Sermon notes November 2nd, 2025

GENESIS 17

Genesis 17                                                     New King James Version

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 

• God’s words to Abram in verse 1 may have been a veiled way of saying: “he should stop trying to work things out in his own strength and let Almighty God work for him”. Do you remember how old Abram was in the last chapter? Remember me saying to you there’s a process of time that streams through the Bible and we must pay close attention to it.

Genesis 16:15-16

15   So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 

16   Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram

• It has been a long 13 years as Sarai was watching Abram love and chase this now 13-year-old son Ishmael. I hope men in our church, can see the deficiency of Abram’s leadership as a husband. Men can you see how we need to protect our wives from all sorts of painful situations, we can, if we would just pay a little closer attention. 
• Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran (Genesis 12:4). He was 86 years old when the son Ishmael was born of Hagar, the servant girl (Genesis 16:15-16). Abram had waited some 25 years for the fulfilment of God’s promise to have a son through Sarai. Now it had been some 13 years since his last recorded word from God.
• The words “the Lord appeared” says that this must be another Christophany like Hagar had with God in chapter 16. He says, I am Almighty God: God’s first words to Abram made an introduction and a declaration of His being. By this name El Shaddai (God Almighty), God revealed His Person and character to Abram. 
• Walk before Me and be blameless: After the proclamation of His name El Shaddai, God then told Abram what was expected of him.     It came first by revelation and then expectation. This communicates the principle to us, that we can only do what God expects of us when we know who He is, and we know it in a full, personal, and real way. This is what this Church is all about!!        I strive to push you to first: have a revelation and then expectation of who Jesus really is to you. It must become a personal journey; this group plan we have here (the Church) this is a buy product of you having a personal relationship with your Lord and Savior Jesus.            If it’s not personal, you may not be saved.
• The word blameless literally means “whole.” God wanted all of Abram, a total commitment.

Genesis 17:2-5

2   And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 

• Please remember God hasn’t spoke to him for 13 years. He’s saying some of the same things God said before. But it’s different, God is reminding Abram of God’s covenant with him and expanding it. 

3   Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 

4   “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.  ( now it’s many nations)

5   No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 

• Immediately afterward God renewed His covenant and changed the patriarch’s name from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude).
• There are many wonderful name changes in the Bible, such as when God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). How about Saul. 

He changed Simon’s name to Peter (Mark 3:16). God promises a wonderful new name to every overcomer in Him (Revelation 2:17).

Revelation 2:17                                            New King James Version

17   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” 

• ’God gives us many names in faith (saint, righteous, chosen, royal priesthood, sons of God, and so forth), and He knows He will accomplish the meaning of the name in us — even it if seems somewhat crazy. 
• In our present time, we as a congregation have watched God change the name of someone in our midst, Manny into Ira. I think this is very significant, Manny is my disciple who had struggled with his Christian Walk for some time. Then the name change, “I struggled with calling him Ira for a while” but I took him seriously and got used to it. From that time on, (his name change) God has been transforming him from a worldly man to Pastor Ira, the man we know as a father, a husband and a son. We tend to think the really cool stuff only happens in the Bible, that’s because you’re not paying attention.  

1. The Name and Meaning “Ira”

“Ira” is a name of Hebrew origin, meaning “watchful” or “vigilant.” In the Old Testament, Ira is associated with a notable figure who was one of King David’s warriors. This connection imbues the name with a sense of strength and loyalty. The Greek equivalent of “Ira” relates to watchfulness as well.

• In some cultures, “Ira” signifies a connection to nature and watchfulness over the surroundings.
• The name is often linked to the concept of guardianship and safety.
• In numerology, “Ira” correlates with the number 1, representing leadership.

1 Corinthians 1;26                                      New King James Version

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

 

Genesis 17:6

6   I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 

• In almost every dimension, God made the long-delayed promise to Abraham greater. Never before had God specifically said that multiple nations would come from Abraham (a singular nation was promised in Genesis 12:2). Never before had God specifically said that kings would descend from Abraham.
• By coupling “nations” with “kings,” God discloses that Abraham’s progeny will possess enduring, organized sovereignty rather than transient nomadic influence, which is who Abraham was.

Genesis 17:7-9

7   And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 

8   Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

9   And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 

• God is ready to give Abraham his part. I personally feel this is a big ask. I know some of you are thinking, wait I didn’t hear anything well just wait.  

Genesis 17:10-12

10   This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 

11   and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 

12   He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 

• Circumcision on the eighth day is significant for its religious and medical reasons, especially within Judaism, where it represents a covenant with God and marks a child's entry into a religious community. Religiously, it follows a commandment to Abraham to perform circumcision on the eighth day, and the number eight is symbolically linked to a connection with the infinite and spiritual beyond the seven days of the week. Medically, the eighth day is considered ideal due to the baby's high levels of vitamin K, which aids in blood clotting, and less developed pain nerve endings.

Genesis 17:13-15

13   He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 

14   And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

• The expression “cut off” sometimes means to put to death, as in Exodus 31:14-15. In other places, as here, it seems to mean to ban or to be ostracized.

15   Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 

• “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.”

Genesis 17:16-17

16   And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

• I’m not ashamed to tell you I struggle with this next scripture. It’s not a salvation issue. And I currently won’t say God got it wrong here.

17   Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”  

• I struggle with this mostly because in the very next chapter Sarah overhears God telling Abraham that she will have a baby by this time next year and silently she laughs, and God gets angry with her. Somehow Abraham’s laugh is not from doubt that God can’t do it, but the thought of the impossibility in the natural of it. Listen to what the Apostle Paul had to say;

Romans 4:18-21                                            New King James Version

18   who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 

19   And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 

20   He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 

21   and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

• Ok, I get all that, and I choose to believe the Bible even if I have some questions. But listen carefully to Abraham’s next statement:

Genesis 17:18-19                                                                                                18   And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

• Abraham is acting like Abram, still trying to push his son before God. “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”  In other words, God can’t we just use Ishmael because my body is dead and Sarah is old. At the same time, Abraham didn’t really understand God’s promise completely. He perhaps thought God simply meant Ishmael would be Sarah’s spiritual son. Abraham — like all of us — found it hard to trust God for more than what he could conceive of.     

19   Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 

• The son will be named Isaac (laughter) because he would be such a joy to his parents, but also to always remind Abraham he laughed at God’s promise to give him a son through Sarah at this late age.

Genesis 17:20-22

20   And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 

• God would answer Abraham’s prayer for blessing on Ishmael, making him fruitful and to multiply him exceedingly. Nevertheless, the covenant and its promises would pass only through the son to come, the son of promise.

21   But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” 

22   Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Genesis 17:23-27

23   So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. 

24   Abraham was ninety-nine years old 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   That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; 

27   and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

• And circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him: Abraham’s belief in the covenant was proved by his obedience to the command. 

 

What we really believe - will show in our actions.

 

• 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 virtually incapacitate 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.

Now he’s acting like Abraham!!

Is this where circumcision was invented?  NOPE

Ancient Egypt: The oldest historical record of circumcision is an Egyptian wall carving from around 2400 BCE, though evidence suggests the practice dates back much further. For the ancient Egyptians, it was a rite of passage, possibly reserved for the elite or priestly class, and was linked to purity and spiritual development.

• Isn’t it just like our God to take something that was reserved for only the special people. In Gods eyes were all special, He said circumcise everyone, even those who are slaves or the one’s you bought. Because we are a Royal Preast Hood only because of what Jesus did for you and me.