A New Name Part II

A New Name Part II

Genesis 17:1-8

Genesis 17:1-8:

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, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 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, or I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 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.

Yesterday we looked at the emphasis on God affirming His covenant with Abram. Today, we will pick up and examine verses three thru eight.

In verse 3 we see the reaction to the Lord appearing to Abram. He “fell facedown.” Impressed by this appearance of God, he exhibited the actions of respect toward a superior. Abram's respect garnered additional words from God, who spoke with him.

In verse 4, the Lord's initial phrase, “As for Me,” also could be rendered “behold” (ESV), calling for heightened attention to what immediately followed. The Lord then affirmed the covenant between Him and Abram. Though the content is similar to previously stated promises, the language is more pointed. For the first time, God explicitly stated Abram would “become the father of many nations.” The emphasis was as much on Abram's becoming a father presently as it was on the multitude of his offspring in the distant future.

The name Abram meant “exalted father”; as the head of his household and servants, Abram filled that role. However, Abram's name was no longer adequate for the increased role and reputation he would soon experience. Thus, in verse 5 God declared, “Your name will no longer be Abram.” His new name, Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude,” reflected the new reality of his approaching status as the father of the promised son and subsequently of a multitude of offspring. Though Isaac would not be born for another year, his birth would mark the beginning of God's fulfillment of making Abraham into a great nation. At last, God's blessings of wealth, livestock, and land would be crowned with the addition of descendants.

Care should be given not to overlook the important words, “I will make you.” Everything and anything Abraham would experience, acquire, gain, or possess was first and foremost a reminder that God was the one bringing about Abraham's success. For only the second time, the wording “the father of many nations,” was used. Centuries later, the apostle Paul referred to this wording to emphasize God's ability to give life to the dead and to call into existence things that did not exist (Rom. 4:17-18).

As Abraham no doubt became increasingly more dejected over not having a son, so also God intensified His promises in verse 6. The phrase “extremely fruitful” renders a Hebrew construction that utilized a repeated particle of abundance. To capture the literal sense, we could translate the statement, “I will make you abundantly, abundantly fruitful.”

The Lord wanted to dispel all doubts from Abraham's mind regarding the great scope and magnitude of His promises and His covenant. Abram the aged and aging individual would be transformed into the father of “nations and kings.” In the last half of this verse in Hebrew, the phrase “nations and kings” precedes the verb “come” for emphasis. The small prepositional phrase “from you” ties together God's powerful promise and Abraham's frail frame.

Using language reminiscent of His covenant with Noah, the Lord vowed to keep His covenant with Abraham. The Hebrew word rendered “keep” literally means “to cause to stand” and appeared first in the context of God's covenant with Noah (Gen. 6:18). Again God is identified as the chief source of action. The covenant was first and foremost His doing. Described three times in this chapter as an everlasting covenant (17:7, 13, 19), the agreement God was making with Abraham was a reflection of God's own might and integrity.

Moreover, God affirmed His covenant not only to Abraham but also to his future offspring throughout their generations. Isaac would become the first recipient of the second generation to enjoy covenant promises (26:3), but God's assurances extended far beyond Isaac as well. God expressed an ongoing, unending relationship with Abraham and his descendants after him. That relationship would be characterized by words such as “your God” and “the God of your offspring.”

Once again the Lord returned to the covenant promise of land in verse 8. Abraham's multitude of descendants would need a place to live, to thrive, and to serve the Lord. God chose the land where Abram was then residing, “all the land of Canaan.” Generally speaking, Canaan was bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the east by the Jordan River, along with some additional territory east of the Jordan River for two and half tribes. To the south, Canaan was defined by the Negev, the great southern desert, and to the north by the mountains of Lebanon.

Most notable in the covenant promise was the Lord's pledge the land would be “an eternal possession.” Students of history can point to eras when Abraham's descendants did not inhabit the Promised Land: the 400 year sojourn in Egypt., the time of Babylonian exile, and the long period following the Roman expulsion in the second century A.D. until the Jews' declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948. Even when dwelling in the land, the people of Israel have been subjected to domination and oppression at the hands of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Some scholars believe the church extended the land aspect of the covenant to encompass the entire earth, thus interpreting it as the attainment of eternal life. At any rate, the land continues to be a debated aspect of the Abrahamic covenant.

Applying the Scripture:

In what ways are future generations blessed by our faith? How do our choices make a difference in the lives of those who follow?