Chapter 17
2021 - Thirteen years pass between the end of 16 and the beginning of 17. Abram is now 99 years old.
God speaks of a covenant with Abraham. This is the fourth time a covenant is declared. This verse:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, [Gen 17:1 ESV]
"God Almighty" is the translation of "El Shaddai". Jehovah appears to Abram, so in some manner, Abram "sees" a representation of El Shaddai.
2024 - There is a margin note in NASB that references God Almighty. This is the term El Shaddai as transliterated. The margin note says Shaddai means, literally, "complete, perfect, or having integrity". Those seem a lot different to me than Almighty. BLB, however, doesn't list those three as meanings for Shaddai. In fact, the BLB definitions and references are confusing even to try and read. I think Almighty and all powerful tend to imply physical strength, like the mightiest general. The other three terms all apply to non-physical concepts. I just think we need to think of almighty here in terms beyond what we humans consider to be supremely mighty. It goes further than anything we can "evaluate" about God.
This happens when Abram is 99. His only son, now about 13, is still Ishmael. God changes his name to Abraham. God tells him he will be the father of many nations. God promises real estate to Abraham and to all his offspring after him. He gives them Canaan for an everlasting possession. The verses are as follows:
4 "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [Gen 17:4 ESV]
Notice the tense in this verse. A covenant exists already. MSB notes say it is a unilateral covenant in that God will keep it and make it so, no matter what. However, it does not say that the covenant requires nothing at all of Abraham or his descendants. Even if they fail, God will keep his promises, but there will be responsibilities. I had not seen or thought about this before. But note the end of verse one. Be blameless before me. Surely that is a command, and then verse 2 continues the thought with "that I may..." So God clearly implies that Abraham should remain faithful to God so that God - in justice - can fulfill his promises. God will not be unjust. And that is why, when Israel strays so very far away, God blinds them and cuts them off from Him for the church/Gentile age, yet will bring them all home as the end times begin.
2026 - In simple terms, I think this Chapter 17 promise is the first conditional that has been given to Abram. I think this condition was previously implied but not stated. The name change is also significant and should alert us that what is going on here between God and Abraham is different than what went on between God and Abram. Here is a verse that seems key to this:
4 "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [Gen 17:4 ESV].
He had been promised descendants...but had he been promised whole nations before? I don't think so, and I don't think God had previously given a hint of choosing a people - a nation - for his own. He had previously only promised countless offspring to Abram. Now he promises a forever nation and people to him, conditionally. He changes Abram's name an implements circumcision - to separate his people physically from all others. To identify precisely the descendants of Abraham. And here it is...precisely stated in vs 5:
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. [Gen 17:5 ESV]. No longer just a father of children, but a father of many nations. This was the covenant with conditions. While the children still receive the land without condition, the nations that follow will receive conditional treatment based on their own behavior. Here is the explanation for why, in the OT, God lets Israel be overrun by invaders, experience famine and pestilence, even though some people in the nation still obey him. God is dealing with this covenant from Genesis 17, NOT the unconditional "this will be your land" promises that came before it.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." [Gen 17:6-8 ESV]
This part is still future. This covenant is to be forever.
Abram means "exalted father". Abraham means "father of a multitude".
Then He says:
9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 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. [Gen 17:9-10 ESV]
This is a requirement of participation in the Abrahamic covenant. Every male, whether born at home or bought and brought home from somewhere else, must be circumcised. If he is not circumcised, he is cut off from his people, he has broken the covenant. This is not a requirement of Gentiles. Our door to God is through the New Covenant, in Christ. Note also this:
13 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. [Gen 17:13 ESV] This is God's covenant in the flesh of man. So we might say this is about the body, this about the externals, this is about how you behave, what you eat and so on. The spiritual part of this, what you think in your mind, does not seem to be emphasized at all. That part - the underlying part - is revealed only in the New Testament. It is a small little phrase stuck onto the end of a verse seemingly about something else, but it is of crucial importance in understanding God's agreement with Abraham, and understanding the underlying foundation of the requirements of the Law. The Law was an external extension of this external covenant in the flesh.
2026 - We need to view circumcision as a covenantal condition. It was that big a deal.
So this is different. Or seems to be. There were never any conditions mentioned the previous three times God has spoken of a covenant with Abraham. God has protected and enriched Abraham up to this point. So is this condition a further revealing of the details of the covenant or is this a new and separate covenant? Were the first promises made to Abraham alone, and this covenant now details how his offspring will also be participants in the covenant? Abraham is circumcised also so it would seem to be an addition to the existing covenant.
Sarai's name changed to Sarah. God promises a son to Abraham from Sarah. Abraham laughs.
19 God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. [Gen 17:19 ESV]
So the covenant promises pass from Abraham to Isaac, and so on. But not to Ishmael. Yet Ishmael will have offspring too many to count also. Because of the previous covenants? Or a separate covenant with him? Or because of what the "Lord" said to Hagar?
Sarai means "princess". Sarah means "noblewoman".
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year." [Gen 17:20-21 ESV]
Kind of implies that Ishmael will have 12 sons. If this is so - and we will see in the next few chapters - then Ismael's 12 come a full generation before Jacob's 12 sons. Quite a head start.
2026 - Think of what is implied here. God refuses to carry out this covenant through Ishmael. The Arabs are pointedly excluded from this covenant made with the nations that descend from Abraham. BUT, Ishmael and his descendants are still covered under the unconditional promises. They are still heirs of those promises as CHILDREN of Abraham, but not as nations of Abraham. So Arab nations are not "corrected" in the OT. God never tries to bring them back into line, into obedience, nor does he seek their worship. They go their own way. They seem to get off scott free for doing worse things than Israel. They turn to idolatry without correction. They sacrifice their children without correction. This is what happens to nations not directed by God. They just go pagan in one form or another.
The circumcisions take place that very day.