Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible Part in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is Part #3 of Genesis, chapter 17 and we will read Genesis 17:1-4:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, JEHOVAH appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

In our last Part, we were discussing the significance of the 13 years from Ishmael’s birth when Abram was 86 until this passage when God came to him and told him again that he would have a seed that would be as the stars of heaven for multitude. God re-emphasized this truth to him after 13 years had passed since the birth of Ishmael. As I mentioned last time, this relates to God saving the great multitude, the majority of those that would be saved out of the world, which happened at the end stage of earth’s history, which began at the 13,000-year mark in 1988. Then after 2,300 evening mornings, the Lord stretched forth His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, that great multitude.

There is another bit of evidence that points to this and confirms our understanding and that is the word translated as “covenant.” This Hebrew word was found in verse 2, where it said, “And I will make my covenant between me and thee,” and in verse 4, where it said, “behold, my covenant is with thee.” It is also found twice in Genesis 17:7:

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.

Then it says in Genesis 17:9-10:

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee…

This word is used very often, so I counted the number of times the word “covenant” is used in Genesis, chapter 17. You probably guessed it. It was used 13 times. God used the word “covenant” at the point that was 13 years from the last notice of Abram’s age of 86, the year that Ishmael was born. There is no mistaking the emphasis being placed on the number “13” and the emphasis on the true covenant or true Gospel of the Bible. Yes, God does acknowledge that there is another covenant, the covenant of the law, and he used Hagar to picture that covenant. And Sarai was the picture of the true covenant of grace or of promise. Both gave birth to children: Hagar to Ishmael and Sarai to Isaac. We can see that in Isaac is the fulfillment of God’s covenant and Isaac is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and all the elect in Christ that are counted for the seed. God’s fulfillment of the covenant of promise takes place after 13,000 years of history during the second Part of the Great Tribulation when the Latter Rain was poured out. It was the blessing upon the Word of God that went forth in a mighty way to save all God’s elect that were located all over the earth outside of the churches and congregations. God completed His salvation program, the covenant of promise, after 13,000 years. The great majority of those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world became saved after 13,000 years and, therefore, there is the emphasis on the number “13.” We read in Isaiah 54:1:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud…

First, we see mentioned someone that is barren or that did not bare children. That is a good description of Sarai. She did not have a child until she was 90 years old. Historically, this is who is being referred to in order to paint this spiritual picture in Isaiah 54. Again, it says in Isaiah 54:1:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith JEHOVAH.

Sarai was desolate in the sense that she had no children, but the Bible also has something specific in mind when it speaks of a woman being “desolate.” We read in 1Timothy 5:3-5:

Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.

A “widow indeed” is a widow without children. There could be a woman that has several children while her husband is living, but then he dies. She is a widow, but she is not a “widow indeed” and she is not desolate in that sense because she has children that would take care of her and help her. But a “widow indeed” is desolate because she has no children and Sarai was a “widow indeed” because she had no children. Someone might say, “But, wait a minute, what about Abram? Sarah died before Abraham died.” Yes, but remember what God said about Abraham in Romans 4:19-20:

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Of course, Abraham was not physically dead when he said this, but as far as a spiritual picture God is painting, he was “as good as dead,” so God used that type of language. He said it again, in Hebrews 11:11-12:

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Again, Abraham was “as good as dead.” God has twice indicated that Abraham was as good as dead and, yet, Sarah had a child that was conceived (which ties in with the foundation of the world) of a husband that was “as good as dead” or whose body was now dead. That is because this pictures God’s salvation program and it was through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that there came forth the body of believers. There came forth the whole company of the elect that were brought to life or “conceived” at the point of the foundation of the world when Christ died for them and bore all their iniquities. You can read Psalm 139 to get that picture and David was moved by God to speak of being formed and wrought in the lowest Part of the earth and all his members were written. Christ was becoming the Son of God as He died at the foundation of the world, rising from the dead and declared to be that Son. But the body of Christ (all that were to be saved) had been guaranteed salvation because Christ had paid for all their sins, which means that God obligated Himself to save them at some point during the history of the world. The “body” would take shape over the course of earthly history, but the conception of the “seed,” which is Christ and all those in Him, was at the foundation of the world. Sarah was used as a type and figure of the mother that was able to conceive this seed, a picture of the Word of God that would bring forth all the elect children of God. Therefore, it says in Isaiah 54:1-3:

…for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith JEHOVAH. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

This describes the great multitude that God would save out of Great Tribulation after 13,000 years of earth’s history. So, God uses the word “covenant” 13 times in Genesis, chapter 17. Again, it says in Genesis 17:2:

And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Again, this is because it is the point at which He would finally complete the covenant that goes back before the foundation of the world when the blessed and chosen ones were elected by God to salvation and at the foundation of the world their sins were paid for by Christ. Then we go through the entire history of the world of 13,000 years and, finally, in the short season of the Great Tribulation God completed the saving of the souls of every one of the elect ones. Now it is just a matter of saving the bodies of the elect in the day of the resurrection and rapture and that will complete His overall salvation program.

