God's Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham - Sermon Notes | Bible Baptist Church of Ballincollig

I. Introduction (Genesis 17:1-14)

At the end of Genesis chapter 16, Abram is at his lowest spiritual point…
It has been almost 13 years since God talked with Abram
- Because he gave up on waiting on God for a son, and gotten a son via Hagar instead, and is out of fellowship with God - that is a long time to live backslidden
Way too many personal failures
- Everything was ruined - or so he thought
- With Hagar, and Ishmael, and his doubts, and sins
Abram is 99 years old now - way too late
- Evidently, God is not going to keep His promises
- There is no way to have children now
God visits him and tells him in just about nine months he is going to be a father!
And that Abram needs to start living up to the expectations of the covenant

II. Message

A. It is Time (Genesis 17:1)

“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.” - Genesis 17:1

Abraham is now 99 years old - he is very old
Way past the expected time of being a father - past due!
- It has been 24 years since God promised Abraham children
- It has been 13 years since Abraham and Sarah had tried to make that promise happened
- Everything had been quiet…
  - God had not spoken to Abram for the past 13 years
  - Evidently, having a surrogate child via Hagar was not a great idea
  - It seemed like God had walked away and abandoned Abraham and Sarah
But God had made a promise - a covenant, 25 years earlier

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” - Genesis 12:1,2

God made a commitment to Abraham simply because of Abraham’s faith in what God promised - that works!

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” - Hebrews 11:8

And He was going to keep that promise.
Because that’s what God does.
He is the faithful God

“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” - Deuteronomy 7:9

So, it is time for Abram and Sarai to have a baby!

B. It is Impossible (Genesis 17:1)

“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.” - Genesis 17:1

Here are the facts
- Abraham is 99 years old and Sarah is 89 years old - how would you like THAT?
- To have a child at this age was impossible. And raise a child at that age! The oldest woman to have a natural born child (without IVF or drugs) is 59 years old. Sarah is 89!
- His body and Sarah’s body were dead when it came to being able to produce life

“(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb.” - Romans 4:17-19

These are absolute, undeniable facts
Yet God ignores all of those “facts”
- God says do you know who I AM? “I am God almighty” - ALL mighty
  - All powerful - omni-potent
  - Fully capable of doing anything, no matter how impossible it may be
  - Remember, He made EVERYTHING out of NOTHING!
  - Trust Him to be able to do whatever He has promised to do!
- That name “almighty” is specific to Jehovah God
- No other deity in all of history says those words
  - In Islam, Allah never claims to be “all mighty”
  - Surah 20:14 “Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me”
  - The Quran quotes people saying, “He is the All-Mighty, All-Wise” (Surah 57:1)
  - But Allah never says he is ALL MIGHTY. Isn’t that strange?
- God was stating His facts! And HIS facts overrule all of our facts!
- AMEN! Remember this when you are praying!
So, DON’T say anything is impossible to God!

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” - Mark 10:25-27

God can do anything, anything, anything, God can do anything but fail!
But, Don’t make up stuff - that’s what most modern churches do
- Believe God for their own miracles
- Tell God what to do
- Never knowing what God promises, and never trusting those promises to be enough

C. So, Walk by Faith, Abram (Genesis 17:1)

“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.” - Genesis 17:1

I am almighty God, trust me, and be fulfilled
Walk before me means live according to God’s instructions
Just live by faith
- Trust God. Live like you believe God! God asked Abraham to simply continue to live his life as someone who believed God - to live by faith in God’s will over his own
- Not knowing, not being in control is when you are living by faith

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” - Hebrews 11:8

Abram needed to get back to living that way
That is what faith is - trust and obey - believe God is right and obey His words
He lays the path to walk before us
And we just do them
It is just like when a coach gives instructions to the team captain and to the players on the field
The coach is not out there carrying the ball - He is watching, and instructing, and guiding the team!
That is how you please God
- Not by living perfectly, or giving away all your money, or never sinning…
- Just believing God enough to trust He is right
- Living by faith pleases God

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” - Hebrews 11:6

And it makes you PERFECT in God’s eyes

“…walk before me, and be thou perfect.” - Genesis 17:1

Perfect means complete - enough - exactly what God wants you to be

“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” - Colossians 2:10

This is why Abraham was called the friend of God, and why He was close to God
Because he learned HOW to live by faith, and not by feelings, or abilities
He did not just do it naturally - he struggled with it - like we all do
But he learned how to trust God, and God honoured that!
Do you fail in your walk? It usually is a failure of ability
So get back to doing the will of God from the HEART, not from your abilities

D. God’s Covenant Promises (Genesis 17:2-8)

This is a big deal - There is a lot here!

