Bible Reading: Genesis 17
This morning's reading is taken from the book of Genesis, chapter 17, beginning at verse one.
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty. Walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. Abram fell face down and God said to him, as for me, this is my covenant with you. You'll be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram. Your name will be Abraham for I've made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you and kings will come from you.
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God. Then God said to Abraham, as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you. The covenant you are to keep. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you for the generations to come.
Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner. Those who are not your offspring, whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.
God also said to Abraham, and as for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her. Abraham fell face down. He laughed and said to himself, will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? And Abraham said to God, if only Ishmael might live under your blessing. Then God said, yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised and his son Ishmael was thirteen. Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
This is the word of God.
Recap: The Years of Waiting and "Plan B"
Thank you both. As I mentioned, we've been working with Abraham for three weeks now and we looked at different chapters in Genesis chapter 12 and chapter 15. And between chapter 12 and chapter 15, you remember how many years passed? Anyone? Five years? Eight? Close. Ten. You're right. Yes, ten years.
Between these three chapters, 12 to 15, and many things happened to Abraham. Many different things and ups and downs. And we know that Abraham is originally from Ur, down there in the map that I showed you last week. And then he moved up with family, with his father. His father actually moved the whole family up in Haran, which is in Turkey today and north of Syria.
And that was there that God appeared to Abraham and asked him to leave everything, leave behind everything and go to a new land that he will show him. Without any map, any destination, he will show in the future. And what did Abraham do? He obeyed and he listened. And he went down to Shechem, a place near Canaan, which is a huge land.
And now we are looking at chapter 15. So we missed chapter 16 here in between, sorry 17, we missed chapter 16 here, we read chapter 15 last week and now we are landing on chapter 17. And what happened in chapter 16 is waiting becomes hard and trusting God turns into taking control and having plan B. This happens to many Christians.
Abraham and Sarai try to help God by having a child through another person named Hagar. And the result is pain, conflict, and broken relationships. That's what happened in chapter 16. So chapter 16 ends with this. So Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. So 13 years pass here in silence now.
And then in chapter 17, God speaks again to reaffirm his promise and his call that he had for Abraham. So he calls him to walk before him in faith and obedience. So here in chapter 17, we are 13 years after what we have seen so far. So look at verse 1 and 2. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord, which I told you when we see the capital words of Lord means I am Yahweh in Hebrew. So I am appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty. Walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your number.
Meeting El Shaddai: The God Almighty
So God introduces himself as Almighty. In Hebrew, this word is El Shaddai. Might be familiar with this name of God. So El Shaddai. That is the third name up to here. That's the third name that God used to reveal himself to human and mankind. So the first one was Elohim.
- Elohim: We see in the beginning of this scripture, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Brashit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim ve-et ha-areth. This is in Hebrew. Elohim created everything. The mighty one means the Elohim means the mighty one. That's the name of God.
- Yahweh: And the second name is Yahweh. Y-H-W-H and we read it as Yahweh, which means I am, I am, I am who I am. And we see that in the burning bush story of Moses that God reveals himself to Moses as I am.
- El Shaddai: And the name El Shaddai here highlights God as all powerful, all sufficient and covenant keeping God who will accomplish his promises despite human's weaknesses. So this name El Shaddai used for the Lord in the Old Testament for 48 times in the whole Old Testament. So El Shaddai, God Almighty.
Now we know the meaning behind these names in Hebrew and in English, but my question is that do you really know God as El Shaddai in your life? Do you really know him as El Shaddai? How do you proclaim God's name as El Shaddai in your life? How do you proclaim it in different seasons that you walk with God? How do you proclaim it?
Well, we can have a doctrine in Hebrew, which I don't, but I had the highest credit in Hebrew at Ridley due to the favor of my lecturer Jill. But we could know everything about God and the name of God and all the names and all the meanings behind it, but does this impact our lives? Does this change and shape our life with God? Does it shape our lives in a way that would align with God's names?
The Failure of Self-Reliance
So for Abraham to know El Shaddai went through many stages, almost 13 years, almost 13 years of his life before God could reveal himself to him as El Shaddai. So you know that Abraham, as I said, had to get out of the country and had to separate himself from his father's house. He had some experience in the land of Canaan, and then he had to go to Egypt. He had to deny his wife, Sarah, and without the promise that God promised, he sought it by Hagar, that is through his own energy and his own planning and scheming.
