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Scott's Reference Library
Genesis 17:1 through Genesis 17:7 (NIV)
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I
am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my covenant
between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with
you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called
Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many
nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings
will come from you. 7I 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.
15God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call
her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16I 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
peoples will come from her.”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 1-6
The covenant was to be accomplished in due time. The promised Seed was Christ,
and Christians in him. And all who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abram,
being partakers of the same covenant blessings. In token of this covenant his
name was changed from Abram, “a high father,” to Abraham, “the father of a
multitude.” All that the Christian world enjoys, it is indebted for to Abraham
and his Seed.
VERSES 7-14
The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to
everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was
circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must
keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to
him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be
circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the
covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac’s posterity, but of heaven, through
Christ, to the whole church of God. The outward sign is for the visible church;
the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be
believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this
institution was required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make
light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect of them. The covenant
in question was one that involved great blessings for the world in all future
ages. Even the blessedness of Abraham himself, and all the rewards conferred
upon him, were for Christ’s sake. Abraham was justified, as we have seen, not by
his own righteousness, but by faith in the promised Messiah.
VERSES 15-22
Here is the promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, in whom the promise made
to him should be fulfilled. The assurance of this promise was the change of
Sarai’s name into Sarah. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were
confined to one family only; Sarah signifies a princess. The more favours God
confers upon us, the more low we should be in our own eyes. Abraham showed great
joy; he laughed, it was a laughter of delight, not of distrust. Now it was that
Abraham rejoiced to see Christ’s day; now he saw it and was glad, John 8:56.
Abraham, dreading lest Ishmael should be abandoned and forsaken of God, put up a
petition on his behalf. God gives us leave in prayer to be particular in making
known our requests. Whatever is our care and fear, should be spread before God
in prayer. It is the duty of parents to pray for their children, and the great
thing we should desire is, that they may be kept in covenant with Him, and may
have grace to walk before him in uprightness. Common blessings are secured to
Ishmael. Outward good things are often given to those children of godly parents
who are born after the flesh, for their parents’ sake. Covenant blessings are
reserved for Isaac, and appropriated to him.