GENESIS 17
Read Genesis 17:1-27
In this chapter we return to the subject of covenant which was started in Chapter 15. We had the interlude with Abram and Sarai doubting God’s promises and taking matters into their own hands. This episode was probably placed where it was to show that the covenant arrangement between God and his people, initially just Abram, was in jeopardy from the outset.
The chapter begins with God appearing to Abram and clearly stating who he is, ‘I am God’, and giving Abram the instruction to ‘walk before me and be blameless. Walking before or with God is often seen in the Bible as being obedient to God and following his ways. Abram is also called upon to ‘be blameless. This is not to suggest that Abram should be perfect, but again, to walk in his ways. The language here is reminiscent of the description of Enoch in Genesis 5:22 and Noah in Genesis 6:9.
It is interesting to note that upon meeting God, Abram’s reaction was to fall on his face. This is the normal reaction in the Bible that people have to meeting God in person. I sometimes hear of people saying, ‘When I meet God, I am going to tell him what’s what’. I suspect that won’t be the case.
The next thing that happened is that God gave Abram a new name, Abraham. When God gives somebody a name in the Bible, then that is significant, and the name usually tells us something about that person. The prime example is God telling Joseph to name his son Jesus, which means, ‘he saves’. Abraham means ‘father of many’ and so now his name reflects the promise that God made to him that he would be the ancestor of a nation more numerous than the stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach. God also reiterated the promise of land to Abraham and his descendants (v8). Sarai was also given a new name, Sarah, meaning ‘princess’ highlighting the fact that she would be the mother of a nation and that kings would come from her line.
When God reiterated the promise of descendants he used the phrase, ’I will be their God’ and this heralds the covenantal language that flows through the whole of the Old Testament when God speaks of his relationship with his people in terms of, ‘I will be their God and they will be my people’.
Most covenants were sealed by what is called a ‘sign’ which sealed the agreement. In secular covenants this was often a meal for the two parties. In biblical covenants it is usually something that God inaugurates as a symbol. We saw in Genesis 9, when God made a covenant with Noah, the sign was a rainbow (Genesis 9:12-15). With Abraham, the sign is circumcision, showing that Abraham and his people accept their role in the covenant and will be obedient to it.