Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 17:1-22

All Christians have desires for certain things to happen. Maybe a couple wants to have children, but they are not able to conceive. Perhaps a family member is not saved, and the family member is so hard that it seems impossible they will ever submit to Jesus. From a human perspective, many of our desires seem impossible. From a human perspective, they are impossible. Many times Christians eventually give up hope. Today’s passage reminds us that God can do the impossible. Therefore, as Christians, we do not ever have to give up hope.

Chapter 16 of Genesis tells us about Sarai giving Hagar to Abram as a wife so that Hagar can bear a child to Abram. The result was a son named Ishmael, along with strife between Sarai and Hagar. The last verse of the chapter tells us Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.

Gen. 17:1 ¶ Now it happened that when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me and be blameless,

Note that there is a 13 year gap between chapter 16 and 17.

Gen. 17:2 so that I may confirm My covenant between Me and you,

And that I may multiply you exceedingly.”

Gen. 17:3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

Gen. 17:4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,

And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

The word “nations” is plural. Earlier, Yahweh had promised to give Abram so many descendants they would be too numerous to count. Now He added the promise that Abram’s descendants would form multiple nations.

Gen. 17:5 And 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.

The Hebrew word “Ab” means father. The Hebrew word “am” means people group. When you combine those words, you get “Abram” which means father of a people group.

In Biblical Hebrew words were pluralized by adding “im” to the end. Abram already ends in “m”, so pluralizing looks a little different. Converting Abram to Abraham pluralizes the name, so Abraham means father of multiple people groups.

Gen. 17:6 And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will go forth from you.

At this point Abraham only had one child.

Gen. 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you.

Take note of the word “covenant”. This was not merely a promise. It was an unbreakable covenant. The first part of the covenant was that Yahweh would be the God of Abraham’s descendants.

Gen. 17:8 And I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

This is a repeat of the promise to give this land to Abraham’s descendants. Take note of the word “everlasting”. This was not a temporary possession.

Gen. 17:9 ¶ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

Gen. 17:10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

Gen. 17:11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

Don’t miss the purpose of the circumcision. It was a sign of the covenant Yahweh made with Abraham and all his descendants.

Gen. 17:12 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, one who is born in the house or one who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your seed.

Gen. 17:13 A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

The circumcision was not only required of physical descendants, it was also a requirement for servants.

Gen. 17:14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Failure to be circumcised was a violation of the covenant.

Gen. 17:15 ¶ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

Gen. 17:16 And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Will a son be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?”

Note that Abraham laughed. The Hebrew verb that is translated laugh is “tzachaq”. In Hebrew it is a three letter word.

Note the age of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was 90 years old. They knew, just as we do, that once a female reaches a certain age, she is no longer able to bear a child. Sarah was well past the age of childbearing.

Gen. 17:18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

Abraham and Sarah were so old, they had completely given up hope that Sarah would bear a son. Therefore, Abraham was content for God’s promises to be fulfilled through Ishmael.

Gen. 17:19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.

In Hebrew, the name Isaac is the word “yitzchaq” which is a four letter word. It is the letter “yohd” followed by the same three letters that form the word “tzachaq” which means he laughed. Adding the letter “yohd” to the beginning of a verb makes the verb imperfect instead of perfect. In other words, when Abraham was told Sarah would bear a son, Abraham laughed; therefore, his son was named “he is laughing”.

Abraham and Sarah had lost hope that Sarah would bear a child because their observation of human nature made it clear that Sarah was to old to become pregnant. However, they failed to take into account that God can work miracles. God can do the impossible.

All humans make the same mistake. There are certain things we would like to see happen, but from a human perspective, it seems impossible. From a human perspective, it is impossible. However, Yahweh can do the impossible. We don’t have to ever completely give up hope.

Gen. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Gen. 17:21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

Gen. 17:22 So He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

All Christians have desires and wishes for certain things to happen. Maybe a couple wants to have children, but they are not able to conceive. Perhaps a family member is not saved, and the family member is so hard that it seems impossible they will ever submit to Jesus. From a human perspective, many of our desires seem impossible; therefore, we often give up hope.

Abraham and Sarah were so old, they completely lost hope Sarah would ever bear a child. Abraham had reached the point he was content for Yahweh’s promises to be fulfilled through Ishmael. However, God can do the impossible. Yahweh gave Sarah a son, even though she was past the age of childbearing.

This reminds us that we don’t ever have to give up hope. No matter how improbable our desire, God can do the impossible.

What is a good thing you desire that is so unlikely at this point that you have given up hope?

Are you still praying about it?

Do you believe God can do the impossible?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”