgment of God upon Egypt. And one of those specific judgments was a thick darkness over the land of Egypt.

The concept being introduced here is a very specific prophecy which will be fulfilled. God has already made prophecies specific to Abram, which are both short-term (having a son) and long term (Israel being given the land upon which Abram is walking). The latter prophecy will not be fulfilled until the Millennium. However, in this chapter, God is telling what will happen over the next several hundred years after Abram passes from the scene. So these prophecies are not actually for Abram, even though they are spoken to Abram; they are for his descendants. Like all other portions of the Word of God, if believers in that day knew these things, they could depend upon God to bring them to pass; if they did not know these things, they had less to depend upon.

The exact same thing is true for believers today. If we know what is in the Bible, then we have things we can place our faith in; if we do not know what is in the Bible, we have a very limited relationship with God. We have the Bible in order to understand Who and What God is and what is our place in this world after salvation.

In any case, Egypt placing Abram’s descendants into slavery is future from Abram; Abram would not see any of this. He would die at a ripe old age and go to be with his fathers (which suggests that Abram’s ancestors believed in Jehovah Elohim as well).

Gen 15:15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

Abram will have died long before these prophecies come to pass, and he will die having lived a long and fulfilling life. Obviously, he must have a son before he dies in order for any of this to be true. Peace here is the Hebrew word shâlôwm (שָלוֹם) [pronounced shaw-LOHM], which means completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, safe, secure, tranquil, undisturbed, unagitated. Strong’s #7965 BDB #1022. Abram’s death would be tranquil, peaceful and represent him having lived a complete life. Abram will die at age 175.

Also, Abram would have a son from his own loins. These things Abram would see fulfilled; but before that comes to pass, Abram will have faith in what God tells him.

You will note that v. 15 is oddly placed. God talks about the Jews in Egypt in vv. 13–14 and v. 16, but in the middle of that, God talks about Abram.

Gen. 15:13–16 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them 400 years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great substance. But you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

It is not Abram who will live as a foreigner in Egypt; this is for his seed. The 400 years of affliction will be for Abram’s seed. However, Abram will not suffer any of this. He is going to live his life in peace and be buried in a good old age. God is telling Abram, “These prophecies are not about you; they are about your seed. Your life is going to be fine and peaceful.” Abram is about 85 at this time and most of his life is still ahead of him.

There is quite a difference between Abram and the Jews (his descendants) who are put into slavery. Abram fails, but he trusts God. He may question God, but he knows God’s Word. At the beginning of this chapter, Abram got quite impertinent with God, but his questions were in line with what God had promised him. Those who follow Abram’s grandson, Jacob, in time, will not appear to know the promises of God. For 4 generations, they will be afflicted. This suggests to us that, there are no great men; and that God needs to exert strong controls over His people. So God allows them to be enslaved. Do not become confused over this. The Jews could be a very hard-headed people. So the slavery that these Jews will find themselves in will be apropos to their thinking.

In the United States, we have almost no concept of what it is like in the rest of the world. We do not have any sort of idea as to the suffering that is out there; but it all comes back to the individual and corporate relationship to God—and not to just any god, but to God, the Father of Jesus Christ. We in the United States enjoy great comforts and great prosperity, but it is because a huge number of people in the United States believe in Jesus Christ; and a subset of these people actually know much of what is in God’s Word. Salvation and knowledge of doctrine is the key.

There is one more thing: most of the modern conveniences which are beginning to be found throughout the world—they were invented by Americans and produced, in many cases, by Americans. Much of the prosperity in the world is because of the United States.

God told Abram, “I will bless those who bless you; and curse those who curse you.” The same is true of the United States, as long as we retain our status as a client nation; as long as we adhere, for the most part, to the laws of divine establishment; as long as there are a significant percentage of believers in the United States; and as long as there is a significant percentage of those who are growing spiritually.

You may wonder, what about China? China is easy to explain. They have been controlled by an evil system of communism for decades, and more people have been slaughtered in that country in peacetime than in any war. But, as of late, the number of believers in China has increased. Adherence to the laws of divine establishment, which are almost the direct opposite of communism, has also increased. What should we expect? We should expect that their nation and their lives would improve. We should expect that their influence in the world should increase. At one time Christians were persecuted, reeducated and murdered by the Chinese government. Today, even though Christianity is discouraged and not taught in any way in their schools, Christianity is beginning to grow by leaps and bounds. There is some limited toleration for it by the government.

Why is Europe beginning to fall apart? Christianity has declined in the past 50 or 100 years. There are fewer and fewer believers which means that the nations of Europe will become worse places in which to live.

Gen 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

Anything to do with fire, in the Bible, often refers to judgment. The animals that became blood sacrifices, represent the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The smoking fire pot and the flaming torch represent God the Father pouring out our sins on God the Son and judging those sins.

Part of the tradition of making a covenant, and walking in between the animal parts, is the sealing of the covenant or the 2 parties agreeing to the covenant. God’s justice and righteousness, represented by the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch, pass between the animal parts, thus binding God to the covenant which He has made with Abram. It is key that His justice and righteousness are what are bound to this covenant.

Remember how this chapter started? Before God got much more than a full sentence out of His mouth, Abram began to complain, asking God, “What are you going to promise me now? By the way, I do not have that child yet and my only heir is a man who is not even related to me.” This ritual binds the covenant which God has made with Abram. God’s justice and righteousness are making a covenant with Abram.

Abram has fallen into a deep sleep. Is this smoking fire pot and flaming torch real? Could someone else have come upon this scene and seen the same things? We don’t know. But, to Abram, this is real. He laid out these animal pieces himself and he sees God’s righteousness and justice pass between the pieces. To him, this is real; it is not simply a vision that Abram is having. However, the context or the set up for this verse is, a deep sleep fell on Abram. So, despite what the narrative says after this, all of this could have simply taken place within the context of Abram’s vision or in a dream-like state. It is my opinion that Abram began seeing God in a vision, but that he moved on from there.

Again, what is key is not the circumstances or the actual reality of these events, but what is true and what stands forever are the words spoken by God.

Gen 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

The verb to make is the Qal perfect of kârath (כָּרַת) [pronounced kaw-RAHTH], which means to cut off, to cut down; to kill, to destroy; to cut [or make] [a covenant]. Strong's #3772 BDB #503. This word is clearly related to cutting these sacrificial animals into pieces. The perfect tense indicates that God already made this covenant with Abram. The covenant was made first, and then the smoking pot and the flaming torch went between the pieces of the animals (after it became dark). That sealed the covenant. The darkness is the judgment of God against Egypt, after which, God will move forward with fulfilling this covenant. The Jews will, as a nation, come into this land and take it.

Now, why didn’t God just give the Jews the land and let Abram have children, and let them have children, and simply live in the land and, once their numbers were large enough, take it? Canaan is a land of great degeneracy. God needs to isolate the Jews. They cannot be mixed into the Canaanite culture and they cannot be mixed into the Egyptian culture. They must be kept separate and spiritually pure. Abram was not left in Hebron because he would have become corrupted; the Jews were not left in Canaan because they would have become corrupted as a people.

Furthermore, what happens in the future will be an event as has never occurred before or after. Even today, Jewish people will gather around a meal—the Passover Seder—and talk about God taking their people out of Egypt. Even today, people who are evil will take this story and distort it into liberation theology. 3500 years later, the exodus still plays a part in modern human history. When God wants to step into history and get our attention, He is quite able to do so.

Gen 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

The land which God gives to Abram is far larger than anything which the Jews have ever controlled, even at the height of their power under Solomon. Right now, Israel is less than 0.2% of the Middle East (not 2% but 1/5^th of 1%). In the many surrounding Muslim countries, there are a handful of Jews, if that many, because of the incalcitrant attitude of the Muslim people, who occupy the other 99.8% of the Mideast lands. The hatred of many of those in the Mideast is so great that, even this tiny sliver of land occupied by Jews is too much for them to bear. These Muslims are the birds of prey, swooping down, trying to destroy the covenant of God made with Abram. So many Muslims today, if they could snap their fingers and have the Jews disappear, they would. If they could snap their fingers and have the Jews die horrible, miserable deaths before Israel went away, they would. This is the nature of evil in our world.

