Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 17:15-22”
Categories: Genesis“Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’ But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.’ When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“You shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.” (verse 15) “Thus God reveals the purposes of his good-will to his people by degrees. He had told Abraham long before that he should have a son, but never till now that he should have a son by Sarai. Sarah shall her name be — The same letter is added to her name that was to Abraham’s. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only; Sarah signifies a princess, namely, of multitudes.” (Benson’s Commentary)
“I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her.” (verse 16) Psalm 127:3 tells us, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” In the beginning when God created people after His own image, the Word says, “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28)” Finally, at the age of ninety, the Lord blessed Sarah with the ability to conceive in her body her very own child. This is nothing short of the miraculous intervention of God Almighty and not an occurrence in the ordinary course of human nature. “She shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” She became the “matriarch” of the twelve tribes of Israel, and of the nations of Israel and Judah. Her offspring produced King David, King Solomon, and all the monarchs of this dynasty, all the way up to, and most remarkably, the King of kings and Lord of lords!
“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed…” (verse 17) Verse 3 tells us that Abraham fell on His face before the Lord as well, but in the former instance it was in awe and reverence. On this occasion Abraham was staggered by the thought of a child being born to a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman. Some people think that his laughter was a positive expression of surprise and joy, while others see it as a negative expression of cynicism and incredulity. But it appears to me that it’s more of a “You gotta be kidding me!” moment. Abraham’s immediate response is to beg God to let Ishmael be the chosen one. It sounds to me like he wasn’t too jazzed about the idea of becoming a new parent as a centenarian. And quite frankly, who could blame him for that being his initial thought, feeling and response?!
“Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” (verse 18) Nahum Sarna suggests that Abraham is begging the Lord “that Ishmael might live before Your favor… Hebrew lifnei seems to have this meaning in other texts (cf. Gen. 10:9; 27:7; Hos. 6:2). Abraham fears for the life of Ishmael because God’s words appear wholly to exclude the boy from the benefits of the covenant.” The Lord goes on to comfort Abraham by promising: “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.” (verse 20) We see this promise fulfilled in Genesis 25:13-16: “And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes.”
“Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.” (verse 19) “Hebrew yitshak is a verbal form meaning ‘He laughs’… All three biblical traditions relating to the birth of Isaac (cf. 17:19; 18:12; 21:6) emphatically connect the name with human laughter. The explanation for all this is twofold. On the one hand, there is a deliberate dissociation from the pagan, mythological origin of yitshak-’el, which reflects the laughter and merriment of the gods, something entirely devoid of moral and historical significance. On the other hand, the laughter of God in the Bible, by contrast, invariably expresses His reaction to the ludicrous attempts of men to act independently of His will and in defiance of it (Pss. 2:4; 37:13; 59:9). The repeated laughter of humans in connection with the birth of Isaac is, in a sense, the inverse of God’s laughter, for it is a questioning of divine sovereignty (cf. 18:14). The person of Isaac, therefore, represents the triumph of the power of God over the limitations of nature. No wonder he receives his name from God Himself.” (Nahum Sarna)
“But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” (verse 21) Now that is a much more specific promise and prophecy, and one with a definitive target date. James Burton Coffman observed: “For the first time, God set the time when the son would be born. We may wonder why God made Abraham wait such a long time for the fulfillment of the glorious promise; but it was absolutely imperative that the father of the Chosen People should truly believe God and know of a certainty that God's promises would be fulfilled, no matter how impossible and unreasonable they might have seemed from the human standpoint. ‘God fulfills his promises, not because they are reasonable by human standards, but because God is God, and His Word is true and absolutely reliable.’”
“When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.” (verse 22) Indicating that God had come down from heaven to talk to him. The Lord God Almighty condescends to His lowly creation in love and mercy and compassion! Please do not feel excluded from the Lord’s care and reach. He did this as much for you as He did it for Abraham! “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) He condescended ever so personally and perfectly in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ! “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! When at the cross the Savior made me whole! My sins were washed away! And my night was turned day! Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!” God sees! God knows! God saves! God loves YOU!
Please read Genesis 17:23-27 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
