Genesis 17:1-7 ● 2025-01-05 ● Christmas Series ● Listen ● Watch
There’s sometimes a lot that goes into a name. When auto manufacturers come up with a name for a car line they can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. They want to make sure the name evokes the picture of a perfect car without defects and have the right marketing appeal. Some of the most popular car lines have pretty good names. Consider some cool names like the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Viper and how they immediately evoke the image of something sporty. You know the difference a name can make when you hear the brightest idea Chevy had in 1980 was to brand a car as the “Chevrolet Citation.” For some reason this one didn’t last that long. Too many traffic violations made by its drivers? Maybe you never heard of it, but someone else must have skipped the marketing research when Ford decided to name a car line the “Ford Probe.” That name sounds… uncomfortable. And most have probably forgotten the AMC Gremlin. It was popular in the 1970s. But its name was fitting. Due to a design flaw the Gremlin had a terrible propensity to explode when it was hit in the rear. A name can evoke many things. What do you think of when you hear the name Abraham? No, we’re not going to be talking about the luxury Lincoln cars. Abraham was a name chosen by God to convey an important reminder. Today we consider how God changed the name of one man to remind him and us of an important truth: God is faithful to his promises.
Who knows what Abram’s father Terah was thinking when he chose the name for his son. Abram, in Hebrew, seems to convey the meaning, “exalted father.” It was not “Abiram” which would have meant, “My father is exalted.” Abram’s name meant that Abram himself was supposed to be known as an exalted father. Sadly, he and his wife Sarai were unable to have any children. I’m sure that the irony of this name probably began to wear thin after a few decades. This so-called exalted father was without any children even as he and his wife passed well beyond childbearing age. In fact, Abram is first introduced to us on the pages of Scripture as a man aged 75 years.
The Lord, however, wouldn’t let Abram live on in infamy as the childless one with the wrong name. At the age of seventy-five God told him, “I will make your name great.” The Lord led Abram to leave behind all his homeland and travel to the land of Canaan. There God gave him the promise, “I will give this land to your descendants.” At that point Abram was bewildered and probably frustrated at God’s plan and timing. He asked the Lord, “What can you do for me since I am childless and old?” But God repeated his promise telling Abram that his own offspring would be great and numerous. He told him to consider the sands on the seashore. “That’s how numerous your offspring will be!” And he instructed Abram to go out at night and look at all the stars. He challenged Abram, “Count them if you can. That’s how numerous your descendants will be.” God’s point and miracle promise was clear. But so was Abram’s predicament and misnomer.
Twenty-four more years passed. Abram was ninety-nine years old, and his wife Sarai eighty-nine. They still had no child of their own. Have you ever had to wait a long time for something promised? When did it seem like a long time to wait? Was it two days? Was it six months? Was it decades? Now imagine that someone promised you something that seemed impossible and you waited decades and still saw nothing. Abram grew older each one of those twenty-four years. He probably was laughing at the idea that a man like him could ever have his name become great.
But at that time the Lord appeared to Abram again. This time he repeated and confirmed his covenant with Abram. “I will make you a father of a multitude of nations.” But before he said that the Lord shared with Abram one of his own names. “I am El Shaddai.” (I am God Almighty.) Some try to argue different ways to translate God’s name here. But within the context the meaning is clear and crucial. If God is going to do the impossible for Abram and fulfill his promise to make him into a great nation, God must be One who has power to do the impossible. God is not like some car manufacturer inventing a name for himself so that he sounds impressive. He is identifying himself for who he really is. He created all things. He is the author of history, and he knows all that is to come. No one can thwart his plans. He is, “El Shaddai.”
God Almighty told Abram, “Walk before me and be blameless.” Since Abram trusted and worshiped God Almighty, he was called to live accordingly. To “walk before God” meant that his life wasn’t just supposed to be peppered with occasional obedience. His entire life was supposed to reflect his worship of God Almighty. The word often translated as “blameless” carries the idea of integrity and completeness. Some even argue God is saying here, “Walk before me and you will be complete or made whole.” That is fitting, but the word also includes completeness in observing moral laws. The Psalmist uses the same adjective and says, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” (Psalm 19). And to have a perfect or complete walk means to live with full integrity and not with deceit or crooked ways. (Proverbs 18:28) Most importantly, the Scripture asks in Psalm 15, “Lord, who may be a guest in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? One who walks with integrity (same verb and adjective), who does what is righteous, and who speaks the truth in his heart.”
Abram fell with his face to the ground. He could probably reflect on his walk over ninety-nine years. It did not have complete integrity. He was not blameless. Even after God promised to make his name great, Abram dishonored God’s holy name. He lied on more than one prominent occasion so that unbelieving men like Pharaoh and Abimelech had to rebuke Abram for his lies. He feared people, not God. He trusted his own plans instead of God’s. He tried to make the promise come true with his own godless methods. His family fell into shambles. He impregnated his wife’s servant girl who was then abused by his wife. She fled helpless and pregnant into the wilderness. Abram and Sarai had failed to walk with integrity. El Shaddai saw it all and had the right and power to respond accordingly.