God here gives the Jews the land between the Nile and the Euphrates, which takes in a small portion of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia (it is unclear whether this description includes of the Saudi Arabia) and a large chunk of Iraq. In other words, about 40% of the Middle East.

Today, Israel is a postage stamp of a country, and various Arabic nations would like to see it destroyed. Their hatred of the Jew is deep and lasting, and no matter how small Israel is, they want to see all of Israel destroyed. In my lifetime, I have seen Israel attacked several times and in a number of ways, yet God has been faithful even today to keep them alive as a people. Whether this present-day Israel will be a part of the end-time prophecies or not, is another topic (it could be destroyed and another Israel raised up in its place decades or even centuries later).

Behind Islam is Satan. If God does not keep this covenant with Israel, then God is not God. Therefore, Satan, throughout history, has worked tirelessly through various nations and various religions to destroy the Jew. Knowing this may help to explain to you the irrational hatred of the Jews throughout history.

As a teacher and as a normal person, I have known a number of Jews throughout my lifetime. I could not define them physically; I could not look at a group of people and pick out the Jews from the group; nor could I separate them by a set of core beliefs. My point is, there is nothing superficial about the Jews which ought to cause such hatred. We can make clear and immediately distinctions between Blacks and Whites, and therefore, racial tensions are going to occur between these groups of people—it is inevitable. However, there is no such clear distinction between Jews and other peoples. Because of this, Islamic propaganda tells its believers that Jews come from monkeys and dogs, and some Islamic adherents actually believe that (it is taught at a very early age). However, non-European Jews could blend into any Middle East country, and, as long as their origins are religion were not known, they would not stand out. There is nothing overt or obvious in the appearance of Jews which causes such recalcitrant behavior on the part of Muslims

However, despite the lack of dramatic physical differences, Jews are hated from time to time in many nations, or even by certain nations, not because of anything which they have done or not because of the way that they look, but because they are God’s people, and they will always be God’s people. Therefore, Satan hates them, wants to destroy them, and Satan is able to infect whole nations with this sort of irrational hatred.

One of the reasons that the United States is so blessed is our relationship to Israel and to the Jewish people. God promised Abram, “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.” And so it has been down throughout the ages, up until this point in time. I discussed the precipice upon which our nation happens to be. One of the reasons that we have been preserved is our attitude toward the Jewish people. However, this could change in one generation. We may live to see the day when a majority of people in the United States see no difference between the Jewish people and Muslims; and that their differences in the Middle East are to be seen as equal; and that a reasonable man could be seen to take one side as well as the other. When that day comes, our nation has reached its most dangerous place.

In the 1400's, Spain was one of the greatest nations in the world, sending out explorers throughout the world, claiming great chunks of the new world for Spain. Spain was a world power. However, simultaneously, the Spanish Inquisition, which began as a tribunal in1480, forced Jews and Muslims out of Spain, if they did not convert to Catholicism. That was a decree issued in 1492 and in 1501. And suddenly, in a very short period of time, Spain went from being one of the great nations of the world to a 3^rd class power, which is where it stands today.

Back to the narrative. Next God tells Abram which peoples will be dispossessed or destroyed in order for them to take the land.

Gen 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

Gen 15:19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

This is the first mention of the Kenites, who apparently have ties to Midian (who will be a son of Abram—Gen. 25:1–2), from whom are the Midianites, a people who will be antagonistic toward the Jews for several centuries after the Jews leave Egypt. The Kenites are less well-known and are thought to be by some identical to the Midianites (however, that would make little sense, since the Midianites are descendants of Abram).

The Kenizzites are barely mentioned in Scripture. To some degree, this is their first and last mention. Caleb—one of the great men of the Exodus—is Kenizzite on his father’s side. The word means hunter. So, at this point in time, they occupy a portion of the land that God is giving to Abram, but their historical significance seems to all but disappear after this promise (apart from Caleb).

The Kadmonites are mentioned only here, in this one passage. These people are known to Abram but have vanished from this earth as a people—all that remains of them is a name found once in the Bible.

Gen 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

Unlike the 3 previous groups of people, the Hittites were a great people, but the land which is associated with them is Turkey. This passage suggests either that God has given much of Turkey over to the descendants of Abram, which would mean that this land grant includes even more land than I have herein described (there is no northern border, per se, given here). The alternative is, the Hittites also exercised some control over land which was south of Turkey, and that is what God is giving to Abram and his seed. The latter explanation makes the most sense.

The Bible treats the Hittites as a very prominent people, mentioning them almost 50 times over several generations, indicating them to be a great powerful empire in the Middle East. And, for many centuries, critics of the Bible scoffed at this, saying that the Hittites were, at best, some little local tribe with much less influence than the Bible indicates. However, archeology has proven these critics wrong and the Bible right (as is so often the case with the Word of God).

Also interesting: I cannot locate any recorded conflicts between Israel and the Hittites. However, one Hittite plays a prominent role in the Bible (Uriah the Hittite) and another is an ally of David’s when he is on the run from King Saul.

All of those groups named so far—the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites—are first named here in this passage. The next 6 peoples have already been named in Genesis.

The Perizzites were those who live in the open country of the land of Canaan (Perizzite means open region, unwalled village, open country). They were the grazers, farmers, and peasants of the time and they probably lived east of the Jordan. Of the 23 times they are mentioned in the Bible, 22 of them have them in a list of names, as we have here. The only time they are listed separate from 3 or more other peoples is in Joshua 17:15. So, their land is given to the Jews, but we do not have any recorded conflicts between the Jews and the Perizzites.

The Rephaim are the giants of the land, and we will come across them on several occasions (although they may not all be related). Some of them will live east of the Jordan River, and others will be found along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (which is west of the Jordan).

Gen 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

The term Amorite is used in 3 different ways: (1) as representative of the people who live in the land of Palestine (which generic usage explains a number of problem passages—Gen. 15:16 Judges 6:10) (2) as the people who live in the hills as opposed to those who live on the plains (Num. 13:29); and (3) as a racially specific group (Num. 21:21–31 Deut. 2:26–35). According to ISBE, The Amorite kingdom was of great antiquity. About 2500 b.c. it embraced the larger part of Mesopotamia and Syria, with its capital probably at Harran, and a few centuries later northern Babylonia was occupied by an “Amorite” dynasty of kings who traced theft descent from Samu or Sumu (the Biblical Shem), and made Babylon their capital. If this is accurate, then God has been separating Abram from this people for several decades. Also, according to ISBE, the Amorites are mentioned in several extra-Biblical records (e.g., in the Tell el-Amarna Letters, and the Hittite archives discovered at Boghaz-keui).

The Canaanites are the descendants of Canaan, a son of Ham. They moved westward into Palestine and Egypt. They lived in the lowland areas, near the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (Num. 13:29).

The Girgashites are descended from Canaan (Gen. 10:16) and found in Scripture 6 times, always in a list of names. They are always found associated with the HIttites (Heth), the Canaanites, Amorites and Jebusites. This is because these tribes are all related. There are differing opinions as to where these people lived and who they might be in extra-Biblical history.

The Jebusites are one of the most well-known people in the Old Testament, their name occurring 41 times. They are also sons of Canaan and they will play a part in the history of Israel for the next 1000 years, at least to the time of David. At that time, they will occupy a city called Jebus, a city that David will conquer and make the capitol city of all Israel (this is Salem of Gen. 14:18). At the time that Moses returns to the Land of Promise with his sorry band of soldiers, the Jebusites will be living in the hill country (Num. 13:29), which possibly included Jerusalem.

