GOD GIVES ABRAHAM A NEW NAME

A great many people feel that the seventeenth chapter is the most outstanding chapter of the Book of Genesis.

Here God makes a covenant with Abram and confirms His promise to him about a son. He lets Abram know that Ishmael is not the one He promised to him.

In one sense this chapter is the key to the Book of Genesis, and it may be a key to the entire Bible. God’s covenant with Abram concerns two important items: a seed and a land.

He reveals Himself to Abram by a new name—El Shaddai, the Almighty God—and He also gives Abram a new name.

Up to this point his name was Abram; now it is changed to Abraham. Abram means “high father,” and Abraham means “father of a multitude” That Ishmael was not the son God promised to Abraham is the thing this chapter makes very clear.

Genesis 17:1-5 KJV

[1] And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

[2] And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

[3] And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

[4] As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

[5] Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

Genesis 17:1

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

• Thirteen years pass without notice in the divine record between Genesis 16:16 and 17:1, given mentions of Abram’s age.
• Whether the Lord appears or otherwise speaks to him during these 13 years, we cannot say.
• Some suggest that 13 years of silence is some kind of punishment for Abram because he went along with the idea of breaking sexual faithfulness to his wife, Sarai, in order to have a child.
• But like most all arguments from silence, this is mere conjecture.
• The name by which the Lord identifies himself is the Almighty God, the first of dozens of times He is designated as such (sometimes rendered simply as “the Almighty”).
• The Almighty God is El Shaddai in Hebrew, a term we hear in Christian songs today.
• The significance of this designation seems to be that God is unlimited in His ability to act for the good of His people; nothing can thwart His plans.
• That does not mean God’s promises are unconditional, however.
• Here He puts the condition on Abram to walk before me (that is, to live to meet with God’s approval) and be … perfect.
• The two may seem to be one and the same, and from a God-centered perspective that is reasonable.
• But Abram’s pagan culture is not centered on God; hardly anyone lives with the desire to please Him.
• The emphasis here is on before me. In effect, God is saying “Make me, not your culture, your standard of conduct.”
• The word translated perfect is the same word used of Noah in Genesis 6:9.
• It need not be understood as “absolute perfection,” but more as “living with integrity in not being open to charges of wrongdoing.”
• Putting the two together, we might see the conditions as living by God’s standards (first) and also living in such a way that is respected by the people around him as well.

Genesis 17:2

And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

• This is the third time God has promised to bless Abram (see Genesis 12:1–3; 15:1–21).
• In the second blessing, God specifically told him that a son of Abram’s own flesh and blood would be his heir (15:4).
• The record then notes the implications of Abram’s belief (15:6).
• In spite of that faith, Abram had come to believe that he needed to take matters in his own hands.
• When Sarai, his wife, suggests he take her servant Hagar as a surrogate wife, he agrees; Ishmael is born as a result.
• But the covenant of which God speaks does not involve Ishmael.
• God will multiply Abram through another son, one yet to be born to Abram and Sarai.

Genesis 17:3

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

• Abram is properly awed by this appearance of the Lord.
• Whether falling on his face means lying prostrate before God or dropping to his knees and bowing forward is not specified.
• In either case, Abram shows the respect due to the Lord.

Genesis 17:4

As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

• Earlier God had promised to make of Abram “a great nation” (Genesis 12:2).
• Now the promise is that he will be a father of many nations.
• It is easy to read this and to see the fulfillment in Israel (through Isaac and his son Jacob), Edom (through Isaac and his son Esau), the nations that descend from Ishmael, and also the nations that descend from Abraham via Keturah (the woman he marries after Sarah’s death; Genesis 25:1–6).
• But there is more to the covenant than political nations, since Paul makes clear that Isaac alone is the heir of promise (Romans 9:7).
• Thus the nations primarily in view, the ones included in this promise, must come from Isaac, whom Abram will father.

Genesis 17:5

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

• God gives two symbols of the covenant. The second symbol is described in Genesis 17:10–14, below.
• The first is the name change we see here. Abram, whose name means “exalted father,” is henceforth to be known as Abraham, which probably means father of many.
• As God repeats the promise of making Abraham such a father, He speaks as if it is already the case.

I hope that you have really enjoyed this post,