A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
GENESIS 17
Lesson #31
EMERGING FROM A SPIRITUALLY DRY PERIOD
- Memory verse: Col 2:11
- Read Gen 17:1-27
- Chapter 17 occurs 13 years after chapter 16.
- Abraham’s faith took a dip in chapter 16 when he had a son with Hagar. We, therefore, have an obvious dry period of 13 years in Abraham’s spiritual life.
- If you are in a dry period, perhaps it’s because of some disobedience, a lack of stepping out in faith to move on with God, or a need to come to the end of your own strength and resources.
- It could be a testing of faith or to develop patience.
- God’s delays are not without reason and are an important lesson for us.
- Remember that God does not reveal the next step until you have been faithful to the last thing he showed you.
- Abraham had displeased God by having a child with Hagar. He, therefore, had to come to the end of his physical ability to have a child of his own doing.
- God waited until his body was “dead” to the possibility of having a child.
- Man’s extremity is God’s possibility.
- When you come to the end of yourself, God is now able to work.
- The significant number of 13: The number 13 in the Bible is always found in an evil connection signifying unbelief, rebellion, apostasy.
- Other scriptures: Gen 14:4 1Kin 7:1 Est 3:12,13
- Abraham’s 13 years is a period of rebellion and unbelief, but we see God’s mercy sustain him.
- Abraham falls on his face (3) in gratitude for God’s extended mercy.
- What should the believer do in a spiritually dry period?
- Study the word. Learn as much as you can about God and how He works with people.
- Keep praying.
- Keep in fellowship with other believers.
- Continue to worship God.
- God again reveals to Abraham a new name for God. (1)
- “El Shaddai” = translated “God almighty”
- Originally it meant = God, the mountain one. Then the name came to mean, God, the one who strengthens, satisfies, and knows.
- The words “all sufficient” gives us a better sense of the name than “God Almighty”
- The picture is one of a nursing mother who knows her child’s needs. She satisfies and strengthens the child with nourishment.
- This name for God especially meets Abraham’s needs at this time. He and Sarah were old and insufficient within themselves to produce a child. God will strengthen them and provide for their needs.
- The revelation of this name for God is uniquely tied to the change of a person’s name in 2 Biblical situations:
- Gen 17 where Abraham and Sarah receive their new names.
- Gen 35:9-11 where Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, and God repeats to Jacob the same covenant promises he gave to Abraham.
- The name, “El Shaddai” occurs mostly in the book of Job
- The two-fold promise and the 7 “I will’s”:
- The two-fold promise:
- The land (15:18) and descendants (17:2,4-6,8,16) are forever linked together.
- The 7 “I will’s” of God:
- I will make you exceedingly fruitful (6)
- I will make nations of you and kings (6)
- I will establish my covenant (7)
- I will give you and your children the land (8)
- I will be their God (8)
- I will bless Sarah (16)
- I will establish my covenant with Isaac (19)
- The change of Abraham’s and Sarah’s names:
- The meanings:
- Abram means “high father”
- Abraham means “father of many nations”
- Sarai means “one who dominates” and is another derivation of the name of the moon god.
- Sarah means “princess”
- Why the change?
- The change occurs when God seals the covenant in Abraham’s body to indicate that God will fulfill the promise.
- The nature of the change:
- The name of God as a covenant maker in Hebrew is “YHWH” (Jehovah).
- God made the covenant very personal to them by putting one “h” from God’s name into Abram and one “h” from God’s name into Sarai.
- The Hebrew “h” is an abbreviation for God.
- It is an identification of their life with God.
- The meanings:
- Circumcision (17:10)
- Why did God give the command to circumcise?
- He gave it to seal the covenant in Abraham in a physical way that Abraham would not be able to easily forget.
- Remember that God “cut” the covenant in chapter 15 while Abraham slept. Now, the covenant is cut into Abraham’s body.
- All covenants after the fall of Adam and Eve require the shedding of blood.