All of these groups, when Abram entered into the land, were major and minor players in that arena of history. Every single one of them was a people at that point; Abram was not. Abram was simply one guy with a wife, no kids, and the men who worked for him. Yet, throughout the centuries, God promised that His Angel (Jehovah) would go before the Jews and drive these people out (Deut. 7:1 Joshua 3:10) and even blot them out (Ex. 23:23 Deut. 20:17). 10 peoples, who controlled the land of Canaan, would fall into great degeneracy, and God would take the land from them and order Joshua to slaughter them.

So, Abram and his wife are the only Jews in the land. Of the people named above, there must be millions in the land of Canaan at this time. Do you know any Amorites, Canaanites or Hittites today? Yet these were 3 of the greatest peoples in that day. God has blotted them out of history. Do you know any Jews? There is a future for the Jews in God’s plan, so we will always have Jews. God’s Word lives and abides forever (1Peter 1:23b). God’s Word told Abram, “I will bless those who bless you and curst those who curse you.” Words which were true 4000 years ago and words which continue to be true today.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

So far, God has delivered a series of commands and promises to Abram, which is why he is living in Canaan in the first place. However, there is no indication that God has ever laid out a system of specific laws and that the pre-Mosaic spiritual life is only implied. However, as we have studied in the previous lesson, there appears to be enough information presented so that we can reasonably determine the basic spiritual life for believers and the concept of right and wrong for believers and unbelievers alike (the common morality for believers and unbelievers is known as divine establishment or the laws of divine establishment). So, the function of the spiritual life combined with the morality of the laws of divine establishment was how a believer was to function.

In fact, one of the things which has been lost to our society is the concept of right and wrong, good and bad, which is for nations of believers and unbelievers both. In the United States, this is being foisted upon our young in the form of relativism, humanism and multi-culturalism (all of which are taught in the public schools); and in Muslim countries, sharia law is replacing divine establishment laws. It would be wrong for believers to think that morality applies to them alone; and for unbelievers to think, whatever they think they ought to do, that is what they ought to do (or, as it phrased in the book of Judges, every man did what was right in his own eyes—Judges 17:6 21:25; see also Deut. 12:18 Prov. 12:15).

As we will soon discover, nations are preserved by the believers in that nation. Some of that preservation is direct. That is, if there is a large percentage of believers in a nation and a reasonable percentage of them understand Bible doctrine, then the nation is preserved simply because so many in that nation understand the laws of divine establishment. The direct influence of such believers on a society helps to preserve that society. As divine norms and standards are a part of the lives of believers in a society; and these believers are large enough in size to affect that society, in this way the society is preserved. That is the principle; we will study it in the not-too-distant future.

As an aside, one way that concepts of right and wrong are distorted in a society is by taking the vocabulary of right and wrong and distorting that. We have seen that in the past few years with the word justice, redefining it in such a way so as to reflect Marxist thinking (state directed redistribution of wealth), as in economic justice; or to reflect fanatical environmentalism, as in environmental justice (which is a cover for economic justice). These very same people would shrink back in horror, if you were to suggest any restrictions be placed on their sexual behavior, even though there are simple straight lines that can be drawn from sexual immorality to crime, increased immorality, increased lawlessness (which 3 things are a result of single motherhood), and a decreased lifespan (which results from homosexual activity). On the other hand, when it comes to so-called economic justice, any attempt to equalize income distribution results in a less productive, a less free and a more restrictive society. So, these same people who want complete freedom when it comes to sexual behavior—regardless of the negative consequences on society—are more than willing to place devastating restrictions on the productive elements of their society.

Back to Abram. It is 13 years after Ishmael was born to him by Hagar, his wife’s Egyptian slave-girl; and God appears to Abram once again.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

God reminds Abram that He is omnipotent and indicates that there is a specific walk for believers, as well as a concept of spiritual maturity even in Abram’s day, over 4000 years ago.

Gen 17:2 ...that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and may multiply you greatly."

This is the second time that God has spoken of making a covenant with Abram, the first being back in Gen. 15. Although God has talked with Abram on 3 previous occasions, only once did God speak about a covenant. A covenant is simply an anachronistic word for contract. Sometimes Christians hold on too tightly to some of these anachronistic words, and young people are confused and put off by their foreign-sounding words (churches which continue to use the excellent but anachronistic KJV should be warned about this). God is simply making an agreement with Abram; He is establishing a contract with Abram.

The word here generally translated to make, to establish is actually the very common Hebrew word to give. Anytime you see God as the subject, give as the verb, and some person or group as the recipient of that gift, we are talking about grace. Grace may be defined as, all that God is free to do for us based upon the cross; and which things God does for us, are undeserved by us. We have touched on grace in the previous lesson, but we have not yet fully studied this word.

This verb is nâthan (נָתַן) [pronounced naw-THAHN], which means: 1) to give, put, set; 1a) to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend; 1b) to put, set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate; 1c) to make, constitute. All of these BDB meanings for the Qal stem of nâthan. Strong's #5414 BDB #678

At the end of the verb to give, we have the cohortative hê, which simply means that the Hebrew letter hê (ה) is added to the end of the verb. When applied to the first person, the idea is an expression of will or compulsion, and in the singular, may be expressed with I must, I could, I would, I will, I should, I may.

God is there, tapping His foot, as it were, waiting to bless Abram by giving him an agreement, a gracious contract. In Gen. 15, it appeared as though God was going to start to make good on His promises made thus far to Abram, and then, Abram went out ahead of God and impregnated Hagar the Egyptian slave-girl. So, for 13 years, God has been there, tapping His foot, waiting to give grace to Abram.

Let’s not become confused here. God has not withdrawn His promises from Abram. God is not punishing Abram for 13 years because of his dalliance with Little Egypt. What Abram did was throw off the timetable. God cannot desert Abram’s seed, which is Ishmael, born to him by Hagar. So God allows Ishmael to be born and to grow into a young man (13 years old). God’s specific promises to Abram had to be put on hold until that time.

Abram’s spiritual heritage is going to flow through one very specific genetic line, which line will be begun with a child sired by Abram and carried by Sarai. God still has to allow for Abram’s decision to impregnate Hagar; and time must be allowed for their child to be raised properly in a good environment. That takes 13 years. So, for all intents and purposes, Abram is not waiting on God but God is waiting on Abram.

Gen 17:1–2 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature, that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly."

God has to let certain things run their course before He can step back into Abram’s life. Raising up Ishmael to the point of being a young adult has to occur, and then God can come back to Abram and give him grace. God can come back into Abram’s life and bless him with a gracious contract. But, because of Abram’s actions, God had to wait. This was not punishment to Abram; God has not walked off in a huff, saying, “I’ll show him!” A certain amount of time has to transpire and Ishmael has to become a young adult before God can step back into Abram’s life and to continue the work which God had begun.

Walking before God and being spiritually mature means, Abram is in fellowship (there is no unconfessed sin in his life), he is trusting God’s promises, and he is obedient to the laws of divine establishment.

To multiply is in the Hiphil imperfect. The Hiphil is the causative stem, and this verb is given the following Hiphil definitions: to make much, make many, have many; to multiply, increase; to make much to do, do much in respect of, transgress greatly; to increase greatly or exceedingly; to make great, enlarge, do much. What follows is a repetition of the adverb m^eʾôd (מְאֹד) [pronounced m^e-ODE], which means exceedingly, extremely, greatly, very. Strong’s #3966 BDB #547. Not only is the verb intensified, but it is doubly intensified, as this adverb occurs twice, which is rare in the Hebrew. Verbs in the Hebrew are often doubled, relatively speaking; adverbs much less so. This indicates that God has an incredible amount of blessing that He wants to pour on Abram.

