Abram means highly honored father, exalted father. Abraham means father of many nations. Undoubtedly the name has to do with God’s purpose, His promises, the role that he was going to be playing in the purpose God was working out. So God gave the name change as both a sign and a seal to Abraham for his altering role in the purpose that God is working out.
It takes two to tango. If Abraham was going to be the father, Sarah was going to be the mother. She is very important to us as well. Sarai means female noble, or queen. Sarah means essentially the same thing.
Adam Clarke in his commentary makes an interesting suggestion that Sarai seems to indicate position in family and Sarah within or over nations. Sarai describes a position in relation to Abram and Sarah describes her role as Abraham’s wife, the wife of the father of many nations.
This is undoubtedly why Adam Clarke feels that Sarah’s name was changed in order to indicate position and relation to Abraham. Just as his name was changed to indicate his role in God’s purpose, so her name was changed to indicate her changing role within God’s purpose as well. As Abraham was to be father of many nations and be a ruler in that sense as a patriarch over them, so Sarah is to be a matriarch, and she also a queen bearing rule over nations. Notice what it says in verse 16.
Does that sound like a New Covenant? Think about that.
Did you hear that? "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations." They were already included within the covenant God made with Abraham! Even though they did not exist yet, they were included in that covenant.
This almost sounds like the New Covenant. It involves eternity.
"And I will be a God unto you, and you shall know Me."—Hebrews 8.
Here is the starting point and the foundation that Paul is referring to in the book of Galatians. Consider what happened to Israel in Egypt, because that is what precipitated the making of the Old Covenant. They learned the way of the heathen so well that it was almost permanently ingrained in their national character and therefore their conduct. They had apparently completely lost the Sabbath, and God had to reveal it to them (in Exodus 16) before they even got to Mt. Sinai.
Do you see that? This is written in the past tense. In Romans 4:17, the apostle Paul also wrote it in the past tense.
Brethren, this is one of the major reasons why Abraham, who also laughed, was not chastened in any way. His laugh was different from Sarah's. His laugh was an emotional burst of enthusiasm and joy. Why? Because God had already dealt with him, and he had the faith to see that God does not lie. God had already given Abraham faith in the past to meet this challenge. This event in Genesis 17 took place before Sarah was healed and many years before Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. God was already calling to Abraham what was not as though it already was. In other words, it is saying to us that if God brings a trial on us because the trial is part of His will, He will supply the faith for us to overcome it.
It had not even happened yet. Abraham still did not have his first natural child, but God is talking about it in the past tense. He talks of things that are not as if they already are.
