In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
On the very day the command was given Abraham had himself and Ishmael his son circumcised, acting at once without delay. That rite was instituted as the outward sign, seal, token and earnest of the covenant God made with Abraham, marking those set apart to Him and pointing to cleanness of heart. The covenant is the everlasting covenant in Christ, promising the restored earth and the whole world to Abraham and his Seed who is Christ, so that all who belong to Christ by faith become Abraham's spiritual descendants and heirs. Because it was made with Abraham before he was circumcised, heirship of the world is not through law but through righteousness of faith, giving equal title to all who share Abraham's faith, Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Its perpetuity has expired like the perpetual priesthood, Passover, and shewbread, and in the Christian dispensation conversion to God and becoming a new creature answers to the rite, for the outward mark itself does not avail.
Context and Immediate Obedience
Genesis 17:26 stands in the record of God's dealing with Abraham from his call until he came fully to trust God, tracing the call of Abram, his sojourn and trials of faith, with constant evidences of God's overruling providence and providential care and interest among men. It is one progressive step in those repeated lessons in the school of faith, showing that Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but had the lesson come over and over. The span covered is Genesis 11-21 with Psalms 4-6, from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872, with Genesis 15-17 as the portion for the early-January Tuesday reading. It is to be read keeping ever in mind the Promised Seed, and it tests whether readers are children of Abraham.
The setting is God's calling of Abraham as father of many nations before he had a son. God speaks of what exists in His purpose as though it already exists, because what He has purposed will surely come to pass. That is why the new name and the promise of many nations precede the birth of the promised son.
The verse records that Abraham and Ishmael his son were circumcised in the selfsame day. Ishmael, Hagar's son in Abraham's household, thus received the covenant sign along with his father on the very day God renewed the covenant and commanded circumcision, even though Isaac was to be the child of promise. The account of Hagar and Ishmael illustrates children born into bondage through human planning, in contrast with Isaac born through God's promise. Circumcision began in Abraham's family as a sign that Israel was set apart to God and that God's righteousness was upon them, pointing to the need for cleanliness of heart.
Abraham carried out the command to circumcise the males of his household on the very day he received it, without delay. That prompt obedience illustrates that true faith acts on God's word. Circumcision was therefore an ordinance already enjoined on Abraham and his family and retained by them, so its later association with Moses does not mean Moses originated it. Genesis 17 made it a known duty, yet it was neglected at the time described in Exodus 4 and during Israel's wilderness journey.
The circumcision account was so firmly impressed on Moses' mind that his neglect to circumcise his son in Exodus 4 is held improbable if Genesis had not yet been written. Israel's failure to circumcise during the wilderness journey was not culpable, since God did not reprove them for it. By contrast, the neglect in Exodus 4:24-26 was culpable, as shown by the Lord's threat against Moses.
Covenant Promise and Heirs
Genesis 17 records the covenant God made with Abraham, and the circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael on the selfsame day belongs to the institution of circumcision as its outward sign, seal, token and earnest. In Abraham's family it began as the mark that Israel was set apart to God with His righteousness upon them, pointing to the need for cleanliness of heart. It assured Abraham that God would fulfill the promise of the land, and in that assuring purpose it is comparable to the seal of the Spirit as assurance of the promised inheritance.
That covenant is included in the everlasting covenant in Christ, carrying life, salvation, and the kingdom through Jesus Christ. It promised a restored earth encompassing the whole world as stated in Romans 4:13, to be realized through Abraham's Seed who is Christ, so that those who belong to Christ by faith become Abraham's spiritual descendants and heirs. It repeats the first and larger promise first given in Genesis 13 that Abraham and his seed would receive the land forever, not the other promise in Genesis 15:13-21 that fixed the boundary of earthly Canaan and set its possession in the fourth generation. It means that Abraham should be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, which he understood to include the new earth and the city which hath foundations, and therefore he sojourned as pilgrim and stranger waiting for that inheritance.
The Genesis 17 covenant belongs to Abraham under his acquired name, to Isaac as the child of promise, and to Israel as the prevailer by faith. It refers not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed, with deeper and broader significance than the promise to Abram concerning his seed in Genesis 15, which was fulfilled to literal Israel. Because God made it with Abraham before he was circumcised, it teaches salvation and equal title to Abraham's promises for all who share Abraham's faith, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. The heirship of the world was not through law but through righteousness of faith, that it might be by grace and sure to all the seed, not only to those of the law but also to those of the faith of Abraham, for if only those of the law were heirs faith is made void and the promise of none effect.
By that covenant of promise to Abraham the father of the faithful, his natural descendants became God's chosen people and Abraham's seed. Resting on natural descent as making them heirs of the kingdom could not save them. Their wicked works, hardness of heart, and rejection of Christ as Messiah disqualified them from claiming the promises to Abraham's children, so those not of his seed sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while his natural seed are cast out.
Genesis 17 contains the promises to Abraham which are the blessings of the gospel, with the law as the basis of the Abrahamic covenant. The circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael on the selfsame day was a sign of righteousness. Breaking the law neutralizes circumcision and destroys its efficacy as a sign of righteousness, while keeping the law secures to the Gentile a covenant interest in Abraham's promises, making him a Jew inwardly and counting his uncircumcision for circumcision.
The verse stands in Abraham's family history where the subject of the two covenants begins. The two covenants are the two women Hagar the bondwoman and Sarah the freewoman, mothers of Abraham's two sons, and the two sons represent the children of the two covenants. Study of the two covenants must therefore begin there, with Genesis 15, 16, 17, and 21:1-21 studied together repeatedly.
Lasting Significance and Application
The institution set up in Genesis 17 was called perpetual or everlasting, yet that perpetuity has expired just as surely as the perpetual Aaronic priesthood has expired, and as the perpetual Passover and its feast have expired, and as the perpetual shewbread has expired. That expiry proves that everlasting and commanded to a thousand generations do not mean unending obligation.
Circumcision was not exclusively for the Jews, since Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised in the selfsame day, and Isaac as well as Ishmael received it, and Esau as well as Jacob received it, and some Eastern nations still practice it. As a religious rite it was held by the Jews for a time, but when Christ came it became nothing. The seventh-day Sabbath remains the Sabbath of the Lord, and it is never said to be nothing.
Circumcision began in Abraham's family as a sign that Israel was set apart to God and that God's righteousness was upon them, and it pointed to the need for cleanliness of heart. In the Christian dispensation conversion to God answers to the rite. The outward mark itself does not avail, but becoming a new creature does.
The circumcising of Abraham's household supports that Abraham instituted circumcision. The rite looked forward to Jesus. Symbolic meaning belongs to the number 318 in a separate scriptural account, where 18 represents Jesus through the Greek letters I and H, while 300 represents the cross through the letter T.
On the very day the command was given Abraham had himself and Ishmael his son circumcised, acting at once without delay. That rite was instituted as the outward sign, seal, token and earnest of the covenant God made with Abraham, marking those set apart to Him and pointing to cleanness of heart. The covenant is the everlasting covenant in Christ, promising the restored earth and the whole world to Abraham and his Seed who is Christ, so that all who belong to Christ by faith become Abraham's spiritual descendants and heirs. Because it was made with Abraham before he was circumcised, heirship of the world is not through law but through righteousness of faith, giving equal title to all who share Abraham's faith, Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Its perpetuity has expired like the perpetual priesthood, Passover, and shewbread, and in the Christian dispensation conversion to God and becoming a new creature answers to the rite, for the outward mark itself does not avail.
Context and Immediate Obedience
Genesis 17:26 stands in the record of God's dealing with Abraham from his call until he came fully to trust God, tracing the call of Abram, his sojourn and trials of faith, with constant evidences of God's overruling providence and providential care and interest among men. It is one progressive step in those repeated lessons in the school of faith, showing that Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but had the lesson come over and over. The span covered is Genesis 11-21 with Psalms 4-6, from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872, with Genesis 15-17 as the portion for the early-January Tuesday reading. It is to be read keeping ever in mind the Promised Seed, and it tests whether readers are children of Abraham.
The setting is God's calling of Abraham as father of many nations before he had a son. God speaks of what exists in His purpose as though it already exists, because what He has purposed will surely come to pass. That is why the new name and the promise of many nations precede the birth of the promised son.
The verse records that Abraham and Ishmael his son were circumcised in the selfsame day. Ishmael, Hagar's son in Abraham's household, thus received the covenant sign along with his father on the very day God renewed the covenant and commanded circumcision, even though Isaac was to be the child of promise. The account of Hagar and Ishmael illustrates children born into bondage through human planning, in contrast with Isaac born through God's promise. Circumcision began in Abraham's family as a sign that Israel was set apart to God and that God's righteousness was upon them, pointing to the need for cleanliness of heart.
Abraham carried out the command to circumcise the males of his household on the very day he received it, without delay. That prompt obedience illustrates that true faith acts on God's word. Circumcision was therefore an ordinance already enjoined on Abraham and his family and retained by them, so its later association with Moses does not mean Moses originated it. Genesis 17 made it a known duty, yet it was neglected at the time described in Exodus 4 and during Israel's wilderness journey.
