Read Genesis 17:1-14 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Gen 17:1-14 {s} Circumcision, sign of the covenant, given
Gen 17:1-14 {s} Chiastic structure
1a) Gen 17:1-7a, God Almighty to Abram: I will make My covenant between Me and you;
1a) Gen 17:1-2a And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHVH appeared to Abram, and said to him: “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be you wholehearted. And I will make My covenant between Me and you;
1b) Gen 17:2b And will multiply you exceedingly;”
1c) Gen 17:3-4 And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations;
central axis) Gen 17:5a Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham;
2c) Gen 17:5b For the father of a multitude of nations have I made you;
2b) Gen 17:6 And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you;
2a) Gen 17:7a And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant;
1b) Gen 17:7b To be a God to you and to your offspring after you;
central axis) Gen 17:8a And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;
2b) Gen 17:8b And I will be their God;”
2a) Gen 17:9-14 {s} God to Abraham: You shall keep My covenant/ circumcision;
1a) Gen 17:9 And God said to Abraham: “And as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations;
1b) Gen 17:10-11a This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin;
1c) Gen 17:11b And it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and you;
1d) Gen 17:12a And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations;
1e) Gen 17:12b He that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner;
central axis) Gen 17:12c That is not of your offspring;
2e) Gen 17:13a He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money;
2d) Gen 17:13b Must needs be circumcised;
2c) Gen 17:13c And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant;
2b) Gen 17:14a And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people;
2a) Gen 17:14b {s} He has broken My covenant.”
The centerpiece of the covenant is that God will be the God of the offspring of Abraham. He is the One who will teach, direct, shepherd, protect, and provide for them, and He is the One they will return worship in exchange. And the at center of that provision and protection, is the promise of the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession and inheritance.
The central axis of the first substructure from Gen 17:1-7a is Abram’s change of name to Abraham. We learned that Abram meant, exalted father, and God here tells us that Abraham means, father of a multitude, or father of nations. Isn’t that interesting? The covenant which is exclusive to the children of Israel was made with the man whose name was changed to father of nations.
Then again, in the second substructure from Gen 17:9-14, the central axis is concerning those who are not of Abraham’s offspring. What is Scripture teaching us by its teaching tools? That the covenant is of the flesh (Abraham’s offspring through the flesh) as a prophecy of the covenant not just to come, but to fulfill, that is of the Spirit. This and passages like this, is how the Spirit revealed truth to Paul:
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. Rom 2:28
Does this mean we should stop circumcising our baby boys? By no means! Any higher or deeper interpretation of the Scripture which contradicts the plain or pashat meaning of the text, is a false interpretation! It just means, that God uses natural pictures to teach spiritual truths, the teaching tool of natural pictures. He does not abolish the natural once the spiritual has been understood. But here He is plainly revealing that the covenant with the children of the flesh is everlasting – God has not rejected His people, and no one can replace Israel – and the covenant also includes the children not of the flesh, also everlasting. The wild olive is grafted into the cultivated olive (Rom 11:17-18), and they become one people worshiping the one God (Eze 37:21-22, Rev 7), Creator of heaven and earth. ♥
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