WORDS OF COVENANT PROMISES (2)

“And I will MAKE MY COVENANT between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly” – Genesis 17:2

At His appointed time, GOD reaffirmed His WORDS of COVENANT PROMISES to Abram and changed his name: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will MAKE MY COVENANT between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations” (Gen.17:1-5). This divine appearance led to significant change of names.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran (Gen.12:4). He was 86 years old when Ishmael was born of Hagar, Sarah’s maid (Gen.16: 15-16). He had waited some 25 years for the fulfilment of God’s promise to give a son through Sarai. And it had been 13 years since his last recorded word from God (Gen.15). Now, at 99 years old, God called him to a more intimate walk (v.1); and change of names (vv.5, 15). God’s first words to Abram revealed His being – His Person and Character: “I am Almighty God” (v.1a). This name El Shaddai means: “God who is sufficient,” “God all-sufficient” or God who pours out blessings, gives richly, abundantly, and continually. The Hebrew word, “shad” has also been interpreted as “chest” or “breast,” inferring the strength of a man’s chest or the comfort and nourishment of a woman’s breast.

After the declaration of His Name El-Shaddai, came God’s expectation of Abram: “Walk before Me and be blameless” (v.1v). First revelation; then expectation: We can only do what God expects of us when we know who He is – in a full, personal, and real way. The word “blameless” literally means “whole.” In making His covenant with Abram, God wanted all of him, a total commitment. He reminded Abram He had not forgotten the covenant though it had been 25 years since the promise was first made, and 13 years since their last recorded communication (Gen.16: 15-16). Becoming a great Man of Faith is not an overnight affair. It takes years of God’s work in a person, years of almost mundane trusting in God, perhaps interrupted with a few spectacular encounters.

Abram fell on his face, showing submission and honour to God (v.3). The LORD then referred to specific terms of the covenant, namely: Fatherhood of many nations (v.4); change of name from “father of many” to “father of many nations” (v.5); exceeding fruitfulness and fatherhood of kings (v.6); generational and eternal establishment of the covenant (v.7); and everlasting possession of the Promised Land (v.8). The change of name was to encourage Abram’s faith in the promise of descendants through Sarai. There was, no doubt, a sense in which Abram, “father of many,” was a hard name to bear for a man who was the father of none! Now, God went a step further and changed his name to “father of many nations”! God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Gen.32:28), and Simon’s name to Peter (Mk.3:16). God gives believers many names in faith – saint, righteous, chosen, royal priesthood, sons, and transforms us to accomplish their meaning in us!

God made the long-delayed promise to Abraham greater. The single-nation promise of Genesis 12:2 becomes “many nations” and “kings”! God also promised that the covenant would be passed to his unborn descendants: an everlasting covenant and the land, “an everlasting possession” (vv.6-8). Then, for the first time, God gave Abraham something to do in regard to the covenant. He instituted a sign of the covenant for Abraham and his descendants – the command of circumcision, the cutting and removal of the foreskin of every male among his descendants (vv.9-14). Dealing with the organ of procreation, this was an appropriate sign of the covenant for those who should put no trust in the flesh! Abraham’s descendants must take upon themselves a sign of the covenant, showing they received the covenant by faith.