A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 17:1-10 and 15-19, with the title of “Established,” for Sunday, February 18, 2024.

A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO:  ??? “Does anyone know what your name means”/or why you have the name you do???

(LOOK UP CLASS NAMES in a book/website in case they don’t know; might be special to have them ready to share: (babynames.com).

Chris is from “Christ, “Christopher”= “Christ-bearer”

Danielle: Dan = Judge, i = my, EL = God. “God is my judge”

Mollie: related to Mary; or “of the sea”

Michael:  “Micha-el” = “Who is like God?” 

David: “Beloved” 

Amy:  “Beloved” 

Etc.

Then say: Today we’re going to see how God changed Abram & Sarai’s names,  to reinforce His promises to them. 

CONTEXT

The story of Abram in Genesis continues …

We left off in Chapter 16, with Sarai coming up with her own “alternative plan” to God’s promise, in which her husband Abram would have a child with her maid, Hagar. This only caused a lot of problems when Hagar DID have a son, Ishmael — and would continue to cause problems to this day! 

NOW Chapter 17 opens with Abram as an old man — 99 years old — and God appears to him with a special message:

OUTLINE

I. The Lord’s Appearance (:1-3)

II. The Lord’s Message  (:4-10)

III. The Lord’s Promise Re-iterated (:15-19)

TEXT

I.  The Lord’s Appearance  (:1-3)

:1 “Now when Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty, walk before Me and be blameless.”

So Abram is 99 years old as Chapter 17 opens. 

??? Does anyone know someone who is 99 years old???

(Betty Ilgen in our church!)

??? What would you be thinking these days, if you were Abram, and you were 99 years old, and God had promised you years ago that you would have a son???

(It’s hard to say … but I think I would have doubts.  

In fact, we’ll see some pretty good evidence that Abram did too!)

So Abram was 99, and “The Lord appeared to Abram” — it doesn’t how or in what way, but that He appeared to him.

And He says a couple of things to him, all of which, of course, are significant:

— He tells Him who He is:  “I am God Almighty.”  This is “El Shaddai.”  “El” is “God;” “Shaddai” “Omnipotent/Almighty.” 

(You may know the old Amy Grant song, “El Shaddai.”)

God occasionally gives the person He is speaking to, a name that addresses the need they have. ??? Why would God give Abram THIS particular name at this time???

(Because literally NO ONE else could do for Abram what he needed/wanted: give a 99-year-old man a son! NOBODY could do that. But He is “God Almighty”! Nothing is too difficult for Him!)

So He tells him WHO He is, and addresses the situation in his life through that name.

— THEN He tells him: “Walk before Me and be blameless”

??? WHY would this be important???

(Because God is a holy God. We can’t walk in relationship with Him unless we are holy. This is what those who hold the “Moralistic Therapeutic Deistic” view of God don’t realize. They see God as a “kindly grandfatherly type” who just smiles at their sins. But God is holy. As we have seen, He MUST punish sin. We must be holy to walk with him.

But how can we do THAT? “Be blameless”?!! He might as well say “Take off and fly!” We could more easily do that, than be “blameless”! 

But remember what we just studied: Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to Him as righteousness.”

He was “reckoned,” “counted,” “credited” as righteous, through faith. By faith (especially now, in Christ) God CREDITS us with a righteousness that we don’t have on our own, through faith.

SO Abram IS BLAMELESS — through faith! 

And we need to realize that if we are Christians, we too are “blameless” through faith! This is the result of salvation through faith in Christ. 

+x II Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

We are the righteousness of God, in Christ! We ARE blameless in His sight!

+x Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden in Christ to God”! Again, He sees Christ when He sees us! 

So IN JESUS, we ARE “blameless” as we walk before God.

The KEY is, to make sure that you are indeed “in Christ,” so that you are “blameless” before God. 

Then God says in :2, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

We saw last time that a covenant is an agreement between two parties. God had promised Abram in Chapter 15 that His descendants would be like the stars of the heaven. So He repeats that promise here as He appears to Abram.

??? Do we have any “covenants” today???

— some have neighborhood “covenants”: ours does: no carports, or permanent parking on streets, etc.

— Many have a “marriage covenant”! It is an agreement between two parties — A very Biblical kind of covenant! 

So God is making a covenant with Abram here. 

— Then notice:  ??? How does Abram respond to God’s appearance???
(:3 “Abram fell on his face …”)

This happens repeatedly in scripture: when the Lord appears to people, they fall on their face before Him:

??? HAVE VERSES PRINTED & VOLUNTEERS READ:

— Abram here in Genesis 17:4 “Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him …”

— Leviticus 9:24  “And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.”

— Numbers 16:20-22 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.”

