Genesis 17:1

Genesis 17:1 says, 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.  Thirteen years had passed since the birth of Ishmael, and Abram was still waiting for God to fulfill His promise.  We are not told what happened during those years, but now God appeared to Abram and told him that He was the Almighty God and for Abram to walk before Him and be perfect.  When God calls to us, we must hear Him and follow His guidance.  Verse two states, And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.  God once again told Abram that He was going to multiply Abram's seed, or children, in accordance with God's covenant with Abram.  God always sets the terms of our covenant with Him, but He also always keeps His covenant.  Verse three declares, And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,  Abram fell on his face before God.  Sometimes I believe that we have become too casual in our relationship with God.  We need to come to God with a great respect and humility.  God continued to speak to Abram.  Verse four states, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.  This is a reaffirming of God's covenant with Abram.  The passing years had not changed it, just as the passing years have not changed God's covenant with us through our faith in Christ.  Verse five adds, 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.  After ninety-nine years, Abram's name was to be changed to Abraham, meaning he was the father of nations.  Verse six continues, And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.  This was quite a promise to a man Abram's, now Abraham, age, when Sarai and he had no children.  God can and will always deliver on His promises if we simply have the faith to believe.   Verse seven states, 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.  God's covenant was not to be a temporary covenant, but an everlasting one.  God's covenant with us through our faith in Christ is an everlasting covenant.  Verse eight adds, 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.  God promised Abram that He would give Abraham a land where he was a stranger, the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and He would be their God.  We are promised a everlasting home where we are strangers in heaven if we are followers of Christ.  Verse nine declares, And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.  Abraham and his descendants were to keep God's covenant for this to be true.  When we accept Christ, we enter into a covenant relationship with God, and we must live by faith in Him.  Verse ten adds, 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.  The sign of the covenant for Abraham and his descendants was circumcision.  We really don't have a sign of our relationship with God through Christ except for the Holy Spirit living in us.  Though baptism is a sign of obedience, it is not something that marks us in any physical way. Verse eleven says,  And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.  Verse twelve adds, 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.  These two verses simply state that everyone born into the house or strangers brought in were to be circumcised. Verse thirteen says, 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. Then verse fourteen adds, 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.  Circumcision was to be a sign of the covenant and a dividing point between those who were God's people and those who weren't.  Today, accepting Christ's death on the cross is the dividing point.