Genesis 17:8-18:8

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. ”

What kind of covenant did God make with Abraham? An everlasting covenant. If it is everlasting, it’s still good today. God promised you and me everlasting life if we will trust Christ. That’s an everlasting unbreakable covenant God has made.

In this episode we see God confirming to Abraham what He’ll do and how Abraham and His seed, which includes by extension you and me, can individually be partakers of this promise.

We start today from Genesis 17:8,  “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

God has made a covenant with these people that’s an everlasting covenant and, since it’s everlasting, it’s not going to be broken, and it’s not going to expire. Their possession of this land of Canaan is not a lease for a particular term it’s an everlasting possession.

The Hebrew people have occupied that land on three occasions. It is theirs, but the important thing is that they occupy it only under certain conditions. On each of these three occasions, the conditions for occupying the land were broken by the nation and they were put out of the land. However, we must note that even though they were put out of the land it was still theirs.

First off, God sent them down into the land of Egypt. We’ll see this happening later in Genesis. They went down there a family of about seventy and came out a nation of at least one and a half million. After 40 years of wandering they possessed the land again under the leadership of Joshua and Caleb.

They were put out of the land again at the Babylonian captivity because they went into idolatry and were not being the witness for God they God intended them to be. We’ll see these events later.

We find that they again went out of the land in A.D. 70 after they’d rejected their Messiah.  God predicted that three times they would be put out of the land and three times they would be returned. They’ve been returned twice. Both those returns were amidst a national turning towards God. Now, many bible commentators and prophecy enthusiasts see the 1948 declaration of the modern state of Israel as the third return of the nation to the land. But is it? They’ve never been back in anywhere near the state they were promised. In the next and last time, the final return, they’ll occupy the full 300,000 square miles they were promised not just little pieces here and there. They’ll also be at peace and not constantly fighting a host of enemies just so they can hang on to the small piece they currently occupy. Also, they’ll recognise and worship King Jesus their Messiah who, incidentally will rule on the throne of David at this time and they’ll never go out of the land again. In the Millennial rule of Christ, God gathers and brings back the nation Israel into the land. Many books both in the Old and New Testaments relate to this re occupying of the land and we’ll examine them all as we go on.

And now we reach Genesis 17:9-11, “And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 

This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

Now we come to this mysterious ritual that started right here.

It’s quite likely that the countless millions of males that have undergone this ritual have no idea of its origins or its meaning.

So, what is it and how does it affect us today? Well, there is the natural, physical aspect of circumcision as well as a spiritual aspect. Both are a badge or a mark of the covenant. Abraham’s natural descendants didn’t circumcise themselves in order to become members of the covenant, they did it because they had the covenant from God. It’s a badge and a mark of the people that have been separated unto God. The spiritual significance is that of people who have cut off the fleshly life and are living after the Spirit.

Circumcision occupied the same place that good works occupy for the believer today. You don’t perform good works in order to be saved; you perform good works because you have been saved. That makes a whole world of difference.

The ritual of physical circumcision became the most important rite as far as the Jews were concerned, however, they made the mistake, as people so often do, concerning rituals as identifying the ritual for the reality.

The reality is a matter of the heart. God wanted a people that were separated from their flesh in their heart, people who were spiritual and spiritually minded who would serve God in the Spirit. It was to be symbolized by the cutting away of the flesh. God was and still is, seeking people who would cut away the fleshly mind and the fleshly heart and serve God in the Spirit, but they began to look at the physical ritual rather than the spiritual, and that ritual became all important while the experience of the changed heart was simply not there. This made the physical ritual totally meaningless.

How does circumcision relate to the Christian today?

Well as we often do, we look to the expert in the relationship between Judaism and the Christian today, Apostle Paul to enlighten us.  In Colossians 2:11  Paul writes, In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 

Paul is telling the Colossian Christians and you and me today, to get rid of that which is outward, Stop relying on customs, rituals and traditions. The real circumcision is the New Birth. He also explained this to the Galatians in Galatians 6 verse 15 and I read, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” You and I become new creatures when we come to Christ and trust Him as our Savior. We rest in Him; we are identified with Him.

Now to Genesis 17:12,  “He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.”

