WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.380 Today our reading is from Genesis chapter 17 and it's the full chapter so yeah settled in for a bit of a long read. 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:12.380 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.579 Then Abram fell on his face and God said to him, 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:43.600 Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:54.740 No longer shall your name be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 00:00:54.740 --> 00:01:02.359 I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I'll make you into nations and kings shall come from you. 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:17.420 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout the generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:27.820 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.659 And I will be their God. 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:34.599 And God said to Abraham, 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:42.500 As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout the generations. 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:49.500 This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:53.340 Every male among you shall be circumcised. 00:01:53.340 --> 00:02:01.780 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:06.359 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. 00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:16.780 Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:23.659 both he who is born in your house and he who is born with your money shall be circumcised. 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:28.960 So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:37.300 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people. 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:40.280 He has broken my covenant. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:44.780 And God said to Abraham, 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:54.379 As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.139 I will bless her and moreover I will give you a son by her. 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.479 I will bless her and she shall become nations. 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.379 Kings of people shall come from her. 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:14.659 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:19.699 Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:24.080 Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 00:03:25.699 --> 00:03:27.620 And Abraham said to God, 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:30.560 Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. 00:03:31.659 --> 00:03:32.620 God said, 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:36.719 No, but Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son. 00:03:37.480 --> 00:03:39.780 And you shall call his name Isaac. 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:47.319 I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:51.099 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 00:03:51.099 --> 00:03:56.620 I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:02.199 He shall father twelve princes and I will make him into a great nation. 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:10.479 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:17.180 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:25.620 Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all those who were born in his house, all bought with money. 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.699 Every male among the men of Abraham's house. 00:04:30.659 --> 00:04:36.740 And he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:44.300 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:52.840 And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:58.960 That very day, Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:05.340 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:07.619 were circumcised with him. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.719 This is God's word. May he bless it to us today. 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:20.699 Good morning, everyone. 00:05:23.239 --> 00:05:28.539 It would be a great help if you have your Bibles open at Genesis chapter 17. 00:05:29.419 --> 00:05:33.779 And also, if you have an outline, I think that may assist you this morning as well. 00:05:33.779 --> 00:05:36.379 Now, if you do have an outline, which is in the bulletin there, 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:42.000 it may feel ominously long and detailed. 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:49.899 It is there to help you follow the flow of thought in Genesis chapter 17. 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:55.899 I'll be spending more time speaking about the first half of the outline than the second half. 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:58.259 So don't get too nervous. 00:05:59.599 --> 00:06:02.319 But yeah, it will just help you follow the flow of ideas. 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:08.219 And I'll be stepping through most of the ideas on that outline bit by bit as we go through the text of Genesis 17. 00:06:08.719 --> 00:06:12.879 Now, Genesis 17 is a chapter of monumental significance, 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:15.759 which reverberates through the rest of the Bible. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.779 Genesis 17, it may not have quite the same human drama as chapter 16, 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:24.240 which we looked at last week. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:28.060 But in the scheme of the Bible's unfolding story, 00:06:28.219 --> 00:06:31.420 Genesis 17, chapter 17, is by far the more important. 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:37.180 It's the first time in this chapter that we hear the name Abraham. 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:41.420 We've met him before, of course, by a different name, by the name Abram. 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.620 But this is Abraham is the name by which he will be known throughout the rest of the scriptures. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.500 The name which we mentioned 73 times in the New Testament, 00:06:50.700 --> 00:06:55.840 second only to Moses as an Old Testament figure in the New Testament. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.379 The first mention in the Bible of circumcision. