Lesson 14: Genesis 17

Chapter 17 begins with a chronological marker: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old”. Twenty four years had elapsed since Abram heeded God’s call to journey to Canaan (Genesis 12.4) and approximately fourteen years had elapsed since the Lord made a covenant with this man of faith (Genesis 15.18; cf. 16.3). However, recall that on that occasion it was only the Lord who passed between the covenant offerings (Genesis 15.17). And while Abram met the covenant requirement of faith (Genesis 15.6), he still needed to fully enter the covenant. That is what occurs in chapter 17.

Notes From The Text

Vss. 1-14, The Covenant & Circumcision

• Vs. 1
  • We are not told why God waited 14 years to reveal the next stage of the covenant to Abram. Perhaps it was so that his faith could be tested more as we saw in chapter 16.
  • “God Almighty”, El Shaddai. Note also Genesis 28.3; 35.11; 43.14; 48.3; Exodus 6.3. “This name of God characterized the patriarchal period. It emphasized the power of God in working out his plan in the lives of his people (17:1). No obstacle whatever could stand in the way of the complete fulfillment of the word of promise.” (James E. Smith)
  • “walk before me, and be blameless” note Genesis 5.24; 6.9. While Abram’s faith was counted as righteousness (Genesis 15.6), that faith must be seen in obedience to the Lord’s will.
• Vss. 5-6, “The name Abraham suggests a fusion of the original two elements ‘Ab (father) rām (high) with part of a third: hămôn (multitude)… Materially, the promise of land is unchanged, but nations and kings come into view, and Genesis will tell of their emergence, including Midianites (25:2), Ishmaelites (25:12) and kings of Edom and of Israel (36:31). Beyond these, however, the New Testament could see the Christian multitude in the ‘many nations’ (Rom. 4:16, 17).” (Derek Kidner)
• Vss. 7-8, the word translated as “everlasting” is the Hebrew olam and refers to an indefinite period of time. That it does not necessarily mean “forever” is clear from passages such as Exodus 21.6 where “forever” refers to the length of the servant’s life. “The covenant of circumcision and the possession of the land by Abraham’s descendants were to be for an indefinite period, but not without end, as the subsequent history of the Jews will show. God’s promise about their retaining the land was based upon the faithfulness of the Israelites (e.g. see Deut.28:63-66; 29:22-28; and many other passages).” (Bob Waldron)
• Vs. 10, circumcision was a common practice in the ancient near east. “In these other ancient Near Eastern cultures, circumcision seems to have been chiefly a marriage or fertility rite, carried out either at puberty or as part of the prenuptial ceremony.” (IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament). This circumcision was differentiated by the fact that it was the means by which Abraham and his offspring entered the covenant.
• Vs. 11, note that circumcision was a “sign” of the covenant. This sign wasn’t for others, but for the participant of the covenant; it would serve as a reminder of both the blessings and obligations of the covenant. That the sign was on the male’s sexual organ was fitting given that a central promise was regarding offspring. Abraham would have this reminder that his numerous offspring were the result of God’s promise, and not his own fertility.
• Vss. 12-13, see Leviticus 12.3; note also Exodus 12.44.
• Vs. 14, Abraham’s offspring were supposed to be the covenant people of God (vss. 7,10). Thus, failure to be circumcised would result in one’s removal from the covenant people. Significantly, circumcision could also be the means by which a foreigner gained access to the covenant people (see Exodus 12.48).

Circumcision would prove to be a major stumbling block to many Jews in the New Testament (see Acts 15.1-2; Galatians 5.2-4). So, before we move on, let’s make sure we understand the place of circumcision in God’s covenant with Abraham. First, circumcision was both the entry point and the sign of the covenant (vss. 10-11). As we’ve already stated, circumcision as the “sign of the covenant” would bear witness to both God’s promised blessings in the covenant AND man’s obligations to keep the covenant. Thus, circumcision would serve as a constant reminder to Abraham to place his faith in the Lord (Genesis 15.6) and to “walk before me and be blameless” (Genesis 17.1). Significantly, Abraham was regarded as one who would “command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…” (Genesis 18.19). Thus, the circumcised offspring of the patriarch would also be under the same obligation to follow the ways of the Lord in faith. Circumcision would serve as their reminder to have the same faith as their father Abraham.

Finally, we must note what is NOT said about circumcision in this passage. First, circumcision was NOT how Abraham was found righteous; that was through faith (Genesis 15.6; Romans 4.9-12). Second, note that there is no mention in this chapter of God’s promise to bless all families through Abraham (Genesis 12.3). That promise was NOT tied to circumcision.

Vss. 15-21, Isaac’s Birth Foretold

• Vs. 15, both Sarai and Sarah mean “princess”. It would seem that God changes her name as the same time as Abram (vs. 5) to emphasize that she would also be part of His promise.
• Vs. 17, while our attention is drawn to Abraham’s laughter, note also that the patriarch “fell on his face” in reverence (see also vs. 3). “God did not rebuke Abraham for his laughter as He later rebuked Sarah (18:13-15). Paul says that Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief (Rom. 4:18-21). We must, therefore, understand that Abraham’s laughter was not the laughter of cynical doubt, but that of delighted amazement.
• Vs. 18, it does not appear that Abraham was asking God to fulfill His promises through Ishmael rather than through a son born of Sarah. Rather, Abraham was asking what place Ishmael would have in God’s covenant. The covenant would not come through Ishmael (vs. 19), yet he would also be blessed (vs. 20).
• Vs. 19, the naming of Isaac (lit. “he laughs”) was not meant to commemorate any doubt, but rather the joy of God’s fulfilled promise.

Vss. 22-27, Abraham’s Obedience To The Covenant

• Vs. 23, note the immediacy of Abraham’s obedience; “he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day”. Even in the act of circumcision, the patriarch was demonstrating his continued faith and was proving himself to be blameless.
• Vss. 26-27 “Verses 26, 27 bring out the main emphasis of the paragraph, which is on the diversity of men, in age, status and spiritual experience, who were gathered into the one covenant. For Abraham it sealed an old transaction (Rom. 4:9–12); for others it was a sudden introduction (that very day, 26, RSV) into a bond with God and each other, whose implications must now be grasped and lived out. In the sense that Pentecost was the birthday of the church, this was the birthday of the church of the Old Testament.” (Derek Kidner)