GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 17 GOD MAKES AN AGREEMENT WITH ABRAHAM V1 When Abram was 99 years of age, the *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said to him, ‘I am God who can do anything. Stay near to me and have no blame. V2 And I will make my firm agreement between me and you.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Abram’ means ‘high father’. ‘Abraham’ sounds like ‘father of nations’. ‘Stay near to me and have no blame.’ God did not say, ‘Do nothing that is wrong. So you will have no blame.’ Instead, he said in this verse, ‘Stay near to me.’ And Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abram believed the *Lord. Therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
To ‘*circumcise’ means to cut the skin from the end of a male person’s sex part. When someone has done that to a person, that person is ‘*circumcised’. It is a sign that God has made a firm agreement with that person. And it is a sign that that person is a member of God’s people. God’s people became... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Sarai’ means ‘laughter’. ‘Sarah’ means ‘princess’.... [ Continue Reading ]
Many years before this, God promised that Abraham would have many *descendants. And Abraham believed God. (See Genesis 15:5-6.) But in this verse, Abraham does not believe what God says.... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham’s plan was this. Abraham thought that he was too old to have another son. He already had a son, Ishmael, whose mother was Sarah’s maid, Hagar. Therefore, Abraham thought that Ishmael must have the rights of the oldest son. God’s plan was this. Abraham would have a son by his wife Sarah. Tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Ishmael was not in God’s plan. But Abraham prayed for Ishmael. (See verse 18.) And God gave to Ishmael a place in his plan. Ishmael’s *descendants would be a great nation. God had already made this promise to Hagar. (See Genesis 16:10 and the comment.) V23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son. He took... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham obeyed God. (See verse 10 and the comment on verses 10-12.) Every man must be *circumcised. That was a sign that there was a firm agreement between God and the man. It was only a sign. It did not bring a man to God. To come close to God, a man must put his trust in him. He must believe. Gene... [ Continue Reading ]