Gen 15:7-17:27

2296 or 2236	Birth of Terah (dies 2031)	Gen 11:24
2166	Birth of Abram	Gen 11:27
2091	Abrams departs from Haran	Gen 12:4
	Defeat of the 4 Kings
2081	Abram "marriage" to Hagar	Gen 16:3
2080	Birth of lshmael	Gen 16:16
2067	Reaffirmation of covenant	Gen 17:1
2066-2067	Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

See comment on Dan (Gen 14:14) in previous section


Genesis 15:1–6 (ESV) —
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.


Genesis 15:7–21 (ESV) —
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.


12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”


17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”


• Abram is credited with righteousness for his faith, but in the very next verse he asks for proof regarding the possession of the land. Not only that but in the next chapter, Sarai and Abram will come up with the idea of a surrogate mother. So, how do we view verse 6 in light of the subsequent actions
• To be credited with righteousness did not require perfect faith
• God shows tremendous patience with Abram than is not necessarily shown in all other cases (although each one is different--example John the Baptist's father, Zechariah)
• Apparently (verses 1-6), there were three things that could have concerned  Abram
• His new enemies (Fear not)
• His future son (count the stars in the heaven)
• His future land
• I think he truly did believe God regarding the first two, but doubt creeps back in over time
• There are four ways of making an agreement or covenant  in scripture
• Set up a stone or group of stones
• Take an oath
• Communal meal
• Sacrifice of animals
• This rite would have animals split into pairs, and the two parties would join hands and pass between the two parts
• There are a number of verses that seem to suggest that the Abrahamic covenant is conditional
• Go, leave the land of your parents
• Walk before me and be blameless
• Because you have obeyed
• Circumcise all the males in the household as a sign of the covenant
• Take your son "Isaac," your only son
• But while God commanded Abram to do these things, they are not requirements that change the conditions of the covenant (although they make bring discipline or judgment if not not done)
• When God passes through the animals alone, He makes it very clear that the covenant is unconditional
• "May it be to me as to these animals if I fail to keep my part of the covenant"
• The use of generation here, seems to tie it to 100-120 years (16:26)
• Also see sub Timeline References to Sojourn in Egpyt
• The Abrahamic Covenant is basic to the premillennial system of theology.  It states that the promise has never been fulfilled as God promised and that God will fulfill His promises in the millennial age
• The Palestinian (land), Davidic, and New Covenants are all outgrowths of the Abrahamic Covenant
• Each expands on one of the major promises of the Covenant, the land, seed, and blessing promises


Genesis 16:1–16 (ESV) —
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.


7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.


15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.


• The writer continues to focus increasing attention on the problem of an heir
• When does Hagar join the group? Probably as a result of Abram's visit to Egypt and the situation regarding his wife
• Why do Abram and Sarai fail?
• The cultural pressure of having children was great
• Polygamy was an accepted practice, but the wife was a full wife
• A concubine was a secondary wife with less rights
• A maid could be a kind of surrogate motherhood, with the primary wife not sharing any status
• Couldn't wait on God's timing (Abram is 86)
• Emotional decision (not quick, but long-term pain for Sarai)
• What is the result?
• Pain for Sarah
• Pain for Abraham
• Pain for Hagar


Genesis 17:1–14 (ESV) —
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”


9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”


• Gen 17 records some other requirements (maybe better is "expectations") of this unconditional covenant (mentioned previously), called the Abrahamic Covenant -- what do you see?
• Requirement to "walk before me and be blameless"
• In Matt 5:48, Jesus repeats this injunction. 'You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
• This was the original intent of mankind, the original state that man fell from when he rebelled against God's command
• Nothing has changed about God's intent
• But God will have to provide a way. The Abrahamic blessing will ultimately make this possible through Jesus
• The requirement is not a condition of salvation but a command of how to live. There are consequences in the failure, but not toward the un-conditionality of the covenant (as seen in Gen 15)
• Requirement of circumcision
• This part of the covenant seems to form a conditional part
• Word play in verse 14.  Be cut or be cut off from the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant
• There are two name changes (in Chapter 17)
• Abraham - would become the father of many nations
• Sarah - would become the mother of many kings (and specifically one King)


