Genesis 17. Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

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, 

• אֵל שַׁדַּי El Shaddai – God Almighty
• This takes place 13 years after God’s last appearance with Abram

“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…”

Genesis 17:1b

² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 

• Why does God wait until Abraham is 99? Maybe to emphasize trusting in Him…and of course makes for an important Biblical lesson today
• Does Abraham have the most direct appearances with God in the Bible?

³ 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.

• אַבְרָהָם (Avraham) -means Father of multitude and שָׂרָה (Sarah) means princess. Both names just added a hey (ה- h sound) which is traditionally the letter associated with God’s presence

 ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 

• There are 11 “I will” statements from God in this chapter

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.”

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. 

• Circumcision was not an unknown practice at the time

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.

• Some have noted that newborns experience a rise in vitamin K–dependent clotting factors during the first week of life, making 8 days safer than right after birth.

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 –A question has always been why was mutilation a part of God’s covenant? Some theologians say it is an act of both judgment and grace (Abram’s sin but also the fruitfulness of the covenant).
• Ultimately in Deuteronomy 10:16 and Jeremiah 4:4 It says “Circumcise your hearts.” meaning to be responsive to God, and Galatians 5:6 says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Isaac’s Birth Promised

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 

• Abraham laughed first (17:17), then Sarah laughed (18:12).

¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 

• Why did Abraham not want a child with Sarah in this moment?

¹⁹ God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.

• Isaac: יִצְחָק Yitskhak “He laughs”

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 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. 

• Ishmael’s 12 sons are listed in Genesis 25

²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

• We finally get the date of Sarah’s promised child

²² 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. 

• Immediate obedience is shown when Abraham goes that very day and circumcises EVERYONE. Wonder what the men thought when they first heard.
• The covenant will come through Isaac, but Ishmael will still be blessed through God

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.