Genesis 17

Genesis 17:4-9

This chapter contains a new appearance of God to Abram, and a more enlarged as well of the common mode with him. 1. Its general hope, ver. 1. 2. The particulars of it, 1. That he should be the father of many nations, ver. 4, 6. and in token of that, his name was changed, ver. 5. 2. That God would be a God in him and his seed, and would give them the land of Canaan, ver. 7, 8. And the end of this part of the common was circumcision, ver. 9—14. 3. That he should have a son by Sarai, and in token of that her name was changed, ver. 15, 16. This promise Abram received, ver. 17. And his respect for Ishmael (ver. 18.) was answered abundantly to his satisfaction, ver. 19—22. 4. The circumcision of Abram and his family, according to God’s appointment, ver. 23. ad finem. 1. AND when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, ‘I am the Almighty God; I walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, v. 1, 2, 3. We have here a repeated manifestation of God’s presence to the holy patriarch, for his comfort and support under the long exercise of his faith and patience. Observe, 1. The time, when he was ninety-nine, thirteen years after Ishmael’s birth. A long while, for one who had enjoyed more frequent visits; and longer still, when we consider how hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Note, 1. An aged faint of God must expect to live more by faith, and less by sensible experiences. 2. When we have cause to fear, that by sin we have caused God to withdraw his presence, it is a sore affliction. 3. The comfort we would unbelievably anticipate, for our punishment are often delayed. 2. The humble posture he appeared in before God. On his face. Note, 1. The nearer we come to God, the more shall we feel our sunshine and vileness before him. The spots that were unnoticed in the twilight are very visible in the noon day. 2. Reverence and holy awe should be upon our heart and countenance, when we are speaking before God. 3. When we are found before God in worship, God will be found near us in bleffing. 3. The promise and command given to Abram. (1.) The promise, I am God Almighty, I will multiply thee, &c. He who promises, is able also to perform; for he is almighty in himself, and all-sufficient for us. Note, They who have God as their covenant God, have enough, nor need with for more. (2.) His command. Walk before me, and be thou perfect. Learn, 1. He who offers himself to be our God, hath a right to expect that we should be his people. 2. God can ask for no less than our whole hearts, and we can offer him no less in desire; though through the weakness of our fallen nature, he knows, and we feel, that we cannot always stand upright. 3. The soul that lives a life of faith, is possessed of the uttermost perfection God commands, for he is compleat in Christ. 4. If we have the simplicity which is in Christ, we have all the internal perfection which any scripture faint upon earth enjoyed. 4. As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5. 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. 6. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee; and kings shall come out of thee. 7. 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. 8. 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. 9. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee, in their generations. 1. By God’s order Abram’s name is changed into Abraham, correspondent to the promise, I will make thee a father of many nations. A new name is a new honour; but it is better still; it is a confirmation of his faith. What God calls him, he is. Though the children are unborn, faith gives substantiation to the things hoped for. More people probably this day are descended from him; and more kings have reigned, and the still reign, of his potterity in Isaac, Ishmael, and the sons of Kenturah, than from any man who lived in his or any succeeding time. 1897. 1 Chap. cont. 3. 2 Chap. v. 2a & chid. 2b. 1 Kagan 2c & 2d. 2e. 2 Chap. cont. 10. 2 Chap. vii. 2. & col. 18. 3 Chap. vii. 2. & col. 17. 4 Heb. Of thy figureing. 5 Chap. cont. 5.

Before Christ time. But in a more exalted and extensive sense, as the father of the faithful, his soul are yet more numberless, and every one a king.

2. God’s covenant with him. Full of promises, great and precious; a numberless progeny, a fruitful land, a kingly throne, and everlasting possession of it: pure to be fulfilled on earth, the better part in heaven, where Jesus is set down upon the throne for ever and ever. Note, 1. God’s covenant is as sure as his faithfulness and power can make it. 2. The great blessing of the covenant of grace is, that all God is and hath are made over to us; wisdom to guide, grace to pardon, power to support, goodness to comfort: all things, in short, are ours, if God is ours. 3. The crowning mercy is, it is as eternal in its continuance, as it was in its contrivance.

