Are You In? | Genesis 17:15-27
- Abraham will carry out God’s plan, not his own plan.
“Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 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.’”
--Genesis 17:15-16
God continues to call Abraham and Sarah. What is amazing is how God’s call in this couple’s life makes an imprint on their very identities—on their very names. Abraham’s name means “The Father of many” or “exalted father” and Sarah’s name will now shift from Sarai (Princess or My Lady) to “Princess of Many” or “Noblewoman.”
“Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines her dominion to one family; but Sarah signifies either a lady or princess, simply and absolutely without restriction, or the princess of a multitude.”
--Matthew Poole
Abraham scoffs at God’s plan, he shows more doubts and tries to take things into his own hands AGAIN. He tells God how this chosen family can come through Ishmael because of his unbelief of having a child at one hundred years old.
“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?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’ 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.’”
--Genesis 17:17-19
Abraham continues to make the mistake of having little trust in God’s plan. His sinful nature is causing doubt, twisting his faith into a pretzel, which is why God reminds him of this amazing plan—“Yes Abraham, you will have a son.”
“[Eve said| God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…”
--Genesis 3:3-5
Sin, Satan, the enemy of God has always been distorting His word, has always been convincing God’s people to take things into their own hands instead of trusting in God’s hand.
- God will not save everyone; God will save His family.
“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. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.’ So He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.’”
--Genesis 17:20-22
God is choosing His people, He is choosing His family, He has chosen Abraham and Sarah to be the earthly father and mother of His people. If there is a chosen people that means there is a group of people who aren’t chosen, who aren’t in that family. There is something called the theology of exclusivity versus inclusivity which we see throughout all of scripture—even in how God works outside of scripture.
This special unconditional covenant is promised not through Ishmael but through Isaac (even though Ishmael gets circumcised).
“But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.’ So He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.”
--Genesis 17:22
In the Hebrew language, this “but” offers a clear “correction” or a simple contrast to highlight an important point of character or thought. Yes, Ishmael is the first born of Abraham, yes Ishmael is promised many descendants and will live abundantly BUT he is not a part of God’s promised family, he is not promised the Abrahamic covenant—he is not included.
Ishmael and Hagar are sent away in Genesis 21:8-21,
“And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing in jest. Therefore she said to Abraham, ‘Drive out this maidservant and her son!.. So God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed because of the boy and your maidservant; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for through Isaac your seed shall be named… So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. So, she went and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.”
--Genesis 21:8-10,12,14
“Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So, He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
--Genesis 3:23-24
“…and He made from one man every nation of mankind to inhabit all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God…”
--Acts 17:26-27
God is often building walls around His family to protect them, preserve them and to shine His glory through them.
God’s Walls for His People:
a). Nehemiah. A sequel to the book of Ezra, God’s people live in Jerusalem under the rule of Persian King Artaxerxes. The city walls were destroyed, and Nehemiah was an Israelite who worked in the Persian King’s government, God called him to rebuild the outer wall of Jerusalem. Ezra was in charge of revitalizing the spiritual heart for Israel/ Jerusalem and Nehemiah was to bring security and authority back to Israel by rebuilding the outer wall.
“Conversely, the city and its wall depend on the temple as the source of God’s provision for law, government, security and prosperity. Even on strictly military terms, the temple and the wall are mutually dependent. The wall is an integral part of the city’s protection, yet so is the temple wherein dwells the Lord (Ezra 1:3) who brings to nothing the violent plans of the city’s enemies (Neh. 4:15). Likewise with government and justice. The gates of the wall are where lawsuits are tried (Deuteronomy 21:19, Isaiah 29:21),
No temple means no presence of God, and no presence of God means no military strength, no justice, no civilization and no need for walls. The temple and the walls are united in a society founded on God’s “covenant and steadfast love (Neh. 1:5).”
--Theology of Work Bible Commentary
“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. Now it happened that when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, their confidence fell. And they knew that it was from our God that this work had been accomplished.”
--Nehemiah 6:15-16
- b) God’s Holy Spirit Wall. This prophecy had a short-term fulfillment in God’s protection of the rebuilding work and blessing of the city under Ezra and Nehemiah. But clearly, its ultimate fulfillment will be rebuilding under the rule of the Messiah (Zechariah is a contemporary of Nehemiah).
“This prophecy had a short-term fulfillment in God’s protection of the rebuilding work and blessing of the city under Ezra and Nehemiah. But clearly, its ultimate fulfillment will be rebuilding under the rule of the Messiah.”
--Zechariah 2:3-5
- c) The New Jerusalem has Walls. Even at the end of the world, after the judgement of Sin, God is protecting His people, preserving them in the city walls for His glory.
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.”
--Revelation 21:10-12
- d) Jesus Warns about Hell. Jesus often references people in the gates and outside of the gates throughout the gospels—He also references Hell, a place of eternal fire where those who are not saved by God will perish for eternity.
“And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire… And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
--Mark 9:43,47-48
The word hell is an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Valley of Hinnom.” This was a place outside Jerusalem’s walls desecrated by Molech worship and human sacrifice, thus turned into the dump where rubbish and refuse were burned. The smoldering fires and festering worms made it a graphic and effective picture of the fate of the damned.
“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He *said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’…But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’”
--Revelation 21:5,8
“So, Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
--John 10:7-10
- Abraham is Faithful, he obeys God’s Command, especially when it was difficult to follow God.
“Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. Now all the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”
--Genesis 17:24-27
The tension between Ismael and Isaac will continue to grow and we see the remaining truth here—God called on Abraham to the be the father of many nations, Jesus Christ, the saviour of the world will come through Isaac’s lineage—not Ishmael. Islam will come through the lineage of Ishmael showing that God’s promises are true—Ishmael is excluded, and Isaac is lineage of the chosen people.
The text clearly shows that Abraham obeyed God—He followed the circumcision call and circumcised the men in his house and camp including Ishmael and even Himself.
“Abraham’s obedience was complete (every male among the men of Abraham’s house), it was prompt (that very same day), and it was daring (to disable all his fighting men at the same time). Abraham didn’t need to pray about this. He didn’t need to grow or transition into this. God said it, and he did it. This is a wonderful example of obedience from a great man of faith.”
--Enduring Word Commentary
“One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts”
--C.S. Lewis
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.’ Thomas *said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going. How do we know the way?’ Jesus *said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
--John 14:1-6