GOD CHANGES ABRAM INTO ABRAHAM

Genesis 17:1-27, Key Verse: 5

Part I: Walk before me and be blameless (17:1-8)

1. Read verses 1 through 3. When and how did God reveal himself to Abram? Why did God tell Abram to "walk before me and be blameless"? What should Abram believe (2)? How did Abram respond?

2. Read verses 4 through 8. What is God's covenant, which God must keep (4)? Why did God change Abram's name to Abraham? To whom is this covenant available (7)?

Part II: The covenant sealed by circumcision (9-27)

3. Read verses 9 through 16. What did God tell Abraham to do as a sign and seal of the covenant? How did God bless Sarai (15, 16)?

4. Read verses 17 through 22. What was Abraham's response? What specific promise, however, did God give concerning his family? Why did God choose to give the spiritual blessing to Isaac instead of Ishmael?

5. Read verses 23 through 27. How did Abraham demonstrate his belief in God and in God's promises? Why might this have been difficult for him? What does the phrase "On that very day" show us about Abraham? (23)

GOD CHANGES ABRAM INTO ABRAHAM

Genesis 17:1-27, Key Verse: 5 

“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”

When God changed a person’s name, it was usually to establish a new identity. God changed Abram to Abraham. Why did God choose new names for some people such as Israel for Jacob and Peter for Simon? The Bible doesn’t give us His reasons, but it was to let them know God’s hope and that they were destined for a new mission in life. The new name was a way to assure them that God’s divine plan would be fulfilled in them. May God change us and bless us to accept God’s plan by the grace of Jesus!

Part I: “Walk before me and be blameless” (1-8). 

Look at verse 1. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.” So far, in Abram’s life of faith, God never rebuked him even though Abram had made many mistakes such as telling lies and trying to procure the promised son through Hagar, his concubine. But when God appeared to him, God rebuked him saying, “Walk before me and be blameless.” Why? There is no record in the Bible concerning the 13 years of Abram’s life following the birth of Ishmael. But God’s rebuke shows that during these 13 years, Abram did not walk before God, and as a result, his life was full of blame. Instead of walking before God, he was walking before his son Ishmael. 

When a man walks before God, he is concerned about how he can please God. But when a man walks before men, he thinks of what others would think of him, and what he should do to be accepted. For example, young people are so concerned about acceptance, so they do many crazy things such as partying, drinking, smoking marijuana, or even being sexually immoral. Such a person may be popular among peers, but his life becomes full of blame in the eyes of God. For thirteen years, Abram had not walked before God, but before man, especially, his son Ishmael. 

In this passage, God changes Abram’s name into Abraham. “Abram” means, “exalted father.” This shows Abram’s inner struggle. He had his son Ishmael at 86 years old. He really wanted to be a good father to him! M. Noah and Sweet Lee in Kansas City delivered their baby after 20 years’ marriage at the age of 45. They told me that their all stress and tiredness immediately disappeared when they saw their son. 

Probably Ishmael was the most precious treasure in Abram’s life, even more so than his V8 Mustang Convertible, and he would do anything for him. He enjoyed horse riding with his son, and went fishing and hunting together. “Dad! Look at that rabbit!” Abram was so happy to watch little Ishmael grow up into a strong and handsome teenager. As we know, it is not easy to be an exalted father, because it requires a lot of self-denial, hard struggles, and patience. Humanly, Abram was a noble father. But in God’s eyes, his life was full of blame. And so God rebuked him, “Walk before me and be blameless.”

In verse 2, God says, “I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” The reason God rebuked him was to remind him of his covenant he had made with God. Since his urgent life-problem was solved now that he had a son, Abram didn’t feel much need to pray about God’s promises any more. It is like when you inherit millions of dollars from your parents. You stop praying for financial help and begin to enjoy the money. He didn’t care that much about becoming a great nation. It was like Alexander the Great becoming Alexander the Average. In his heart, there was no passion or vision for God’s great purpose upon his life. Maybe, he was a good father to Ishmael, but in God’s eyes, he had become really terrible and petty, deserving God’s rebuke. God wanted to renew his heart to be God’s covenant person again. 

In verses 4-8, God talks about his end of the covenant, by saying, “As for me,…” Here, we see God confirming his promises to Abram, using the phrase, “I will…” repeatedly. “I will make you very fruitful,” “I will make nations of you,” and “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant.” By the will of God, God’s promises will be fulfilled according to the conditions of the covenant between God and Abram. In this passage, what was God’s part of the deal? Look at verses 4 and 5. “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. Here I want to think about God’s covenant in three parts.

First, “You will be the father of many nations!” God’s vision was that He would establish many holy and glorious nations through Abram. And God was working to fulfill this. Abram was not material to simply live as a small citizen, but he was material to be the father of many nations. Abram should have had this glorious vision of God in his heart, instead of being complacent with just one son. Abram’s life should produce glorious fruit as God planned. 

When God said, “You will be the father of many nations.” God is talking about Abram’s true potential in God. God really can make this vision come true for each of us. Because of our lack of faith in God, we, often, do not see the great things we can do in God. So we only think about survival, or paying the bills, or at best, being an exalted father or husband or wife, an athlete or even the funniest guy in class. 

But God knows how wonderfully He made us, and He sees our great potential that we can be the fathers of many nations, mothers of many nations and that we can establish many kingdoms of people who love God and serve God’s purpose wholeheartedly. Only when we remain in his covenant, will He pioneer 12 campuses in DuPage County, and all students in the West Suburbs will have the chance to study the word of God and grow as powerful servants of God. Through us, many great kingdoms in America and in the world will be established. 

