Chapter 17

For the next 13 years (after 16:16) peace reigned in the household of Abram. God had put all of the pieces back together. Abram knew that God solved all the problems and so there is nothing more in the Old Testament about what happened during these 13 years. But there is one passage in the New Testament that tells us what happened. It was a period of great prosperity and blessing because Abram did what he should have done in the first place: he waited on the Lord. He waited 13 years, and during that 13 years the situation became more and more hopeless because he was 99 when the next passage opens, and Sarai is 90. You couldn’t get a situation more hopeless than that. They couldn’t possibly have a child—but then, that is human viewpoint! God has still promised that they will have a child, and they will have a child. But in the meantime we have 13 years, and during those 13 years what does Abram do? Romans 4 tells us: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” In other words, he had 13 years of peace because he knew that the battle was the Lord’s, and even though there was no obvious solution in 13 years he just completely rested in the Lord.

In those 13 silent years Abram grew because he believed the Word of God. God’s revelation to him was more real than his circumstances. No one ever becomes a mature believer until they arrive at this point in the operation of the faith-rest technique. You can never say that you have arrived at the place of spiritual maturity until the doctrines of the Word of God are more real to you than the hopelessness of your circumstances. You can never go around and worry and ever be a mature believer.

In the next three chapters there are three factors; Genesis 17:1-8, revelation from God. In other words, the Word of God. Your life is not what it should be unless the Word of God is first in your life; in verses 9-27, Abram’s response to the Word; chapter 18, the characteristics of fellowship with God; chapter 19, characteristics of being out of fellowship.

Verse 1 – Abram is 99 years old and at the peak of the hopelessness of his situation. Almost 100 years old and still no child from his loins through Sarai. We have the essence factor in the verse: “I am the Almighty God.” The Hebrew is El Shaddai [El = God in omnipotence; Shaddai = many breasts]. This title for God is used for many sources of help. It has the concept that we as believers are babies and need nourishment and God provides it for us. El = God has the power; Shaddai = there is no problem in life that is too difficult for God. There is no problem which comes to the believer in phase two for which God does not have a perfect solution. There never has been or will be a problem in life for which God has not made provision. Every problem in life can be solved by God.

Then we have a command factor. To get to the solutions to Abram’s problem two factors are necessary. “Walk before me” – fellowship. Stay in the bottom circle; “be thou perfect” – there is no such thing as a perfect person outside of the humanity of Christ. Wherever you find the word perfect, either in the Hebrew of the Old Testament of the Greek of the New Testament, it doesn’t mean perfect. Here the Hebrew word means “be mature.” Grow up, in other words. How is Abram going to grow up? By means of the Word. Always the Word! In order to ensure that he will grow up the Lord is going to give him some additional information in this chapter.

Verse 2 – a confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant. “I will” means that God is going to do all of the work, this was a grace covenant and an unconditional covenant. The fulfilment of this covenant depends on who and what God is, never who and what man is.

“and [I] will multiply thee exceedingly” – thee is a singular pronoun and He is talking about Abram only. ‘I am going to multiply you, you are going to have nations that are coming from you.’ All of this is said at a time when the situation is hopeless.

Verse 3 – Abram’s reaction. “And Abram fell on his face.” An appropriate posture for having heard this. Falling down indicates his own helplessness.

“and God talked with him” – Now we have some information. Abram is going to listen to the Word of God now, and that is going to cause some experiential changes.

Verses 4 & 5, a new name for Abram.

“a father of many nations” – this is simply the word Abraham. “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.” Abram means father of high and windy places; Abraham means father of many nations. Notice that he gets the name, Abraham, before he ever gets the son, Isaac.

Verses 6-8, more provisions, amplification of the Abrahamic covenant.

“for an everlasting covenant” – who is in this covenant? The word everlasting betrays it. You have to be born again to be under this covenant. Who is going to be involved in this covenant? Any Jew in the line of Abraham who has everlasting life.

“and they seed” – this doesn’t mean that every Jew is in this covenant. Any Jew who wants to get into this covenant must be born again. Thy seed refers to the born again Jew, up to the Church Age; “in their generations” – there would be many generations of Jews after Abraham’s time, and those who were born again will have this everlasting covenant.

