Genesis Chapter 17

We learn many things about God in reading the account of the life of Abram. One of the things we learn is that God does not have the same timetable that man does. It would have been so difficult to be in the shoes of Abram and Sarai waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled. And it seems that it is exactly the point that God is trying to make as we read the opening words of chapter 17 that Abram is now 99 years old, still waiting. In that season of waiting the LORD appeared to Abram. God knew and Abram knew and Sarai knew that at 99 years old the promised child had still not been born. But God called Abram to walk righteously before Him. It was a call to be a follower of God and no other gods. As a distinct reminder of this call to action, Abram and all males born from then on would be circumcised to show their allegiance to God. This was a visible mark that they were His.

The circumcision held no magical powers or super spiritual strength, but it marked a covenant made between God and man. This covenant of circumcision was the beginning preparation for the nations that would be born from the offspring of Abram and Sarai.

Let's Reflect

1. What promise did God make to Abram in the end of verse 2 and in verse 3?

2. How did Abram respond to God’s promise?

3. Why did God say that Abram would now be called Abraham?

4. In verse 8 God promised to give the land to Abraham and his descendants. For how long did God say that the land would belong to them?

5. What would Abraham have told the men why they had to be circumcised? See verse 11.

6. Any male who refused to be circumcised would not enjoy the blessings that God wanted to pour out on the nation given to Abraham. In fact, what would happen to that man and his family?

7. Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. And God repeated His promise to give them a child. What was Abraham’s reaction to this news that God still planned to give them a child?

8. Abraham suggested to God that Ishmael might be the child whom God could bring about his covenant nation. Ishmael was born to Abraham and the servant girl Hagar. But this wasn’t God’s plan. What did God promise He would do through Ishmael?

9. The Bible says that Abraham was obedient to God that very day and the men were all circumcised including his son Ishmael. How old was Ismael at this time?

We think about the miracle of Abraham and Sarah having a baby in their old age, and it was a miracle. But the greater miracle was the nation that God was going to make from this family. The nation that would give us the Messiah – that is the miracle.