The same God Almighty has called you to be his own. The same El Shaddai has observed your walk. He doesn’t just pay attention to your life of worship on Sunday. He sees all the times you failed to fear, love, and trust in him. He sees behind every lie. Does he owe you any covenant when you can’t walk blamelessly before him? Did he owe Abram anything when Abram had so often compromised his integrity? If God owes us anything, it is to name us as unworthy, untruthful ones who lack perfect integrity. What name should God give you this past week? How about after ninety-nine years?
But God Almighty had not appeared to Abram to check on his goodness. God Almighty had come to Abram to confirm his own goodness. He said, “As for me, I will confirm my covenant between you and me.” God repeated his promise that he would make Abram a “father of a multitude of nations.” And to fix Abram’s name problem he didn’t change Abram’s name to “father of a servant woman he and his wife abused.” Instead, he changed Abram’s name for the better. In mercy and faithfulness, he doubled down on Abram’s name. “No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham.” This name sounds even more like, “exalted father.” It affirms that Abraham was not misnamed, and God’s promise would not fail.
God kept his Word. Many nations came from Abraham. The son Isaac was born by a miracle one year later. From him came the man Jacob who is called Israel. And from him came the twelve tribes of Israel. They became great.
Some wrongly claim that this account is a human invention. They assert that this account is a legend written down about a hero long after it took place. They say it was all made up to establish a national identity for the people of Israel. In unbelief they mistakenly claim this name scheme is nothing more than a marketing scheme for the people of Israel.
But it is far from that. It is not a marketing scheme. It is a reminder of God’s faithfulness and mercy. It is the story of how God in mercy chose a man who would become a great nation of people. And he promised to be the God of his offspring. This account is what lays down and affirms the foundation for all the pages of Scripture. It is what is behind the words of every prophet in Scripture. It is the faithful promise that holds together all the history of the people of Israel.
And besides all that, if the pages of Scripture are designed to exalt the people of Israel, they do a terrible job of it! The offspring of Abraham are rightly named, “those who wrestle with God.” The Scriptures don’t record how great Abraham’s descendants are. They were “great” in number, but not in their walk before God. They did not walk before God with integrity. They sinned time and again. They were not any better than you, me, or any of the children of Adam. No one has walked before God in perfection since Adam turned aside from his perfect walk.
But God always keeps his Word. He kept his covenant with an aged, childless wife and husband. He did it for them and their offspring. He did it despite their sinfulness. God’s covenant promise is the reason grand events like the Exodus took place. It is the reason why he humbled mighty Egypt which had stood as a world power for millennia. It is the reason why the great nations of Babylon came crumbling down. It is the cause behind the expansion and fall of the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire. It is all because of God’s covenant for Abraham and his offspring.
Finally, God’s covenant promise is the reason “El Shaddai” did more than appear to Abram. The Lord himself came to be born to a virgin in Bethlehem. Since God walks with integrity his covenant is the cause for rejoicing by Zechariah which we read earlier today. And it is the reason the apostle Paul wrote, “When the time had fully come God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law; that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
That Son was born two thousand years after Abraham. He was not misnamed either. His name, Jesus, means “Savior.” He did walk with integrity. The same Hebrew word for “integrity or blameless” is used in Scripture to describe the sacrificial lamb required by the law. Jesus the Son of Abraham and Son of God did walk perfectly before the Father. He was born of a woman and born to live under the law. But he took on human flesh to redeem us from our sins. He paid the price with the perfect, complete offering of himself. The salvation he won includes all the times we failed to walk with completeness and integrity before our God. Everly lie and every failure has been atoned for by our Savior. He is the only one who could truly make Abraham’s name great. He is the only one who could bless all nations and bring all nations to God.
And God Almighty now calls all who believe his own. He is your God. And you are described as offspring of Abraham through faith (see Romans 4). Like Abraham you hold to the promise of God through his Son.
Abraham didn’t live to see all God’s Word fulfilled. He could only receive the covenant by faith. You too, have many promises from El Shaddai that you will not see fulfilled in this life. You will not see in this life his promised resurrection. But it is true. El Shaddai rose to life from the grave. He promises you will live along with Abram and all who believe! Impossible? Just wait for El Shaddai’s Word to be fulfilled! You may not see your inheritance in God’s eternal kingdom come to fulfillment in this life, even after ninety-nine years of waiting. But his promise will stand.
Now, whenever you hear that name “Abraham,” think of yourself and all peoples from all nations who trust in the Lord. God’s love is higher than the heavens. Those who belong to him are more than the stars and the sands of the sea. They are all who believe. They are those who receive the gift of God, his covenant received by faith.
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