We should notice here how meticulous the record concerning the birth of Christ is. All the law was fulfilled in connection with the birth of the baby Jesus. It’s recorded that He was the son of Abraham, the natural descendant of Abraham, and the son of David. He was in the royal line that stretched right back to Abraham and came down through Issac, Jacob and King David as was meticulously stated throughout the scripture, then, on the eighth day after His birth He was circumcised. He was “born under the law,” Paul says in Galatians 4:4.

To verse13,  “He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” 

Again, circumcision is the badge of the covenant. They didn’t do this in order to get the covenant; God had already made the covenant with them. This is so important. The same thing is true today. Many people think that, if they join a church or get baptized, they’ll be saved. No, friends, you don’t do those things to get saved. If you are saved, there’s great merit in both joining a good church, and being baptised, but you don’t do them to get saved. How vital this is. The baptism or christening of a baby will not bring it salvation and neither will confirmation or any other ritual cause you to be saved.

Genesis 17:14, “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” 

The fact that there were those who disobeyed didn’t have the slightest effect against the covenant. Practically the entire nation disobeyed when they came out of the land of Egypt. However, that disobedience simply meant that the individual would be put out but, as far as the nation’s concerned, no individual or group could destroy this covenant which God had made with Abraham and his seed after him. It’s an everlasting covenant. The man who had broken the covenant was put out, but the covenant stood. That is how incredible it is.

Genesis 17:15,  “Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. “

Her name was Sarai before; now it’s changed to Sarah.

Verse 16,  “And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” 

If old Abraham is going to be a father of nations, then Sarah is going to be a mother of nations.

Verse 17,  “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 

Old Abraham just laughed. Not the laughter of unbelief but the laughter of just sheer joy that this could happen. You’ll understand if you’ve ever had this experience where every now and again through our lives, God does something for us that is so wonderful that we just feel like laughing. You don’t know anything else to do but to laugh about it.

This was something unheard of. There was “the deadness of Sarah’s womb,” and Abraham was “dead”, meaning dead to the possibility of ever fathering children.

Notice how our friend Paul describes this in Romans 4:17-22 and I’ll read, “(as it is written, “I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 

Abraham believed in God, and he is absolutely overwhelmed by the wonder and the goodness of God.

But then, all of a sudden, Abraham thinks of a little boy, his little boy, Ishmael.

Genesis 17:18 now,  “And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” He’s saying may Ishmael live under your care or your special blessing.

Verse 19, “But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. “

Abraham is attached to Ishmael, he loves him. He was fourteen years old when Abraham sent him away as we’ll see a little later on in chapter 21. Possibly, Abraham never saw him again. Whatever we may think of Ishmael; he was Abraham’s son, and Abraham loved his son. It was a heartbreak for him to have to give him up.

Abraham probably thought many, many times, “I made a huge mistake in taking Hagar.” You see, that was a sin that not only plagued him but that entire land. We, none of us, get away with sin. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap,” says Galatians 6 verse. A man doesn’t reap something similar to what he’s sown, he reaps exactly that which he sowed. And old Abraham is certainly reaping.

God says to Abraham, “No, I won’t accept Ishmael as the promised heir. Everything surrounding his birth was wrong.” God never approves polygamy. As we’ve discussed before, just because somethings’s recorded in the Bible doesn’t mean God approves of it.

To verses 20 to 21 now,  “As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 

But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” 

God holds fast to the promise that He’s made. He’s not going to be put off or change His mind in any way at all. He is going to do exactly what He said He would do. He is going to answer bless Ismael by making him a great nation as well, with many descendants, but He will not make Ishmael the heir of the promise.

Notice how God speaks. He speaks as if Isaac were already born and is there with them. He speaks of things that are not as if they are—and it is going to be next year.

The truth that God “calls into being things that were not” is expressed in various ways in various translations: For example, the King James version says, God “calleth those things which be not as though they were”, The English Standard version says, “calls into existence the things that do not exist”, The New American Standard has it as “calls into being that which does not exist”, while the New English Translation says,  “summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do”.

