Genesis 17:1-8
The Promise Renewed... [ Continue Reading ]
The Promise Renewed... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect. Twenty-four years Abram had now been a stranger in Canaan, thirteen years had elapsed since the birth of Ishmael, and still the patience of Abram and... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. The promise of an innumerable progeny, as based upon the covenant of God, is here repeated and intensified, particular stress being placed upon the exceedingly great number of descendants.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abram fell on his face, in the humility of his faith and of overpowering joy. AND GOD TALKED WITH HIM, SAYING,... [ Continue Reading ]
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. The covenant was not here established, for it was already in power, but it was now to be realized, the Lord on His part decreeing that Abram was to be the father of a multitude of nations. The almighty Lord alwa... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. Thus Abraham is again shown the great nation which through his Seed, the Messiah, was to be gathered out of all nations, the great congregation of all the believers. Romans... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. Tribes and people, exalted, mighty, and rich kings were among the descendants of Abraham; and the promise is again so wide and all-encompassing that It must be taken to include especially the... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. Here also the fact that God, in the realization of the covenant, will be an everlasting Source and Fountainhead of goodness... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. The continual repetition of the emphasis upon the everlasting covenant and the everlasting possession shows that the covenant and... [ Continue Reading ]
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. The promise of goodness and mercy on the part of God imposes an obligation on man to keep the provisions of His covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]
Circumcision Instituted... [ Continue Reading ]
This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you and thy seed after thee: Every man child among you shall be circumcised. So circumcision, the operation by which the foreskin of the flesh is removed, is not a mere hygienic measure, but a religious rite, a part of God's covenant, a sacrame... [ Continue Reading ]
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.... [ Continue Reading ]
He that is born in thy house, and he that in bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut oft from his people; he hath broken My covenant. Thus circumcision was a sacrament, a means of grace, in the Old Testament, a rite through which the Lord transmitted the blessings of His covenant t... [ Continue Reading ]
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. This change of names is significant, for the wife of Abraham, heretofore known as Sarai, "the princely," "heroine," was hereafter to be called Sarah, "princess," as the ancestress of p... [ Continue Reading ]
A Child Promised to Sarah... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. The emphasis is expressly laid upon the fact that the happy event of the birth of a son to Sarah is a result of the blessing of God. For whereas this i... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? The marvel of such a promise in the circumstances as Abraham knew them, himself a man of a hundred years and Sarah ninety... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before Thee! This was not spoken in the fear that the Lord would now cause Ishmael to die, but as a prayer that Ishmael might have part in the blessings of the covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]
And God said, Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. The Lord emphasizes that the son of Sarah should be the bearer of the covenant, he whom Abraham should n... [ Continue Reading ]
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. Ishmael had been begotten after the flesh, and could therefore not be the bearer of the promise, Galati... [ Continue Reading ]
But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. God had, even now, appointed the time when Isaac should be born. And this child of promise should be the bearer of the Messianic promise. For since it stands to reason and clearly follows... [ Continue Reading ]
And he left off talking with him. And God went up from Abraham. After God had given all the necessary commands to Abraham, the vision came to a close.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. The prompt and literal obedience which Abraham rend... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM'S OBEDIENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael, his son.... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the men of his house, born in the house and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. Thus was the first congregation under the Old Testament covenant organized.... [ Continue Reading ]