“And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 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. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 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. 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.” - Genesis 17:2-8

Here is that word “covenant” again
- We call it the Abrahamic Covenant
- A mutual agreement of two or more persons, to do something for the other person
- A commitment - a vow!
  - Like people make Wedding vows - enter into a wedding covenant
  - God makes vows - promises
  - Like when people swear to tell the truth in court - and if you lie there are consequences
- It is much more than a contract, but it has the power of a contract - it has expectations of both parties
  - A contract binds the other person to you
  - A covenant commits you to the other person
- This covenant was first described in Genesis 15 in detail, almost 15 years earlier
- It now becomes a sealed, perpetual obligation with an outward sign by believers.
God is reminding Abram that He was still keeping His commitment to Abram
- This Abrahamic Covenant is an everlasting commitment - never ends
- This covenant was based on God’s faithfulness - dependability to keep His word
- Like salvation is based on God’s promise and ability to keep His promise

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” - John 10:27-29

It seems like salvation is all God’s work - none of mine!

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” - Jude 1:24

That is why a born again believer in Jesus is secure - saved forever - because God keeps HIS promises to us, even when we fail!
What did God promise?
- Nations would come from Abram - not just Israel would come from Abram

“As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.” - Genesis 17:4,5

God promises not one child, but to multiply Abram’s descendants to a huge number - as numerous as the sands of the sea shore
Multitudes of kings would come from Abram

“And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.” - Genesis 17:6

One King in particular - the KING of all kings was going to one day come from Abraham!
God would be their God - this is the best part - Abram had missed this!

“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.” - Genesis 17:7

God promises to be the God of Abram and of his descendants
He is the Lord God of heaven and earth, but He was the God of Abram and Isaac and Jacob in a special way above all other nations and all other people in the world
The descendants of Abram, as a people are a special nation to God, a special people, a peculiar people
And it included land. A lot of land! The promised land.

“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.” - Genesis 17:8

It is declared to be theirs, via Isaac and Jacob, forever
The area that is part of the Abrahamic covenant is from the river of Egypt, the Nile, TO the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18)
God’s covenant included land, physical possession of property, of dirt
It’s called the promised land for this reason - not promised to anyone else

A New Name (Genesis 17:5)

God gave Abram a new name

“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.” - Genesis 17:5

This is also a part of God’s covenant - a name change
- In weddings, a woman gets a name change - to her husband’s last name
- That is part of the normal covenant of marriage
God gave Abram a new name that reflects God’s promises
No longer ‘Abram’, but ‘Abraham’
- Abram means a father of children
- Abraham means a father of nations!
- What an honour
- Historians talk about “founding fathers”
- Well, here is someone who is the start, the source of God’s people
Other name changes in the Bible include
- Saul of Tarsus had his name changed to Paul the Apostle
- Rahab the harlot to Rahab the great-grandmother of David (a better name)
- God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, a prince who has power with God!

Immutable Parts of the Covenant

Some parts of this covenant are immutable, unchangeable
- Like Abraham’s relationship to God - it was unchangeable
  - He’s known as the friend of God, part of the family of God
  - All because of Abraham’s decision to just believe God back in chapter 12 and in chapter 15 when it was confirmed
- Abraham was going to have multitudes of children - no matter what!
- And God’s commitment to Abraham and to his seed as their God

“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” - Jeremiah 31:35-37

These parts of the covenant are immutable - they will never change!