Abram is just one man, a very successful rancher, who comes down to us today as one of the most well-known people from the ancient world. During Abram’s day, there were many vigorous peoples, many powerful nations; and yet, the most well-known person of this era is Abram. What king from Abram’s day is as well-known? What king or man of great power can you name from that era (say, 2100–1900 b.c.)? And yet, Abram is not a king he is simply a very successful businessman, successful because God has greatly blessed him. He is known to us today as the father of the Jewish race or the father of the Jewish people. Furthermore, he is known to us because God promised him, “I will multiply you greatly.“

Gen 17:3a Then Abram fell on his face.

This is new. Abram’s response was to do obeisance to God, which is something he has not done before. God has not spoken to Abram for a long time. God spoke to Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, 13 years previous to this (which information, she apparently passed along to Abram), and prior to that, God spoke to Abram, which would have been perhaps 15–20 years previous (Abram left Charan at age 75, and he is now 99). Therefore, Abram, having no idea how much longer he will live, is quite overwhelmed to speak to God again.

It is reasonable to suppose that Abram has remembered and/or recorded all that God said to him earlier. In other words, all of the contact between God and Abram are recorded for us today. There is no reason to think that there were several other meetings between God and Abram that Abram chose not to talk about.

Gen 17:3b And God said to him,...

The Hebrew is much more difficult that most English translations make it out to be here. First of all, there are 2 verbs here which mean to speak. The first is the Piel (intensive stem) imperfect of dâbar (דָּבַר) [pronounced daw^b-VAHR], which means (in the Piel): to speak, to talk [and back with action], to give an opinion, to expound, to make a formal speech, to speak out, to promise, to propose, to speak kindly of, to declare, to proclaim, to announce. Strong’s #1696 BDB #180. This phrase ends with the words to speak, to say (the more common verb for to say). Furthermore, we do not have the normal preposition here; we would expect the lâmed preposition, which simply means to or the more formal preposition, unto. What we have here instead is, with. The implication is, God is speaking to Abram as a friend and willing to interact with him. Literally, this reads: And so speaks with him, Elohim [the subject of the verb, in Hebrew, usually follows the verb], to say... My point is, this is much more formal than it appears in most English translations.

Gen 17:3b And Elohim spoke with him, saying,...

God is about to lay out His covenant with Abram, so the Hebrew indicates that this is a very formal event.

Gen 17:4a "Behold, My covenant [is] with you,...

Like v. 3b, this phrase is also more complicated that most English translations make it out to be. Literally, it reads: “I, behold! My covenant [is] with you.” Some translators render this, “As for Me, behold...” Several ignore these first 2 Hebrew words. Essentially, the first 2 words might be more idiomatically rendered, “Listen to Me” “Listen up” “Pay attention to what I am going to say.” Remember, Abram fell on the ground before God. God needs his full attention here.

The second phrase leaves out the verb to be, which indicates great emphasis in these words. Elliptical phrases often indicate great emphasis. As mentioned before, God has not said anything to Abram, and now He tells him to listen, saying, “My covenant with you!” The idea is, God has not changed His mind. He has not been observing Abram over the past 15 or so years, deciding, “Naw, I need to pick someone else as a part of my covenant.” The power and force here indicates that we are speaking of something which is quite exclusive and directed specifically toward Abram. God is not going around and making agreements with several dozen people. This is a very specific and very exclusive contract that God is making with Abram.

There is a reason I am putting great emphasis upon this: God, who is all-knowing (Job 37:16 Psalm 139:1–4 147:4–5), Who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), did not make a mistake by choosing Abram and He is not going to transfer all of His promises to Abram to another group of people (the church) because the Jews never turned out to be quite the people that God wanted them to be. That view is called Covenant Theology, and it is the basis for much of the Christian theology today. God will set the Jewish race aside, for a time, and work through the church (just as He has done with Abram), but the Jews are still His people.

Gen 17:4 "Behold, My covenant [is] with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

God tells Abram that he will be the father of many nations; so from Abram will not just come Israel (in its various forms), but a number of Semitic nations. Semitic then refers back to Shem, Abram’s ancestor from the ark. Today, we use the term Semitic to refer exclusively to Jews.

So, 13 years have gone by since Abram’s child was born, and during that time, God did not appear to Abram. However, God is with Abram now, and this will be a pivotal chapter, both in the life of Abram and in human history.

God continues speaking to Abram, saying something which is quite unusual:

Gen 17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

God changes Abram’s name to Abraham. Abram means exalted father; father of high and windy places One might even understand Abram to mean father of wind. However, his new name is Abraham, the name by which we know him. Abraham means father of many. Abram can be understood to mean that Abram is the father of nothing; or the father of something that is just too far off to see; he is the father of something which cannot be seen. However, his new name is father of many, which indicates that this is a major change for Abram. He is still a father, but he is no longer a father of wind but of many, of a multitude.

Both of the verbs at the end of this verse are in the perfect tense, indicating a completed action. “You name has been Abraham for I have [already] made you the father of a multitude of nations.” So, forever, his name has been Abraham and forever, Abraham has been the father of a multitude of nations.

God exists outside of time; God is not confined to time. Time is God’s invention for man. Therefore, from God’s point of view, this name-change is a done deal; this has already been accomplished. From Abraham’s vantage point, his being named Abraham has just occurred, and these multitudes of nations are future from this point in time. To God, these things have already taken place, hence the perfect tense, indicating completed action. We will find this approach throughout this chapter.

If at the beginning of this study, if you knew very little about the Bible, you still probably knew the name of Abraham and you may have even known him as the father of the Jewish race. All this time, you may have wondered why his name has been Abram or you may not have even known that we were even talking about Abraham all this time. Because his name has been Abraham and God has already made a multitude of nations come from him.

One of the cults that I was familiar with, took in new cult members and gave them new names (usually from the Bible). I supposed this was based upon God renaming Abram here and Saul of Tarsus took the name Paul. However, this is not spirituality. You don’t walk into a church and someone says, “Your name used to be Charley Brown, but now it is Hezekiah” (they like to take your new name out of the Bible). This sort of thing is goofy. However, it is common for a cult to take a minor occurrence in the Bible and turn it into a fundamental church doctrine or practice. It is as if they find 40 or so passages, and they build their doctrine upon those particular passages. There is never the instruction in the Bible that we are commanded by God to rename people. This is why verse-by-verse teaching is so essential; it keeps you from falling into cults or into churches with a lot of false principles.

I mention this not because you are familiar with such a cult, because you probably are not. You probably recognize that as a goofy idea without me telling you that it is. I mention this because it lays the groundwork for an important principle for the Christian life. Just because something happens in the Bible, Old or New Testaments, does not mean that you should imitate it. The Bible is filled with verbs in the imperative mood, so it is not as though we lack direction in the Bible; but there is no imperative mood when it comes to changing the name of people like Abram (Abraham) and Saul of Tarsus (Paul). Their new names are indicative of what God has done in their lives; therefore, it is appropriate that God renames them, as God knows what is planned for them.

Let me take a practice that most Christians agree upon: the Eucharist (also called Communion). We may have disagreements about the way this is practiced and what it means, but one thing is clear: this is a ritual all Christians should participate in. Not only do we have the example of the first Communion occurring with Jesus and His disciples on the night in which He was betrayed, but, Jesus tells us to do it, using the imperative mood. “Do this in memory of Me.”

Now, let me append this slightly. There are some conditional statements in the Bible (if...then... statements) which also teach spiritual mechanics. 1John 1:9 If we name our sins, [then] He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is a mechanic designed for the believer (most of the epistles are written to believers; Hebrews being an exception in part). In order to be temporally cleansed, we name our sins (after we have sinned, of course). There are synonyms for this practice of naming our sins where the imperative mood is used: walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16); be a follower of God (Eph. 5:1); be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18); “Abide in Me” (John 15:4); and walk in love (Eph. 5:2). In order to reach the status of walking in the Spirit, being filled by the Spirit, walking in love, being a follower of God, we use the exact mechanics given to us in 1John 1:9.

