For the last recorded time, God approaches Abram about the covenant He established with him back in Genesis 12. This devotional reading looks at the responsibilities given to Abram.
Nuggets
- Abram’s covenant responsibility was to walk with God
- Abram was 99 years old when God came to Abram the final recorded time regarding the covenant.
- Abram knew that God was all-sufficient and almighty.
- For the first time, God told Abram what his responsibilities were in fulfilling the covenant.
- Abram was again promised a son to provide him with descendants.
- Abram’s name was changed to Abraham.
After 14 years, God again approaches Abram about the covenant that He made with him 24 years before. It was time to set the stage for the beginning promise to be fulfilled.
Let’s see how God handled it.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Abraham the Patriarch series
Let's Put It into Context #2
It was with Abram the covenant that made the Israelites God’s people was established. We may think it is three different covenants, but it really is all part of one.
- Covenant established (Gen. 12: 1-3)
- Blessings of the covenant (Gen. 12: 7; Gen.13: 14-17)
- Sign of the covenant (Gen. 15: 1-21)
- Acceptance of the responsibilities of the covenant 17: 1-27)
- Promise of the covenant (Gen. 18: 9-15)
Covenants are agreements, contracts, or promises between two parties to perform the responsibilities listed in the covenant. When parties had unequal footing, the one in the king position would outline the protection offered through the agreement, and the subjects would pledge their loyalty to the king.
There were several elements in covenants. Many included a time of fellowship centered around a meal.
Others included shedding of blood, usually an animal given as a sacrifice. A sacrifice was especially appropriate as a penance when one of the parties was offended. It was to precede a reconciliation.
There would be provisions for rewards and punishments when the agreement was kept or broken. These blessings and cursings show that God will bless obedience and punish disobedience.
God’s Covenant with Abram
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddai — “God Almighty.” Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life’” (Gen. 17: 1 NLT)
Abram’s covenant responsibility was to walk with God.
Ninety-Nine
Abram was 99 years old when God came to Abram the final time regarding the covenant.
1960 BC — Abram born (Gen. 25: 7)
1890 BC — Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot move from Ur to Haran (Gen. 11: 31)
1885 BC — Abram called at age 75 (Gen. 12: 1-3)
c. 1880 – 1875 BC — Abram defeats King Chedorkiamer to rescue Lot (Gen. 14)
1875 BC — God promises an 85-year-old Abram that he will have a son (Gen. 15)
1876 BC — Ishmael born (Gen. 16: 15)
1861 BC — God reestablished His covenant with Abram (Gen 17)
1861 BC — Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed one year before the birth of Isaac (Genesis 18 – 19).
1860 BC — Isaac born (Genesis 35: 28).
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All we are told here is Abram is 99. But if Isaac was born when he was 100, it had to have been some time in the year before Isaac was born and before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
I Am
Abram knew that God was all-sufficient and almighty.
Why did Abram know this? He had the faith to believe.
Spurgeon said that is what a strong faith does. It believes that God is the secret of our strength.
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In knowing God as the almighty God, we see His glory.
Serve Me Faithfully and Live Blamelessly
For the first time, God told Abram what his responsibilities were in fulfilling the covenant.
I love how the Complete Jewish Bible put it. “… Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted” (Gen. 17: 1 CJB).
Isn’t that what we are to do on the Sanctification Road? We are to walk with God.
We know from Enoch (Gen. 5: 21-24) that God wants us to walk with Him. There are several things that we do in order to make that a reality.
- Love God
- Reconcile with God
- Please and obey God
- Constantly walk with God
- Spend Time with God in Meditation, Prayer, and Praise
- Have a Pleasing Testimony
- Walk in Truth, Justice, and Love
- Put into practice in our everyday lives
Abram’s whole walk was to be patterned after God’s command, not just certain instances of his life. He would have had another great example.
Noah was also called blameless. “… Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God” (Gen. 6: 9) NLT).