— Matthew 17:5-6 “Behold a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (:6) When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.”

— Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’”

— John in Revelation 1:17  “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.”

— Revelation 7:11  “All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God.”

So all through scripture we see that people fall on their faces when they encounter God.

??? WHY do you think they do that?  What is the picture/meaning of this???

(It is AWE in the face of the majesty and glory and power of God; it represents HUMILITY on our part: that we are, in a sense, “in the dust” compared to Him. 

A New York rabbi writes:

“In modern Jewish liturgy, we have a weekday prayer called Nefillat Apayim, which means “falling on one’s face.” It is a prayer for forgiveness for our daily failures to live up to the highest standards of moral and spiritual behavior. And of course, on Yom Kippur it is repeated vigorously.” (Jeremy Rosen)

Another Jewish Rabbi, Rabbeinu Bechaye (1255–1340) explains that there are three intentions one should have during Nefilat Apayim:

“– A sign of fear and awe of the Divine. When we pray, we are in the presence of G‑d. Just as Moses hid his face when he first encountered the Divine Presence at the burning bush, we hide our faces as a sign of humility and shame.

— A sign of pain and subjugation. Bowing when we ask for G‑d’s forgiveness is a sign that we are in pain and are subjugating ourselves to His will. When G‑d sees our pain and humility, he will surely forgive us and fulfill our request.

— A sign of nullification of all our faculties to G‑d. When we lie immoble, flat on our face, we show that we have no wants of our own and are completely nullified to G‑d.”

??? Have you ever fallen on your face before God, and if so, what was your motivation???

(Or if you were going to fall on your face before, God what do you THINK your motivation would be??

I think it’s sufficient to say that most Americans today do NOT “fall on our faces” before God like this, much if at all. But it just shows how little we are in awe of God, how little we are subjecting ourselves to Him and His will; and how little we are surrendered to His will. 

Abram, on the other hand, DID revere, and surrendered himself to God — and he SHOWS it by falling on his face before Him.

We would do well to follow his example — NEVER as a “show” or because people think we should do it — but only to truly humble ourselves before God, worship Him, and surrender to Him. 

II.  The Lord’s Message  (:4-10)

So what was God’s message to Abram when He appeared to him?  We saw some of it in :1b-2, but He continues His message in :4+

:4 “As for Me, behold My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.” So He repeats that covenant again — that Abram will be the father of many.

:5 THEN He does something very symbolic in :5. He says;

“No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”   So God changes Abram’s name.  

THE NAME is significant in Hebrew/other ancient cultures.

(If you didn’t use the “what does your name mean” for the introduction to the lesson, you might use it here.)

??? Can you think of anyone famous who changed their name???

(Cassius Clay to Mohammed Ali; Lew Alcindor to Kareen Abdul-Jabbar; “Eldrick” Woods to “Tiger”!; Calvin Broadus Jr. To “Snoop Dogg”!;  Archibald Leach to Cary Grant;  

??? WHY do some people change their name???

(To show a change in their life: Ali & Jabbar made commitments to Islam: a new name represented a new life. “Tiger” reflected a more aggressive sports name than “Eldrick”!; 

People who get married often change their name, to indicate that they are now ONE in their marriage, in Christ.

There’s often some symbolic reason for a name change. That’s how it was with the name change God gave Abram;

— “Abram” in Hebrew means “exalted father” (“father” is “ab” or “abba”

— “Abraham” means “father of a multitude.”

So God is changing Abram’s name here for a significant reason: He is reinforcing the promise that He IS indeed going to make him a great nation — so much so that his name is not just going to be “exalted father,” but now “father of a MULTITUDE”!

Abram may be doubting whether he will be that father, but God is “doubling down” on His promise — and even changing Abram’s name as a sign of it!

(Interesting too, the TENSE God uses in :5, He doesn’t say “I WILL” make you the father — He says “I HAVE made you the father of a multitude of nations.” When God decides it, it is DONE! 

He expands on that promise some more in :6-10:

— :6 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.”

So not just a lot of descendants, but NATIONS/KINGS!

— :7 He says this will be “an everlasting covenant” — for WHAT?
“To be GOD to you and to your descendants.” 

— :8 gives us another aspect of it:  “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.”
So here God gives them the land of Israel — which they are still fighting for today!

— :9 He then tells them THEIR part of it: “Now, as for YOU (here’s your part): you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants …”

— :10 “This is My covenant …. Every male among you shall be circumcised.”

This was a SIGN of the covenant between God and His people in the Old Testament (covenant). 

NOW there is a new “sign” of the New Covenant (really two!)