The circumcision account was so firmly impressed on Moses' mind that his neglect to circumcise his son in Exodus 4 is held improbable if Genesis had not yet been written. Israel's failure to circumcise during the wilderness journey was not culpable, since God did not reprove them for it. By contrast, the neglect in Exodus 4:24-26 was culpable, as shown by the Lord's threat against Moses.
Covenant Promise and Heirs
Genesis 17 records the covenant God made with Abraham, and the circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael on the selfsame day belongs to the institution of circumcision as its outward sign, seal, token and earnest. In Abraham's family it began as the mark that Israel was set apart to God with His righteousness upon them, pointing to the need for cleanliness of heart. It assured Abraham that God would fulfill the promise of the land, and in that assuring purpose it is comparable to the seal of the Spirit as assurance of the promised inheritance.
That covenant is included in the everlasting covenant in Christ, carrying life, salvation, and the kingdom through Jesus Christ. It promised a restored earth encompassing the whole world as stated in Romans 4:13, to be realized through Abraham's Seed who is Christ, so that those who belong to Christ by faith become Abraham's spiritual descendants and heirs. It repeats the first and larger promise first given in Genesis 13 that Abraham and his seed would receive the land forever, not the other promise in Genesis 15:13-21 that fixed the boundary of earthly Canaan and set its possession in the fourth generation. It means that Abraham should be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, which he understood to include the new earth and the city which hath foundations, and therefore he sojourned as pilgrim and stranger waiting for that inheritance.
The Genesis 17 covenant belongs to Abraham under his acquired name, to Isaac as the child of promise, and to Israel as the prevailer by faith. It refers not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed, with deeper and broader significance than the promise to Abram concerning his seed in Genesis 15, which was fulfilled to literal Israel. Because God made it with Abraham before he was circumcised, it teaches salvation and equal title to Abraham's promises for all who share Abraham's faith, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. The heirship of the world was not through law but through righteousness of faith, that it might be by grace and sure to all the seed, not only to those of the law but also to those of the faith of Abraham, for if only those of the law were heirs faith is made void and the promise of none effect.
By that covenant of promise to Abraham the father of the faithful, his natural descendants became God's chosen people and Abraham's seed. Resting on natural descent as making them heirs of the kingdom could not save them. Their wicked works, hardness of heart, and rejection of Christ as Messiah disqualified them from claiming the promises to Abraham's children, so those not of his seed sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while his natural seed are cast out.
Genesis 17 contains the promises to Abraham which are the blessings of the gospel, with the law as the basis of the Abrahamic covenant. The circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael on the selfsame day was a sign of righteousness. Breaking the law neutralizes circumcision and destroys its efficacy as a sign of righteousness, while keeping the law secures to the Gentile a covenant interest in Abraham's promises, making him a Jew inwardly and counting his uncircumcision for circumcision.
The verse stands in Abraham's family history where the subject of the two covenants begins. The two covenants are the two women Hagar the bondwoman and Sarah the freewoman, mothers of Abraham's two sons, and the two sons represent the children of the two covenants. Study of the two covenants must therefore begin there, with Genesis 15, 16, 17, and 21:1-21 studied together repeatedly.
Lasting Significance and Application
The institution set up in Genesis 17 was called perpetual or everlasting, yet that perpetuity has expired just as surely as the perpetual Aaronic priesthood has expired, and as the perpetual Passover and its feast have expired, and as the perpetual shewbread has expired. That expiry proves that everlasting and commanded to a thousand generations do not mean unending obligation.
Circumcision was not exclusively for the Jews, since Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised in the selfsame day, and Isaac as well as Ishmael received it, and Esau as well as Jacob received it, and some Eastern nations still practice it. As a religious rite it was held by the Jews for a time, but when Christ came it became nothing. The seventh-day Sabbath remains the Sabbath of the Lord, and it is never said to be nothing.
Circumcision began in Abraham's family as a sign that Israel was set apart to God and that God's righteousness was upon them, and it pointed to the need for cleanliness of heart. In the Christian dispensation conversion to God answers to the rite. The outward mark itself does not avail, but becoming a new creature does.
The circumcising of Abraham's household supports that Abraham instituted circumcision. The rite looked forward to Jesus. Symbolic meaning belongs to the number 318 in a separate scriptural account, where 18 represents Jesus through the Greek letters I and H, while 300 represents the cross through the letter T.