Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Genesis 17 Devotional

Renamed by God Almighty

“I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”Genesis 17:7 (BSB)

Thirteen years after Ishmael's birth, when Abram is ninety-nine, the LORD appears to him as God Almighty (17:1). He renews his covenant and changes Abram's name to Abraham, because God has made him a father of many nations, and Sarai's name to Sarah, because nations and kings will come from her (17:5, 17:15-16). At the center is God's own commitment: to be their God, and the God of their descendants, in a covenant that will never end (17:7). Circumcision marks every male in the household as belonging to that covenant.

When God says Sarah will have a son, Abraham falls on his face and laughs, and asks that Ishmael be the one to carry the promise (17:17-18). God is patient with him. He blesses Ishmael, but the covenant will pass through Isaac, a son Abraham cannot yet picture. Paul describes this as believing the God who calls into being what does not yet exist (Romans 4:17). God names what he will do before it happens, and then he does it.

To think about: Where are you asking God to bless the plan you can picture instead of trusting the one he has promised?

About Genesis 17: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

The Lord renames Abram as Abraham, father of many nations, and establishes an everlasting covenant with him and his offspring, with circumcision as its sign. He renames Sarai as Sarah and promises she will bear a son, Isaac, and Abraham circumcises every male in his household.

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