Covenant Instruction

COVENANT INSTRUCTION

An Exposition of Genesis 17

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: November 13, 2022

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture, says,

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, for 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. ⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³ both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” ¹⁹ God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

²² When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. (Genesis 17:1-27)

INTRODUCTION

Genesis 17 is quite obviously about God’s covenant. In this passage, God says “my covenant” nine times, “an everlasting covenant” three times, and “sign of the covenant between me and you” once. These thirteen occurrences of the word “covenant” show it to be a dominant theme in this chapter.

Remember what I said two weeks ago: although a covenant consists of promises made, a covenant is actually greater than the promises it contains. When a covenant is initially made, the cutting of the covenant solidifies the promises through a solemn ceremony that typically includes sacrifice. That’s what we saw in Genesis 15. Through blood sacrifice and formal ceremony, “the LORD made a covenant with Abram” (Genesis 15:18). So, the Lord’s covenant with Abram had already been established and solemnized several years before the events of Chapter 17.

The emphasis of the covenant-making ceremony in Genesis 15 is that the Lord took upon Himself sole responsibility to fulfill His promise. Although Abram had prepared the sacrifice in obedience to the Lord’s instructions, when it came time to actually ratify the covenant, Abram was asleep (Genesis 15:12) and the Lord alone passed between the broken pieces of the sacrificed animals (Genesis 15:17). The Lord pledged on the basis of His own trustworthy character that He would give Abram innumerable offspring and that He would give the land of Canaan to Abram’s offspring. The Lord is ‘promise maker’ and ‘promise keeper’. He sees to it that His promises are fulfilled.

When the Lord alone passed through the sacrificed animals in order to ratify the Abrahamic Covenant, and when the Lord alone was crucified for the sins of His people in order to ratify the New Covenant, He reveals Himself to be the sole guarantor of the covenant promises. But this raises a question: when God pledges Himself to us and brings us into His covenant, do we have any covenant obligations? Do we have any covenant duties? Or does the Lord’s decision to take sole responsibility for the implementation of His promises mean that we have no responsibilities? Does the Lord’s sovereign decree mean that we are duty free? As a matter of fact, it doesn’t. Genesis 17 shows us that God’s covenant partners have responsibilities of their own – responsibilities that God has given to them.

The New Testament teaches us that those who have faith in Jesus are participants in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8) and, at the same time, are counted among “Abraham’s offspring” (Galatians 3:29). Since Abraham is a model of living by faith (Romans 4, Hebrews 11), we ought to learn from his example about what it means to be God’s faithful covenant partner.

OUTLINE OF PASSAGE

Chapter 17 divides neatly into two sections. The first section runs from verse 1 to verse 22. In verse 1, “the LORD appeared to Abram” and began speaking to him, and in verse 22, “God went up from Abraham” after “he had finished talking with him”. The second section, much shorter, runs from verse 23 to verse 27 and describes Abraham’s obedience to the instruction he had received.

GOD TALKS COVENANT WITH ABRAM (v. 1-22)

Specifically, God talks covenant with Abram in verses 1-22. The Lord’s words to Abram unfold in several parts and teach us this lesson:

You must demonstrate your faith in the Lord God Almighty by walking blamelessly before Him, by being anchored in His promises, and by observing the signs of His covenant.

The Lord Appears to Abram (v. 1-2)

The Lord appears to Abram and says to him: “I am God Almighty” (v. 1). The Lord is El Shaddai – God Almighty – who directs the course of history, rules the nations, saves His people, and reveals the future. The Lord then gives Abram this command: “walk before me, and be blameless”. Right off the bat, we realize that Abram’s relationship with the Lord entails a responsibility to live his life in the light of God’s presence, and to live in such a way that he is blameless, perfect, complete. Adam and Eve “hid themselves from the presence of the LORD” (Genesis 3:8), and “Cain went away from the presence of the LORD” (Genesis 4:16). But God intends for us to live in the presence of the Lord. In contrast to the whole world which had become “corrupt in God’s sight” (Genesis 6:11), Noah was “righteous before [the LORD]” (Genesis 7:1). In Genesis 17:1, Abram is instructed to live his entire life before the face of God.

God always summons His people to live a God-centered life, and to pursue it with great determination and focus. Once you come to the conviction that the living God has called you to live your entire life in the awareness of His presence, His holiness, and His agenda, then you have the right definitive priority that outweighs every other consideration. Chasing the world, appeasing other people, and pleasing yourself must fade into the background, and you must be resolved to draw near to the Lord, find out what is pleasing to Him, and then do it with all your heart. For we cannot “be blameless” unless we actually walk in obedience to the One who has called us:

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Demonstrate your faith in the Lord by walking blamelessly before Him.

God’s opening statement continues in verse 2: “that I may make my covenant between me and you, and multiply you greatly.” Of course, God has already made a covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:18). So, the “make” in “make my covenant” (in Genesis 17:2) doesn’t mean to make something new that doesn’t previously exist. But instead the idea here is that God is reaffirming a covenant that already exists and God is setting His covenant between Him and Abram. For Abram’s part, Abram is called to walk blamelessly in light of God’s covenant promises. Abram is called to live in a manner that is worthy of the covenant of God’s grace.  

The appearing of the Lord, the command to walk faithfully, and the reminder of God’s covenant promise, has the effect of humbling Abram: “Then Abram fell on his face.” (v. 3) When God draws near to us, we are – in that moment and in that place – on holy ground. The proper response is to fall on our face with a hushed mouth and attentive ears.  

The Lord Reaffirms His Covenant Promises (v. 4-8)

In verses 4-8, the Lord reaffirms His covenant promises to Abram. The lesson continues:

You must demonstrate your faith in the Lord God Almighty not only by walking blamelessly before Him, but also by being anchored in His promises.

God’s promises receive great attention in verses 4-8 and again in verses 15-21. Just as God’s promises were the solid ground upon which Abram was to live his life, so God’s promises must be the solid ground beneath our feet as well. The promises of God are what energize and sustain our everyday obedience.

In verse 4, God tells Abram, “Behold, my covenant is with you”. The Lord entered into covenant with Abram in Genesis 15, and that covenant is foundational to the additional developments that take place here in Genesis 17.

Next, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham (v. 4-6). Abram’s original name ‘Abram’ means ‘exalted father’ – which, as one commentator points out, may actually have been given to Abram in honor of Abram’s father Terah.[1] But Abram’s new name ‘Abraham’ highlights the fact that Abram himself will be a great father. There is a play on words here: the name “Abraham” sounds like ab-hamon, which means ‘father of a multitude’.[2]

To name someone is an exercise of authority. Parents have the authority to name their children. God Almighty has ultimate authority: God has the right to tell parents what to name a child in the first place, as He does with respect to Ishmael in Genesis 16:11 and with respect to Isaac in Genesis 17:19; and God has the right to change someone’s name, as He does with respect to Abram in Genesis 17:5 and with respect to Sarai in Genesis 17:15. The name that God assigns has the meaning that God assigns to it – and in Abraham’s case the new name is prophetic. When God spoke these words to Abraham, Abraham had one son who was thirteen years old. And yet God says, “I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” It’s as good as done. In due course, several nations will owe their lineage to Abraham: through Ishmael, the Ishmaelites; through Isaac’s son Esau, the Edomites; through Isaac’s son Jacob, both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom). After Sarah’s death, “Abraham took another wife” (Genesis 25:1) and had six additional sons – and it seems that at least some of these sons were founders of nations. So, Abraham – who was without any children until he was in his mid-80s – became the progenitor of several nations as well as the ancestor of the kings who ruled those nations.

However, even though Abraham is “the father of a multitude of nations”, not every nation is the “great nation” that God promised to make of him (Genesis 12:2). Not every nation is steward of the covenant promises. Not every nation is God’s covenant partner. Not every nation is promised the land of Canaan for an inheritance. So, although verses 5-6 give us a wide field of view in terms of many nations stemming from Abraham, we have to keep in mind that the covenant itself is focused on the chosen seed – and this will become very clear in the section that deals with the promise of Isaac.

As for verses 7-8, they drive home the fact that God’s covenant with Abraham will be extended to Abraham’s specially promised offspring. Since Genesis 12, God has been making promises to Abraham about Abraham’s offspring, and God has been promising Abraham that He will give the promised land to Abraham’s offspring. But when God cut the covenant in Genesis 15, God made the covenant with Abraham. Now Genesis 17:7-8 moves the discussion forward by making it clear that Abraham’s offspring will be made party to the covenant that God has already made with Abram:

“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. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (v. 7-8)

The idea here is that God promises to confirm the covenant that He already made with Abraham in Genesis 15. God will confirm His covenant with Abraham and with Abraham’s offspring. God will keep His covenant promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and Abraham’s offspring. Even so, don’t miss the heart of the covenant promise. The heart of the “everlasting covenant” is this: God promises “to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (v. 7). The central feature of the covenant is: “I will be their God” (v. 8).

I said earlier that a covenant is a framework for relationship, and so it is. The framework matters. The specific promises and responsibilities matter. But never lose sight of the chief objective, which is to live in the blessedness of having the true God as our God, to live in the reality and security and joy of having El Shaddai watch over us and be a refuge to us and provide for us. One of the Bible’s recurring covenant refrains is: "I will be your God, and you will be my people."