But the covenant is in view here because it is such a key time in the overall covenant because another aspect of it has been fulfilled and completed and God has kept His Word. He has been faithful and true to His obligation to save every one of them. He will also be faithful and true to what remains of His promises and He will bring us to the Promised Land, as it goes on to say in Genesis 17:8:

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land…

That also will take place after the point of 13,000 years and very shortly. We are fast approaching the very day when God will bring this to pass.

Let us go back to Genesis 17:1 when JEHOVAH appeared to Abram. Again, it says in Genesis 17:1:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, JEHOVAH appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

God is the Almighty God. I believe this is the first time that God referred to Himself as “Almighty” in the Bible. There is an interesting statement that mentions “Almighty” in Exodus 6:2-3:

And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am JEHOVAH: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

This is a rather curious statement that God makes at the time that He did. It was while the Israelites were still in bondage in Egypt under the awful rule of Pharaoh. We know that is a picture of being in captivity to sin and to Satan because Egypt is called the “house of bondage” in the Bible several times. But, now, God is introducing His name “JEHOVAH,” and previously He had been known as the “Almighty” by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and we do see that very thing in our verse in Genesis 17:1. The name “JEHOVAH” is a name used by God hundreds of times in the Old Testament and it does identify with God the Saviour. It says in Isaiah 43:11:

I, even I, am JEHOVAH; and beside me there is no saviour.

JEHOVAH, the Saviour. We know that Christ is JEHOVAH, the Saviour, because it was declared at the birth of Christ in Luke 2:11:

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Since Isaiah 43:11 tells us that only JEHOVAH is Saviour, then Jesus is obviously JEHOVAH. It is the only conclusion that will harmonize with the entire Bible, so Jesus the Saviour is JEHOVAH the Saviour. So, we have a good idea why God is introducing this name to the Israelites while they are in captivity because their deliverance from Egypt is a picture of salvation. JEHOVAH the Saviour will deliver them out of the house of bondage. If JEHOVAH points to God as Saviour, what does the name “Almighty God” indicate? We are helped because of the Hebrew word that is translated as “almighty” here. It is #7706 in Strong’s Concordance and it is from #7703 and that word is “shaw-dad” and it a word translated as “destroyer,” “spoiler,” “robber” and “lay waste.” It is a destructive word for God as the Judge or God as the destroyer or God as the One who will pour out His wrath. Revelation, chapter 9 is a chapter that deals with the “three woes” and Judgment Day and it says in Revelation 9:11:

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

This word is not the same Hebrew word or even a transliteration of it, but it is to point out that God has the name of “destruction” because that is what “Abaddon” and “Apollyon” mean. It means “destroy” and when God says, “I am Almighty God,” it means He is the destroyer God. Again, there was the 13 years and the 13 times that the word covenant is mentioned. It is at the point of the 13,000^th year of earth’s history that God, the destroyer, brings judgment to pass as He begins judgment at the house of God. Then after 23 years, He began judgment on the world. He is the “almighty” and He is the destroyer of the sinner and those that rebel against Him. So, in our verse it is an appropriate time for Him to say, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”

The remainder of this verse reminds us of Noah who was living at a time when God was about to bring destruction and it says in Genesis 6:8-9:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of JEHOVAH. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

This was exactly what God was commanding Abram to do: “Walk before me, and be thou perfect.” When God refers to walking before Him, He is not referring to coming before Him or passing by Him as a pedestrian, but it has to do with walking in His commandments. We have pointed this out before, but 2John and 3John are good places to go where God speaks of His children walking in truth or walking in the way the Bible would have us to go. “Walk before me according to the things my Word declares.” This means obedience to the commandments found in the Bible. God adds, “…and be thou perfect.” If you are going to walk before God, you must do so perfectly because the moment you stray out of the way and transgress the law, then the Bible declares that if you keep the law but offend in one point, you are guilty of all. Therefore, you are no longer walking before God and you are no longer perfect, but you are under His wrath. And He is the destroyer God. He is Abaddon and Apollyon and He will destroy the wicked, so, “Be ye therefore perfect.” We are all called to be perfect, as it says in Matthew 5:48:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

In other words, keep the whole law. Obey every statute and command. Be righteous in all points, without fail. For those that are under the covenant represented by Hagar and mount Sinai, that is exactly what they must do to enter in to eternal life. It is also what they cannot do. It is impossible for anyone to do and that is why no man is justified by the works of the law and not one of Hagar’s children will enter the kingdom of God.

On the other hand, the children of the promise, which are the children of Sara, are counted righteous. They are perfect in God’s sight, just as God said of Job in Job 1:1:

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job was perfect. Noah was perfect. Abram was perfect. All God’s people are perfect because all their sins were taken away. All our transgressions, filthy deeds and every wrong we have ever done have been washed away and purged away, leaving us perfect in the eyes of God.