As a descendant of Noah, Abram would have heard all about his ancestor. Shem would have ensured that those coming after him would remember how God wanted them to live their lives.
Our salvation has to be based on how we live our lives to be in a relationship with God. God can only make a covenant with us and multiply us when we are blameless — without sin.
We become blameless when we accept God’s Plan of Salvation – our sins are forgiven. We aren’t a true disciple if we don’t walk in righteousness before God.
What God is looking for is that connection with our minds. We are to have the mind of Christ — display the same attitude in which He had.
We show this in our service to God. Inward religion shows itself in outward religion. The two cannot be separated.
We have to show with our actions what our motivations are.
Benson told us how to do this. He wrote, “Think, act, speak, under a sense of God’s omnipresence.”
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The Hebrew word tamin used would have been familiar to Abram. It means morally pure. “And when Avram was ninety and nine shanah, Hashem appeared to Avram, and said unto him, I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be thou tamim (blameless)” (Gen. 17: 1 OJB).
Translators do us a disservice when they translate the word as perfect. Candlish tried to help us grasp what was meant. He wrote,
“Now, this word ‘perfect,’ or ‘upright,’ when applied to man, in the Bible, is not absolute, but relative. It relates, for the most part, not to the whole character of a man, but to some one particular feature of his character, some individual grace or virtue specified, in respect of which he is said to be complete or entire, consistent and sincere.”
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I’ve heard perfect been said to mean mature. I could see that as consistent or sincere.
How do we apply that to walking with God? We realize His presence and providence as we feel His watch care over us.
We know we aren’t going to be perfect in being sinless. We do have to serve God wholeheartedly. We have to be habitual and consistent so that our attitude of surrender to God can be nurtured.
Above all, our submission to God must be sincere.
Countless Descendants
“I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.’ At this, Abram fell face down on the ground ...” (Gen. 17: 2-3 NLT)
Abram was again promised a son to provide him with descendants.
When God came to Abram the last time to talk covenant with him, He had to give him a bolstering session. Abram was fearful and despondent.
It had the intended effect on Abram. “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Gen. 15: 8 NLT).
We might could say that Abram was different from others. Who else would answer a call to an unseen God to go to an unknown place?
The thing is we all need to have a faith like Abram’s. That is the way in which we will be blessed through the covenant.
This had to happen before the rest of what God was going to talk to Abram about this time could be brought up.
Look at all the “I will” combinations in this passage.
- “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants” (Gen. 17: 2 NLT).
- “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!” (Gen. 17: 4 NLT).
- “I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants …” (Gen. 17: 6-8 NLT).
Seven “I will” statements in eight verses. God was committed to this covenant. We know He followed through on His part!
We also need to react as Abram did. We need to fall on our face before God. Yeah, this may me literally down on the ground. It definitely means figuratively.
Father of Many Nations
“... Then God said to him, ‘This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! ... I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!’” (Gen. 17: 3-4, 6 NLT)
Abraham would be the father of many nations and faiths.
It is interesting what Genesis 17: 4 says in the Orthodox Jewish Bible. “As for Me, hinei, My brit (covenant) is with thee, and thou shalt be an Av of many Goyim [see 18:18] [Gentiles]” (Gen. 17: 4 OJB).
We just talked about the translation for the word hinei. It has a deeper meaning than behold or here I am. The word delivered a much deeper commitment — a total commitment— to fulfilling this covenant.
That brought with it another aspect. Readiness must be maintained. That could only be achieved by keeping our hearts open to God’s call.
Maybe I am just being picky, but it seems like the New Living Translation has rewritten verse 5 “…. I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!” (Gen. 17: 5 NLT).
Look what the Hebrew says. “… Av hamon Goyim (Father of a multitude of Goyim) have I made thee. [T.N. Ga 3:29 says “And if you belong to Moshiach [Messiah] (YESHAYAH 53:10), then you are of the ZERAH [shining, brightness, dawning] of Avraham Avinu, [our father] you are yoreshim (heirs) according to the havtachah (promise).]” (Gen. 17: 5 OJB).
