17:3,4
Abram fell on his face before the Lord. The promise to Abram is now expanded. Indeed, if we follow God’s dealings with Abram we see that the promise keeps being expanded upon, despite Abram’s failings Now he is told that he will be the father of many nations. Remember at this point that he has no offspring at all! God’s promises depend upon God, not upon us.
17:5
Abram’s name is now changed, changed to what we know him as, Abraham. In terms of name meanings the change is from “exalted father” to “father of a multitude”. “For I have made you ...” We are all created by God. This is true in the very fact of our existence, but goes much deeper than that. We are created by God in what we are to become, what we are to be. This was not a flippant promise to Abraham, but it was a covenant, a very solemn promise from God.
No comments:
Post a Comment