(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So Genesis chapter 17, if I had a title for this, it would be Circumcision. That's pretty much what this chapter is about, and about the covenant of circumcision, and we're going to talk about that tonight. There's a lot of information in here, and the stuff we've already covered, so I'm not going to belabor that and go back into other things that we've covered. But starting there in verse 1, in Genesis chapter 17, it says when Abram was 90 years old and 9, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. So Abraham is 99 years old, and he's almost 100 years old, and it says the Lord appeared unto him, and so I believe this is something that keeps happening over and over again, where the Lord is appearing unto him, and when we get to chapter 18, we see that he physically appears unto him, and so it doesn't really say that in these other passages where this happens. Just a random note that I was just thinking about, but it says I am the almighty God. If you remember when Moses was at the burning bush, it says by the name of Jehovah, your fathers didn't know me by that name, but by the Lord God almighty, and so you can kind of see that here, where that's how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew God, that was the name that they would call God. In just a little commercial, if you want to listen to some really good sermons, listen to Pastor Anderson's sermons on the names of God, they're really good, and so he kind of covers a lot of that, so that's kind of on my mind when I was reading through this, as far as just the different names of God throughout time, and just how those names, they're always there. Even in Revelation chapter 1, Jesus says I am the almighty, and so it's not like that name was thrown out when Jehovah came around, and Jehovah's still a name of God, but we know that Jesus is the name above all names, and that there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, so obviously Jesus' name has taken the highest spot. But anyway, so what we see here is the covenant of circumcision, so I'm not going to necessarily go chronologically through this, because what this whole chapter is really covering is this covenant that God is making with Abraham, and he's using circumcision kind of like a way to show this covenant, and so there's been a lot of covenants, and I'm going to actually talk about that kind of recap, that there's these different promises throughout the different chapters as far as what was promised to Abraham, so when it says now to Abraham and his seaboard, the promises made, that's what you see here is that there wasn't just one single promise, there was all these different promises made, and in this case, this promise with circumcision was kind of a little added promise to what he's already promised to him, and so in verse 10 there, it says, this is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and I see it after thee, every man shall among you shall be circumcised. So this is a different covenant, so to speak, than what he was talking about before, and it says in verse 11, ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you, and so that's a key right there, it's the token of the covenant, and it says in verse 12, and he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generation, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed, he that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised, and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant, and the uncircumcised man, child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people, he had broken my covenant, and so we see that this is very strict as far as the fact that everybody needs to be circumcised, even people that were bond servants, and all those people, strangers, everybody that's going to be around Abraham and his people, they need to be circumcised, and so what was this for? Well, this is basically an outward way to show how they were going to be a separate people, and they're going to be, you know, and this is before even Moses, and so, but this is how, like if you wanted to be a physical, you know, of the physical nation of Israel, we'll see, you know, or to do their ordinances and everything, you had to be circumcised. We'll see in the New Testament, obviously, I'm going to get to that, that that's done away, and circumcision is no longer availeth anything. You know, back in, back at this time, with Abraham, it did avail something, right? It didn't avail salvation to heaven, never did, and I'll show you that, but it did avail something. It availed the fact that they would be this covenant as far as with Abraham and being the father of many nations, we're going to get to that, but I want to show you a place where basically what they couldn't do if they weren't circumcised, so Exodus chapter 12, Exodus chapter 12, dealing with the Passover, Exodus chapter 12, and we've kind of already covered this when we were in Romans, talking about circumcision, and we'll kind of rehash that a little bit as far as what it represented, so you think of baptism, it represents something, it's a physical to represent the spiritual, same with circumcision, it's a physical to represent something that's spiritual, and in the Old Testament, and this is before the Old Testament with Abraham, there's these physical things that are being done to represent something spiritual, and so Exodus chapter 12 verse 43, it says, and the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover, there shall no stranger eat thereof, but every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou has circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof, and it goes on that a stranger in verse 48, so it's saying no stranger shall eat thereof, what's that mean, it's meaning someone that's not circumcised, because in verse 48 it says, and when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it, and he shall be as one that is born in the land, for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof, and so do you see how circumcision does avail something here in the Old Testament, it avails something in Abraham's day at this point, so this point forward with this covenant that he's been making is that everybody in his house and everybody that's of his family needs to be circumcised, and this didn't start with Moses, and so actually Jesus touches on that a little bit, go to John chapter 7, John chapter 7, because when you think of circumcision you're a lot of times thinking about Moses and like the fact that they couldn't do things and you had to be circumcised, and you think of Moses with his wife, how God was about to kill Moses until he circumcised his son, and that's where his wife basically said a bloody husband art thou, but that's because of the circumcision, but it wasn't because Moses made up the circumcision, this actually happened back with Abraham, and so in John chapter 7 notice what Jesus says here in verse 22, Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers, and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man, so he's rebuking them because he healed a man on the sabbath day, and he's saying listen you circumcise a man on the sabbath day, and he's putting it back in their face, but he's saying it's not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers, what does that mean, because it's of Abraham, it's of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that's where that circumcision even came from, and when we look at this, what I want to explain to you is when you see this it says this everlasting covenant with circumcision, and I'm going to explain that how is that true now, why is it not availing anything in the New Testament and all that, because of what it represents and the fact that it was fulfilled obviously is the case, but the Old Testament covenant, let's just look at it this way, the Old Testament covenant was an everlasting covenant under a condition, meaning that it would have lasted forever if they would have regarded it, right, and so go to Exodus chapter 19, so this covenant of circumcision in the flesh would have lasted forever obviously if they would have kept the covenant, now we know God, God knew that they weren't going to keep it, God knew they weren't going to regard it, it's not like the New Testament is God's plan B or anything like that, it's kind of like He knew and it was a way to show, hey, you're not going to be able to keep this covenant, and so when the Old Testament was done away with, circumcision was done away at the same time, and we'll see that in the New Testament obviously, it's very clear on that as far as circumcision, you know, people tried it with the Sabbath days, the Sabbath days obviously done away with, but circumcision, there's no question that you don't need to be circumcised now, but obviously it availed something, we saw with taking the Passover, and so in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, this is actually where the Old Testament, which would be the first covenant, or the first testament, in their eyes is just a covenant to them, right, it's the covenant that they're making with God, notice what it says, and I wish that all these Zionists and dispensationalists would read this, it says, now therefore if, if, if, okay, if is a conditional statement, now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, these are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, and so this is going to look very familiar to the New Testament when we get to what it says about us as believers, but notice it says, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, now the question is, did they keep the covenant? Now, I don't have time to show you all the places in the Old Testament where it doesn't say that, we'll just go to Hebrews chapter 8, because Hebrews chapter 8 really just defines that very clearly, and so, you know, it'd be kind of like if I said, hey, I will forever mow your grass if you come to church every Sunday, now I'm not giving you that covenant, okay, but what I'm saying is, do you see how though, I technically, if I'm going to keep my end of the bargain, if you came every Sunday, then I better mow your grass every single week or whatever I'm saying because I made that covenant with you, now if you don't keep your end of the deal, then the covenant's off, it's kind of like, you know, a contract, right, there's two sides to a contract, and it's kind of like the rent here, if I were to not pay the rent, they don't have to keep their contract with me for a year of having this building, so the same thing, but if he didn't keep his end of the contract, then I don't need to pay the rent, do you see how that works? And so, in the Old Testament, there was an if, a condition statement that they needed to keep the covenant and keep his commandments and do his ordinances, and Hebrews chapter 8, verse 8, it says, For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. So it's very clear that it's because he found fault with them, and they didn't keep his covenant, therefore he regarded not the covenant, meaning it was done away with. So a lot of times when you see, you know, he made this everlasting covenant with the physical children, so to speak, he has everlasting based off a condition that they keep his covenants and his ordinances, but once they broke those, it's null and void, it's like the contract's null and void. What we'll see with the New Testament, though, is that the condition to be in that covenant is not as stringent, obviously, as the Old Testament, because in the Old Testament you had to keep all the ordinances and diverse washings and all this stuff, and in the New Testament it's actually just faith, okay? So you believe you're one of God's chosen people, you know, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you're circumcised, it doesn't matter if you keep the law, you're one of his people no matter what, and so in the Old Testament, yeah, obviously faith was the prerequisite. You needed to be a believer to be one of his chosen people and a peculiar people, but you also had to do these ordinances in order to be that holy nation, and so, but what does it represent? What does circumcision represent? We know it's physically circumcised in the foreskin, and we're not going to go into the details on that, but basically it represents something, and Deuteronomy actually touches on what it represented, even back then, okay? So it's not like people will say, well, you know, back in the Old Testament that's what it was. It was, you know, that was, that's what saved them, right? Was this, now first of all, did only men get saved then? Because it's only men that are getting circumcised. I mean, are the women chopped liver? You know? Or did the women have an easier route to heaven? I mean, what is it? I mean, so God's not a respecter of persons, whether male or female, and so he's not going to make one thing harder, it's not going to be harder for one gender, and yes, there's only two genders, 2018 you got to specify that, but it's not going to make it harder or easier for one of the genders, okay? It's going to be the same across the board, and so this is obviously only for men, but Deuteronomy 10, Deuteronomy chapter 10, Deuteronomy chapter 10, and I'll just say this, you know, I'm going to get to it, but circumcision was a token for the covenant that he made with Abraham, particularly that he was going to be the father of many nations, and actually that isn't brought up until this point. So we saw, you know, and we're going to go through the different promises, but in this chapter, the promise is that he's going to be the father of many nations, not just that, you know, all the nations are going to be blessed through him, but he's going to be the father of many nations, and he's not just going to be the father of the nation of Israel, but many nations. That's very important to understand, because it fits perfectly with the New Testament, but Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 12, it says, and now Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee? But the fear of the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord thy God, the earth also with all that therein is. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people as it is this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. So what is circumcision representing? Now, spoiler alert, you've already been here for the Romans, so you know we're talking about the heart, okay? So it's not like I'm bringing something new to you here, but this was back then too. So this whole idea, you know, as far as it's not outward in the flesh, but it's in the heart, is in Deuteronomy chapter 10. Deuteronomy chapter 30, go to Deuteronomy chapter 30. This is interesting the way this words this though, because in Deuteronomy chapter 10, it's basically commanding the people to circumcise their heart. But in this verse, in verse 6, it's actually the Lord that's circumcising your heart. And so in Deuteronomy 30 verse 6, it says, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live. And we'll see that in the New Testament, the circumcision made without hands by Jesus Christ, and you can think about the fact that the circumcision or the new man being born again and how all that works and the circumcision of the Spirit, so to speak, or the soul from the body and all that that goes into that. And so we're not going to get super deep with it tonight. I just kind of want to talk about the physical and obviously show the spiritual. But in Jeremiah chapter 4, go to Jeremiah chapter 4. So I just want to show you some places where this isn't in a corner in the Old Testament. So we see in Deuteronomy in one of the first five books of the Bible and the Law of Moses is talking about circumcision in two places dealing with the heart. And actually if you look up the word circumcision and circumcised, it doesn't appear that often. Just do a word search on circumcision, circumcised, and circumcised, circumcised, you know, all the different forms that you can put it in. And actually it doesn't show up that often. And, you know, Exodus chapter 12, it happens and there's a story with Dinah, you know, how he told him to circumcise himself and then he killed them all, you know, and there's stuff like that. But there's not that many places and actually a lot of the places that you'll find is dealing with the heart and not even with the flesh. And so Jeremiah 4 and verse 4, it says, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskin of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that, and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doing. So here again, he's saying, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. So you can see how this pictures as far as, it's not just, it's obviously salvation, but you can also think about the fact that it's circumcision in the flesh, right? And it says, Be ye separate and come out from among them. Be ye separate, saith the Lord. Aren't you circumcising yourself from the world physically? And so when you look in the New Testament, yes, there is a circumcision physically, but it's not in the flesh, it's not in the physical flesh as far as what they physically did, you know, to become, you know, of the nation of Israel or of Abraham and all this stuff. It's physically, you're cutting yourself off from the world. You're cutting yourself out of the world. You're not of the world. You're in the world, but you're not of the world, right? And so that physical circumcision in the world, but you also have the circumcision spiritually, which happens in the heart when you get saved, right? And so that circumcision of the new man and old man, and that should be happening every day that you're circumcising yourself from that. But obviously it is circumcised. I mean, ultimately, when your body dies, you're going to be asked from the body and present with the Lord. There's a true circumcision right there of the flesh, and the spirit. And so in Joel chapter 2, Joel chapter 2, now this doesn't say circumcision, but it's kind of the same aspect. Joel chapter 2 and verse 13, Joel chapter 2 and verse 13, the Bible says, and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil. Actually, what you'll see a lot of times when it's talking about circumcising your heart, it's talking about getting right with God. And it's not necessarily talking about eternal salvation, but physical salvation from God's punishment. And so you can definitely see how that applies even now as Christians in the New Testament as far as circumcising yourself in the heart, meaning to get all this garbage out of your mind and heart and basically get right with God. Turn to God, rend your hearts and not your garments. And he's basically saying, don't just rend your clothes. It's kind of like if something bad was happening and you're just rending your clothes, it's like, listen, you need to rend your heart. It needs to be something that's going on within and not just the outside. And so, but Abraham's circumcision, we covered this before, but go to Romans chapter 4, and there's actually a lot of information in here talking about circumcision, what it was, what it represents. And so, Romans chapter 4 obviously is a fantastic chapter. Brother Dave was listening to, I forget what sermon it was that I was ripping face on dispensationalism. It was probably like the past five sermons. But apparently I said something to the effect, if you read and memorize Romans chapter 4 and you still come out with dispensationalism, then you're an unsaved reprobate and you're going to hell. And I still stand by that because, you know, Romans chapter 4 is very, very clear. And if you know this chapter very well, I don't see how you can read it and memorize it and know it and come out with anything other than the fact that it's always been by faith and that, you know, that nothing's changed since then. But, so at the beginning of Romans chapter 4 it says, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. So it's explaining that, but the him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. So it even clarifies even more that it was by faith without works with Abraham. And then in verse 9, notice what it says. Because he's basically saying, is this only for the circumcision? And he's making a point in verse 9, it says, cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. So he's basically making a point to say, we didn't say circumcision was reckoned unto him for righteousness, but it was faith. And then it says in verse 10, how was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. Because it was actually Genesis chapter 15 that we read that Abraham believed in the Lord and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And so that's before this happens in chapter 17. If you remember, he was like 85 years old in chapter 16, right? And so he's 99 here, so he was at least 85 or younger when that was even said about him. Now I believe he believed that when he came out of the country, which he was 75 years old when that happened. So you got quite a difference there as far as like 25 years since circumcision was even accomplished here. But it even clarifies even more because it's basically saying, you know, what circumcision was. In verse 11 it says, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had yet being uncircumcised. So what's circumcision? It's a seal or a sign of the righteousness of the faith. The faith is counted for righteousness. So what's the circumcision? It's just a seal of the faith that he already had. Do you see that? I mean, it just plainly says, of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised. So he already had it before he was circumcised. He already had the faith and the circumcision is just the seal of that. It's just a representation of it. It's just a physical to represent the spiritual and isn't that exactly what we do with baptism? Baptism is basically the circumcision of the New Testament, okay? Only baptism applies to everybody and not just men. And you see with Colossians, we'll look at Colossians, but they link those two together when you're dealing with salvation. As far as the spiritual aspect of both those, circumcision and baptism, put them both together because they both represent salvation. They represent different aspects of salvation, meaning that circumcision represents the fact that you're basically turning to God or your heart is being cleansed, but then baptism is like how it's being cleansed, right? As far as how the flood of Noah represents the baptism of the whole world and how all the sins were wiped away. And so, anyway, as we go on here in verse 11, it says, that he might be the father of all them that believe. That's the key here. Though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. What we see here is that Abraham is the father of all them that believe. So when it says that his name is going to be called Abraham, for he shall be a father of many nations, you know what that means? He's going to be the father of all them that believe and all nations that believe on Jesus Christ are children of Abraham. That's why we're called the seed of Abraham because we followed in the steps, as we're going to see here. This explains this perfectly. So when you see what this covenant of circumcision represented, it represented the fact that Abraham was the father of all them that believe. Now obviously people believed before that, but he was basically like that patriarch we're looking back to, that great example of a man that believed, and not only believed, but became the friend of God. So we're all looking back to faithful Abraham. And so, in verse, yeah, of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Notice verse 12, and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. So he's basically saying, he's not only the father of them that are circumcised, he's not the father of circumcision only to them that are circumcised. Now think about that. He's not just the father of circumcision to them that are of the circumcision, meaning that the Bible's very clear that we as believers are the circumcision, for we are the circumcision which worship Christ Jesus and rejoice in Christ Jesus and worship Him in the Spirit. And so that's very clear here, is that he's not just the father of those that are circumcised. In verse 13, it says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. How many times does it have to say that it's by faith and not by the law, and not by circumcision, it's by faith. Verse 14, for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect. Because the law worketh wrath for where no law is, there is no transgression. Notice this in verse 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Now, it's going to explain that, that he's the father of us all. He's talking to Romans, mind you. He's not talking to Jerusalem here. This is the book of Romans, and he's writing to the Romans, to Gentiles. He's made that very clear at the very beginning of the book. In verse 17, it's going to expound on it. It said, who is the father of us all? As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations. Before him whom he believed, believe in God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. And so it clarifies that he's the father of us all. Why? Because he's the father of all them that believe. So when it says he's the father of many nations, that's what that means. I will make you a father of many nations because you're going to be the father of all them that believe. Why? Because the seed came through him. So you see how it all makes sense. The seed is Christ, and everyone that believes on Christ is Abraham's seed, therefore he's the father of all them that believe. And so it makes perfect sense when you look at it that way, but it says it calleth those things which be not as though they were. And why is that? Because it says, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations. If you go to Genesis chapter 17, you'll see that, that it's in present tense when he says this to them. And so when you see, we kind of talked about this a couple of times, as far as you'll see prophecies or see things mentioned in past tense, future tense, present tense, stuff like that. And stuff that happened that wasn't going to happen for a thousand years or so is mentioned in past tense and future tense. Isaiah 53 is one of the perfect examples of that. Psalm 22, they pierced my hands and my feet. That's past tense, but that didn't happen until Jesus on the cross. And so that's what it's saying here is that he calleth those things which be not as though they were. So it hasn't happened yet, but he's saying it as if it happened. Why? Because Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He didn't do it until 2,000 years ago, but it is as if he did it. He calleth those things which be not as though they were. But just to prove that, you know, that it's written that way in Genesis, Genesis 17 verse 5, it says, neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. Present tense. And at this point, Isaac wasn't born. And so I just want to recap because this this promise of circumcision, this circumcision, this covenant, it's kind of a little ad. He's been accumulating all this information, right? So from verse in Genesis chapter 12, what we get? All nations are going to be blessed through him. That's the information that we got. We don't really know how, you know, he's not really explaining exactly how that's going to happen. But he's saying all nations are going to be blessed through him. And then in chapter 13, we see that the land of Canaan is going to be given to his seed, which is going to be as the dust of the the earth. And then we see in chapter 15, that that air, that seed was going to be of his own bowels. It's not going to be just like the air, his Eliezer, that guy that was that he was talking about that was born up in his house, that it was going to be actually of his own bowels. It's going to be of him physically. And then in chapter 16, we saw that it's not just going to be of him physically, but it's going to be of Sarah particularly. Because remember, he had Ishmael of Hagar, he said, No, it's not going to be of her, it's going to be of Sarah. And so he's giving a lot more as you go on through from chapter 12, up to this point, it's just like, here's some more information, each chapter, and all these different promises, right? The first promise was just that he that all nations are gonna be blessed through him. The second promise was the land, then it was the fact that he was going to have a, you know, seed of his own bowels, then it's not gonna be only just of his bowels, but also of Sarah, his wife. And then in chapter 17, he's going to be the father of many nations. Do you see how that all this stuff compiles on there, and it's all one and the same. And you may not, when you think about that, you'll see all these verses and you'll think, that's all in one place that it says that, but it's not. See, this is over a period of time, he's giving this information, and they're different promises. And so when you see these different promises and different covenants, it's all it's all talking about the same thing, about Christ. And so all this stuff applies to Christ. The land, everything. And yes, I said the land. The land of Israel belongs to us. There I said it, okay? It doesn't belong to the Christ rejecting Jews over there that hate God and don't believe Moses. And because if they don't believe Moses, how are they gonna believe Jesus? And who is a liar but he that denied that Jesus is the Christ, he's anti-Christ, denied the father and the son. Let me ask you this question. If the promise that all the nations are gonna be blessed through Abraham applies to us, and then that we're gonna be blessed through that seed of Isaac applies to us, and that the stuff of Sarah is gonna apply to us, and that he's gonna be a father of many nations applies to us, why wouldn't the land apply to us? Why is that the one that we're gonna be like, no, that's only physically Israel? When everything else applies to the seed which is Christ. How in the world does the seed in chapter 13 all of a sudden mean just a physical Israel, okay? And that's why it's an everlasting covenant because if that land doesn't apply to us as believers, then that would be a lie that it's an everlasting covenant for that land. And that's what you see in this chapter as far as the land and all that stuff is an everlasting covenant. And the only way it can be an everlasting covenant is if it's through Christ because he lasts forever and everybody that believes on him lasts forever, therefore that's how it's an everlasting covenant. When he comes back on a white horse, he's gonna be rolling and reigning from Israel and we're gonna be rolling and reigning with him in Israel. And then there's gonna be a new heaven, new earth, and the new Jerusalem's gonna come down. And so, yes, we'll be with, and obviously Abraham talks about, I'm not gonna go to that, but in Hebrews chapter 11, talks about how they seek the heavenly country and a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. The foundation whose builder and maker is God. So obviously Abraham, he wasn't even looking at the physical. He's looking at the spiritual. But I believe that physical land belongs to believers. That's our possession. Not the Ashkenazi Russian Jews that came back that are occupying it or the Catholics that are occupying it or the Muslims that are occupying it. They're all on God's territory and you know what, it's spiritually Sodom and Egypt right now, so I don't really care. Because I don't want it until Jesus is back there anyway. They can have that land until Jesus comes back and cleanses this world and they can have that land until Jesus does everything right. And so we see that accumulation. And so, and honestly, I'm just gonna be honest with you, until we started doing this study through Genesis, I never really pieced it together like that. I never really saw that progression. I kind of just saw it all as one promise that kept being reiterated. You know, it's kind of like this is a promise and then he keeps saying it over and over again. It just seems a little repetitive, right? But actually in each chapter he's given a little more information, a little more to that promise as you go down the line. And so it's just kind of cool to see that. But circumcision, obviously we talked about it, how it's a spiritual matter and not a physical. But obviously you can see how the physical would work, being separate from the world and circumcising yourself from the world and to God. Being sanctified, right? The sanctification of the believer, obviously spiritually it's already there. Your soul is sanctified forever. It's washed, it's cleansed, there's no sin in your soul. But your body is not that way and therefore that's a process to sanctify that or to circumcise that flesh. As you go through life. But in Romans chapter 2, go to Romans chapter 2. I just want to show you this again. I know we've kind of already covered this. But I've really, then I'm going to hammer in the fact that circumcision, the physical circumcision that Abraham did in this chapter is meaningless now. Yes, you heard me right. It's meaningless. That's just another way for saying it availeth not, okay? It availeth nothing. That's what that means. It means it's meaningless. And so just as much as not eating pig anymore is meaningless because in the New Testament we can eat it. But anyway, Romans chapter 2 verse 28, it says, for he is not a Jew which is one hourly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. Now we saw this even in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy chapter 10, Deuteronomy chapter 30, that circumcision was not just an outward thing. Now if you wanted to do the ordinances and not be cut off from your people physically, then you needed to be circumcised. But we're talking about salvation, it was particularly a spiritual matter. That was more important than being physically circumcised is to be spiritually circumcised. And so in Colossians chapter 2, go to Colossians chapter 2. Again, we've already kind of gone through this stuff before so I don't want to belabor it. But Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10, Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10, you say, well, how do you know that it's fulfilled? Well, I believe this answers that question, basically what it represented. And just like the Sabbath in this same chapter is talking about how that's done away with, but circumcision here is talking about something that's made without hands. So we're not talking about the physical here, we're talking about the spiritual. In verse 10 here it says, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, and whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. So we see how, you know, circumcision was something that was in the Old Testament, baptisms in the New Testament, but they kind of represent the same thing. And so it's all a representation of salvation, and the circumcision of the body of the sins of the flesh, you see that's what it represents. You're cutting off the body, and, you know, cutting it off from the soul and the spirit, and that's something we have to do daily. Now obviously salvation, you know, our soul, who so are born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. That's what happens when you get saved. That circumcision, and that cleansing of the baptism made without hands, which happens when you get saved. That spiritual, you're baptized into one spirit. And that, you know, washing of the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so that happens the moment you believe. But obviously, you know, it also talks about how we're supposed to wash our feet, you know, and we're supposed to, you know, sanctify ourselves. So there's always that physical realm as far as how we still have the flesh with us, though. We crucified the flesh, so to speak, spiritually, but we still have it with us until we die. And so we've got to constantly be circumcising the flesh. Each day, you need to put off the old man and put on the new man. That's the circumcision that you need to do. So there's your physical aspect that's still here today, but obviously the spiritual happened the moment you believed. Now I want to talk about how the physical circumcision that we're talking about in Genesis chapter 17 is meaningless now. In Galatians chapter 5, go to Galatians chapter 5, and so this whole book of Galatians is just ripping face about how people were saying you need to be circumcised. I believe this goes back to Acts chapter 15, and where people came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and they were saying that you must be circumcised to be saved. And Paul went up to them dealing with that matter. And it says in Galatians chapter 2 that they didn't even, you know, withstood them for even an hour. Not even an hour did they even deal with that. They're just shutting it down quick, right? And so that's what this whole book is pretty much rebuking, this leaven that came in, the perverting of the Gospel saying that circumcision was a part of salvation. And guess what? You could put baptism in there too. Church of Christ down the road over here, you know, that's just the same as circumcision here, and Christ profits them nothing because they're adding baptism to salvation. But Galatians chapter 5, this is a strong rebuke. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, it says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul saying to you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. So there you have it. In this case, and not only he's rebuking him, saying, hey listen, if you think that circumcision, if you think that it's just, you know, you're just saying, okay, I need to believe on Jesus Christ and be circumcised and be saved, Christ profits you nothing. Nothing. You are debtor to do the whole law. And I'll say that to anybody that we go out sowing with, that if they're adding anything to salvation, anything, baptism, going to church, living a good life, keeping any commandment at all, Christ shall profit you nothing. And you're a debtor to do the whole law. And circumcision is just an example here of something that came up. And so circumcision, but he goes a step further saying it doesn't even avail you anything. Okay? It's not a part of salvation, but it also doesn't avail you anything at all in Christ Jesus. Because there's no reason for it. What's the purpose for it now? There's no, the kingdom of God was taken away from Israel. And that covenant that he had with them in the New Testament, there's neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, you know, like it's, we're all one in Christ Jesus. And in that, that the spiritual holy nation of Israel, there's no need for a physical circumcision. And so that's why he's saying it availeth you nothing, nothing. And I don't understand what these Judaizers don't get about that. But in the Bible, you know, a lot of them even say, Paul's the only thing we should look to. Well, this is Paul saying this, that circumcision availeth you nothing. And I'll say this, the Sabbath availeth you nothing. And all the other ordinances in the Old Testament availeth you nothing, because they were done away in Christ. There's no reason to do it. Now, if you got circumcised, and most people that are my age have been circumcised, because that's just like the, you know, the, you know, the society that we grew up in. I mean, there's nothing I can do about it. I was a baby, right? But, but all I'd say is that, you know, and if you had your child circumcised, I'm not against you. I don't think that you're, I don't think you're, I don't think you're sinning by circumcising your child. Now, I'll say this, if you think that that's a requirement for them to go to heaven, or that you think that, then yes, that's a sin, okay, to do that, if you think that's a requirement, but, but I don't think it's a sin. I don't think it's mutilation. Okay, so people take it way too far there. Because obviously, it's not mutilation, or God wouldn't have told people to do it. Okay, but I'll say this is that there's no reason to do it. And in the Judaizing world that we live in, if I ever have boys, I'm not going to have them circumcised. Okay, I'm just going to be up front with you. Because why? Why would I do it? It availeth nothing. And so I'm not against people that are circumcised in it, but I am against people saying that it's required or that it's needful, that it's even needful, right? And that was what was brought up to the church after the people that were saying you got to be saved, right? They're kind of rejecting them out of hand. But the question was, is it needful for them to be circumcised, talking about the Gentiles? And that's where they're saying, listen, we're not gonna put that on them. You know, why? And so, and obviously, there's other problems with with James and the church in Jerusalem, which we're not getting into tonight. But, but Paul also rebuked Peter to the face, you know, living like the Gentiles, but then he was like, you know, being buddies with all the Jews and, and, you know, basically segregating himself. But go to Galatians chapter six, because it repeats this. So this phrase, this this sentence here where it says Christ, alright, says, for in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh, I love that same phrase is used in Galatians chapter six, instead of saying Jesus Christ, it says Christ Jesus. Same thing, right? In verse 15, it says, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy upon the Israel of God. It's saying that availeth you nothing in your the Israel of God if you walk according to this rule, okay? And so it's very clear that to be of the spiritual Israel of the only Israel that exists today, that's that's of God, which is the spiritual Israel, which I believe existed back in the Old Testament, too, right? You always had the spiritual remnant, right? You had that remnant that was saved, that's always been there. But then you had the physical that represented that. And not all of them were saved. Okay. And so, but in the New Testament, that physical was done away. And it's given to all believers in every nation, wherever they're at, they're of that holy nation. And so go to First Peter chapter two, because I just want to show you that. What's the requirement? What's the requirement now? Because we saw in Exodus chapter 19, that's where they were a peculiar people and holy nation. And, you know, I'll just as you're turning there, I'll just read what I was in Exodus chapter 19, talking about the old covenant. It says, you know, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. You're gonna see these words, these same things being said, and instead of peculiar treasure or peculiar people, and so same thing. But in First Peter chapter two and verse seven, we're gonna see what the requirement, what's the prerequisite? Prerequisite for them to be the holy nation was not just to believe, but to keep his ordinances and to keep his covenant. What's the prerequisite here in verse seven? Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. There's no doubt that this is not talking about Jerusalem and the Jews of those days, because it's very clear that it's saying that you were not a people in time past, but now you are. And it's saying that unto you therefore which believe, that's who this is to. And he says, but ye are a chosen generation. Who? Do they believe? So what's the requirement to be God's people and to be of his holy nation now? Belief. So if you believe on Christ, you're of his holy people. I'll even take it a step further. You're of the holy nation before you're even physically baptized. The moment you believe, you're of that spiritual Israel. Because the thief on the cross is, because everybody else that got saved that doesn't get baptized is of that spiritual Israel, because all Israel shall be saved and they're all going to walk in New Jerusalem and we're all going to be citizens of that great city, no matter if you even got physically baptized in the New Testament. And so it's just belief. That's the only requirement. And so circumcision we see, the physical circumcision is completely, it availeth nothing now. Now it did avail something back then, and we saw that, the different aspects as far as being of those people, and even when they killed the, what was his name, Shechem? Was it Shechem? The guy with Dinah, his daughter? I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, he said if you want to be with us and you want to basically have our daughters or if we're going to marry your daughters and all this stuff, then you have to be circumcised. That was the requirement, to be of those people, even in Abraham's day and in Isaac's day and in Jacob's day. And then with the children of Israel, it's the same thing. Let's say we lived back in that time and let's say we got saved. Someone preached us the gospel, and yes it's the same gospel that we believe today, we just may not know, we wouldn't know the name of Jesus back then, but we'd believe on Christ. If we wanted to be a part of the holy nation, we would literally have to go over to where the country is, become circumcised, and you don't necessarily have to live in the country, but you have to come back for the feasts and keep the ordinances. Do you see how it's better now? You don't have to worry about going back to a physical temple or tabernacle and do these certain feasts and ordinances, and you don't have to do all these other ordinances where you're even living at. And so, in the New Testament, it's not that way. But going back to Genesis chapter 17, one big thing that we see here is that Abraham and Sarah get their new names. So we've been calling them Abram and Sarai. This is where their names change, and we'll see why did they change. Why are they Abraham now and Sarah now? We'll see that for both Abraham and Sarah, it's the same reason. And they say pretty much the same exact thing about both of them when he gives them those new names. In verse 5 is where we see Abraham's, or Abram's change to Abraham. In verse 5 it says, Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And it even talks about kings coming out of them. Now go down to verse 15, because we kind of already read that with Abraham. Verse 15, it says, And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her and give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be called, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her. So you see the same exact things that are being said about both Abraham and Sarah, that they were going to be parents of many nations. And so, obviously that all fits because she's the mother of Isaac. Remember we saw the allegory of Sarah, what does she represent? New Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all. See how it all fits. The mother of many nations. Why? Because in Revelation chapter 7 doesn't it say that there's a multitude from every nation, kindred, tongue. And so he's the father of many nations. Of all nations, right? Of every nation. And so a lot of times when it says many, it just means all. You know that he would, this is my blood, which is shed for many. Obviously we know that he's a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Right? And so that's what it means, the mother of many nations, the father of many nations, because spiritually speaking that's what it means. And it is an allegory altogether because who's the father of us all? Our heavenly father. Who beget us unto a lively hope? God. But obviously he used Abraham to bring in the physical seed, meaning that Jesus, it says in Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. That's what that's talking about. That seed of Christ was going to come through Abraham and through Sarah. That's who it came through. And so that's what all that stuff represents. Now, what's interesting about this chapter, you may not have noticed this because you normally think well if we're going to get to it next week, in Genesis chapter 18 what's the big thing about Sarah when the Lord comes to him? She laughs. Right? And she said I didn't laugh and he said thou didst laugh. Right? It's always like a hard thing. You're like oh you got me. The Lord's like you did laugh. But what's interesting is Abraham laughs in this chapter. And you may not have caught that but in verse 17 he laughs. So it's interesting that both Abraham and Sarah are just so similar and just everything. But it says in verse 17, it says then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart. So he's doing this in his heart and that's exactly what Sarah did. Right? And it says shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, oh that Ishmael might live before thee. And God said Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed and thou shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. So we see actually the first time Isaac's mentioned so that he's naming the child here that Isaac is going to be his son. That's going to come from Sarah. And so go to Romans chapter 4 because what we see here is that Abraham laughs and he's basically saying you know I'm almost a hundred years old and is this going to happen? He's like it is going to happen. And that's what we're going to see with Sarah later on. So you know sometimes Sarah gets a bad rap you know like she you know she laughed and doubted and Abraham's like but Abraham did the same thing right before this. But we're going to see that Romans 4 talks about this exact event. And obviously you know he laughed but he didn't he didn't he wasn't weak in faith. Okay? And so he's probably just being candid you know with the Lord at this point as far as like I'm a hundred years I'm almost a hundred years old and I'm going to have a child you know or I'm going to have a son. And so verse 18 of Romans chapter 4 it says, who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall I see be. And being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform. So there's the faith of Abraham. So can you see why he's called the father of faith? You know why we look to him as far as he's the father of us all because of the faith that he had. And so obviously that goes beyond salvation when you think of the fact of okay you know yet he believed and he fully persuaded that that you know the Christ was going to come through him to where that's what how he's going to be saved. But also the fact that he was a hundred years old and that's how it's going to happen okay. So you can believe on Christ and maybe like struggle with how that's going to happen. But it's very interesting that that the same thing he laughed and he was kind of like no it's going to be Ishmael. And God's like no it's going to be Isaac. And so and he's making a point there that he didn't stagger in unbelief though. You know at this point he just he's like yeah okay. And you can kind of see behind the scenes so to speak when you go to Romans chapter 4 on how that's going to happen. But he also blesses Ishmael. So go back to Genesis chapter 17 we'll finish up the chapter here. So he blesses Ishmael and because he's basically saying Ishmael will will live you know for God so to speak. And God hears that request and he's going to bless Ishmael. So this whole idea that Ishmael is like this reprobate. Now obviously we talk about allegories okay. Obviously with how he represents the children of the flesh and Isaac represents the children of the promise and all that stuff. But Ishmael is a person I don't think is a horrible person. I think he made some mistakes. We'll see when Isaac's born he definitely makes a mistake. But notice in verse 20 it says and as for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blessed him. Notice that again that I have blessed him. He's speaking of those things which be not as though they were. And I will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. Now what's interesting is because it says he's going to be the father of many nations and we see that obviously it says that he's going to be a great nation. But he says that covenant is not with him though. So you can't count Isaac or Ishmael in there as far as any of the nations that are coming out of Abraham. It's all through Isaac. And so that's where you get into the fact that it's why is it many nations because it's of everyone that believes. He's the father of all them that believe and Sarah is the mother of all of us all. All of all those that believe. And so it all fits hand in glove. Now at the end of the chapter there it really just ends with the fact that he actually gets circumcised. So the whole chapter is talking about how it's going to be done. And one thing I didn't really cover was the fact that it talks about when they're eight days old. And so that's interesting because scientifically children don't produce vitamin K until they're about eight days old which causes the blood to clot. And so if you were to try to circumcise them before that you got problems of them bleeding and not stopping. And so you think God knew what he was doing or something. But actually I was talking to brother Matt and Mike and his brother-in-law when he was an atheist but he was kind of looking into the Bible trying to prove it wrong. And by proving it trying to prove it wrong he actually was proving it right. And that was one of the things he brought up to me. He said you know I was looking at it like just circumcision just that. And he said why was it eight days? And then he found out that it's literally eight days of when children start to produce vitamin K and that's when the blood would clot. And so it's interesting because all this stuff lines up. Having children obviously you don't have children. There's no doubt I have children right now. But in Leviticus chapter 12 it's interesting talking about having boys and girls. Now we've only had girls but there's a certain time period as far as how long it takes the mother to heal or to go through the purifying process and it's different. It's actually double for a girl. And it was literally on the mark with both my girls. And you know it's like double everything is double as far as how long it takes. And it's just like it's uncanny I remember reading that I'm like that's interesting I wonder if that's true. And then it's literally just like that and I'm like wow that's amazing. But then you go into the scientific aspects of all the hormones and all that stuff with having a girl compared to having a boy and all that stuff and scientifically it all works out. But they knew that back then so all these atheists out there that are always trying to you know say the Bible is so dumb and it's just bronze age you know illiterate people writing the Bible and it's just hilarious to me because all this stuff in here they had to find out later. They had to find out later that you need to wash your hands over running water when you're touching after you touched a dead body and yet you know for hundreds and thousands of years we had a bunch of moron doctors that were touching a dead body and then delivering a baby and wondering why the mother dies. And if they would just pick up the Bible or the fact that they were bloodletting they were you know just cutting blood and saying that's how they're getting the disease out yet the Bible says the life of the flesh is in the blood. So it's just it's always interesting throughout the Bible to see all these things that are proven right and just proves right every single time. And you know what they can tell me salt is bad all day long but salt is good okay. And so this whole thing you know I'm just preaching on salt right now. Everybody's always like you don't need salt and you know you get salt. The Bible says salt is good so you know put that in your pipe and smoke it. Every sacrifice was salted with salt and all the priests ate salt with all their meat and so I'm going to eat salt. This message is brought to you by Mortenson's iodized salt. No I'm just kidding. Anyway all I'm saying is that they're always coming out saying well this is bad this is good this is bad this is and it's like I remember when peanut butter was bad for you. Now it's good for you. It's going to come to where it's bad for you again. Then they were saying salt is bad for you. Now it's saying good. Now they're saying it's bad. It's like make up your mind. Now obviously anything excess of anything is not good you know. You need vitamins but don't want to eat like a million bananas you'll get an overdose of potassium okay. But anyway all I have to say is that the Bible just rings true every single chapter and I thought it was just interesting on the fact that how all these promises just kind of keep adding up and I never really saw that before honestly. I kind of just you'd read through the Bible and usually when you're going through this you're going through those chapters pretty quick and so you're not really putting it all together that these little promises they weren't all made at once. It's not like in Genesis 12 it just gave you all this information. These were promises and covenants that God was making to Abraham and to his seed which is Christ throughout these chapters and obviously they all are to the same end game right. It all goes to the same thing but he's giving more information as he goes on. And isn't that how it goes throughout the Bible? From Genesis to Revelation aren't we getting more information as we go? Did we? We got a lot more information even after Jesus walked. Even after Jesus walked on the earth. I think I swallowed a bug. Even after Jesus walked on the earth when we got the epistles and got the book of Revelation we got a lot more information. So it's just always been that way. So let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you for today, thank you for this evening, thank you for your word and thank you for how perfect and holy and true it is. And Lord that it's always been scientifically accurate and we don't need to trust in doctors. We can see it in the truth of your word. And there's nothing wrong with scientific proofs and all that stuff but it's just awesome and amazing to see how it always does line up and it's mathematically accurate, it's scientifically accurate. And Lord we just pray that you be with us as we go throughout the rest of the week. We love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.