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:09.539 Genesis chapter 17, in this chapter, the word covenant occurs more times than in any other chapter in the Bible. 00:07:11.039 --> 00:07:14.759 Thirteen times the word covenant occurs in Genesis chapter 17. 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.439 The closest any other chapter in the Bible gets is seven. 00:07:19.679 --> 00:07:22.259 There's a lot going on in Genesis 17. 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:26.800 So I want to give you something to hang on to as we get into it. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:35.120 And what I'm going to give you to hang on to is five speeches, four names, one promise. 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:39.000 Five speeches, four names, one promise. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.639 The covenant God announces in this chapter unfolds over five speeches. 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:48.579 Five times the speech of God is introduced. 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:54.319 In four of those five speeches, God gives someone a new name. 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.800 Simon spoke about a couple of those in the kids' talk. 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:05.539 And those names are keys which unlock the key ideas, the key themes of the covenant in this chapter. 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:14.939 But everything God says, all five speeches, all four new names, are all for the sake of one staggering promise. 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:20.020 Five speeches, four names, one promise. 00:08:20.260 --> 00:08:24.160 Now God makes various promises in this chapter and many more throughout the Bible. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:33.060 But of every promise God has given, there is one specific promise in this chapter that I would suggest is the most important promise of all. 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:38.800 It's the most important promise because it is the whole point of every other promise. 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:44.259 And in the Bible we hear it for the first time in Genesis chapter 17. 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:47.939 So let's get into this chapter together. 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:49.639 Five speeches, four names, one promise. 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:53.519 It begins in verse 1, when Abram was 99 years old. 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:58.019 Now 13 years had passed since the end of chapter 16. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:03.100 13 years had passed since Abram's son Ishmael was born to Hagar. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:10.519 And Hagar, if you were here last week, you will remember, was an Egyptian servant girl who belonged to Abram's wife Sarai. 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:22.620 It's been 13 years with Abram, his wife Sarai, Ishmael and Hagar living together under the one roof, so to speak. 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:26.159 13 years, we might imagine, of some domestic tension. 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:37.199 But nonetheless, at the end of those 13 years, at age 99, as an old man, Abram probably thought that the most important events of his life were past. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.820 God had given him promises in Genesis chapter 12. 00:09:42.060 --> 00:09:44.020 He had journeyed to the land of Canaan. 00:09:44.280 --> 00:09:48.240 He had defeated a coalition of eastern kings in chapter 14. 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:51.120 God had made a covenant with him in chapter 15. 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:54.720 And we had the birth of Ishmael in chapter 16. 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:59.420 The major events of Abram's life seem complete. 00:10:00.420 --> 00:10:01.600 He has a son. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:02.580 He has an heir. 00:10:02.580 --> 00:10:07.820 Sure, it may have come about in an awkward way, but his line would continue. 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:09.500 God's promises would continue. 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:14.500 But God was about to interrupt Abram's thoughts. 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:19.620 And so we come to the first of God's five speeches in this chapter. 00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:20.200 Verse 1. 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:38.220 First, God says, I am God Almighty. 00:10:38.379 --> 00:10:39.860 In Hebrew, El Shaddai. 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:42.200 I am El Shaddai. 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:45.460 This is the first of the four new names in this chapter. 00:10:45.460 --> 00:10:49.860 God identifies himself here as El Shaddai for the first time in the Bible. 00:10:49.940 --> 00:10:52.139 And that's not the most common name for God in the Bible. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.759 I think it occurs 48 times through the Old Testament, mostly in the book of Job. 00:10:57.560 --> 00:11:01.139 It pops up at some significant places in Genesis. 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:07.280 And there is some uncertainty about how it should be translated, El Shaddai. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.500 But God Almighty is probably close to the mark. 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:15.240 Or maybe, as the New English translation has it, the sovereign God. 00:11:16.199 --> 00:11:17.100 El is easy. 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:18.019 That just means God. 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:21.000 What about Shaddai? 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:28.759 Well, I think the most likely suggestions for Shaddai are that it's related to either the Hebrew word for sufficiency 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:34.500 or to a Hebrew word to destroy and overpower, a word for strength. 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:43.620 Either way, here is a name that suggests God's absolute power, sovereignty and strength. 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:51.659 The early Christian scholar, Jerome, 4th century scholar who translated the Hebrew Old Testament 00:11:51.659 --> 00:12:01.860 into a Latin version called the Vulgate, he consistently translated this word Shaddai with the Latin word omnipotence. 00:12:04.500 --> 00:12:07.799 El Shaddai is not a God to be trifled with. 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:12.139 He is a God who can do whatever he wishes. 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:15.659 I am El Shaddai. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:23.240 And what El Shaddai had for Abram in this first speech was a two-part command and a two-part promise. 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:28.340 And in each case, the two parts work together really to convey a single idea. 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:32.680 So first the command, walk before me and be blameless. 00:12:33.180 --> 00:12:39.840 God calls Abram to allegiance, obedience and moral integrity. 00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:42.700 Walk before me and be blameless. 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:52.420 And what follows is a two-part promise that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly. 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:58.940 Now let me say something in general about covenants and then we'll look at the specifics of this particular covenant. 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:06.080 A covenant in the Bible is a solemn agreement which establishes a lasting relationship. 00:13:07.900 --> 00:13:17.100 It's similar to a contract, we have contracts today, but contracts in our context have a very different spirit to the covenants God makes in the Bible. 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:22.180 Contracts, our modern day contracts, are transactional. 00:13:24.300 --> 00:13:29.340 They're agreements that serve the self-interest of each party. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.220 They're limited, narrow and clearly defined in scope. 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:37.360 But God's covenants are deeper and much more open-ended than that. 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.000 So my wife and my family, we've just moved house. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:51.200 But at our old house, some years ago, we were doing some renovation work and we engaged a plumber by the name of Anthony. 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.620 And Anthony had just started a new business. 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:57.720 We were one of Anthony's first customers. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.559 The first invoice we received from Anthony was number 20. 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:03.659 His invoice number 20. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.399 And we got Anthony, you know, I got on well with Anthony. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:07.700 He was a hard worker. 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:09.639 We seemed to have a good relationship. 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:11.039 He charged reasonable prices. 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:12.100 He did a good job. 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:14.019 We got him to do more and more work. 00:14:14.319 --> 00:14:19.299 We had invoices 20, then 22, then 34, then 52, then 86. 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:22.419 Five of his first hundred invoices written out to us. 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:26.819 We must have been a significant customer for Anthony in the early years of his business. 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:30.919 So we stuck with Anthony from then on. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.039 But over the years, things changed. 00:14:35.319 --> 00:14:36.600 His business grew. 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:39.319 We stopped seeing Anthony. 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:42.720 Someone else would answer the phone when we rang. 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:48.000 Someone else would come out to our house to attend a job, a junior plumber. 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:49.460 The fees increased. 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:53.460 The invoice numbers rose. 00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:58.940 The most recent invoice we received this year was number 21,340. 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:07.900 The reality is, although my relationship with Anthony was warm, it was only ever transactional. 00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:11.879 You do this for me and I'll do that for you. 00:15:12.280 --> 00:15:15.139 You unclog our drains and I'll pay your fee. 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:21.039 A lot of people have a transactional approach to God. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:26.319 Heal me of this affliction and I'll start going to church. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:31.140 Give me a wife and I'll consider missionary service. 00:15:32.140 --> 00:15:34.660 Or maybe we put it around the other way. 00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:40.640 God, I've been giving money to church and a mission. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:45.220 You owe it to me, God, to make my business prosper. 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:51.419 Much ancient religion was transactional in nature. 00:15:51.419 --> 00:15:59.399 But El Shaddai does not make contracts. 00:16:00.439 --> 00:16:02.659 He makes covenants. 00:16:03.699 --> 00:16:09.199 And his words in verses 1 and 2 are more marriage proposal than business deal. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:19.680 He calls Abram to complete wholehearted allegiance and promises to bind himself to Abram in a covenant. 00:16:20.300 --> 00:16:25.220 A covenant that's summarized in the words that I may multiply you greatly. 00:16:26.280 --> 00:16:29.620 Now God had already made one covenant with Abram in chapter 15. 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:32.540 The covenant to your descendants I give this land. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.960 But here in chapter 17 he proposes a second covenant. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:41.300 Or at the very least an expansion of the covenant. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:42.420 A covenant upgrade. 00:16:43.900 --> 00:16:47.280 Now why do I say this is a second covenant or at least a covenant upgrade? 