CHAPTER 17

(1898 B.C.)

THE REVELATION

¹And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram (some thirteen years have passed since his last Revelation), and said unto him, I am the Almighty God (in the Hebrew is El Shaddai, which means Strong so as to overpower; the Lord is telling the Patriarch that He is able to bring to pass what He has promised); walk before Me, and be thou perfect (the Patriarch must be perfect in his Faith; it must not waver as it had done regarding the situation with Hagar, but must rest in Almighty God, Who is able to perform what He has promised).

²And I will make My Covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly (the Lord now renews the Covenant with Abraham, which greatly enlarges upon the Promises previously made).

³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying (either the Power of God was so great that the Patriarch fell, or else, he did so out of reverence, which is probably the case),

ABRAHAM

⁴As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations (and so he was!).

⁵Neither shall your name any more be called Abram (which means exalted father), but your name shall be Abraham (father of the multitudes); for a father of many nations have I made you.

THE COVENANT ENLARGED

⁶And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you (He was saying to the Patriarch, and as stated, that He was able, whatever the need).

⁷And I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an Everlasting Covenant (that means this Covenant is valid even to this moment and, in fact, ever will be; the Palestinians should learn that), to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you (this Covenant is linked to Justification by Faith, which means that it is now a part of the New Covenant, which is also referred to as The Everlasting Covenant [Heb. 13:20]).

⁸And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God (the Jews, having forfeited their possession through rebellion against God, and especially their rejection of Jesus Christ, have caused a rupture; however, the Covenant still stands, and will come to full bloom in the coming Kingdom Age, which is not long off).

CIRCUMCISION

⁹And God said unto Abraham, you shall keep My Covenant therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations (this could well be called a Covenant of Grace, and as such is everlasting; it is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it).

¹⁰This is My Covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised (this Covenant had only one outward ordinance, and that was Circumcision; the balance was entirely of Faith).

¹¹And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the Covenant between Me and you (Circumcision, in a sense, is a Type of the Cross; blood is shed and separation is made).

¹²And he who is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he who is born in the house, or, bought with money of any stranger, which is not of your seed (the little boy baby was not to be circumcised until he was eight days old, because at that time the blood would coagulate; before then, he could bleed to death; as well, every male in the family of Abraham must be circumcised, and later that would include the entirety of the Nation of Israel).

¹³He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must needs be circumcised: and My Covenant shall be in your flesh for an Everlasting Covenant (this Covenant is everlasting, but only in Christ; under the New Covenant, Paul stated that we are to experience the circumcision of the heart, which is a spiritual work [Phil. 3:3]; under the New Covenant, everything being fulfilled in Christ, of which circumcision was a Type of His Sacrifice, the rite is no longer necessary; in fact, it carries no spiritual meaning now whatsoever).

¹⁴And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My Covenant (in effect, Israelite men who refused to be circumcised, or mothers who refused to circumcise their baby boys, had broken the Covenant and, if continuing that direction of rebellion, would be eternally lost; it was, and is, the same as disavowing the Cross).

SARAH

¹⁵And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai (my princess, referring to the fact that she was Abrahams princess alone), but Sarah shall her name be (simply means princess; the idea is, whereas she was formerly Abrahams princess only, she will now be recognized as a princess generally and, in fact, in a sense, could be referred to as the mother of the Church).

¹⁶And I will bless her, and give you a son also of her (this is the first time in all of Gods dealings with Abraham that He had mentioned the fact that the promised son would be of Sarah): yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her (her blessing spoke of increase, which includes even the Church and, in a sense, the Lord Jesus Christ).

¹⁷Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him who is an hundred years old (Abrahams laughter was that of joy [Jn. 8:56]? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear? (Paul said of him: He considered not the deadness of Sarahs womb [Rom. 4:19].)

¹⁸And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before You! (Abraham asked the Lord that Ishmael might have some place, and not be completely left out.)

¹⁹And God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed; and you shall call his name Isaac (the name Isaac means laughter): and I will establish My Covenant with him for an Everlasting Covenant, and with his seed after him. (The Covenant is to be established with Isaac and not Ishmael. This completely shoots down the contention of the Muslims that Ishmael was the chosen one, unless you dont believe the Bible. Through Isaac the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, would ultimately come.)

ISHMAEL

²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly (the Lord would bless Ishmael, but not as it regards the Covenant); twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation (the blessing here pronounced was not because of Ishmael, but because of Abraham, and Abraham alone).

²¹But My Covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year (so now they know when the child will be born).

²²And He (the Lord) left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham (Communion with the Lord is the most profitable exercise there is).

THE SEALED COVENANT

²³And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money (servants), every male among the men of Abrahams house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the self-same day, as God had said unto him (the obedience of Abraham in circumcising the entirety of his house, servants and all, should be a lesson to us).

²⁴And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin (even though Ishmael was circumcised, he who was born after the flesh was by his natural birth a rebel, even though he may enter in an outward covenant).

²⁶In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son (two men were circumcised; by that rite both men entered the Covenant; however, only one of the men, Abraham, was saved).

²⁷And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. (This one Passage tells us that every single man in the house of Abraham was saved, whether servants, slaves, or family, that is, if they believed. The Epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, and to the Colossians teach that Christians are circumcised in the Cross of Christ, baptized into the Death of Christ, and raised in the Resurrection of Christ, all of which circumcision was a Type.)