Conditional Parts of the Covenant

Other parts of this covenant are conditional - based on Abraham’s obedience, and on his descendants obeying God
- There are parts of this covenant that are dependent upon Abraham’s descendants keeping their end of the agreement - doing what God says to do
- And staying right with God if they are going to enjoy the blessing and benefits of the covenant
  - Like, living in the promised land
  - Living free from wars and disasters and oppressions
- They can lose the blessings of all of God’s promises
- It is the same with laws in Ireland.
  - You can enjoy freedom, travel and commerce as long as you don’t break a law
  - If you break a law, you forfeit the blessings of freedom of travel and commerce
  - Yet you still are an Irish citizen and can be restored to freedom
Oh I wish you Trusted God’s Promises
- You have to know them first - only Bible readers and believers know the promises
- You need to know you can trust His promises - which is why God recorded these people throughout the pages of Scripture

E. God’s Expectations (Genesis 17:9-14)

“And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 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. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 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. 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. 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.” - Genesis 17:9-14

God has many expectations of Abraham and his descendants - specific to Abraham and his physical descendants
The first expectation is circumcision of the flesh of all males who want to be part of the covenant
- God commands that Abraham, and every male in his household (including the foreign-birth servants), and every male descendant be circumcised on the eighth day after birth
- For the Jewish people, it is a token, a symbol, a sign, proof that a man belonged to God
  - It was a SIGN of the covenant - that they were special people - God’s people
  - We say, “SIGN here…” to show that we agree to what is written
  - A mark of ownership - a physical branding
  - It’s similar to when someone gets ‘a gang tattoo’
  - Today, people make statements in their flesh all the time, so don’t get all hung up with circumcision
    - People get nose piercings and belly piercings
    - People colour their hair with wild hair colour
    - People dress up with crazy fashions
    - They are statement to the world that they are different!
  - Circumcision was a statement that YOU’RE different, that you belong to God
  - He just wants His people to know they belong to God, and are NOT like the rest of the world
- For all people who follow Abraham’s God
  - No matter what nation you are from

“…he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised.” - Genesis 17:12,13

Circumcision is the cutting off of the foreskin of a male child

“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. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations.” - Genesis 17:10-12

- Doesn't harm infants
- It was not something new - practiced sometimes for health and hygiene in Egypt
- Still done today by doctors when needed for health reasons

God has never been ashamed of the human body - designed every part of you
- He does not hate your private parts
- Never be ashamed of your body, even the intimate parts
- But don’t flaunt it - don’t abuse it - don’t let anyone else abuse it
- Save it for marriage - and enjoy it in marriage
- One flesh folks!
The second expectation was for Abraham and his descendants to live by faith - A circumcision of the heart - so needed
- The Pharisees were all physically circumcised, and yet were enemies of God

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” - Acts 7:51

Saul of Tarsus was so religious, and yet so lost

“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” - Philippians 3:4-7

Each generation of Israel as a nation needed to not just be physically circumcised, but get their HEART circumcised!

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” - Jeremiah 4:4

- The cutting away of pride, rebellion, anger, wrath, bitterness, lust...

That is what saving faith is - the humbling of our heart enough for it to break and be different than everybody else as you follow God

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14

It was a choice by each family

“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.” - Genesis 17:14

If you don’t want to be circumcised, or if you don’t want to have your children circumcised…
- Then you are rejecting God’s covenant in God’s expectations
- And God’s blessings are forfeited
  - Kicked out of the land several times
  - Experienced famines and wars and troubles
That is your choice
Abraham and his descendants needed to agree to the expectations in order to enjoy the blessings of the covenant
- God made promises that He was going to keep no matter what
- But God made some promises that he was not going to keep IF his people did not do right and stay right

III. Next Week - Both Abraham and Sarah Laugh at God

Circumcision Has Many Lessons For Us - some seriously deep truths
Abraham ends up laughing at God’s promise
Sarah will laugh as well
God encourages them anyway! Keeps His Promise!

IV. Conclusion

Physical Circumcision means nothing to us now
It never changed the heart of a person - only the Spirit of God can do that
- Don’t get confused and think everything applies to us - rightly divide the Scriptures
- There are many cults that hope you are confused

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” - Galatians 5:1-6

God made it very simple
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved!