Genesis 17
Circumcision and the Old Covenant

Genesis 17

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 “I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. 8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. 13 “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” 22 When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him. 24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 All the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Unpacking Genesis 17

If you glance at the title of today’s study, you might be curious about this chapter, or you might be dreading it. I hope it’s the former! Chapter 17 is not for the squeamish and probably isn’t on many people’s list of favorite chapters in the Bible, yet this key chapter is vital for us to know and understand.

As we turn to Genesis 17, let’s remember what the Book of Genesis has been building towards. So far, Genesis 3 to 11 has shown us that mankind continually rebels against the Lord. Genesis 12 records how and when God called Abram out from this rebellious world to establish a new nation of people who would follow God’s ways rather than the world’s ways. We saw in Genesis 14 these people will have fellowship with God and worship Him `through a holy priesthood. Genesis 15 records God’s personal covenant with Abraham. Now we come to Genesis 17, which will show us how individual people can enter into a covenant with the Lord.

Let’s get to work, starting in verse 1. Verse 1 says, “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.’” This verse reiterates what we’ve said many times. Abram was called to blamelessness. The Hebrew word for blameless was used (among other things) to describe sacrificial offerings that were fully intact and without blemish. That reflects the kind of walk we are to have with God: fully intact and blameless. How? By obeying Him and walking according to His instructions. This principle of carefully following God’s instructions undergirds this chapter.

In verse 2, the Lord reiterates His past promise that Abram will be the father of a huge nation. In verse 3, Abram is struck by the awesomeness of God’s promises and bows before the Lord. So far, this should sound similar to God’s previous declarations with Abraham. However, verses 4-8 contain several new and important truths.

For instance, the Lord changes Abram’s name in verse 5. In verse 5, the Lord says to Abram, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.” Here, God changes Abram’s name from Abram, which means “Exalted Father,” to Abraham, which means “Father of a Multitude.”

Why did God change Abram’s name? From this point forward, Abraham would carry God's promises wherever he went. He would be the father of a multitude of nations. This was God’s promise. Abraham would be the father of not just one nation but a multitude! In verse 6, even kings will come from Abraham!

God has already confirmed these promises personally with Abraham in the covenant ceremony back in Genesis 15. The thing is, that ceremony was with Abraham specifically. God did not have ceremonies like that with every one of Abraham’s descendants. So, how did they enter into this covenant with the Lord themselves? This chapter shows us here.

Here in Genesis 17, the Lord institutes a ceremony that allows every descendant of Abraham to “opt in” to this covenant. The ceremony is that of circumcision.

Hopefully, you know what circumcision is, and we don’t need to go into what it entails. Its purpose is what’s important. Under the Old Covenant, circumcision was the sign. However, this “sign” may not be what we think.

We tend to think that circumcision puts a baby boy in covenant with God. But if that were the case, we’d have the natural question, “What is the sign of the covenant for baby girls?” The answer to that question helps us understand the meaning of circumcision.

Let’s step back from circumcision for a moment and talk about what it means to be in covenant with God. To be in covenant with God means to be one of His people who follow the terms of verse 1. Namely, to walk holy and blameless with God. Therefore, you can tell if a person is in covenant with God by whether or not they obey Him. It’s that simple. Obedience is the actual sign of the covenant!

Now let’s tie this principle of obedience to the rite of circumcision. The ceremony of circumcision does not reflect the baby’s obedience but the parents’. That baby is not obeying anything. It is the parents who are doing the obeying. Therefore, circumcision is an opportunity for the father to demonstrate by his obedience that he is in covenant with God.

If the father performs this ceremony on his son, his obedience shows he’s in covenant with God since the covenant was an agreement to obey God and walk in His ways. If that father will not perform this ceremony, his disobedience shows he is not in covenant with God and, thus, not a part of the covenant community.

This is why female babies were not circumcised. Circumcision was not about the baby. It was about their father’s obedience. It’s also why men were commanded to circumcise their slaves (verse 12). Theoretically, if a man owned a slave before he had a son, that slave would have to be circumcised to demonstrate that the head of the house was in covenant with God. If he was unwilling to obey God’s clear commands on this matter, he was not part of the covenant community.

In our day and age, there is a lot of negative press about circumcision and how it’s cruel and painful. However, we see God’s mercy in this prescription. For instance, in verse 12, circumcision was performed on babies who were eight days old. The eighth day was probably not the happiest day in that baby’s life, but it was also a million miles away from being the worst. That baby wouldn’t understand it. He wouldn’t remember it. It would just be part of his reality.

When circumcision was performed on males who were no longer infants, well, that would be a rough few days, which brings us to the personal nature of circumcision. In theory, a person could refuse to be circumcised. In other words, the circumcision of babies reflected the obedient faith of that infant’s parents. Circumcision of older males reflected their own faith by their obedience. Thus, in verse 14, if a person refused to get circumcised, they demonstrated that they were not in covenant with God because they didn’t want to obey Him.

This may lead us to ask: What would a woman do if she wanted to enter into covenant with God since she wouldn’t be circumcised? Since circumcision was about obedience to God, if she had boys, she would seek to have them circumcised (that’s what Zipporah did in Exodus 4:25). Moreover, that woman would demonstrate her covenant with God through the rest of her obedience to God’s commands. Since circumcision was only a sign of obedience, a woman would demonstrate her obedience in the countless other ways she carefully followed God’s instructions.

This may lead us to the natural question: Why did God choose circumcision as the sign of the covenant anyway? The Bible does not come out and specifically say why God chose circumcision to be the sign of the covenant. Many people have speculated why. Here are my thoughts on this question…

For one thing, since the act of circumcision pointed to the faith and obedience of the dads, this was a very real and concrete way to determine if the dad was on board with this covenant. It’s one thing to make a decision that only impacts ourselves. It’s another thing to make a decision that impacts the lives of others.

Along those lines, this whole event would galvanize that father’s faith. These days, most Jewish families have an expert in circumcision perform the procedure called a mohel. It wasn’t always this way. In the early days, circumcisions were performed by the fathers on their own sons.

In biblical times, dads were often young men in their late teens and 20s. Circumcision would have been a galvanizing ceremony for them. They would be forced to reckon with what they really believed. Were they going actually to obey what God said? Were they personally committed to God enough to learn what goes into this procedure? Were they going to work through their personal challenges of performing this ceremony on their own son? Were they “all in” on obeying God? Fathers would have to be pretty serious about their covenant with God to go through with this.

Along these lines, imagine the impact circumcision would have on that son. He would grow up always knowing where his dad stood on these questions. A circumcised son would grow up knowing that his own dad was so committed to obeying the Lord that he performed this rite, himself. That son’s circumcision would have been a daily, personal invitation for that son to enter into a covenant with God, just like his father. Similarly, if that son was not living by God’s covenant term, his circumcision would be a daily call back to a covenantal relationship with God.

Furthermore, when it comes to converting to Judaism, circumcision would force every male to take his decision very seriously. This ceremony would have weeded out anyone just going along with the crowd.

Finally, circumcision is permanent. These days, you can undo tattoos; you can’t undo circumcision. Its very permanence points to the permanence of the covenant which the person has entered into with God.

So, those are some of my thoughts regarding circumcision. There are probably more ideas we could suggest, but I believe these are some possible reasons why God chose this ritual to demonstrate who was in covenant with Him.

We are mostly done with this chapter, but we still have a few more points to make. For instance, just as the Lord changed Abram’s name in this chapter, He also changed Sarai’s name. In verses 15 and 16, the Lord changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. Her old name, Sarai, meant “My princess.” Now she was just “Princess,” as she was royal in her own right, and kings would come from her (verse 16).

Now, in bringing up kings coming from Sarah, in verses 17 and 18, Abraham is quick to point out an obvious problem. He doesn’t have any kids with Sarah! He’s going on 100 years old! Sarah’s going on 90! That’s a tad outside the normal child-bearing window! So, Abraham suggests, how about we just stick with Ishmael?

The Lord basically says in verse 20, “No. Sarah is going to give birth to a boy, and you will call him Isaac, and I will fulfill My covenantal promises through him and not Ishmael.” Thus, Abraham is going to have to trust God on these matters.

God is merciful, so He tells Abraham that Ishmael will not be forgotten. In verse 20, he will be a great nation too! He just won’t be the child of the promise.

The chapter ends with Abraham doing what we have seen so many times. That very same day, Abraham obeys God. He circumcises Ishmael and all the other men in his household. For a few days, the guys probably moved pretty slowly around the home.

Since we have devoted so much time to the topic of circumcision, let’s also address a key question the early church had to wrestle with. If circumcision is the “sign” of the Abrahamic Covenant (by virtue of obedience), and since the Abrahamic Covenant is a perpetual covenant that Christians also participate in, does that mean Christians still need to be circumcised too?

Some early Christians said, “yes.” However, Paul answered this question in several places. To summarize his answer from Romans 2:29, Paul said physical circumcision never made a person in covenant with God. Ishmael was an example of a person who was physically circumcised but not in covenant with God. True circumcision is not physical but spiritual. This spiritual circumcision was done in our hearts (several Old Covenant passages speak of the “circumcision of the heart,” such as Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4, etc.). This “circumcision of the heart” can only happen as a work of God, done in us by His Spirit, not through some external ritual.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.” Just like we’ve been saying!

Paul was pointing out what should have been evident all along. The true sign of circumcision was faith and obedience. To know if a person is in covenant with God, look at their life. In the Old Covenant, it was keeping the Mosaic Law. In the New Covenant it’s living out the law of love.[1] Our works do not save us, but if our life does not bear the fruit of being in covenant with God, we need to seriously question if, in fact, we are in covenant with Him. If we are not living out the law of love, then we’re not in covenant with God, no matter what ritual we have performed.

Which brings us to a key question; Are you in covenant with God? Back in the days of the Old Testament, there were lots of circumcised people who had not personally entered into covenant with God for themselves. They thought a ritual done to them as a baby was good enough. It wasn’t. God was, and is, calling each of us to enter into a covenant with Him personally, where we will join with Him and His people and actually do what He says and walk with Him in this world.

So, are you in covenant with God, and does your life reflect it?

Study and Discussion Questions

Listening to the Key Chapters Podcast on this chapter provides further insights into the following questions.

1.Read through Genesis 17 and circle every occurrence of the word “you.” What does this tell us about whose faith is being demonstrated in this chapter?

2. Read through Genesis 17 and underline the verses that you think are the keys to this chapter. Why do you think those verses are central to understanding this chapter?

3. When the Lord called Abram to be blameless in Genesis 17:1, what did that mean? What would Abraham’s blamelessness indicate about his faith?

4. What is the significance of the Lord saying Abram would be the “father of a multitude of nations” in verse 4?

5. What did God change Abram’s name to in verse 5? Why did He make this change? What did Abram’s new name mean? What did this new name teach him about his role in this world?

6. Regarding circumcision, according to the study, originally, who was supposed to circumcise the baby boy? What did the act of circumcision show about the father’s faith?

7. What does circumcision mean for the baby who is being circumcised? Did that boy still have to enter into covenant with the Lord? How?

8. What did the study suggest for why females were not circumcised? Do you agree? Why or why not?

9. According to verse 14, if a man refused to circumcise his son, or if a man refused to be circumcised himself, what happened to his covenant with God?

10. How did Abraham respond to this instruction? What did his response indicate about his covenant with the Lord?

11. What do you think the conversation would have been like as Abraham told his family and male servants about God’s command to circumcise all the males in the home?

12. What is the true circumcision we are still to undergo today? Have you undergone this spiritual “circumcision of the heart”? If so, what does it look like in your life?

[1] The Law of Love encapsulates the entirety of Christ’s law for His kingdom. Christ’s kingdom is not governed by wooden rules but by love. Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34).” Paul told the Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).” The Kingdom that Christ has established is to be, and will be, governed by love.