Baptism, and then The Lord’s Supper

— When we come into the covenant with the Lord in the New Testament, the outward sign of it is baptism. It’s like a wedding ring; it’s a symbol of the commitment we have made. 

— And another “ongoing” sign of that commitment is the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Paul said in I Corinthians 11:25 that at the Last Supper Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” So the Lord’s Supper is another sign of the New Covenant that we have in Jesus, that we are saved by His body and blood that was given on the cross for us.  

So God appears to Abram, who falls on his face before Him in awe and humility, and then God reiterates His covenant with Him, and expands on it, giving him some promises like the land of Canaan, and gives him a sign of the covenant that all his descendants are to follow. 

(??? Now you may want to ask: if this was an “everlasting covenant,” why isn’t it still in effect today???

The answer is, because they broke it! They weren’t faithful to God, they broke it, and were cast out of the land, like we saw in Jeremiah — that’s why God sent us a NEW covenant in the body & blood of Jesus.)

III. The Lord’s Promise Re-Iterated  (:15-19)

:15 “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her “Sarai,” but “Sarah” shall be her name. (:16) 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.”

This is an amazing promise: that Abraham and Sarah, at 99, would have a son!

And again, like He did for Abraham, God reinforced His promise to Sarai by changing HER name too, to “Sarah.”

“Sarai” has the same root, “sar”, but the “I” ending indicates “MY” princess — implying that she was only one family’s princess.

But now God is changing her name to “Sarah”: just “princess”: now she will be the princess of a whole people who will arise from her.

So as with Abraham, there is significance in Sarah’s change of name.

??? Now, what might the “good religious response” be for Abraham to make to God here???

(Something like, “Yes, Lord, I believe …” etc. 

??? But what WAS his response, in :17???

(:17 He did “fall facedown” again, which is good — but also:

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

AT LEAST THE BIBLE IS HONEST. If you want a witness for the authenticity of the Bible, this is it! This is no “made up story”!

This is what he really said. NO ONE would have written a story with Abraham laughing at God, before whom he had fallen on his face! You just don’t do that. That doesn’t “fit the narrative”

THE ONLY REASON YOU’D SAY THAT ABRAHAM LAUGHED AT GOD IS THAT HE REALLY DID!

The Bible is so true, so “real” — it shows us all the characters just as they really were. Not how we “think” they should be; not what we “think” they should say; what they really DID say.

??? What does this tell us about how we can relate to God???

(This is similar to what we talked about last week, “Honest to God.” We can really express our feelings to Him. We don’t have to feel the way we “think” He wants us to feel; or tell Him what we “think” He wants to hear;  we can be “real” before Him. Abram is here — and WE can be too. 

??? Can anyone share a time when you been “brutally honest” with God about something — 

(My wife Cheryl is very honest with the Lord … she was angry with God when I got sick and we had to sell our home and 2/3 of our possessions. She had felt like God had given us that home, and she was very vocal about giving Him credit for it — and now here He was, taking it away. She was very honest with Him in her response.)

Another good discussion for your group in this point might be: ??? Is there some promise of God that is hard for YOU to believe???

(Some may say, forgiveness? Can He really forgive that sin?

Maybe it’s just hard to believe heaven, or that a lost loved one is really alive and will be seen again. Maybe it’s hard to believe He’ll bless if you tithe … or that He will answer a certain prayer.

But emphasize here: this is not just a “history lesson.” WE TOO wrestle with believing God, just like Abraham did. We WILL have our doubts; we WILL wrestle with things; we too may laugh — or cry or yell or whatever at God — but DO be real with Him. He can’t deal with the real issues of our lives if we are not!

Then in :18 Abraham again offers his “Plan B”:

 “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You.” He’s like, hey, I have this son already, Ishmael; he can be the heir. (This was the plan Sarai came up with that caused all the problems …)

But in :19, “But God said, (HERE IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE IMPORTANT “BUT GOD” MOMENTS we talked about before, which are all through the Bible!) “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 descendants after him.’”

So here’s another one for the NAME list: “Isaac” means “laughter” or “he laughs.” (Obviously so named because Abraham laughed at God. Don’t say that God doesn’t have a sense of humor, right?)  But this is the link to the next part of the unfolding story of the Old Testament and the coming of Jesus: the birth of Isaac. 

But significantly (and this is outside of our “focus passage” today, right after God talks to Abraham here, Abraham gathers up his his whole household and has every male circumcised, in obedience to what God just commanded him.

He may have had his doubts; he may have laughed and wrestled with God about His promises — but he DID OBEY — and that is significant, and is a great model for us too. Let’s here and go and OBEY GOD in what He is speaking to us about: putting our faith in Jesus as Savior; following Him in the sign of baptism, or whatever area of our life He is calling us to obey Him.

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