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Genesis 17:4
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2 And I will make My acovenant between Me and you, and bwill multiply you exceedingly.”  
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a afather of many nations.  
5 No longer shall ayour name be called Abram, but your name shall be2 Abraham; bfor I have made you a father of3 many nations.  
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations aof you, and bkings shall come from you.  
7 And I will aestablish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, bto be God to you and cyour descendants after you.  
8 Also aI give to you and your descendants after you the land bin which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and cI will be their God.”  
9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, ayou shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.  
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Genesis 17:3   Genesis 17:5 >>

What Does Genesis 17:4 Mean?



Genesis 17:3-5

Abraham and Sarah still had not had Isaac, but God is talking about many nations in the past tense. He talks of things that are not as if they already are.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Seven)

Related Topics: Abraham and Sarah | Abraham's Faith | Appointed Beforehand | Faith of Abraham | God's Foreknowledge | God's Prescience | Prescience



Genesis 17:3-8

God made a twofold promise to Abraham. The first was a material promise that he would be the father of many nations and that kings would descend from him. God promised him that his progeny would inherit the land of Canaan, an expanse that He defined as stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers. The second, but more important, promise was spiritual. God promised Abraham that in his Seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promise encompasses the life and work of Abraham's best known and most revered descendant, Jesus Christ.

This promise was later extended to include the inheritance of the whole world (Romans 4:13). Abraham's physical descendants, the nation of Israel, inherited the land of Canaan. This was a type of Abraham's spiritual descendants inheriting the earth.

Earl L. Henn
Basic Doctrines: The Reward of the Saved




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Genesis 17:4:

Genesis 13:14-15
Galatians 3:29


 
<< Genesis 17:3   Genesis 17:5 >>

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