Second, “your name will be Abraham.” God said to him, “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” In school your friends had nicknames like “string-bean,” “skippy,” “roach”, but those names really didn't have much meaning beyond a few school friends. The name, “Abram” means “exalted father,” while the new name, “Abraham” means “father of many nations.” It was God’s dream that Abram would be the father of many nations. God said to him, “No longer will you be called Abram…” Instead, God gave him the new name, “Abraham,” so that he would never forget God’s vision for his life. 

There was a young Christian boy who thought that his life would be worthwhile if he brought his girl friend to heaven. So, he decided to dedicate himself to serving her in this hope. But his Bible teacher told him, “God’s vision for you is greater than that.” We all have the human desire to be an exalted father, or a faithful husband, a lovely wife. Being Abram is not necessarily bad; even it is not easy to be an exalted father – it requires a lot of struggles, hanging out with his son, trying to understand pop music, and showing him the right path to go patiently. We rarely find a good father in this wicked and adulterous generation. 

But if we only hold into this dream, we end up rejecting God’s vision for our lives and cannot live as God’s covenant people. God says, “No longer will you be called Abram…” “No longer will you be called a noble husband…” “No longer will you be called a princess-like wife.” “No longer will you be called a cute girl…” “Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations.” We must let go of our dream to be an exalted father, so as to have God’s dream to be the father of many nations.

Third, “I will establish my covenant”. Look at verse 7. “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” The covenant between God and Abraham is an everlasting covenant. Abraham enjoyed this covenant about 100 years, and died, but still, the covenant continued through his descendants. Apostle Paul said in Romans 4:12 that Abraham is not only the father of the Jews, but also the father of those who walk in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith. This covenant is available for us when we walk in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith. 

Part II: The Covenant sealed by circumcision (9-27)

In verses 9-14, God talks about Abraham’s end of the deal, by saying, “As for you,…” What should Abraham do to keep the covenant? Look at verses 10-11. “This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.” Since Abraham left his country according to God’s calling, there was nothing else Abraham should do to fulfill the covenant, except one thing, that he just remained in the covenant, then, God would fulfill his part of the deal. 

God asked Abraham to keep his covenant by renewing the original vision of God for his life again, and as the sign of his acceptance of God’s vision, he should undergo circumcision. God ask Abram to accept the vision of God to be the father of many nations, and remain as God’s covenant person. The circumcision would be the expression of his acceptance of God’s vision. What does it mean to live as God’s covenant person? It means to accept God’s great vision for our lives and live in accordance with it. 

In order to accept God’s vision, it is inevitable to cut off our small citizen’s dream, our desire to be an exalted father, or a noble husband or wife. There is pain in cutting off our small citizen’s dream like in real circumcision. But without this, we are not God’s covenant people. God says in verse 14, “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” The real stumbling block as we strive to live as God’s covenant people is not terrible persecution, or suffering, but our small citizen’s desire to be an exalted father, noble husband, or lovely wife. 

God’s people should crucify that kind of small citizen’s desire to the cross, accept God’s glorious vision to be a father of many nations and live for it. The Bible declares in Galatians 5:24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” God says, “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” Let’s circumcise our hearts; let’s cut off our small citizen’s dream, and accept God’s vision to be fathers of many nations. Let’s live as God’s covenant people. 

Today is Mother's Day. So our mothers may read verses 15-16. “God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of people will come from her.” The name Sarai means “princess.” This name has the image of a beloved princess who pays attention to what she wears, how she behaves, so that she may find her handsome prince. But the new name “Sarah” means “mother of nations.” This new name has the image of a mother who cares for so many different kinds of children. She is so broad-minded that many children with different characters and background can find enough room to enjoy their life freely under her care. 

If the husband is a father of many nations, then, the wife should also be a mother of many nations. Otherwise, she will be a great hindrance for her husband to live as a father of many nations. They will have competing interests. While the husband strives to take care of all kinds of lost sheep, she will be only concerned about wearing a beautiful white dress at the party and dancing with her husband – surely, there will be a lot of disappointment, arguments and fighting, and this kind of family cannot stand. So God also changed Sarai’s name into Sarah so that she would be a suitable helper for Abraham. Husband and wife must share the same vision of God. This is God’s covenant family. 

Look at verse 22. “When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” God did not wait for Abraham’s response. He went up from him. God trusted Abraham. What was Abraham’s response? Verse 23 reads: “On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.” Abraham accepted God’s vision to be the father of many nations, and made a decision to cut off his small citizen’s dream. Now he would live for God’s vision. It was a turning point in his life. 

Now Elizabeth II is the Queen of England. But in fact her uncle, Prince Edward VIII should have been King of England. However he fell in love with a divorcee Mrs. Simpson who was living an immoral life in America. During WWII, one day he spent all day in order to buy nylon stockings to make her happy. Finally to marry her he gave up his position as King after one year. After all that he died while living in France, away from his own people. 

On the contrary, Hudson Taylor could live comfortably and easily in England. But when he was 15 years old, he read one book about China missions and decided to live as a father of many nations by leading many Chinese souls to Jesus. God blessed him to marry a spiritual woman, Miss Amelia and to establish the “China Inland Mission” and to save many Chinese souls through his house-church. Because of his good influence, now more than 80,000,000 Chinese Christians worship God every Sunday.

*Conclusion: What kind of life do you want to live? Do you want to live like Abram or Abraham? Do you want to live like Edward VIII or Hudson Taylor? Do you want to live as a noble father or a father of many nations? Abraham believed that God is God Almighty. Like him our Lord Jesus believed God Almighty and made a firm decision to walk before him in complete trust and obedience through his prayer in Gethsemane all the way to his crucifixion. This was an act of obedience that comes from faith. May God change us to live as covenant people like Abraham and like Hudson Taylor and like Jesus our Lord!