Bible Text: Genesis 17:1-22 |  

“Abram’s View,” Genesis 17

Open:  How most young children view their parents—Bigger than life and able to leap tall buildings

I.        As El Shaddai [God Almighty]

          A.     (v1) “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.”

                  1.      As the almighty one he is able to establish and keep covenants on his own credit.

                  2.      He rules nations and history, establishes science or alters it, creates and destroys.

          B.     He demands holiness from those who would gather in his presence

                  1.      1 Peter 1:15-16, “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.  For it is written…”

                  2.      (v2) “So that I may make my covenant between me and you.”

II.       As Covenant Maker

          A.     (v4) “You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.”

                   1.      At 99, this might have been hard for Abram to hear let alone believe.  Eh?

                  2.      (v7) “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations…to be God to you and to your offspring.”

          B.     (v8) The land of Canaan as a perpetual holding.

                  1.      They would not receive title to it for over 400 years.

                  2.      Within Biblical history, the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans occupied the land.

          C.     (v10) Our side of the covenant: “Every male among you shall be circumcised.”

                  1.      Practice not unique to the Jews nor initiated by the Jews

                  2.      Setting apart for God (v15) influenced early Judeo-Christian baptism [Acts 16:33]

III.      As the One Who Blesses Beyond Our Imaginings

          A.     Name changer: (v5) He changes Abram’s name to Abraham. [ancestor of a multitude] and (v15) Sarai’s name to Sarah. [princess]

          B.     Ephesians 3:20 “…abundantly more than we can ask or think, according to the power at work.”

                  1.      (v17) “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can…?”

                  2.      (v20) “As for Ishmael, I will bless him and make him fruitful, exceedingly numerous; …I will make him a great nation.”

Conclusion: