Deeper Reflection
GENESIS 17 MARKED A TURNING POINT IN GOD’S covenantal promises to Abram (renamed “Abraham”) in two ways.First, it was the first occasion that the covenant was extended to include Abraham’s offspring. The covenant was not just between God and Abraham, but also between God and Abraham’s offspring after him “throughout the generations” (vv.7, 9). In Genesis 12:2, God promised to make Abram into a “great nation”. God told Abram that his descendants will be as countless as the dust of the earth (Gen 13:16) and as the stars in the sky (Gen 15:5). Just as God promised, Abraham had his own offspring who over time became a multitude of nations. God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants was for the purpose of a relationship with them (“to be God to you and your offspring after you”, v.7).Second, the command to keep God’s covenant was not just directed to Abraham, but to his descendants as well (vv.9-10). All of them were to observe God’s covenantal obligations (requirements), thereby keeping His covenant.This turning point in God’s covenantal promises to Abraham reflects a transition from understanding God’s covenant as one made by God with Abraham, to a covenant made by God also with all subsequent generations of Abraham’s descendants. The Bible makes clear that all people who have faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ are descendants of Abraham.⁴ God’s will and purpose are for His covenant to be passed on from generation to generation. As believers in Christ, have we wholeheartedly committed ourselves to pass on the knowledge of God’s covenant to our own and subsequent generations?

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⁴4 See Romans 4; Galatians 3; and Romans 2:25-29.