And then he had to hear these words from God himself, I am God, El Shaddai, I am the mighty one. So he understands how the strength of God is made perfect in our weakness when we don't have a plan or when we have plan B. But for God's truth to really shape us, it has to sink deeply as Vanessa mentioned, deeply in our hearts and in our minds. Knowing about God is one story, but let this truth to deeply sink in our lives is another. If it stays only in our minds and does not live inside our soul and inside our hearts, it will not change us or not shape our lives with God.
We'll look at where and how this name of God is used in the life of Abraham. Prior to Genesis 17, Abraham and Sarah were wrestling with God in the sense that God had promised something to them. They taught impossible descendants because Abraham was 99 years old. The promises of God were entirely outside of their ability, and Abraham at 86 years old takes Hagar, his Egyptian handmaiden, to have a son so that Ishmael would come forth who was half Egyptian and half Hebrew, and God is not pleased with that plan.
God is not pleased with Abraham and Sarah's plan B. So there is 13 years of absolute silence here in life of Abraham and Sarah, and silence from God for 13 years, and during this period, Sarah has lost all hope of motherhood, and Abraham had accepted the idea that Ishmael was his promised son. So he started to think that, well, this is the plan that God had for me, I need to accept it. I need to do what he had promised me.
Finally, at the beginning of chapter 17, after 13 years, Abraham is 99 years old, and El Shaddai reaffirms his covenants, Abraham, you will be the father of many nations. You will be the father of many nations. I will make you into great nations. So up until this time, we have three times that God is repeating his covenant with Abraham.
- The first time was in chapter 12, I will make you into great nations.
- Then we see in chapter 15, look up at the sky, God takes Abraham outside, and he tells him to look out, look outward, not look inward into your situation and weakness and all inability that you have. Look out and look up at the sky and the countless stars if you can. So shall your offspring be.
- And then here in chapter 17, again, El Shaddai, God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and blameless and then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your number.
Two Acts of the Covenant: Identity and Signs
And what is Abraham's response? He falls face down. He falls face down. So this posture of falling face down is a posture of surrounder and worship. Surrounder and worship. Abraham doesn't negotiate with God. He doesn't argue. He just listens. And the response is he just falls face down. And we have two acts from God here to reaffirm his covenants.
1. Changing Names
So the first act is changing names. Changing names. So names are important, as you know, especially in some cultures, and name has very powerful meaning behind them, especially in ancient world. We know that by naming the animals that Adam demonstrated his mastery over them that God told him.
So I remember that we had so much complexity before the birth of our baby Yonah to pick a name for him. So we wanted to be very careful that what kind of name that we pick. And it was almost a couple of days before the delivery day that we just came to just a conclusion of naming him Yonah, because we wanted this name to be unique for him and also for us, the season that we've passed during this time, to show that who he is. The identity that this name gives to people. And in ancient world, names carried meaning and identity as it is.
Abraham meant exalted father, as you remember from the first week. And God changed Abraham's name to Abraham, means father of a multitude, father of many. God is not, what God is doing here, he's not describing Abraham's presence reality, but his promised future that Abraham cannot see at the moment. And this pattern continues for Sarai as well. So Sarai becomes Sarah, though both names means princes for Sarah, but the change is a sign of a new role, a new covenant in God's purposes.
You will be the mother of many. You will be the mother of a multitude. And Sarah will no longer be defined by bareness, but by promise that God has given her. God insists that the covenant child will come through Sarah, not from Hagar. And human plans are set aside to that divine grace might be clearly seen here. So this act of changing name is an affirmation of the covenant promise and the designation of these people as God's chosen people and God's chosen servants.
And Abraham struggles to take this in. He laughs. Not the laugh of mockery, but the laugh of disbelief. This was out of his imagination. And he laughs. He asks God to bless Ishmael instead, which reveals Abraham's attachment to plan B. Abraham is insisting on the plan B that he had. His attachment to what he produced in his own strength and his own scheming and planning. But God does bless Ishmael, as he said, but he is clear in this passage that the covenant will pass through someone else, through Isaac, not Ishmael. And God here is not against the effort that people have, but he opposes self-reliance that replaces trust, that replaces trust to God.
