B. Abram ~ cont.
4. God's covenant with Abram given in detail - Genesis 15:1-21
5. Relationship to Ishmael
a. Sarah gives Hagar to Abram - Genesis 16:1-14
b. Birth of Ishmael - Genesis 16:15-16
c. Death of Arphaxad (438 years) - Genesis 11:13
d. Covenant renewed, name changed to Abraham - Genesis 17:1-8
e. Circumcision a sign - Genesis 17:9-14
f. Name changed to Sarah; Isaac promised - Genesis 17:15-19
g. Ishmael's destiny foretold - Genesis 17:20-22
h. Circumcision inaugurated - Genesis 17:23-27
6. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
a. Heavenly visitors - Genesis 18:1-22
And he (Abram) said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (Genesis 15:8)
Questioning God. Gill's commentary:
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Not as questioning or doubting whether he should or not; but this he asked for the further confirmation of his faith in the promise, and for the sake of his posterity, that they might more easily and strongly believe that they should inherit the land given and promised to them; nor is it culpable to ask a sign of God with such a view; good men have done it, as Gideon, Jdg_6:36, and Hezekiah, 2Ki_20:8, without being blamed for it; yea, Ahaz is blamed for not asking one, Isa_7:10.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8)
Is this physical, spiritual, both? What does everlasting mean?
H5769 - From H5956; properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always.
Henry's commentary: "God had before promised this land to Abraham and his seed, Gen_15:18. But here, where it is promised for an everlasting possession, surely it must be looked upon as a type of heaven's happiness, that everlasting rest which remains for the people of God, Heb_4:9. This is that better country to which Abraham had an eye, and the grant of which was that which answered to the vast extent and compass of that promise, that God would be to them a God; so that, if God had not prepared and designed this, he would have been ashamed to be called their God, Heb_11:16. As the land of Canaan was secured to the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, so heaven is secured to all his spiritual seed, by a covenant, and for a possession, truly everlasting. The offer of this eternal life is made in the word, and confirmed by the sacraments, to all that are under the external administration of the covenant; and the earnest of it is given to all believers, Eph_1:14. Canaan is here said to be the land wherein Abraham was a stranger; and the heavenly Canaan is a land to which we are strangers, for it does not yet appear what we shall be."
Difference in the meaning of the names:
Abram - H87 - Contracted from H48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham.
Abraham - H85 - Contracted from H1 and an unused root (probably meaning to be populous); father of a multitude; Abraham, the later name of Abram.
I liked that father of height. :-) Height versus width? When I think of a multitude I do not necessarily think of depth (height) rather of something spread abroad. Interesting ponderables.
Sarai - H8297 - From H8269; dominative; Sarai, the wife of Abraham.
Hmm...was Sarai controlling? With her insistence of Abram (at that time) taking Hagar and using her as a surrogate mom, it could be inferred that Sarai (at that time) was domineering. Then elevated to a position of nobility. I thought it interesting that both names come back to the same root word.
And he (Abram) said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (Genesis 15:8)
Questioning God. Gill's commentary:
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Not as questioning or doubting whether he should or not; but this he asked for the further confirmation of his faith in the promise, and for the sake of his posterity, that they might more easily and strongly believe that they should inherit the land given and promised to them; nor is it culpable to ask a sign of God with such a view; good men have done it, as Gideon, Jdg_6:36, and Hezekiah, 2Ki_20:8, without being blamed for it; yea, Ahaz is blamed for not asking one, Isa_7:10.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8)
Is this physical, spiritual, both? What does everlasting mean?
H5769 - From H5956; properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always.
Henry's commentary: "God had before promised this land to Abraham and his seed, Gen_15:18. But here, where it is promised for an everlasting possession, surely it must be looked upon as a type of heaven's happiness, that everlasting rest which remains for the people of God, Heb_4:9. This is that better country to which Abraham had an eye, and the grant of which was that which answered to the vast extent and compass of that promise, that God would be to them a God; so that, if God had not prepared and designed this, he would have been ashamed to be called their God, Heb_11:16. As the land of Canaan was secured to the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, so heaven is secured to all his spiritual seed, by a covenant, and for a possession, truly everlasting. The offer of this eternal life is made in the word, and confirmed by the sacraments, to all that are under the external administration of the covenant; and the earnest of it is given to all believers, Eph_1:14. Canaan is here said to be the land wherein Abraham was a stranger; and the heavenly Canaan is a land to which we are strangers, for it does not yet appear what we shall be."
Difference in the meaning of the names:
Abram - H87 - Contracted from H48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham.
- H48 - From H1 and H7311; father of height (that is, lofty); Abiram, the name of two Israelites.
Abraham - H85 - Contracted from H1 and an unused root (probably meaning to be populous); father of a multitude; Abraham, the later name of Abram.
I liked that father of height. :-) Height versus width? When I think of a multitude I do not necessarily think of depth (height) rather of something spread abroad. Interesting ponderables.
Sarai - H8297 - From H8269; dominative; Sarai, the wife of Abraham.
- H8269 - From H8323; a head person (of any rank or class).
- H8323 - A primitive root; to have (transitively exercise; reflexively get) dominion.
- H8282 - Feminine of H8269; a mistress, that is, female noble.
Hmm...was Sarai controlling? With her insistence of Abram (at that time) taking Hagar and using her as a surrogate mom, it could be inferred that Sarai (at that time) was domineering. Then elevated to a position of nobility. I thought it interesting that both names come back to the same root word.
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