Do you get this priority? We study the Bible, and rightly so. We pay attention to every word, and rightly so, because every word comes from God and is part of a spiritual meal designed to nourish us. We unpack a lot of information – we talk about God’s promises and God’s covenant and God’s activity – and we consider how information in one passage relates to information in another passage, and we seek to understand how it all fits together. All this is essential to being anchored in sound doctrine. All this is essential to making sure that our knowledge of God is actually governed by God’s words and not by our own imaginations. But after all is said and done, the point is not to be in fellowship with a book, or with information, or with systematic theology, or with religion, or with tradition, but with a Person: “I am God Almighty; walk before me” (Genesis 17:1), I will “be God to you” (Genesis 17:1), “I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).

One of the most tragic realities that is described in Scripture is that so often Abraham’s physical descendants rejected the Lord. The first-century Jewish leaders claimed Abraham as their father, and yet their hearts were far from God. They claimed to be privileged beneficiaries of a rich heritage, but they had missed the point.

What about you? Do you merely have a lot of biblical data bouncing around in the stratosphere of your brain? Do you merely have a lot of religious busyness in your schedule? Or do you know that God Almighty is your God – your “refuge and strength, a very present help” (Psalm 46:1) in tumultuous times – a Father who blesses you and supplies your needs, a faithful and merciful God who keeps His promises? There is no substitute in all the world for knowing God.

The Lord Commands Abraham to Keep His Covenant (v. 9-14)

After reaffirming His covenant to Abraham in verses 4-8, in verses 9-13 the Lord commands Abraham to keep His covenant. This takes us to the third part of the lesson:

You must demonstrate your faith in the Lord God Almighty not only by walking blamelessly before Him, and not only by being anchored in His promises, but also by keeping the signs of His covenant.

God says to Abraham:

“As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.” (v. 9)

While our covenant-keeping involves walking blamelessly in all of life (v. 1) and always living in humble awareness that God is our God (v. 7-8), nevertheless the focus of covenant-keeping in verses 9-14 is clearly upon receiving the “sign of the covenant” (v. 11). The sign, of course, is circumcision:

“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” (v. 10-11)

These verses help us to understand what is new about Chapter 17. The covenant itself is not new. The Lord made a covenant with Abram several years earlier. So Chapter 17 is a confirmation and reaffirmation of the covenant that was already made. But there is something new in Chapter 17 – what’s new is the covenant sign. This is a very instructive counterpart to what we learned in Chapter 15. In Chapter 15, the Lord took sole responsibility for the making of the covenant. But in Chapter 17 the Lord assigns to Abraham a specific responsibility: Abraham and his descendants must be marked as people who are in covenant with God. God’s will is not for His covenant to remain invisible, mediated only by words. Words are vital to revealing the spiritual reality of the covenant. But God’s will is that His covenant be made visible and tangible and physical, that His covenant be put in the flesh of His covenant partners. This sign of the covenant can be understood as the mark of the Lord, and this tangible sign – this identifying mark – makes it clear to us that we are God’s people, that God has made His covenant with us, and that we have covenant obligations to Him.

As God appointed men to exercise leadership and to represent their entire households, so it is fitting that it is only males who were to receive the sign of circumcision (v. 10). Once the covenant sign is implemented, the protocol is for male children to be circumcised on the eighth day (v. 12). But to get started, every member of Abraham’s household needed to be circumcised regardless of age (v. 12-13), including Abraham who was ninety-nine years old and Ishmael who was thirteen years old. Once the practice of circumcision was established, a man could not claim to be a participant in God’s covenant if he had not received the sign of the covenant:

“Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (. 14)

If a male descendant of Abraham doesn’t get cut into the covenant through circumcision, then he gets cut off from the covenant people. Both the covenant and the sign of the covenant are a serious matter, a matter of life and death. The choice is clear: receive the covenant sign and abide among the covenant people, or refuse the covenant sign and be dis-covenanted: in which case the Lord will not be your God, and you will have no share in the covenant blessings.

How Circumcision Applies to Members of the New Covenant

Even before we consider how this instruction about circumcision might apply to us as Christians under the new covenant, I do hope you realize the weightiness of God’s instruction. The fundamental human problem is that we want to follow the dictates of our own evil hearts. Sinners want to argue with God. Sinners want to relate to God on their own terms, not on God’s terms. Sinners want the freedom to break God’s covenant and still claim God’s covenant promises. Sinners want the liberty to say, ‘Circumcision isn’t that important, it’s what in the heart that counts.’ I hope that you can see how wrongheaded these sentiments are. The statement ‘it’s what in the heart that counts’ is true in the sense that trust and obedience are only genuine if they are rooted in the heart, but whenever people use ‘it’s what in the heart that counts’ as a justification for disobeying God’s commands, what they are actually revealing is that what’s in their heart is a desire to disobey God’s commands and to justify such disobedience. And so, what’s in their heart will only bring about their condemnation at the final judgment.