2. Circumcision: A Sign of Belonging
And the second act that we see here, he asks Abraham to make this covenant visible by introducing circumcision as its sign. And this marks the marks of belonging, belonging to a family, belonging to this obedience and surrounder. It is a physical reminder for the people of God, for Abraham and his descendants, that the covenant touches every part of life. And blood is shed pointing to cost and commitment here.
And God is teaching Abraham that walking with him involves both promise and obedience in action. Sometimes we trust God's plan, but it's hard for us to take action. And this is a sign that God is giving to Abraham. And Abraham's response is immediate and complete. He circumcises himself, Ishmael, and every male in his household that very day. The man, Abraham, who once hesitated, now acts with courage that God has given him. And encountering El Shaddai produces this obedience, not fear or doubt.
The Fulfillment in Jesus
So this transformation that we see here prepares us to see the deeper meaning of this passage through the lens of the New Testament. As we saw last week, we explore six different covenants that we see in this scripture. And the last one was the New Covenant. Jesus later echoes this. He says, abide in me, abide in me. Where walking with God becomes living in union with Christ Jesus.
And Paul reminds us that Abraham is the father of all who believe. Not because of words, but because of faith. And circumcision here, the sign of the Old Covenant, finds its fulfillment in the New Testament covenant. Through Jesus Christ, we have this New Covenant. And Paul speaks of the circumcision of the heart, not the body. Those who are circumcised in the heart and performed by the Holy Spirit.
So what God began with Abraham reaches its climax in Jesus. The covenant promise expands beyond one nation to all nations and includes all who trust in Christ. In Jesus, we see El Shaddai, God Almighty, fully revealed. And he doesn't rely on human strength. He embraces weakness. On the cross, God's power is displayed through surrender. And in resurrection, we see the confirmation that nothing is too hard for the Lord. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Abraham believed in promise, we see fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Four Ways This Shapes Our Lives Today
So how does this shape our lives today, our journey with God, our walking with God? Let me encourage us with four things.
- Stop managing outcomes and start trusting His character.
The first thing is that God's goodness invites us to stop managing outcome and start trusting his character. Stop managing doesn't mean not having a plan for our future and our lives and the plan that we have for ourselves and families, but trusting his character. Where are we producing Ishmael in our lives instead of waiting for Isaac? So waiting is hard. And when we come to that point, our body and our mind and our self-conscious pushes us to have plan B, to have an Ishmael for ourselves. Where have we settled for control instead of faith and trust? And God's goodness doesn't rush us, but it does call us to trust.
- Walking with God requires integrity.
Second, walking with God requires integrity. Being honest with God, God sees our hidden plans as clearly as our public obedience. Walking before God means living transparently and allowing his presence to shape our decisions, prioritize and relationship that we have with him. God invites us to bring our weakness and to be honest in our time of prayer when we come before him, when we come before him in confession, as personal confession or as a community gathered together. Faith is not lived in moments, but in daily steps that we have, in daily decision. And God wants us to have this integrity.
- Obedience flows from knowing who God is.
And thirdly, obedience flows from knowing who God is, not from what we see around us. Sometimes we see the hands of God in our lives clearly, and sometimes it's hard for us to see God's plan in our lives. We need to wait. At the moment, as I described, many people in Iran are protesting against this regime and are suffering for many years, 47 years, under this dictatorship. It is hard for them to see the future of Iran, but trusting that who God is will shape the daily decision and will shape their protest and will shape the strength that they have.
The obedience that we have in our lives as Christians is coming from knowing who God is, knowing his heart for us, knowing that God is love and his love is for us. So Abraham obeyed because he encountered El Shaddai. Tim Keller says, faith is not just believing God exists. It is trusting that what God has promised will come to pass, even when we have waited too long to hope. For Abraham, it was many years. For people of Iran, it has been many years. For you, it has been many years, if you're praying for something in your life. When God is seen as all sufficient, obedience becomes an act of trust rather than fear.
- God's goodness shapes a life over time.