What I am doing here is setting you up for something; I am planting a seed in your soul. You may find this or that thing in the Bible, and this or that thing may be fundamental to your church’s doctrine and practice. However, you may need to ask yourself—particularly if it is a controversial practice—did anyone at anytime in the Bible tell you to do this practice? Did God or Paul or Peter or John use the imperative mood and tell you, “Do this”? At any time have you been told that you ought to do this practice—not by someone in your church, but by the Bible itself? Is this a practice or a doctrine which is clearly laid out in Scripture which is not based upon imitation alone?

Let me lay out a simple principle, and leave it here: if your church, denomination or group imitates something that they have found in the Bible, and yet, God the Holy Spirit through Scripture has not commanded you to do this (either by using the imperative mood or some other unambiguous language), then let me submit to you, that could be a false tradition at best and a cultic practice at worst.

One of the reasons that we must know the Word of God is, we find out if we belong to a church or denomination which has traditions and practices which are outside of what God has specifically told us to do. The Bible is our life-manual; it is our Standards and Practices textbook.

Back to Abraham:

Gen 17:3b–5 And Elohim spoke with him, saying, "Behold Me [= listen up!], My covenant [is] with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

The verbs which are future for Abraham are actually in the perfect tense, indicating that these are past events or completed events, when spoken by God. “Behold Me! My covenant with you and you have been the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no longer be called Abram, but your name has been Abraham, for I have made you a father of nations.”

Let me get into the weeds here a little bit with the Hebrew language. In the past (and in some Hebrew classes today), we have the misnomer, the wâw conversative. It is claimed that the wâw conjunction (and/or the wâw consecutive) convert the verbs from perfect tense to imperfect (from a completed action to a future action) or vice versa. Well, as far as I am concerned, that is a lot of hooey. I have translated entire books word-by-word from the Hebrew, and there was never a need to convert this or that verb to a different tense. In a narrative, about every 6^th word or so is the wâw consecutive and all of the verbs are imperfect tenses. Converting them all to the perfect tense makes no sense.

I think it is passages like this which caused the original confusion. Nearly every English translation and even many ancient translations take these verbs in the perfect tense and change them into the future tense. With respect to Abraham, all that is being said is either occurring right at this instant or will occur in the future, so we often use the present or future tense to express the action here. However, one very important consideration is being ignored. God is speaking and He has decreed all that will occur, taking our free will into consideration (which God always does). For God, the One using these verbs, this has already happened. God uses these verbs in the perfect tense, because all that is contained in vv. 4–5 is what God has decreed, so, insofar as God is concerned, these are accomplished events. These things have already taken place because He has decreed them and He is not confined to time.

Let me see if I can present an analogy here that is easier to grasp than saying that God invented time and that God is outside of time. Let’s say you just saw a movie and you thought it was great. At the end of the movie, the hero shoots the bad guy dead and rides off into the sunset with the beautiful girl. It moved you so much, that you take your best friend or significant other to go see it. Now, you know how this movie turns out; you know the end from the beginning. You still enjoy this movie because you are sharing it with a friend, but you know the hero is going to get the girl; and you know that he will shoot the bad guy dead. You, in seeing this movie a second time, are seeing it from a different perspective. All of the events that are future in the movie for you have already occurred and you know what they are. So, in that way, you are standing outside of the time frame of the movie, and all that takes place in the movie has already taken place for you. For your friend, these events are still unfolding; he or she doesn’t know if the hero will shoot the villain yet; he or she has doubts about the hero getting the girl at the end and riding off into the sunset. So, for you, these events have already taken place; for your friend, they are future events and unfolding as the movie continues. You, like God, stand outside of the time frame of the movie, because you have seen it already. You may catch some plot points that you missed before. “Oh, there’s how the hero got a hold of the gun; that’s how he shot him.” Even though, during the second time through, the hero has not yet shot the villain, you see it as an action which has already occurred and you even use past tense verbs in your thought process.

For God, because He decreed these things to come to pass, taking into consideration the free will of Abraham and all those associated with Abraham, He knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, God speaks of these things in the past because, God has decreed them, and therefore, they have already occurred. If Abraham were speaking, then he would use the future tense, because the action of these verbs is future for him.

Now, let’s apply this to your life: God knows everything that will occur in your life. Nothing will catch Him by surprised. God, in eternity past, made provision for every difficulty that you would face. The are difficult situations in your life to come (or situations that you are in right now), and God had designed a solution for them. This may involve you making certain choices with regards to Bible doctrine and they may involve you to stand back and watch the deliverance of the Lord. The choice of what you do is based upon your knowledge of Bible doctrine. Your ability to make the right choice is always based upon the Word of God. Do you stand back or do you act? The better you know Bible doctrine, the easier this question is to answer. God obviously knows because He made provision for that difficulty back in eternity past; the better we know God, the easier it is to determine His path for us.

Gen 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Although that is how most Bibles translate v. 6, here is a more literal rendering of it:

Gen 17:6 I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I have made you into nations, and kings will come from you.

The first two verbs, where God is the subject, are in the perfect tense—completed action. What God does is a completed action. However, the third verb is in the imperfect tense (continuous or future action) because God is no longer the subject of the verb. Kings is the subject of that verb. Abraham is in time and the kings who will come from him are also confined to time; therefore, in the future, there will be kings who will be descended from Abraham. So, if you understand God and His foreknowledge, then the tense of these verbs make perfect sense.

If Abram is the father of many nations, then many kings will be descended from him. All of the kings of Israel are descended from Abraham and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will rule over this earth, is descended from Abraham as well.

Gen 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants [lit., seed] after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants [lit., seed] after you.

Will establish means, in the Hiphil form, to raise up, constitute; to cause to stand, set, station, establish; to make binding; to carry out, give effect to. Descendants is actually the singular of seed, but it may be reasonably translated descendants. This covenant or contract that God will establish will be with Abraham and with his descendants as well. Furthermore, this is an everlasting covenant. Since God is all-knowing, and because the future to Him is as perspicuous as the past, when God establishes a covenant with someone, He knows exactly what will happen throughout the centuries. The fact that many religious Jews rejected Jesus Christ at the 1^st Advent did not catch God by surprise. God does not and cannot cancel an everlasting covenant.

The verb to establish, is in the perfect tense, because, insofar as God is concerned, this is a completed action. God has already established His covenant between Himself and Abraham and between Himself and Abraham’s descendants.

Gen 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants [lit., seed] after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants [lit., seed] after you.

Because seed is in the singular, this promise applies to Isaac, Abraham’s son who is yet to be born; and it applies to Jesus, Who is also the Son of Abraham. Paul will make this point in Gal. 3:16: And to Abraham and to his Seed the promises were spoken. It does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, "And to your Seed," which is Christ. So, this is specifically applied to Jesus Christ. God’s covenant with Jesus Christ

The One speaking to Abraham is the 2^nd Person of the Trinity and this contract is being made with Himself, Who will become confined to time as the God-man.

At the same time, the singular of seed is used in such a way as to refer to all of Abram’s born-again descendants. This is clear in the next verse:

Gen 17:8 And I will give to you and to your descendants [lit., seed] after you the land of your wanderings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."

The land which Abraham is walking through will be given to the Jews for an everlasting possession. God had already told Abraham to walk throughout this land, so that Abraham could appreciate what was being given to him. “Come, walk through all the land from one end to the other for I will give it to you.” (Gen. 13:17).

God has already specified the boundaries of this land back in Gen. 15:18–21 In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed [descendants], from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the giants, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. This is a huge swath of land, which we studied back in lesson #153.