- Circumcision is the physical sign of the covenant with Abraham. (17:11)
- It is performed on a man’s means of reproduction because the covenant emphasized the procreation of descendants (The promise of a son).
- God specified that it was to be done on the 8th day of a child’s life.
- Medical science has determined that the best time to circumcise from a baby’s standpoint is the 8th day.
- Circumcision occurs when the pain level is low and the flow of blood is less. Many non-Jewish doctors recommend it as a cleanliness measure.
- It is performed on a man’s means of reproduction because the covenant emphasized the procreation of descendants (The promise of a son).
- The historic background of circumcision:
- Circumcision was not new or unique to Abraham and the Jews.
- It was practiced in Egypt and with other heathen tribes in the Middle East for centuries before Abraham.
- It died out gradually in other cultures but remained part of Judaism through the New Testament to indicate the chosen people of God.
- Here in Genesis God gives the practice a new and unique meaning for the Jews.
- The spiritual significance of circumcision:
- Read Phil 3:3 Col 2:11
- It was to symbolize the removal of uncleanness. The word is frequently used in a figurative sense in both the Old and New Testaments to indicate the removal of ethical and spiritual uncleanness. (Deu 10:16 Jer 6:10)
- In Paul’s New Testament letters he uses the term to indicate the removal of the sinful flesh nature.
- Abraham’s faith response:
- After a long dry period, God, in his mercy, continues to work with Abraham and his level of faith by revealing:
- A new name of God
- A new name for Abraham and Sarah
- A physical sign of the covenant
- Abraham immediately circumcises all in his household.
- An immediate obedience is his action of faith.
- Abraham laughs (16) because he knows his body is now dead to the possibility of having a child. He is trusting God, but there are still doubts.
- Faith does not mean there are never any doubts. Doubts are not unbelief. It is what you do with the doubts that can lead you into unbelief.
- God reveals that the child’s name will be Isaac. Isaac means = “he laughs”.
- Rom 4:13,17-22 indicates that despite Abraham’s doubts and failures at faith, his overall progress was a growing faith.
- After a long dry period, God, in his mercy, continues to work with Abraham and his level of faith by revealing:
- Why do you think Isaac, the fulfillment of God’s promise of a son, will not be born until after the circumcision?
- Abraham needed a physical identification with God and His promise.
- Abraham needed a physical mark of faith that God will fulfill the promise when Abraham cannot do so.
- Abraham had to be under the covenant so that Isaac would be heir in the blood line and inheritor of the covenant.
- Who in the church today is Ishmael a type (prefigure)?
- Those who are children of the flesh nature that do not become children of the Spirit.
- These are people who grow up in the church, who trust in their own goodness for salvation, and who do not accept Christ as their savior.
- Application:
- The Christian life is a personal relationship with God.
- It involves a unique walk of faith that we have seen demonstrated by the Old Testament saints:
- The Christian Walk
| Old Testament Saints | Their Walk | Scripture | Significance |
| Enoch & Noah | Walked with God | Gen 5:24; 6:9 | A relationship of friendship and fellowship. We walk with God as friends. |
| Abraham | Walked before God | Gen 17:1 | A child running ahead and playing in the presence of a father. We walk with God as
Children. |
| Israelites | Walk after the Lord | Deu 13:4 | A servant relationship. We walk with God as servants. |
| New Testament believers | Walk in Him | Col 2:6 | A relationship of union. We walk with God as members of
His body. |
Homework
Genesis 18
- Application of Gen 17
- What is the condition of your walk with the Lord:
- As a friend?
- As a child?
- As a servant?
- As a member of his body of believers?
- What is the condition of your walk with the Lord:
- Preparation for Gen 18
- Read Gen 18:1-33
- Identify the third man (2). How do you know?
- What do you learn about Sarah’s faith? (Heb 11:11)
- What do you learn about intercessory prayer?
- Read Gen 18:1-33
- Memory verse: 1Timothy 2:1
