Genesis 17, please. Genesis 17, as we are continuing our series of studies in the life of Abraham, and I've entitled our message tonight, Revisiting the Covenant. And you'll see as we go through this chapter why I've used that title. I'm not going to take time to read that entire chapter. We will cover it in our expositions of the text. So because of time, the constraints of time, I will be reading this whole chapter as we open it up. One of the things that we often miss and fail to appreciate in reading and meditating on the historic portion of the Old Testament is the compression of time. In many cases, large gaps of time are compressed between two adjacent texts of Scripture. This is especially true when it comes to the book of Genesis, which is the book of beginnings. The book of Genesis spans several thousands of years, so the compression of time is both a literary and practical necessity. But it is primarily a matter of divine determination. God determined what he wants us to know and what is not essential. And what he wants us to know, he reveals. And what he does not think is essential, he has left out. But there's another factor involved in this compression of time. and the historic narrative, especially as it relates to Abram. As far as Abram was concerned, a large span of time between the various events and promises of God and his life was for his benefit. It was a means for strengthening his faith. God is going to call upon Abraham to show a tremendous manifestation of faith far beyond anything he could ever imagine years later on. But it took many years for God to strengthen His faith to that point. The large span of time between the various events in Abraham's life is also for our benefit. It shows us that true faith is not extinguished even when time and circumstances make the fulfillment of God's promises humanly impossible. Because with God, nothing is impossible. This large span of time is seen in our text tonight. Thirteen years have gone by between the last verse in chapter 16 and the first verse of chapter 17. Look at chapter 16 and verse 16. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Now look at verse 1 of chapter 17. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I'm Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless. Fourteen years ago, Sarah made a proposal to Abram to take Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid, and seek to have a child by her. When God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees, He told him He would make a great nation from him implying that he would have children. But Sarahi was barren and unable to conceive, and many years went by. In fact, Abram was 75 when he finally left Haran and came to Canaan. And in confirming the covenant with him, God promised Abram that his descendants would be more numerous than the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven, and he would give his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. And he goes back and revisits those promises tonight in our text. But it has been 24 years since Abraham came to the promised land, 13 years since Ishmael was born to Hagar. Sarah, therefore, made the proposal. Abraham heeded the voice of his wife and went into Hagar. She conceived, bore a son, and named him Ishmael. Abram was now 86 years old. Genesis 16, verse 16. But as we cross over into the 17th chapter, we step 13 years ahead in time. Abram is now 99 years old, and as we will learn in the text, Sarah is near 90. The only child that Abram had at this time was Ishmael, who is now a teenager, 13 years old. Even though there was strife between Hagar and Sarahi when Ishmael was conceived, All that seems to have been diffused. The text doesn't go into that. But for at least for the time being, this tension seemed to have been diffused. It is quite probable. And I mean, saying is quite probable. The text doesn't say that Abraham and Sarah were convinced that Ishmael was the one through whom God will fulfill his promises of many descendants. But after more than 13 years of silence, God appears and speaks to Abraham once again. And in doing so, he revisits a covenant that he made with Abram many years ago. There are three aspects of what God said to Abram in this chapter. He reaffirms, he requires, he clarifies. He reaffirms what he had already promised. He requires that Abraham and all his males in his household be circumcised. He then clarifies a very important point. The promise of many's descendants would not be fulfilled through Ishmael by Hagar, but miracle of miracles, it would be through a son conceived in the womb of Abram's barren wife, Sarai, when she was 90 years old. Now, if you look at chapter 17, you will see those three aspects to what God said to Abraham in revisiting this covenant. Look at the text. Look at verse 4. God said, as for me, behold, my covenant with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. Verse 9, And God said to Abram, as for you, you shall keep my covenant. Woe to verse 15, Then God said to Abram, as for Sarahi your wife, you shall not call her Sarahi, but Sarah shall be her name. And those three aspects form the basis of our outline. First of all, he reaffirms, we see the reaffirmation of the promise of God in revisiting the covenant, where he says, but as for me, Abram, here is what I have promised and what I will do. But we see a prelude to that reaffirmation in verses 1 through 3. As our text opens, we are told that 13 years have transpired since the birth of Ishmael. Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born, Abram is now 99 when God appears and speaks to him. Look at verse 1. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. And in speaking to him, the Lord identifies himself in a different way than he ever did before. Previously, he was called Yahweh or Jehovah. But here he introduces himself as El Shaddai, God Almighty. Look at the text. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I'm almighty God, walk before me and be blameless. And there's good reason. God was going to clarify an important aspect of this covenant. Sarai and Hagar, not Hagar, was going to be the one through whom he would fill the promise of many descendants. But Sarahi was 90 years old and barren. Abram would look at these circumstances and consider it possible. Therefore, he needed to be reminded who it was that was making these promises to him. I am El Shaddai, God Almighty, the All-Sufficient One. He then exhorts Abram to live godly and holy before him and uses the covenant promises as a motivation. Look at the end of verse 1 and verse 2. "...walk before Me and be blameless, and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply your descendants." And seeing God and hearing Him speak as Almighty God, Abram fell on his face in reverence and in awe. It is then that God begins to reaffirm His promises. Look at verse 3. Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, We see now, we've seen the preliminaries to the prelude to this reaffirmation. Now we see the conditions included in the reaffirmation of these promises. I wanted this subheading in this way because in reaffirming the promises he made to Abram many years ago, God adds to one of those promises. Number one, Abram would become the father of many nations confirmed by a change of name. In God's call to Abram out of Ur, He promised that a great nation would come from him. But here God adds to that promise. Not only would a great nation come from him, which is Israel, but many nations would come from him. Verse 4, As for me, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. And God underscores this promise by changing Abram's name. No longer shall you be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." The word Abram meant exalted father. Abraham means father of many nations. Now imagine if you were Abram at 99 years old, hearing God promise that he's going to have many, many nations from you, and the only son you had was Ishmael. It wasn't even through your wife. And every time Abram was called by his name, he was reminded of this great promise by the Lord. And that promise was literally fulfilled after Sarah's death, if you want to look there on your own, in Genesis 25, verses 1-6, when he married Keturah after Sarah's death and had concubines. And many, many sons were born to him who actually became heads of great nations. So we see, first of all, in the additions included in the affirmation of these promises, Abram would become the father of many nations. That was something that was new, confirmed by a change of name. The covenant would be established with Abram's descendants forever. Verse 7, that's what God had promised him previously on several occasions. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in generations to come for an everlasting covenant. It's also that to be God to you and the descendants after you. Thirdly, the land of Canaan would be an everlasting possession. Again, that's reiterated and reaffirmed. And 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. But he says, Almighty God will also be their God at the end of verse 8. And I will be their God. So we first see, first of all, the reaffirmation of the promise of God in revisiting the covenant. Then we see the obligations required of Abraham and revisiting or Abraham now, we should say, and revisiting the covenant. Verses 9 through 14. Look at how verse 9 begins. And God said to Abram, as for you, Abram, this is what is required of you. And he says to them, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants, after you throughout their generations. And the Lord expands on this obligation. Abram and every male in his house was to be circumcised, verses 10 through 12. 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. and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight years old," and this is interesting, "'He who is eight years old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generation. He who was born in your house or brought with money from any stranger who is not your descendant.'" Notice that the newborn baby was to be circumcised on the eighth day. And that tradition was kept right on down even up to the Apostle Paul when he began to talk about that he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees circumcised on the eighth day. Now, there may be a lot of theological reasons for that eighth day, but I thought it was interesting going on the Internet. I knew this because I preached on this years ago, but I wanted to be certain about this. There's a very good medical significance for why this procedure should be done on the eighth day. I think modern science has cast that all aside. I think they circumcised a newborn baby almost immediately. But there's a reason why God chose the eighth day. Medical science, I'm going to be reading this verbatim so I don't mess it up. Medical science has discovered that vitamin K is at its highest level in the baby's body at that time. The vitamin plays a major role in the coagulation of blood. In 1935, vitamin K was named for the factor in foods that help prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know vitamin K is responsible for the production by the liver of an element, and I don't know whether I'm pronouncing this element right, known as prothrobin, or prothrombin, something like that. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothroman deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Oddly, it is only on the fifth through the seventh days of the new born male's life that vitamin K is present in adequate qualities. Vitamin K coupled with prothroman causes blood coagulation, which is important in any surgical procedure. Now pediatricians named Holt and McIntosh, in their classic work, observed that a newborn infant was peculiarly susceptible to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life. Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive. They may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially the brain, and cause death. Obviously, then, vitamin K is not produced in sufficient quantities until the days five through seven. It would be wise to postpone any surgery until sometime after that. But why did God specifically specify day eight? This is the quote from this doctor. On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above 100% of normal and is the only day in a male's life in which it will be the case under normal circumstances. Isn't that interesting? It's the only day in the life of a male where the vitamin K of Prothromin reaches that 100% above normal level. If surgery is to be performed, day 8 is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrobin levels are at their peak. And here's a quote from Dr. S.I. McMillan in his book called None of These Diseases. He says, We should commend the many hundreds of workers who labored at great expense over a number of years to discover that the safest day to perform circumcision is the 8th. Yet as we congratulate medical science for this recent finding, we also hear the leaves of the Bible rustling. They would like to remind us that 4,000 years ago, when God initiated circumcision with Abraham, Abraham did not pick the eighth day and many centuries of trial and error experiments. Neither he nor any of his company from the ancient city of Ur and the Chaldees ever knew anything about circumcision. It was a day picked by the creator of vitamin K, the creator God himself. What an amazing God we have. And I thought I would bring that out because that's very interesting. Having told Abraham that they need to be circumcised, he goes on to say, only those circumcised would enjoy the blessings of the covenant. Look at verses 13 to 14. He was born in your house and he was brought with money. Bought with money must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child was not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. And then we see that Abraham fulfilled those obligations in verses 25. They take time to read it. But Abraham fulfilled and did exactly as God told him. And he was ninety nine years old when he was circumcised. Ishmael was also circumcised and all of those in his household. Now, in light of application, as circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant, so obedience to God's word is a sign of the new birth and the new covenant. I'm falling short of saying that there is a sign of the new covenant. I know nothing in the scriptures that specifically states that anything is the sign of the new covenant. There may be some conclusions that people can draw. In our text, we saw that circumcision literally is stated to be a sign of the Abrahamic covenant, and that carried over even to the Mosaic covenant. But I know of nothing in the New Testament that actually says that this is a sign of the new covenant. But one of the evidences, one of the great evidences of the new birth is the kind of obedience that we saw in Abram. John tells us we know that we know him if we obey his command. He who says I know Him and does not obey His commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. If you're here tonight and you claim to be a newborn child of God in the New Covenant, you need to ask yourself a question. Do I read God's Word and seek to apply it? Do I seek to walk in obedience to the Word of God? Because John says if you don't doubt, if obedience is not a characteristic of your life, He says, you're not a child of God. You're not a member of that new covenant. So we need to keep that in mind. And we praise God for the obedience of Abraham. This was very difficult for him as a 99-year-old man. But this is what God told him. And this is what he sought to obey even with Ishmael. Then thirdly, we see the blessings promised to Sarahi in revisiting covenant in verses 15-22. Notice, then God said to Abraham, as for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. Here's where the Lord clarifies an important aspect of this covenant. Up to this point, God had promised Abraham many descendants. We've seen that as we've gone through chapter 12 and chapter 13. Then he made it clear that his descendants would be of his own natural offspring, not of an adopted son like Eliezer in Damascus, as he said, as Abraham said in chapter 15, verse 4. But Abraham, when God told him he's going to have descendants, he said, Lord, the only one in my house who could be my heir is Eliezer of Damascus. God said, no, no. It's going to be someone from your own body. But up to this point, the woman through whom Abram would have a son was not named. Sarahi was barren. It was agreed between her and Sarahi that Gwinda Hagar and any son born to her would be Abram's heir. The result was the birth of Ishmael. As I said, it was now 13 years old. But now the Lord shows Abram that this is not the case. God was going to bring about his promise to Sarahi. She and she alone would be the mother of Abram's promised son. And through that son would come many nations and kings. He broaches the subject by changing her name also. Look at verse 15. And God said to Abraham, as for Sarahi your wife, you shall not call her name Sarahi, but Sarah shall be her name. Now, the change from Sarahi to Sarah was more subtle than the change of Abram's name. With Abram, it meant exalted father to father of many nations. The word Sarahi meant my princes, Abram's princes, or Abraham's. I need to remember to change his name now. Abraham's princes. But the word Sarah means princes of many nations. And that's seen with the promise that she would bear a son, verse 16, and I will bless her and give you a son by her. She would become the mother of many nations. Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples shall be from her. She would not just be Abraham's personal princess, but a princess and that she will be a mother of many nations and of the kings of those nations. This blessing promised to Sarah flows out of and is similar to that which God had promised Abraham back in verses 5 and 6. Now, I don't want to say too much here, but this is what I get out of the text. Abraham couldn't help but laugh at that. I don't think it was a laugh of derision, but I think it was so incredible that he laughed. The idea of a son being born to a 90-year-old mother and a 100-year-old father is just too much of a surprise. As he lays prone before the Lord, he begins to laugh. Now, many commentators defend this laugh by Abraham as one of happiness and joy. I'm sure there was some of that. But they condemned Sarah a few weeks later when she also laughed at the promise. But the text seems to indicate, and I'm saying seems. I'm leaving myself an out here for those of you who want to disagree. The text seems to indicate that Abraham had some doubt about that promise. Notice that Abraham's response was not openly verbalized to Almighty God, but the Holy Spirit lets us read Abraham's thoughts. Look at verse 17. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who's 100 years old? And shall Sarah, who was ninety years old, bear a child? That this promise of God was hard for him to grasp, and we understand that, because God is building his faith, and belief seems to be confirmed by his verbal response to God. Verse 18, And Abram said to God, Oh, that is no light lived before you. Now many take this to mean that in light of having a son by Sarah, Abraham was asking God not to forget Ishmael. But that doesn't quite fit. I'm convinced that Abraham was saying to God, Lord, I already have a son, Ishmael. Let him live before you. Fulfill your promise through him. That this is the meaning is confirmed by our Lord's response. Look at the Lord's response. Then the Lord said, no. He's certainly not denying that Ishmael is going to live. Ishmael is going to live and have many descendants. But the Lord, in response to Abraham, when he said, Oh, that Ishmael may live before you, then the Lord said, No! Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. The name of the child was to be Isaac. Verse 19, Then the Lord said, No! Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. General blessings will come through Ishmael, but covenant blessings only through Isaac. Look at verse 19. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and his descendants after him. 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. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year." Then he finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. So in revisiting the covenant, the Lord reaffirmed His promises to Abraham, although He added to it He set down certain requirements for Abraham and clarified that Sarah was the one through whom this promise would be fulfilled. Quick line of application. God uses time to strengthen our faith. God uses time to strengthen our faith. He will call you to do things today that he would have never called you to do 10 years ago if you've been in the faith that long. Because God was in the process of building your faith. God is going to call upon Abraham to show a measure of faith that was absolutely unheard of. And it's held up by the biblical writers as an evidence of a man of great faith. It took time. Not that God needs the time, but God knows us. And it takes God time to build that faith in us. Faith is like a muscle. If you want it to become stronger, I'm going to use the analogy of lifting weights, you got to keep adding more weight to the bar. And when you add more weight to the bar, and you push the weight up, when your body recuperates, the muscles overreact to the added weight. And the body begins to strengthen those muscles so that you're able to use more and more weight. That's the same way our faith is. Our faith must be strengthened. God puts added weight and added pressure, added difficulties, added hardships into our life because He's building our faith. There's a point He wants all of us to reach before we pass from this life. There was a point that he wanted Abraham to reach. So that the biblical writers could hold up Abraham as a man who showed true faith in his God. And I think everyone should have that as something that we desire for ourselves. That people may not remember much about us. Not that we want to be remembered at all. But there's one thing I would like to leave to my kids and my grandkids. Pap had all of his weaknesses. He sometimes lost his temper. He wasn't perfect. But God had built up his faith. He was faithful. And I think all of us want that. Remember what God says to those who enter into his kingdom. Welcome, good and faithful servant. I think all of us would want to have that said to us. Let's bow in prayer. What a fantastic God you are. Paul said that eventually Abraham had such strength and faith He did not even think about the deadness of his own body, the deadness of Sarah's womb, or their age. But he became fully convinced that what God had promised he would accomplish. Oh, Father, strengthen our faith. Unfortunately, You strengthen our faith by adding weight to the bar. That's not always a pleasant thing. We know that added faith comes from the Word of God. We know that added faith comes from prayer and by being in the house of God. But added faith also comes by taking us through hard times. We're thankful that we have the Holy Spirit praying for us. We're thankful that we have our Lord Jesus praying for us, interceding for us. Standing there as all the accusations by the accuser of the brethren are hurled against us, there is the Lord Jesus speaking in our behalf as our advocate, showing that it was all under the blood that He had shed on the cross. Thank You, Lord, for these exceedingly great and precious promises. Thank You for these studies in the life of Abraham. May our faith be strengthened. May we see You for who You really are, God Almighty. This may be impossible for human beings, but nothing is impossible for You. And may we also walk before You. May we fear You because we see who You are, and may that cause us to walk in a way that's pleasing unto You. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.