The covenant sign of circumcision can be legitimately applied in at least two ways. First, since the covenant sign is a rite of initiation into the covenant, it may be applied to Christian baptism. I’m not saying that there is an exact correspondence between the two, but there is certainly a connection. Just as male Israelites were made a visible part of the Abrahamic covenant through circumcision, so now all believers – both men and women from all nations – are commanded to become a visible part of the new covenant through baptism: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Second, since the covenant sign of circumcision was also supposed to be a physical picture of a spiritual reality, it points to the priority of heart transformation. While physical circumcision was a necessary act of obedience, it was never meant to be a stand-alone act, as if the mere fact that a man is physically circumcised means that he is pleasing in God’s sight. No man is pleasing in God’s sight unless he has the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised. The faith-filled heart trusts God and responds obediently to all that God commands. Circumcision in the flesh symbolizes our need to have a circumcised heart: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) When our hearts are circumcised, then we will have a freeing disposition to keep all of God’s instruction. And keeping all of God’s instruction is the goal, isn’t it? The Israelites who were circumcised in the flesh and were thus made a visible part of God’s covenant people were obligated to keep all of God’s covenant instruction. Similarly, our Lord Jesus taught that everyone who is baptized into the name of the Triune God must thereafter learn to obey all that He commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20). In other words, the necessity of covenant obedience has not changed. But the obedience will only take place if our hearts have been circumcised, if the Lord has given us a new heart, and if His Spirit is within us to enable us to walk blamelessly before Him.

Remember the lesson:

You must demonstrate your faith in the Lord God Almighty by walking blamelessly before Him, by being anchored in His promises, and by observing the signs of His covenant. 

Don’t despise covenant signs. For some of us, our cultural background inclines us to disregard rituals and formal observances. But Scripture teaches us the right way: just as Israel in the Old Testament was to keep the covenant sign of circumcision and keep the Sabbath Day and keep the feast days, so we are to keep the covenant sign of baptism and keep the regular worship gathering and keep the Lord’s Supper. Let’s keep these covenant signs, not in order to check boxes off some list of duties, but because the life-giving Holy Spirit has brought us into fellowship with the Lord of the covenant, and this same Holy Spirit sustains our covenant fellowship, in part, through the covenant signs given to us.   

The Lord Reveals His Covenant Succession Plan (v. 15-21)

The final part of God’s covenant talk with Abraham is the revelation of God’s covenant succession plan. In these verses, God makes additional promises to Abraham, which serves as another reminder that God’s faithful followers must be anchored in God’s promises.

When we heard in verses 4-8 that Abraham would father a multitude of nations and that His offspring would be included in the covenant, we might have thought that all of His physical offspring would be included in the covenant. But it is not so, and verses 15-21 make this clear.

In the background, we recall that Abraham’s son Ishmael was born thirteen years ago. Abraham probably assumed that Ishmael would inherit God’s promises to Abraham. But God had another plan. The promised covenant heir would not be Ishmael, whom the maidservant Hagar bore to Abraham, but would instead be a son born to Sarai, Abraham’s wife.

Having changed Abram’s name to Abraham in verse 5, now in verse 15 the Lord changes Sarai’s name to Sarah. Sarah means ‘princess’. In verse 16, the Lord makes it clear that Sarah shares in the riches of His promises to Abraham: like Abraham, Sarah will be blessed by the Lord; like Abraham, Sarah will become nations; like Abraham, kings of peoples will come from Sarah. The heart of verse 16 is: “I will give you a son by her”.

Abraham is humored by the prospect of having a son by Sarah when the two of them are one-hundred years old and ninety years old, respectively (v. 17). Abraham expresses his desire that his son Ishmael might live before God, that is, that Ishmael might be the chosen son who fulfills God’s promise to Abraham (v. 18). But God’s plan is for the chosen son to come through Abraham and Sarai (v. 19). God assures Abraham that He has blessed Ishmael and that Ishmael will become a great nation (v. 20). Nevertheless, Ishmael is not the promised seed: “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” (v. 21) Here again, God’s covenant with Abram was already in place, so the idea here is that God’s covenant with Abram will be confirmed with and extended through Isaac. Abraham had a total of eight sons, but only one son is the son of promise – only one son is the covenant heir.