And finally, God's goodness shapes a life over time. Abraham didn't become faithful overnight. I didn't become faithful overnight, and you haven't been faithful, didn't come to be a faithful servant of God overnight. If you look at yourself in 10 years ago, what would you see? How would you see yourself today? We see that how God has been working in our lives to shape our character, to make us more and more like himself. In Abraham, it's the same story. God patiently worked through failure, through his weaknesses, and bring renewal. The same is true for us. Working with God is a lifelong journey shaped by him and by his grace.
Living Under the Gaze of the King
As we reflect on this chapter, Genesis 17, we are invited to see God not as distant God, but as a God who is present and powerful and faithful. He is still El Shaddai for you. He is still El Shaddai for everyone. He still keeps his promises, and he still calls his people to walk before him, and trusting that his goodness is enough. His goodness is enough.
And this chapter shows that covenant always begins with God speaking. Abraham does not seek God out in this moment, but God appears to him. Abraham is following his plan B, but God appears in the middle of this plan to entrap him, to show who he is. And this matters to us because many believers reserve the order, sorry, reverse the order, believing that obedience ends intimacy with God, and scripture insists the opposite. God reveals himself, then calls his people to walk. God reveals himself, then calls you to walk.
The command, walk before me, implies relational proximity. And in an ancient world, to walk before a king meant to live under his gaze and be accountable to the king, but yet protected by the king. And God is inviting Abraham into a life shaped by awareness of divine presence here. And Jesus later promises the same reality when he says, I am with you always. I am with you always. And the covenant language here also expands our understanding of God's faithfulness. God promises not only descendant, but relationship. He says, I'll be your God. This is the heart of the covenant with God. Land and blessing and offspring and fruitfulness are secondary to communion and relationship with God.
The Holy Scripture echoes this promise, God dwelling with his people. In Revelation, we see that it finds its fulfillment, that God will dwell with humanity forever and ever. Genesis 17 also teaches us about divine timing. God waits until Abraham and Sarah are beyond natural hope. When Isaac is born, there will be no confusion about the source of life and the future. For Christian life today, these challenges are impatient. We live in a culture of immediacy. We want immediate coffee, what we call instant coffee, with butters, butters needs a lot. Instant food, frozen food, drive-thru. But God often works slowly to shape us deeply, to shape us in different ways.
The Certainty of God's Promise
In Christ, the ultimate descendants of Abraham, all nations are blessed, all nations. The covenant promise finds its fulfillment, not in land or lineage alone, but in redemption. As we walk with God today, we do not walk in fear or doubt, but in confidence and trusting that God who began this work is faithful to complete it. I began this service with saying that I'm standing in two lands, land of the broken land and the land of hope. I have hope for the future in Jesus Christ, for the people of Iran and any other peoples around the world suffering from injustice. And we know that this is going to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
This passage also shapes us how we understand blessing. Blessing is not just prosperity or success, but alignment with God's purposes. Abraham is blessed so that others may be blessed. Jesus embodies this pattern and giving himself for the life of the world. He's giving himself for you. Walking with God therefore reshapes our ambitions. We begin to ask not what advances us, what is good for us, but what reflects God's goodness and how we can be a light of God to others. The life shaped by El Shaddai becomes a life of generosity, patience, and hope, but rooted in the certainty that God's promise never fail.
Abraham's story reassures us that failure is not the end of faith and God doesn't abandon him after chapter 16. He continues. He meets him again, speaks again, and renews his promise. At Deep Creek this morning, this is a great and good news for each of us. For each of us. For those who are tired of trying. For those who are tired of hiding their weakness and mistakes. And God's goodness restores rather than replace. God's goodness is here for us to give us this hope for the future.
As we leave Genesis 17 today, we are reminded that walking with God is sustained by grace and shaped by obedience and anchored in hope. The God who revealed himself to Abraham as El Shaddai remains faithful today, calling his people to trust, walk, and live by his goodness. El Shaddai is our God. Every time we say it together, El Shaddai is my God. So may this chapter, may this truth about God reshape our life and invite us to deeper trust. May we release our Ishmael, our plan B, and receive God's promises and walk humbly before him every day. Every day. Not by our own power, but the power that the Holy Spirit enables us. And may we, like Abraham, discover that all-sufficient God is more than enough for every season that we experience in our lives. Amen.