APPLICATION:
1. Like the Abrahamic covenant, God's covenant of grace is unconditional
1. Like Abraham, we are called to live like God created us, blameless
2. But there are consequences for our actions. They usually include pain. God wants to spare us pain but often times we choose paths that lead to pain.
3. Other times, God will bring us through pain, not because of anything we have done, but to cause us to grow


Genesis 17:15–27 (ESV) —
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”


22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.


• What is Abraham's response to the news that his wife will have a child? He laughed
• Can we draw any conclusion out of whether the laugh was a scoffing laugh or a laugh of joy?
• Unlike a few weeks later, when we will see Sarah also laugh and deny it (somewhat obvious as a laugh of unbelief)
• The fact that Abraham suggests an alternative seems to suggest his laugh was also one of unbelief
• A possible positive interpretation is that he was concerned for his wife's health, but if God is able to give a 90 year-old woman a baby, he is certainly able to protect her life. But God's reaction (or lack of), unlike to Sarah's, could suggest his laugh was one of joy
• I'm not sure what Muhammed wrote in the Koran, but Muslims are absolutely convinced that Ishmael is the son of process, and not Isaac
• Which should give us great concern over Islam because Ishmael is not God's idea but human invention and human interruption into the plan of God and human effort
• Isaac is the result of a miraculous promise, is given by grace, and is undeserved
• Again, Abraham is still growing in his faith
• One of the keys to growth is his response to this latest visit -- OBEDIENCE
• Abraham obediently (that very day) circumcises all the males of his household, starting with Ishmael
• When God speaks to us, do we act that very day?
• Circumcision has symbolic meaning (Constable)
1. It would have been a frequent reminder to every circumcised male of God’s promises involving seed
2. It involved the cutting off of flesh. The circumcised male was one who repudiated “the flesh” (i.e., the simply physical and natural aspects of life) in favor of trust in Yahweh and His spiritual promises.
3. It resulted in greater cleanliness of life and freedom from the effects of sin (i.e., disease and death)
• For men there was a greater risk of cancer w/o circumcision
• Circumcision (Constable)
      “Designating the eighth day after birth as the day of circumcision is one of the most amazing specifications in the Bible, from a medical standpoint. Why the eighth day?
      “At birth, a baby has nutrients, antibodies, and other substances from his mother’s blood, including her blood-clotting factors, one of them being prothrombin. Prothrombin is dependent on vitamin K for its production. Vitamin K is produced by intestinal bacteria, which are not present in a newborn baby. After birth prothrombin decreases so that by the third day it is only 30 percent of normal. Circumcision on the third day could result in a devastating hemorrhage.
      “The intestinal bacteria finally start their task of manufacturing vitamin K, and the prothrombin subsequently begins to climb. On day eight, it actually overshoots to 110 percent of normal, leveling off to 100 percent on day nine and remaining there for the rest of a person’s healthy life. Therefore the eighth day was the safest of all days for circumcision to be performed. On that one day, a person’s clotting factor is at 110 percent, the highest ever, and that is the day God prescribed for the surgical process of circumcision.
      “Today vitamin K (Aqua Mephyton) is routinely administered to newborns shortly after their delivery, and this eliminates the clotting problem. However, before the days of vitamin K injections, a 1953 pediatrics textbook recommended that the best day to circumcise a newborn was the eighth day of life. (L. Holt Jr and R. McIntosh, Holt Pediatrics)
      “Research indicates that other Middle Eastern cultures practiced circumcision . . . However, the Hebrews were unique in that they practiced infant circumcision, which, though medically risky if not properly performed, is less physically and psychologically traumatic than circumcisions performed at an older age.”(Fawver and Overstreet)