Being God’s faithful covenant partner requires submission on our part. We must submit to God’s choice in every matter. Abraham had two brothers, but only Abraham was chosen to be the lead recipient of God’s covenant. Abraham had eight sons, but only Isaac was chosen to be the lead recipient of God’s covenant. Isaac had two sons, but only Jacob was chosen to be the lead recipient of God’s covenant. Jacob had twelve sons, and all twelve sons and their respective tribes were included in the Israelite Covenant. And yet, only one of Jacob’s sons received a priestly commission (Levi); and only one of Jacob’s sons received a kingly commission (Judah). Fast forward: Jesse had eight sons, but only one of Jesse’s sons became king and was the lead recipient of the Davidic Covenant. We must always submit to God’s choice, for it is God’s prerogative to choose the lead recipient of His covenant. Ultimately, the lead recipient of His covenant is His beloved Son – “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). Once we submit to God’s choice, then we are in a position to receive all the blessings that God intends for us to receive through the administration of the covenant. Remember the promise: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

Verse 21 concludes the Lord’s words to Abraham in Chapter 17, and verse 22 highlights this fact and tells us that “God went up from Abraham.” God’s covenant talk with Abraham is now complete, and the question is: how will Abraham respond?

ABRAHAM KEEPS GOD’S COVENANT (v. 23-27)

Verses 23-27 answer the question. The key phrase comes at the end of verse 23: “as God had said to him”. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, he was circumcised. And, in obedience to the Lord’s instruction, Abraham circumcised every male member of his household, including his thirteen year old son Ishmael.

Although Abraham has demonstrated poor judgment at certain times, what stands out is that he is learning to respond rightly to the Lord’s instruction. In Chapter 12 the Lord told Abraham to go to a new land, and Abram went. Later the Lord appeared to Abraham and made a promise, and Abraham responded by building an altar to the Lord. In Chapter 15, the Lord reaffirmed His promise to Abraham, and Abraham believed the Lord. Then the Lord told Abraham to bring him certain animals for sacrifice, and Abraham brought them. Here in Chapter 17, the Lord told Abraham to keep the sign of the covenant, and he did. The upshot of all this is that Abraham is learning to walk before God, Abraham is learning to be blameless, Abraham is learning to keep covenant.

LET’S KEEP OUR COVENANT RESPONSIBILITIES!

In Genesis 15, when the Lord cut a covenant with Abraham in the first place, the emphasis was on the Lord Himself as the sole guarantor of the covenant – and we need to continually be reminded of that, that the Lord is faithful to keep His promises, even to the point of shedding His own blood upon the cross. We need to lean on the everlasting arms of the faithful covenant maker and promise keeper. Yes and amen.

But the emphasis of Genesis 17 is that those whom the Lord brings into covenant with Himself have their own covenant responsibilities to keep. Verse 1: “walk before me, and be blameless”. Verse 9: “you shall keep my covenant”. Verses 23: Abraham did what “God had said to him” to do. God’s covenant partners must fulfill their responsibilities. This is not a popular message in an evanjellyfish pseudo-church world that loves cheap grace that comes with no responsibilities. But the call upon us to hear and obey God’s instruction is so prolific in both the Old and New Testaments, that we have to be blind not to see it. As Jesus said to His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14) Are you one of the Lord’s friends? Are you a faithful participant in His covenant?

Remember what we learned in Genesis 15:6 – that Abraham was justified in God’s sight through faith, apart from works. God doesn’t look at our obedience as the basis of our having a right relationship with Him. Instead, God looks at our faith as the basis of our having a right relationship with Him. But the faith that brings us into a right relationship with God is not a dead faith or a theoretical faith or a flash-in-the-pan faith. The faith that justifies is a living faith – a lively faith – that responds rightly to all of God’s instruction. Therefore, learning to walk before God, learning to be blameless, learning to keep God’s covenant, learning to be a faithful member of God’s covenant people – learning and doing these things is not how you get into a right relationship with God. Instead, learning and doing these things demonstrates that you already have a right relationship with God and that you have the faith through which you entered into that right relationship with God. Therefore, I say to those of you who have a lively faith in our Lord Jesus:   

Demonstrate your faith in the Lord God Almighty by walking blamelessly before Him, by being anchored in His promises, and by observing the signs of His covenant.

ENDNOTES

[1] Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998: p. 331.

[2] See:

1) Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum.  The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020: p. 271.

2) Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998: p. 332.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998.

Assohoto, Barnabe and Samuel Ngewa, “Genesis.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Zondervan Edition (first edition published in 2006).

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020.

Ross, Allen P. Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.