Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 17:1-8”
Categories: Genesis“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.' Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 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. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'”
---End of Scripture verses---
Verses 1-8 constitute a confirmation of the previous covenant that God had previously made with Abraham. Nahum Sarna observed: “Sarai's desperate stratagem has failed. Thirteen more years pass, and God's promises still remain unfulfilled. We learn nothing of Abram's activities during the intervening period. The biblical Narrator focuses solely on those events that bear upon the destiny of the nation yet to be born. Suddenly Abram receives a series of divine communications that not only reaffirm the assurances of posterity and national territory but also broaden their scope and add a note of specificity.”
“The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty.'” (verse 1) The Hebrew name for “God Almighty” is “El Shaddai”. “Scholars agree that the exact meaning of [~'El] [~Shadday], from which these words are derived, is 'uncertain'; but 'The Almighty' is the best translation available. The same name for God is used six times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job. Keil has an excellent explanation of the meaning: 'It belonged to the sphere of salvation, forming one element in the manifestation of Jehovah, the covenant God, as possessing the power to realize His promises, even when the order of nature presented no prospect of their fulfillment, and the powers of nature were insufficient to secure it.'”
Ellicott commented: “The word is Archaic, but there is no doubt that it means strong so as to overpower.” Benson's Commentary added about the meaning of El Shaddai: “Our old English translation reads it here, very significantly. 'I am God all-sufficient.' The God with whom we have to do is self-sufficient; he hath every thing, and he needs not any thing. And he is enough to us, if we be in covenant with him; we have all in him, and we have enough in him; enough to satisfy our most enlarged desires; enough to supply the defect of every thing else, and to secure us happiness for our immortal souls.”
“Walk before Me, and be blameless.” (verse 1) While the Lord is God Almighty, the all-sufficient One who is “strong so as to overpower,” a covenant with Him is always a two-way street. God always attaches expectations and requirements to His promises, and one thing He demanded of Abraham was that he “walk before” the Lord and “be blameless”. He certainly expects no less of you and me in our covenant with Christ today. To “walk before” God is to walk in all His ways in absolute loyalty and obedience as toward the Supreme Sovereign of all the Universe. It is to have a continual regard for His commands and to give Him first thought and consideration in all that we do. When we intentionally and lovingly align our lives with God's desires and directives, we walk as closely to a 'blameless” or “perfect” life as is humanly possible.
“I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” (verse 2) It had been nearly 25 years since the Lord had called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and now, a quarter of a century later, the Lord's perfect timing had finally arrived to bless Abram and Sarai with the fulfillment of the promised son of the covenant. Abram had experienced a variety of changes and a host of ups and downs, but the one, true constant in his life was the always dependable, never changing Almighty God. “Abram fell on his face” (verse 3), overtaken by utter awe and humble submission to God Almighty. The realization and visualization of God Almighty reigning supremely upon His throne in heaven should have the capacity to drive our faces to the ground in lowliness, reverence and adoration.
“You will be the father of a multitude of nations.” (verse 4) “In the narrow sense, the reference may be to the Ishmaelites, Edomites, Midianites, and several other peoples descended from Abraham, according to the genealogical lists of Genesis 25 and 36. However, the phrase has a more universal application in that a larger segment of humanity looks upon Abraham as its spiritual father.” (Nahum Sarna) James Burton Coffman made a similar observation: “The fulfillment of this might not lie merely in the nations and kings that descended lineally from Abraham, for if we should view the one nation of secular Israel as the one primarily descended from Abraham, then the 'multitude of nations,' enlarged in the spiritual sense, would include all the hosts of Christianity throughout the ages. Keil advocated this view and thought that Paul had this in mind when he declared, that Abraham received the promise that, 'he should be heir to the world' (Romans 4:13).”
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.” (verse 5) The name “Abram” is generally taken to mean “exalted father,” or “high father” and “Abraham” to mean “father of a multitude.” From this verse forward, the extended, God-given name, Abraham, is used. Names are very significant, and they are always deeply meaningful to the one who gives the name. Remember that great and holy name by which we were called and that we wear, and cherish it as a sacred reminder of the perfect One who purchased us with His own blood and life. “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” (1 Peter 4:15-16)
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” (verses 6-7) Of course the great "King of kings" came forth from Abraham and He was the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy and all the eternal promises extended to mankind through the great forefather of the faithful. “The great purpose of this covenant was the delivery of the Messiah to redeem all mankind, and that aspect of it was indeed eternal. However, the land promise, mentioned a little later, was contingent, absolutely, upon Israel's keeping the terms of the covenant and continuing to walk before God and submitting to His government.” (James Burton Coffman)
“I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” “All of God's commands are conditions, and failure to obey is forfeiture of every blessing mentioned in connection with the commands... Willis pointed out that 'Everlasting here does not mean endless time, but a relatively long period of time.' Whatever the meaning of everlasting, Israel forfeited the promise in its entirety by rebelling against God and becoming 'worse than Sodom and Gomorrah' (Ezekiel 16:48). Israel followed in the way of the pre-Israelite paganism of Canaan and became, in fact, just as wicked as the old Canaanites whom God had expelled in order to bring them into the land. And, when Israel themselves became merely another generation of Canaanites, God threw them out of the land and moved the whole nation into captivity. That marked the end of 'the land promise' as far as it concerned the fleshly descendants of Abraham... 'When Abraham's descendants broke their relationship to God by their disobedience, they thereby forfeited the temporal blessings.'” (James Burton Coffman)
Please read Genesis 17:9-14 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