3. 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. 11. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your fore-skin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12. And the 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 my stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14. And the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant.

4. 10-14. The covenant being given, the seal of it is prescribed, circumcision. A bloody rise, to signify the necessity of shedding blood for the remission of sin; which all, from the infant to the aged, must submit to; for more can enter the kingdom of heaven, but through the blood of the covenant; intimating also the necessity of putting off the sins of the flesh, and of that inward circumcision, without which the other is a solid nothing; for he was not a Jew, who was not outwardly; and armed with the threatening of utter excision on non-compliance, because neglect of the sign implied rejection of the covenant. Note, 1. They who would have God for their God, must contemplate themselves to him under the instituted seals of the covenant. 2. Neglecters of God’s sacraments are excluded from God’s promises, and liable to God’s judgments.

5. ¶ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and the shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17. 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 it. 18. And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19. 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. 20. 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 be beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21. But my covenant will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

6. 15-22. God now more explicitly reveals his designs to Abraham.

7. A son is promised, not of the bondwoman, but of the free. Sarai shall share with Abraham in the blessing; he shall be mother of kings and nations. Note, 1. Husband and wife must count their mercies one. 2. A son from the Lord is a blessing we cannot be enough thankful for.

8. Sarai’s name changed. A new name, to intimate the new honour he intended to confer on her. She is a youngly indeed, as Sarah signifies, from whom he springs, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords.

9. Abraham’s joy on the news. Wonder and delight, joined with deep humility, lay him on his face in adoration, whilst his heart descends for joy. Note, 1. Faith in God’s promise fills the heart with joy in believing. 2. The only substantial bliss is that which God communicates: of all other laughter we may lay it in mind; and of mirth, what doth it? 3. The exultation of the soul in God is ever accompanied with equal humiliation. Vora. I.

The higher we rise in divine consolations, the lower we lie in the above Christ abatement, whilst false joy hereds pride and security.

4. His prayer for Ishmael. Though Isaac be preferred, Ishmael is not neglected. Learn, 1. Though one child have the better portion, all demand our prayers and care. 2. The greatest blessing we can ask of God for our children, is his grace to direct their ways alight before his fate.

5. God’s gracious regard to him. Though Isaac hath the covenant, Ishmael shall not want a blessing. Note, 1. God gives us more than we are wont to deface. He asked one blessing, God promises two. 2. The sons of God, like Isaac, are sons of laughter: to walk seasonfully in one the character of the children of the promise. 3. The preference of Isaac is of God’s sovereignty, that the election of grace may stand.

6. When Abraham is fully finished, God withdraws, and leaves him for a while to meditate upon these wonders of mercy. Note, God’s feeble pretence cannot be expelled always here: we are called now to live by faith; in heaven it will be unclouded fight, uninterrupted fruition.

7. ¶ 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 self-same day, as God had said unto him. 24. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26. In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

8. 23-27. Abraham no sooner is commanded, but he obeys without delay. God’s commands are law and reason to him; and cheerfully he receives the seal, as gratefully he had accepted the promise. Note, 1. The positive institution of God admits no reasoning: it is enough he rejoins in the sign, for us to use it. 2. True obedience never defers till to-morrow what can be done to-day; for who knows what a day may bring forth? 3. They who would guide others in the right way, must first show the example. 4. As it is known only to God, who are really chosen, we in hope baptize infants as well as others: if they could be members of the covenant before Christ’s coming, why not alter?