Although God gives the land of Canaan to Israel, there will be times throughout history—particularly during the Church Age—when they do not live in this land. During the Age of Israel, Jews will live in this land, apart from the times that they have been removed under the principle of the 5^th stage of national discipline (these stages will be taught in Lev. 26). However, these stages of national discipline are taught here and here.

I mentioned that the covenant here is between God and those who are born again from Abraham’s seed. We find this at the end of v. 8, where God says, “And I have been to them God.” Jehovah (or, Y^ehowah), Who is speaking to Abraham, is not the God of the Muslims; He is not the God of those trying to keep the Law and the Sabbath for salvation; but He is God to those who believe in Him; and He is known to us today as Jesus Christ. For those who have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:1–18), the same have Y^ehowah as their God.

This does not mean that the land of Palestine has been transferred over to Church Age believers. God gives this to Abraham and his descendants; the land is an eternal possession; and the One speaking to Abraham is their God as well.

This possession is forever. The Hebrew word is ʿôwlâm (עוֹלָם) [pronounced ģo-LAWM], which means what is hidden [time]; of [in] times past, from ancient time, old, antiquity, long duration, forever, perpetuity; for future time, futurity; of the world, worldly. Strong’s #5769 BDB #761. As you can see, this word not only means forever, in perpetuity; but it is tied very specifically to this world. As long as there is a world, this promise stands.

Gen 17:9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

V. 9 is one of the few times there is a responsibility laid upon Abraham with regards to this covenant with God. When God spoke to Abraham before, the covenants which He made with Abraham were unconditional covenants, meaning, God was going to fulfill those promises to Abraham and his seed no matter what. However, this time, God tells Abraham, “You will keep My covenant.” Furthermore, Abraham’s seed would keep this covenant as well.

The verb here is the Qal imperfect of shâmar (שָמַר) [pronounced shaw-MAR] and it means keep, guard, watch, preserve. Strong's #8104 BDB #1036. This is a very common verb and the emphasis is not as much on obedience as on preservation. And what the Jews did for hundreds of years, for over 3 millennia prior to the printing press, is preserve the Word of God, which contains His covenants to Abraham and to the Jews in general.

At first, the Old Testament was preserved in all consonants and by its being read to the people. And then, because they would not pronounce the name Y^ehowah aloud, they realized that they had lost its true pronunciation, which was not preserved in Scripture, because they recorded only consonants. They knew what it said because they read, re-read and studied these words. However, their language was changing, and the Bible was in danger of becoming just a list of consonants that no one understood. Then they had the brilliant idea of adding vowel points. The Jews understood the value of the manuscripts that they had been preserving; they understood this to be the Word of God. They could not just fix the manuscripts by simply adding vowels into the mix, so they developed a set of vowel points, which were dots, and squiggles and short lines, placed above and below and, sometimes, in the midst of the consonants, so that the consonants remained unchanged. In fact, if you mentally blocked out all of these vowel points or covered up what is above and below the consonants, you would read the Word of God exactly as it had been recorded hundreds of years ago. So:

אתבריתיתשמר (My cvnt y wll kp) became אֶת־בְּרִיתִיתִשְמֹר (My covenant you will keep)

In this way, the scribes brilliantly preserved the words of God, just exactly how they were written originally, but added in the vowels in such a way that, they did not change the text but so that subsequent generations would know how to pronounce these words. This pointing occurred sometime between the 5^th and 10^th centuries a.d.

The preservation of God’s Word, entrusted to the Jews, is certainly something to behold. In the late 1700's, two separate lists of known Hebrew manuscripts were made, one listing 615 and the other 731. Since then, there was a discovery of some 200,000 Hebrew manuscripts in Old Cairo, Egypt (called Cairo Genipa), 10,000 of which are Biblical. These manuscripts reflect a full millennium of time (from 870–1880).

I have mentioned the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery in previous lessons, which takes us back to a pre-Christian era, around 100 b.c. As a result of these and other discoveries, today, we know of tens of thousands of Old Testament manuscripts (these are not complete manuscripts, but books and fragments of books). We do have a handful of complete Masoretic manuscripts as well. So, the Hebrews devoted themselves to preserving God’s Word, as did many other groups of people. Apart from the New Testament, no other writing has been so well-preserved.

Gen 17:9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

When God makes this contract, it is not between Abraham, his household and his seed; it is between God and Abraham; God and Abraham’s household; and between God and Abraham’s seed. God is on one side of the contract, Abraham, Abraham’s household and Abraham’s seed are on the other side of the contract. Abraham does not get to negociate this contract; this contract stands based upon the provisions which God is making, which indicates that this most closely follows the format of a suzerain-vassal contract, as God is laying down all of the provisions.

Then God tells Abraham exactly what he will do for his part of the covenant:

Gen 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.

What God requires here will require a lot of faith from Abraham. He and all of the males with him will be circumcised. The verb to circumcise is in the Niphal (passive) stem. The verb to circumcise originally meant to cut. We may have evidence of circumcision in Egypt going back to around 2300 b.c., which is only a few hundred years before these words are being said. Therefore, this may not have been the beginning of circumcision in the world (however, most archeologists who have an opinion believe that circumcision pre-dated Abraham).

God first told Abraham what He has done for him; then God tells Abraham what he will have to do. “Every male from among you will be circumcised.”

Gen 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you [all].

As an adult male, thinking about circumcision gives me the heebie jeebies. As an infant, my feelings about the matter were probably made known when it occurred. Fortunately, I have forgotten that.

Circumcision would be a sign between God and Abraham and all of his descendants (you, in this verse, is in the plural).

Why circumcision and what does it mean? God’s relationship to the Jew is going to be a familial relationship. That is, this will be a race of people who all come from Abraham; those who are his seed. Every time that Abraham urinated, he would be reminded of this covenant with God and he will be reminded that this covenant will be with Abraham’s physical descendants (those which are his seed). From time to time, throughout history, various individuals would adopt themselves into the Jewish race, and worship their God. In the Old Testament, this almost invariably would be someone who would believe in Jehovah Elohim, and therefore, be deemed righteous by imputation. The idea is, there would be a race of people who are directly related to God through Abraham’s seed.

I am related to my grandfather on my father’s side and I am related to my nephew of my youngest brother. We are genetically related. Every Jew is genetically related to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine. Mary is the mother of His humanity, and in His humanity, Jesus is physically related to every Jew who is alive today and every Jew who has ever lived (apart from those who became Jews by choice, and even some of them are still related to Jesus, like Rahab the prostitute).

So, every time, Abraham urinated, he would see his circumcised penis and be reminded that God has made a covenant with him and with all of his descendants. It is a familial thing.

All men are born with a sin nature. It is a part of being human. We inherit this sin nature from Adam; it is the distorter of the soul. It is the tempter of the soul. The sin nature the sign that we are fallen creatures. Circumcision, for the Jews, will be the outward sign of their relationship with God; the outward sign of their inward regeneration.

Gen 17:12a He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised.

God had a particular, familial relationship to the Jews, even though, at this point in time in Genesis 17, just what that means and how it will come to pass is unclear. However, just add this to the “lucky guesses” found in Genesis—God establishes here that there will be a familial relationship between Abraham and his descendants and God. That relationship will be developed more fully in prophecy and then it will come to pass in time. Genesis is often called the book of beginnings and the seeds of the most fundamental and important doctrines are found in this book. This is one of them—that the Jews have a familial relationship with God.

Many of those genealogies that you see in the Bible take us from Abraham to the humanity of Jesus Christ. Again, this is the concept of progressive revelation. The seeds are all planted in Genesis, and, as we move through the Bible, are revealed with greater and great depth.

In this lesson, we will see exactly what circumcision signifies. Circumcision is a picture of regeneration. The basis of the Jewish race is regeneration; that is, they believe in Jehovah Elohim and they are regenerated (born again) and made righteous.

