Genesis 17:1-8

2007.Apr.21 01:45

A New Name

Read Genesis 17:1-8 | Full Chapter

Now 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. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 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. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.”
(Genesis 17:1-6, NASB)

It can be frustrating to hear Jehovah promise and promise and promise and promise…and where’s the beef? Here is a reiteration of a promise God has given to Abram before (Here, here and here, for example). Twenty-four years after setting out to Canaan, God is once again promising Abram that he will have many, and successful, descendants. This passage doesn’t tell me what Abram was thinking, but if he was thinking “Yeah, right”, I can sympathize. But that’s not faith. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20, NIV) . We can have utter confidence in Jehovah’s promises, and sometimes we must remind ourselves that those promises will be fulfilled not in our timing nor according to our planning, but according to God’s plan.

Abram’s faith has not been perfect, but he has had faith despite his sins. He has gotten up after each fall, "for the righteous falls seven times and rises again" (Proverbs 24:16a, ESV) . Now, Jehovah adds to the promise. First, he makes explicit that he is establishing a covenant with Abram. And in doing so, God gives Abram a new name: Abraham. Our birth name can seem like one of the few permanent, established things in life. That’s probably often a good thing, but it can lead us to forget how completely God can work changes in us. When you are tempted to say “I can’t change, that’s just the way I am”, remember that God can change your name, can change your “stuff”. He can change your DNA, and I am not saying that metaphorically. When Jehovah changes Abram’s name to Abraham, it’s a statement that this man is no longer the mostly faith-filled, but still doubting, still trying to make it happen on his own, not there yet guy we’ve so far met. He is no longer a man who’s been promised something, but he is named the promise, and he is in it. Saying God is creator of the Universe is a nice way to talk about his power, but it may not mean much in everyday life. But see this power, to change the destiny of a person, of a “me”.

As if that were not enough, Jehovah continues, now extending the covenant to Abraham’s descendants:

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
(Genesis 17:7-8, NASB)

God is God of the present–which is something I sometimes find myself forgetting–but he is also God of the future. When he does us a good turn on this earth, he often does it not just for now, but for our, well, legacy, since I can’t think of a better word. Jehovah makes promises that are forever. And–and this is the huge thing to me–he means it. Wow. What an awesome God he is.