Grace
Covenant Church
Spring
2000 Bible Studies
What’s in a Name? (Genesis 17:1-27)
1. What
was the funniest nickname you ever had?
What was the most meaningful?
The point of this question is to get people thinking
about the reasons for giving/having a particular name.
Read
Genesis 17:1-27
2. How did God identify Himself to Abram in this
passage? Why is this important?
(o) What images/thoughts come to mind when you hear
that God is “God Almighty”?
The
phrase “I will” occurs no less than twelve times in this chapter. Knowing God to be God Almighty is important
in regards to having faith in the “I will” statements of God (His promises)
(o) In what ways have you seen God to be
“El-Shaddai”?
3. What was the new name given to Abram? In what ways would it require faith to bear
it?
Abram
means “exalted father”. Abraham means
“father of many” or “father of nations”.
To bear
it requires faith in God’s promise.
(o) How
might Abraham feel when he goes to explain his new name to his wife or to his
friends?
4. What was the new name given to Sarai? In what ways would it require faith to bear
it?
Sarah
means “princess”.
“Princess”
implies that she is royalty and that she will be the bearer of royalty.
5. What was the name to be given to Abraham’s
child? In what ways would it require to
faith to remember it (and later to give it)?
Note
that in v18, it appears that Abraham was under the impression that Ishmael was
the child of the promise.
6. What did God promise Abraham? What was the sign of this covenant? What was Abraham’s part?
That Abraham would be the father of many nations (v4) and
that a son would come from his own wife (v16)
That the whole land of Canaan would be given to him and his
offspring. (v8)
“Circumcision – like the rite in 15:9-21,
circumcision was a self-cursing oath:
‘If I am not loyal in faith and obedience to the Lord, may the sword of
the Lord cut off me and my offspring as I have cut off my foreskin.’ Cutting and cutting off were the symbols of
cutting a covenant.”
Note
that circumcision itself is not a saving work.
Rather it is a symbol of what is:
a trust in and personal relationship with Christ. (a similar case is made for communion,
baptism, and other sacrements).
Abraham’s
part:
(v1)
“walk before me and be blameless”
(v9-14)
observe the circumcision
Basically,
Abraham is to trust and obey.
(o) What does it mean to walk before God and be
blameless?
(o) How are circumcision and baptism related?
c.f., Gal 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Both
are not saving works in of themselves.
Both required faith.
It’s
possible to be circumcised and not be saved.
It’s possible to be baptized and not be saved.
(o)
In what ways is God’s covenant an “everlasting covenant”?
We are
the inheritors of God’s promise. (vv.7-8).
God is
still our God today, and God to those who will trust in Him and walk with Him.
APPLICATION