Genesis 17:22-27

1. § Phil. xviii. 17. Chron. 1. Momb. xxii. 14. & xxix. 5. Momb. xxix. 17. Jer. xxi. 17. Exch. 4. 11. § Phil. 16. 7. & xxii. 8. & Momb. xx. 8. Jud. xvi. 17. Luke 1. 19. Iss. xlii. 4. Chap. 6. 7. Prov. xxii. 19. Deut. xxiii. 18. Jud. xix. 16. 11. Sam. 8. Deut. xxxi. 15. Judg. xviii. 7. Heb. An know feaser. Phil. xxi. 16d. 15a. xxv. 9. Deut. xxxi. 15. Christ. 14. Job. xx. 15. Deut. xxxi. 15. When Christ who wait for God’s salvation, shall never be disappointed: they will by faith, enjoy it in time, and be put in full possession of it in eternity. 5. God was often, by his situation, exposed to the inroads of his neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites, but in the reign of David, they were wholly subdued. Note, Let us not despair, though the troops of our corruptions sometimes overcome us, we shall be more than conquerors in the end. 6. After is a tribe of plenty; not only fulness of bread, but abundance of dainties. Note, Dainties are God’s gifts, and therefore not to be refused: a king, or a great man, may as lawfully enjoy the delicacies of food, as the poor eat bread. 7. Naphtali’s lot is rich in pasture, and the tempers of the people, sweet and affable. Note, There are a variety of natural dispositions, and these, like the several parts of the body, compute a more beautiful figure. Let every man improve his own gift, and neither envy nor despair those who differ from him. a Hich. Daughters. a Job. xxii. xx. f Wid. xxxii. g Wid. lxx. h Ills. xxviii. 11. i Chap. xxviii. 12. & xxx. 12. h Chap. xxii. 6. i Deut. xxiii. 17. m Deut. xxxii. 12. Hah. iii. 6. n Deut. xxxii. 12. n Judg. i. 8. p Numb. xviii. 64. Exch. xxiv. xx. 1, 7. a Chap. xx. 11. & xxx. 9. a Chap. xliii. 20. a Chap. 1. 13. a Chap. xxiii. 18. a Chap. xxii. 19. & xxx. a Chap. xxiv. 30. 22. ¶ Joseph is a fruitful bough; even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. 23. The archers have forely grieved him, and that at him, and hated him. 24. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. 25. Even by the God of the father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the words. 26. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 27. ¶ Benjamin shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. Joseph being the beloved child, comes in for a peculiar blessing. His sons are these branches of the spreading tree. Though some afflictions had been his law, severely treated by his brethren, and more severely tempted by his mistress; (what they darts so sharp!) yet firm he stood, unmoved, unflaken; not in it strange, when the everlasting arms are under him. Note, If Christ strengthen us, none shall pluck us out of his hands. Joseph is Jacob’s shepherd, to feed him in the time of dearth, and the support of his sinking family, and his reward shall be accordingly. God, his father’s God, shall make his seed victorious, the best of blessings shall defend upon him, and greater than those of his progenitors, in the immedium with increase of his potteries, and all those blessings should be enduring as the mountains. Thus, though separated from and hated of his brethren, a crown of excellence is bestowed upon him. Note, On the spiritual seed of Jesus, the hated of his brethren, shall be these blessings of heaven above. They shall be fed with breath of present consolation, and have their mansion on those mountains which are truly everlasting, separated from the world which lieth in wickedness, and blest with the transcendently glorious favour of Jacob’s God. My soul, may this blessing be thine, and then every present trial will be light, every suffering joyous. 2. Benjamin shall be a warlike tribe; and eminently it was fulfilled in him. He ravened among his foes, and once among his friends, Jud. xx. 14. till they rose up as one man against him, almost to his utter extirpation. 28. ¶ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. 29. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30. In the cave that is in the field of Machepah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a burying-place. 31. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32. The purchase of the field, and of the cave that is therein, was from the children of Heth. 33. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghoft, and was gathered unto his people.

Genesis 17:28-33

Thus the prophetic blessings end: each has something: those who are corrected, are not cast off. Note, Though we are rebuked for our sins, we must not despair under them; there is yet hope. And now he hath but one word to speak, and die. 1. He charges them where he will be buried, as he had exacted an oath of Joseph before, both in faith of the promise, and to remind them of it. Note, It is good with our dying lips, to really the sure truth of our souls. 2. His death. He gathered up his feet from his sitting pofture, into the bed; with a peaceful resignation yielded up his soul to God, and went to that blessed assembly of his people, the souls of the faithful, who, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity. May my last end be like unto his!