One of the things that Christians may find confusing is the fact that there is an actual genetic relationship between Jews and Jesus; but that the true relationship between Jews and Jesus is their exercising faith in Him so that they are regenerated (in the Old Testament, this was exercising faith in Y^ehowah Elohim). This is actually a clearer issue for believers in the Church Age—we are not Jews, so we are not genetically related to Jesus Christ (except in the sense of being human). However, we are adopted into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul will spend an entire chapter of Romans discussing these issues, a study which we will insert into this Genesis series (in 10 or so lessons).

Gen 17:12a He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations,...

A question that some might have is, why are males circumcised only; why is there no circumcision for women? This is because, it is through the man that the sin nature is passed. Men and women are both born with sin natures, but the sin nature is passed down from the man to his children, both males and females. However, only his sons will pass along the sin nature to their children. This is why Jesus is known as the Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15). This is why there is the virgin birth (Isa. 7:14 Matt. 1:23). This is why the Coniah curse (which curse represents the sin nature) is so closely tied to two lines of Christ and why one line—the line to Joseph—was cursed (Jer. 22:24, 30). God does not simply devise a miracle because it is way cool; the virgin birth is necessary. Jesus cannot be born without a sin nature unless there is no male involved. Therefore, only males are circumcised, as this represents regeneration, a cutting away and a removal of the old nature.

Being born again means that we can now have a relationship with God through the human spirit. However, in order for that to occur, the sin nature must be shut down temporarily. This is what it means to be in fellowship. The body, soul and spirit are all functioning; and the sin nature is set aside or momentarily shut down. When we sin, the spirit is shut down temporarily; our temporal relationship with God is shut down (we are out of fellowship), and our sin nature is in control again. The mechanics are simple and have been covered before: we name our sins to God, and our fellowship is restored; we sin, and we are out of fellowship. Although we have studied that in numerous places, most recently this was found in the doctrine The Spiritual Life Implied and Stated so far in the Book of Genesis.

The difference between the man and the woman goes back to original sin. The woman was deceived when she sinned; the man knew exactly what he was doing when he sinned. He could choose between his woman outside of the garden or God inside of the garden, and he chose the woman. Because the man knowingly violated the one prohibition that God set up to test man’s volition, the sin nature is passed down through the man.

Therefore, the virgin birth is not just some parlor trick, but absolutely necessary to the incarnation. In order for someone to be born without a sin nature, they must be born apart from a man’s genetic contribution, because with that contribution comes the sin nature. Since Jesus is virgin-born, He is born without a sin nature. This is why the Bible is very careful to record the two lines of our Lord: the legal line, in which is the Coniah curse (the sin nature) which goes to Joseph (Matt. 1); and the biological line which goes through Mary (Luke 3:23–38).

Gen 17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,

The faith of the Jews was to be evangelistic. We tend to think of Christianity as evangelical, but not the faith of the Jews (the correct understanding of their faith). The Jews had an outreach mission to the nations around them. We find this illustrated in the Book of Jonah, where Jonah goes to Nineveh and evangelizes the Assyrians there (if Jonah had his druthers, he would have preferred to watch God destroy these Assyrians).

I like the New Living Translation of v. 12: From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. Although the New Living Translation does not give a careful word-for-word translation, it sometimes conveys an accurate understanding not quite found in the careful word-for-word translations. If you are looking for a very readable Bible, I found the New Living Translation to be among the best.

Let’s look at the latter half of v. 12 combined with v. 13:

Gen 17:12b–13 Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Regeneration is designed for all mankind. God worked through the nation Israel then much as God works through certain nations today (e.g., the United States, South Korea) to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Some men were sent out (like Jonah) and some people gravitated toward Israel (like Ruth the Moabite or the Queen of Sheba) and some became a part of Israel through slavery.

At this particular point in time, there is no Israel; there is Abraham, the father of the Jews, and God has appeared to him again to restate His covenant with Abraham and to add the circumcision clause.

Foreigners brought into the nation Israel, whether of their own accord (like Ruth) or those taken in slavery, were to become a part of this covenant that God was making with Abraham. As we will find out, every man in Abraham’s camp would be circumcised. God’s identification with his people was to be cut into their flesh.

Circumcision was the ritual. The act and affects of circumcision are real and they last a lifetime; just as regeneration is real and it lasts forever. You cannot be un-circumcised (going from circumcision to uncircumcision) just as you cannot be un-regenerated. Once you have trusted in Jesus Christ—an act which takes a few moments—you are forever regenerated; you are forever saved.

What God is doing is establishing a new race of people. Up until now, men were descended from Shem, Ham or Japheth, and there were essentially 3 races of people. God herein will establish a new race, the Jewish race, whose foundation will be regeneration.

Therefore, what we have is all of these people scattered all over the earth; but there is this one group of people who have been regenerated, born again. These people have the potential of having fellowship with God. God has given them a sign—the sign of circumcision, which differentiates them from other peoples. Again, no one could look and see if you are circumcised, under normal conditions, just as no one can look at you and superficially determine whether or not you have been born again.

Although we do not have the word Jew yet, we do have the word Hebrew, by which this new people will be known. Abraham was called a Hebrew in Gen. 14:13, and that designation comes down to us even today (although our pronunciation is quite different).

Gen 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people [lit., her peoples]; he has broken My covenant."

Such a person has chosen to ignore the commands of God, which are a ritual to teach regeneration (in this instance). In most cases, this would be the fault of the parents who do not see their relationship to God as being important or defining. If the parents do not have their male children circumcised, this simply indicates that they do not see themselves as being a part of the Abrahamic covenant. A parent who did not see himself as related to God would certainly not teach his children about Y^ehowah Elohim; so, his children would not be regenerated either.

Let me draw your attention to the phrase his people; this is a masculine plural noun with a 3^rd person feminine singular suffix; so, even though your Bible reads his people, it should read her peoples. Any time that we find a feminine singular suffix, then we need to figure out, to what does it refer? The closest feminine singular noun is covenant. So, we are talking about the peoples of the covenant here. This covenant is this agreement or contract between God and Abraham. What God has done here is bind those who come after Abraham, for many generations, to this covenant. This was first made clear in v. 7: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and [between Me and] your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you.” One portion of this covenant now included circumcision.

The plural of people is also interesting. The singular form of this word is ʿam (עַם) [pronounced ģahm], which means, people; race, tribe; family, relatives; citizens, common people; companions, servants; entire human race; herd [of animals]. Strong’s #5971 BDB #766. When found in the singular, ʿam is often refers to Israel (Isa. 62:12 63:18 Dan. 8:24 12:7) or to a particular non-Israeli people (Ex. 21:8 Deut. 28:32 Ezek. 3:5). It can even stand for Israel and for Gentiles in the very same context (Deut. 28:9–10). In the plural, the word is ʿammîym (עַמִּים) [pronounced ģahm-MEEM], which means, peoples, nations; tribes [of Israel]; relatives of anyone. In general, when in the plural, 99% of the time it stands for Gentile nations (Deut. 4:19, 27 6:14 13:7) or for all nations of the earth (Deut. 7:6 32:8). I mention this because it is odd to find it here with regards to the covenant. We tend to think of this covenant as being between God and Abraham and between God and Abraham’s descendants, as it says here. However, this covenant of relationship, this covenant of rebirth, will be extended to many peoples and countries.

We find this in many passages, such as Acts 13:47–48 For so the Lord has commanded us, "I have set You for a Light of nations, that You be for salvation to the end of the earth." [Isa. 49:6] And hearing, the nations rejoiced and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And Paul to King Agrippa said, "Having obtained, therefore, help from God to this day testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the Prophets and Moshe said was going to occur; that the Messiah was to suffer, and by His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the people [Israel] and to the [gentile] nations." (Acts 26:22–23).