“to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” – God the Son is only God to those who are born again Jews. He is not God to unbelieving Jews, the ones who have rejected Christ in the Old Testament.

Verse 8 – “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee [the born again Jews of the Old Testament in their generations], the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Once again God tells Abraham that those Jews who are born again will be the recipients of the Palestinian covenant—Genesis 15. In the Millennium when Christ has returned to the earth this promise will be fulfilled, all born again Jews of the Old Testament will be resurrected and will be given the land—forever: “for an everlasting possession.” To have something forever you have to have forever life.

Verses 9-27—Abraham’s response.

Verse 9 – the word keep here means to be guarding something: “Thou shalt guard my covenant.” It means to preserve it from the infiltration of false doctrine, to protect it from the infiltration of legalism. In other words, Abraham and his progeny would become the custodians of the covenants to Israel and, in effect, the entire Old Testament scriptures. They would protect the word of God and guard it, and the best way to protect the Word of God is to teach it. The best defence of the Word of God is the teaching of the Word of God. You don’t have to explain the Word of God in terms of scientific phenomena and historical speculation, and all of the other activities which attack the Word of God today, including liberalism. You don’t have to set up apologetics defending the Word, the best defence of the Word of God is the teaching of the Word. Let the Word speak for itself.

Verse 10 – circumcision was a dedication to teach the Word of God to the Jews. There are two kinds of circumcision: a) The circumcision of adults. This only happened once. Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised. How old was Ishmael when he was circumcised? Thirteen. b) But in this same chapter this is a command for circumcision of children, starting as of now—circumcision on the eighth day. These are two different circumcisions with two different concepts. The circumcision of Abraham is a picture of a ritual used to give testimony to one’s faith in Christ. So Abraham’s circumcision is comparable to water baptism today. It is a dedication to the perpetuation of Bible teaching, the teaching of doctrine.

Verse 15 – the principle behind this: People cannot change people. Abram has been married to Sarai for some 35 years. The day he married her, her name was Sarai and she was contentious. In 35 years he hadn’t changed his wife one bit. Any temporary changes people make on people are not only temporary but have no orientation to life. Sarai was Sarai until the Word of God changed her. Only the Word can change people. The changes are stable and permanent. There is a mechanic for changing people as far as the Word is concerned. No one is subject to changes which are described in the Word of God until first of all they are born again.

Verses 16 & 17, Sarai (contentious) becomes Sarah (princess). Verses 16 is a wonderful promise from God, but notice how Abraham responds. “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed.” In other words, he laughed so loud he couldn’t stand up. There are two changes that are going to be made: 1. She is no longer going to be contentious; 2. She has been past the menopause for many years but God is going to allow her to have a child.

Part of this laughter is the laugh of relief. No longer is Abraham going to be nagged. More than that, Abraham has wanted more than anything else to have a son from his own loins by Sarai, now Sarah. Now this woman who is 90 years old is going to be in effect a young woman again. God is going to give her back her youth and the organs of reproduction even though she is of such an age. All of this causes Abraham to laugh.

“said in his heart” – the heart is the mind. This was not a laugh of mockery, not a cynical laugh. This was the laughter of great relief. God had made the promise clear and therefore, if anything, this might be called the laugh of faith in the sense that the laughter releases the tensions that have existed through the elapse of time and the fact that the promise has not been fulfilled. The Hebrew word for laughter is Isaac.

Verse 18 – Abraham’s prayer. Ishmael is now 13 years old and the apple of his father’s eye, and Abraham wants Ishmael to be that heir. This prayer is not according to the will of God and will not be answered as such. Prayers offered contrary to the Word of God are never answered.

Verse 19 – God’s answer. “…thou shalt call his name Isaac [laughter]: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant…” Ishmael could never be the heir, he will never be saved. God knew this in eternity past. The line must go down through Isaac.

Verse 20 – “…and I will make him a great nation.” He is the father of the Arabic nations, but he is not the heir of Abraham.

Verse 22 – this is God the Son who is always the manifest person of the Godhead. “… left off talking” means that there is a time for everything in life. There must be a time for the Word, a time for prayer, a time to look at life from the divine viewpoint. But notice that Jesus Christ did not stay with him every minute, there were times for other things as well.

Verses 23-27, the fulfilment of the rite of circumcision, or Abraham’s obedience.