Hmmm. In Elaine-speak, it looks like the rabbis added a gloss, notes put in the margins by translators that eventually made their way into our translations. But this one was spot on.
Name Change (Avraham)
“What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations” (Gen. 17: 5 NLT)
Abram’s name was changed to Abraham.
Abram only had one son — and one he was told isn’t the right one — yet God said he was changing his name because he was going to be “… the father of many nations” (Gen. 17: 5 NLT).
It may seem like a small thing, but in reality, it wasn’t. Abram’s name change showed the changes that would be coming in his life.
Both Abram and Abraham showcase aspects of fatherhood. Abram means exalted father. Abraham, on the other hand, means father of many nations.
Funny. That is what verse 5 says. “What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations” (Gen. 17: 5 NLT emphasis added).
We also know that Abraham is the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. That would probably make the name change based on a change of character also. Abraham would now be father of the faithful, also.
The name change came as part of God’s covenant with Abram. It shows how the covenant was going to expand as it was carried out.
Spurgeon thought it was a little more than that. He wrote – talking about consecration –
“… they who are consecrated to God are regarded as new men. The new manhood is indicated by the change of name — he is called no longer Abram, but Abraham, and his wife no longer Sarai, but Sarah. Ye are new creatures in Christ Jesus.”
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Abram believed that, through his descendants, humans would be reconciled to God. He may not have known that Jesus was the One to do it, but he knew the Messiah would be His descendant. “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make Goyim of thee, and Melechim [kings] shall come out of thee” (Gen. 17: 6 OJB).
Making the Connections #1
Walking with God is all about being in His presence. This consciousness takes place in our minds.
No, it doesn’t take over our minds so that they can’t function on other things. Our minds still operate on physical things.
Goulburn liked it to being a speaker in front of an audience. We focus on what we are saying, but we also know the audience is watching us.
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To me, that is a great analogy. God is the One to Whom we want to focus our actions on.
Making the Connections #2
“... Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted” (Gen. 17: 1 CJB)
“... Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life” (Gen. 17: 1 NLT)
Is it just me, or do those two translations seem 180 degrees apart?
Walk in my presence does and doesn’t have anything to do with serving God. Yes, we serve Him by our actions, but that makes salvation more about what we do rather than what God does for us.
Serve me faithfully is important because we have to be consistent in doing what God asks. But salvation doesn’t come by works. It comes by faith and obedience.
If we think a blameless life means perfect, we are in for a colossal letdown. We aren’t going to be sinless in these bodies.
Leale had an interesting take on being perfect. In Elaine-speak, he said that completeness of our spiritual character means that we have reverence for all of God’s laws and commandments.
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But we can be pure-hearted. That means we have a single-minded focus on God and freedom from deceit, hypocrisy, and selfish motives.
Making the Connections #3
I like what Spurgeon said. He wrote, “Inward tribulations are frequently more severe than temporal trials; the man of God knows this full well.”
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Spiritual trials verses physical trials.
Oh, yeah. We think physical trials are hard. They definitely are painful sometimes.
Spiritual trials can be difficult – very difficult. There is a lot more at stake.
Spiritual trials have much more significant consequences.
Making the Connections #4
What do we do when we walk before God?
- Follow God in our thoughts, actions, and speech.
- Be sincere in our walk with God.
- Be holy.
- Be happy.
- Gain knowledge about God.
- Put all our concerns in God’s hand.
- Be truthful with God.
- Have unwavering faith.
- Live in God’s presence.
- Experience the dignity of a spiritual life.
- Feel God’s love.
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How Do We Apply This?
- Realize God’s presence.
- Walk with Him consistently and sincerely.
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Father God.Thank You for being our Father with a life-long covenant. Help us to not grow weary while we wait for Your time. We pledge to walk with You daily. Amen.
What do you think?
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