So God knew that His covenant would be with all believers in the earth, with both gentiles and Jews. And so there is no mistake, this is not covenant theology; this is simply the proclaiming of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jew first and then to the gentiles (Rom. 1:16). So the peoples of the covenant would not just be Abraham’s seed (in which case, people would be in the singular), but this covenant was offered to all men from all nations.

This translation would help to explain her peoples.

Gen 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from the peoples of the covenant; he has violated [or, made ineffectual] My covenant."

Let’s pull this altogether. Circumcision refers to Abraham’s sexual regeneration which speaks of his spiritual regeneration. So, in order to remain a part of this covenant, men had to be circumcised, which means they must be regenerated. No man has a relationship with God apart from being spiritually regenerated; or, as Jesus said, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7b). What we find in Genesis sets the stage for all that will follow in the Bible. Genesis is the foundation for our spiritual lives and for all truth. And this covenant of relationship, this covenant of regeneration, is offered to all peoples of the earth.

Again, I do not want you to think that this is covenant theology. Covenant theology teaches that the Jews were so bad and so rebellious that God just tossed them aside and presented His gospel to the gentiles instead, and that all of His promises made to the Jews were “spiritualized” and transferred over to the church. There are several problems with this approach. First, it suggests that God was unable to look down the corridors of time and realize that the Jews would not only reject His Son, but crucify Him. However, Isa 53:3 indicates that none of this caught God off guard: He was despised and rejected by people, One Who experienced pain and was acquainted with weakness; people hid their faces from Him; He was despised, and we considered Him insignificant. So God knew what was going to happen and this was a part of His plan.

There are specific covenants made to Jews only. To the Jew specifically is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises (Rom. 9:4b). With respect to the Jews, the covenant with Abraham (and with others to follow) pertains to a specific geographical area. However, to all people, whether in the Church Age or in the Age of Israel, there is the covenant of regeneration and relationship. The covenant of regeneration is, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7b). The covenant of relationship is, You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26).

Again, all of God’s rituals had great meaning, and this meaning—that circumcision represents regeneration—would be preserved as long as the ritual was continued.

My point in all of this is that Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from the peoples of the covenant; he has violated [or, made ineffectual] My covenant;" is consistent with the rest of the Bible, with both the Old and New Testaments. Circumcision is being established at this point as a sign of regeneration and as a sign of relationship with God. It is a ritual which has meaning, which meaning was previously discussed in great detail.

Gen 17:15 And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. has always taught that Sarai means contentious, bitch; and that Sarah means princess. However, I have been unable to confirm this for the name Sarai. Many times in the Hebrew, proper nouns are identical to specific words or it is clear that they come from specific words. Not so with Sarai. Sâray (שָׂרַי) [pronounced saw-RAY or saw-RAH-ee] is possibly taken from the noun sar, which means prince, leader, commander. The yodh ending is then taken as the 1^st person masculine singular suffix, so that gives us my prince, my leader, my commander. Although a lexicon with feminize this and say it is my princess, there is no feminine ending to her name. When her name becomes Sarah, that hê ending “feminizes” her name in the Hebrew.

I want you to think back on two incidents. Sarai told Abraham that he needed to have sex with her personal servant, Hagar. Abraham obeyed her. Later, she was pissy about Hagar and her pregnancy, and she was mad at Abraham for having impregnated her. So, Abraham finally says, “Look, you do whatever you want with her; she is your servant girl.” So twice, Abraham is recorded as taking orders from Sarai; and both times, this obedience on Abraham’s part was clearly a mistake. In this way, Sarai was acting as Abraham’s prince or leader. So, had Abraham said, “She is your servant girl, Sarai; do whatever you want with her;” he would be essentially saying, “She is your servant girl, my leader [my prince]; do whatever you want with her.”

However, if Sarai’s name is now Sarah, then Abraham no longer calls her my prince but he calls her princess. God has feminized this woman. And what is more feminine than having a child?

Now let’s look at this piece by piece:

Gen 17:15a And God said to Abraham, “Sarai, your wife—you will no longer call her name Sarai;... Now God speaks to Abraham about Sarai, his wife (or, woman). The negation along with the imperfect tense of a verb can be reasonably translated no longer. So, for 30 or 40 years—however, long Abraham has known Sarai, he has known her by the name Sarai (my prince). Yet, at this point in time, both Abram and Sarai will have new names: Abraham and Sarah, by which they will be known forever more.

The new names both mean something and they represent their rebirth; God has added to their name just as He has added human spirits to their persons. Sarah and Abraham have been regenerated for awhile; they have had human spirits for awhile now; but the beginning of the fulfillment of the promises will now begin to kick in for these people with new names. Their relationship with God will no longer be some promise off in the future, but these promises will begin to be fulfilled.

Gen 17:15b...because Sarah [is] her name. Nowhere does God say, “Her new name is Sarah” or “I have renamed her Sarah.” This simply reads, “Because Sarah [is] her name.” This strikes me as being interesting, so let me offer up a theory. We are known, generally, by the name the our parents gave us: Charley Brown. However, God “remembers” us in a different way. There are very likely people in the Bible who had one name at birth, but, without fanfare or even a mention, are given a different name in the Bible. That is, God the Holy Spirit recalls a person by a slightly different name. Although this is not a great example, few of us think back on President Roosevelt (the second Roosevelt president) by his full name. Most of us know him by FDR. Even though these are simply the initials of his name, it is how many people recall him. That may be the case for many names in the Bible. Some are renamed so that we know about it (Abraham, Sarah, Peter and Paul), but it is very likely that some people were given a different name in Scripture because God wanted us to remember them with that name and what the name signified. So, from time to time, we are going to come across this or that old Bible guy, and it will appear that his name is very apt. From what happens in his life, we may think to ourselves, “this name makes a lot of sense; he does act just like a Charley Brown.” That is probably because God the Holy Spirit chose for the writer of that portion of Scripture to give him a more descriptive name, often one that is a play on his given name from birth.

I state this with some hesitancy: Abram and Sarai are their names as unregenerated; and Abraham and Sarah are their names as having been born again. As they are born again, they are given new names for the Kingdom of God, just as a child is given a name when he (or she) is born. Again, these new names did not come at the same time as their rebirth; but the new names come with the circumcision (which signifies the new birth) and with the pregnancy of Sarah, which indicates the beginning of the fulfillment of promises to both of them. Now, I said that I state this with hesitancy, because it is not your job or your pastor’s job to think of a new name for you.

Their new names have a significance; and what was significant in your new birth was, God regenerated you; God formed or made alive the human spirit within you, which allows you to store information about Him and allows you communion with Him. That human spirit is the target for Bible doctrine; that human spirit is the target for divine truth. Through the accumulation of doctrine in your human spirit, you begin to know and understand God, as well as His plan for you.

What believers too often do is, at salvation, they find some incident or set of incidents in the Bible, and then they copy these incidents. Just like this renaming of Abram and Sarai. They read that and decide, “My name should not longer be Charley Brown; it should be Charlemagne!” Now, has God come to you and renamed you? Are you either 99 or 100 years old and you and your spouse have no children and God will bless you with children now? Has God given promises to you that a new race of people will come from you? So you are not really copying what has happened here. You are just lifting some superficiality out of context and doing that. Now, quite obviously, there are not many churches that do this. I am aware of one cult which, as far as I know, is pretty much dead now. I mention this because this is an unemotional topic for you. You can look at this and recognize that, giving yourself a new name or having some spiritual leader rename you is obviously not something that you need to do in order to make your Christian walk a little bit better. You recognize that simply copying this incident is sort of silly.

The Bible is filled with mandates. The Bible is filled with things that God tells us to do or not to do as believers (there is even guidance for unbelievers). Copying a portion of some set of circumstances in the Bible as best as you can is not the spiritual life. In some cases, it is lunacy.

Therefore, let’s first see what Abraham was actually responsible for, according to the Word of God:

The Covenants of God (graphic); from Slide Share; accessed May 28, 2015.