When Ishmael was about to stop being a boy and become a man (at age 13 in Hebrew culture), God again spoke to Abram to confirm his promise. At that time he pointed out to Abram that the promise would not come through Ishmael, but through a son his wife Sarai would bare (as we will later see).
(Genesis 17:1-2) 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, (2) that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply
you greatly."
This time, God introduced himself with a new name:
GOD ALMIGHTY (Hebrew El Shaddai).
The Lord wanted Abram to know that He can do ALL
things, since he was about to promise him something that seems impossible: he
would have a son with Sarai, who not only was barren but also advanced in
years.
GOD’S REQUEST
The Lord once again confirms his Covenant: he would
give Abram descendants and land. However, this time the Lord makes a request: ‘walk before me, and be blameless” (17:1).
“Perfect” is translated from the Hebrew “Tamim”.
It may also be translated: whole, complete, upright, without blemish, without
fault, sincere, true.
God did not request Abram to be upright “before” he
made the Covenant. Rather, he made him fall into a deep sleep during the
“Covenant between the parts”. All he had to do was to believe in God. However,
from this moment forward God expects him to live according to the covenant and
to seek perfection before God.
This is the same thing that God expects from us
today. The Lord does not demand us to have a perfect past in order to establish
a relationship with us. Even being sinners he loved us and saved us (Romans
5:8). However, once we recognize him as our Lord and Savior, he expects us to
walk in integrity from that moment forward.
CONFIRMED COVENANT
God again confirms the covenant he had already made
with Abram, but he adds a few elements:
I. He would make him the father of a multitude
of nations
(Genesis 17:3-5) Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to
him, (4)
"Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a
multitude of nations. (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.
Abram means: “exalted father”. But God changes his
name to Abraham (from the Hebrew words Av: father + Hamon:
many).
II. Among his descendants there will be Kings.
(Genesis 17:6) I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I
will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
III. Jehovah will be his God and the God of his
descendants.
(Genesis 17:7) 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.
IV. He will possess the land of Canaan
(Genesis 17:8) And I will give to you and to your offspring
after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan
…this is what God was promising Abraham.
As for Abraham, this is what God expected from him…
(Genesis 17:9-14) 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. (11) You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your
foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. (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, (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. (14) Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my
covenant."
Circumcision is what God requested from Abraham and
his descendants as a sign of the covenant. If we think about it, the request of
this sign was something strange, since signs are usually meant to be visible to
all, but in this case it was to be something private, that only they could see.
This makes us deduce that the sign was to be a reminder for the person himself.
On the other hand, God requested the sign to be the
circumcision because it is related to man’s seed, to his descendants. The
Covenant would not only be with Abraham, but with his descendants. It is a
“multigenerational covenant” that would be transmitted as an inheritance from
generation to generation. Circumcision is a reminder that God promised that
through his seed all the families of the Earth would be blessed.
(Genesis 12:3) …and in you all
the families of the earth shall be blessed.
(Genesis 26:4) I
will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your
offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed.
Abraham and his descendants now had a “commitment”
with God. Jehovah would be their God, and they would be his people. They would wear
the sign of circumcision, just like a married man wears his engagement ring.
(Deuteronomy 30:5-6) And the LORD your God will bring you into the
land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and
numerous than your fathers. (6) And the LORD your God will circumcise your
heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Circumcision is not the covenant, but simply a sign
of the covenant. It is the sign of the covenant in which God promised Abraham
to give him a seed, and that seed would become a blessing to the entire world.
Paul explains that this promised seed is Christ. Jesus is Abraham’s descendant,
who brings blessing to the world.
Could gentiles participate of the promise made to
Abraham, or only the circumcised? Paul clearly explains this…
(Romans 4:9-13) Is this blessing then only for the
circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to
Abraham as righteousness. (10) How then was it counted to him? Was it before
or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was
circumcised. (11) He received the sign of circumcision as a
seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being
circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, (12)
and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely
circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father
Abraham had before he was circumcised.
(13) For the promise to Abraham
and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the
law but through the righteousness of faith.
(Ephesians 2:11-14) Therefore remember that at one time you
Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called
the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- (12)
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
(13) But now in Christ Jesus you
who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (14)
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken
down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Paul explains that those of us who are not a part of
that lineage don’t need to be circumcised. However, God expects us to
circumcise our HEART.
(Romans 2:25-29) For circumcision indeed is of value if you
obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes
uncircumcision. (26) So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the
precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as
circumcision? (27) Then he who is physically uncircumcised but
keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but
break the law. (28) For no one is a Jew who is merely one
outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. (29)
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by
the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
(Galatians 5:6) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
As soon as God told him to do it Abraham obeyed and
circumcised himself and his entire household.
(Genesis 17:22-27) When he had finished talking with him, God
went up from Abraham. (23) Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all
those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of
Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day,
as God had said to him. (24) Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
(25) And Ishmael his son was
thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (26)
That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. (27)
And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought
with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
They were all circumcised at an advanced age. But
from that day forward, their children would be circumcised when they were eight
days old (17:10-12).
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