All translations mean, however, that God has the ability to create out of nothing. The New Living Translation says,  “creates new things out of nothing” or simply “creates new things” as translated by the Contemporary English version. The “nothing” in this verse would be the deadness of Sarah’s womb, and the “new things” that God creates would be Abraham’s offspring. God gives life to the dead and creates something from nothing.

Friend unless we accept this the entire creation including you and me and the universe we live in will be an unsolvable puzzle and each piece of that puzzle will be wild speculation that fails to fit with the other puzzle pieces making an impossibly confused picture. Once we do accept this everything fits together logically and perfectly.

Verse 22, “When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham.”

God’s saying to Abraham, “You might just as well keep quiet. I’ve already decided this.”

There are things that you and I might as well stop petitioning the Lord for.

There are times when you’ve said enough and you don’t need to say any more. Sometimes people just pester the Lord in prayer when they already have the answer, which, of course, is No in the majority of cases! We must always remember that “No” is often the answer to our prayer.

God says to Abraham, “Let this alone, now. This’s enough; you needn’t mention this anymore. I’ve not accepted it, and I don’t intend to.”

God’s going to hear, and answer, other prayers of Abraham. God certainly listens. However, in the case of His covenant, He’s making it with Isaac, not Ishmael and that settles it, and it’s futile for Abraham to try to change God’s mind.

Many people today pray about things that God just doesn’t intend to answer.

Let’s hear the Words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 6 verses 7 and 8, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” The New Living Translation brings it into today’s language by saying, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” 

Now let’s read Genesis 17:23-27, “So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. 

Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 

And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 

That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”

As we’ve already seen, circumcision is the badge of the covenant which God has made with Abraham.

Now, some may ask, “Why was Ishmael included?”

Well, God Has promised that Ishmael is going to be a great nation also. He’s included in the covenant in that sense, but he’s not the one whom God had promised to Abraham at the beginning.

He’s not going to be the father of the nation that God will use and the nation through which the Messiah will come.

Now we come to Genesis chapter 18.

Until we get to the New Testament, we may wonder why the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Genesis are included in the Bible, especially amidst the story of the covenant God made with Abraham.

They deal with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Chapter 18 is a long chapter in which God tells Abraham about the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham intercedes on behalf of the cities of the plain.

This can be seen as an illustration of the blessed Christian life, a life in fellowship with God.

But in chapter 19, down in Sodom and Gomorrah with Lot, we’ll see another picture of another Christian life, a shipwrecked one, and it’s all because of a decision.

Unfortunately, we have both kinds among Christians today, those living a blessed life and those that aren’t. There are many shipwrecked Christian lives that are completely out of the will of God.

These shipwreck Christians have NOT lost their salvation, but they’ve lost everything else. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:15 they’re saved, quote “yet so as by fire”.

To Genesis 18:1, “Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. “

Abraham is living down in Mamre, and he’s an old man.

Verse 2, “So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,” (He’s a very gracious, hospitable man) verses 3 and 4,  “and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. “Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.” 

It seems strange to us to tell a visiting stranger to wash his feet and come in, but this is probably the oldest hospitality based custom known.

Remember that in the Upper Room our Lord washed the disciples’ feet and there’s a wonderful spiritual message there.

Here Abraham says, “Wash your feet.” It was a token of real hospitality when someone came into a home to have him take off his shoes and wash his feet. They didn’t take off their hat, but they did take off their shoes. Wouldn’t it make you feel at home to take off your shoes, wash your feet, and rest yourself under the shade of a tree? Abraham is royally entertaining these men.

And now Genesis 18:5-8,  “And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.” 

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 

And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 

So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.” 

This is a marvellous way of entertaining. Abraham has prepared a sumptuous meal. He took a little calf, a servant killed and prepared it, and the chef probably barbecued it. They possibly had veal steaks or veal roast with all the trimmings that went with it. “And he took butter, and milk”! Abraham entertains these three guests with a real feast.

Then we find that these guests are royal guests.

In the New Testament, it is suggested to us that “… some have entertained angels unawares” that’s Hebrews 13 verse2. That was Abraham. He didn’t know whom he was really entertaining.

We’ll leave off there until next time when we’ll get involved more deeply in Abrahams’s feast and learn of a terrible mission these three guests are on.

Until then my friends may the lord be with you and bless you in coming in and in your going out.