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.100 Because the covenant in chapter 17 is future, not past. 00:16:51.160 --> 00:16:52.759 The one in chapter 15 is already given. 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:58.720 But this one in chapter 17, when God announces it here in verse 2, it hasn't yet been made. 00:16:58.780 --> 00:16:59.860 It's not yet ratified. 00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:02.879 He proposes giving Abram this covenant. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.640 But first Abram must walk before him and be blameless. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.120 Chapter 17 is the engagement. 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:11.700 The marriage is yet to come. 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:19.140 So the Lord appeared to Abram with this searching command and this priceless promise. 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:24.880 And Abram did what we might expect a human being to do, a mere mortal to do in the presence of El Shaddai. 00:17:25.120 --> 00:17:26.600 Verse 3, he fell on his face. 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:32.639 Which brings us to the second speech in verses 3 to 8 and the second new name. 00:17:33.379 --> 00:17:36.059 Verse 3, Abram fell on his face and God said to him, 00:17:36.059 --> 00:18:00.619 Now the Hebrew word Ab means father. 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:09.239 And the name Abraham means, or Avram, probably a better pronunciation, means exalted father. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:16.859 But the name Avraham, as Simon explained in the kids talk, means father of many. 00:18:17.919 --> 00:18:18.959 Father of many. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:24.019 In chapter 15, God had promised Abram many descendants. 00:18:25.340 --> 00:18:30.819 And it's implied that they would form one nation in the land of Canaan, the land God was giving. 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:40.880 But in this second covenant, or this covenant upgrade, Abraham would be the father of many in an even greater sense. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:47.480 He would be the father of a multitude of nations, not just one, but many. 00:18:49.620 --> 00:18:53.520 Now that's the promise that's at the heart of this covenant. 00:18:55.340 --> 00:19:00.100 Verse 6, I will make you exceedingly fruitful. 00:19:00.099 --> 00:19:08.839 The word fruitful there echoes Genesis chapter 1, the promise at creation, or the mandate at creation. 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:14.219 And Genesis chapter 9, the command to Noah, the blessing of Noah after the flood. 00:19:14.219 --> 00:19:22.240 I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make you into nations, God says. 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:27.319 That's the promise that's at the heart of this covenant in Genesis chapter 17. 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:33.960 That's the sense in which God will multiply Abraham greatly. 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:39.519 Making him the father of many, not just descendants, but many nations. 00:19:40.399 --> 00:19:44.359 But in what sense would Abraham be the father of a multitude of nations? 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:46.819 That's the question we need to ask. 00:19:47.779 --> 00:19:49.119 But hold that question. 00:19:50.159 --> 00:19:52.899 First, I want us to see three other elements of this covenant. 00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:57.140 Kings, offspring and everlasting. 00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:58.019 First kings. 00:19:58.380 --> 00:19:59.220 Look at verse 6. 00:19:59.560 --> 00:20:04.519 Again, I will make you into nations and kings shall come from you. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.600 The Lord says. 00:20:07.600 --> 00:20:12.900 In making this covenant, God emphasizes your descendants will include kings. 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:19.759 For some reason not yet explained, a royal line will be important for this covenant. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.160 Second, your offspring, verse 7. 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:31.879 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.000 Throughout their generations. 00:20:35.220 --> 00:20:39.559 The covenant in chapter 15 was made with Abram alone. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:45.819 This covenant God specifically makes with Abraham and his offspring. 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:51.379 It would fully belong to future generations. 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:54.439 Third, everlasting. 00:20:56.019 --> 00:20:59.419 Between me and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.740 For an everlasting covenant, God says. 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:06.299 This covenant would be perpetual. 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:07.299 It would endure. 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:10.079 It concerned God's ultimate plans. 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:13.179 His plans for an everlasting future. 00:21:13.539 --> 00:21:15.039 For days without end. 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.299 God's everlasting covenant. 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:23.159 His eternal plan was that Abraham would be the father of a multitude of nations. 00:21:24.159 --> 00:21:25.879 So let's return to that question. 00:21:26.159 --> 00:21:29.220 In what sense would Abraham be the father of a multitude of nations? 00:21:29.659 --> 00:21:34.740 Well, one option is maybe he's the father of many nations by physical descent. 00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:37.339 Now, he's their ancestor. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:46.180 Now, getting ahead of ourselves a little bit here, but I have a family tree for Abraham that I think will come up on the screen. 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:47.180 There we go. 00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:49.279 There we go. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:51.259 Showing Abraham's descendants. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:58.360 And ultimately, Abraham would have children by three women, by Hagar, Sarah and Keturah. 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:01.480 And from them came multiple nations. 00:22:02.580 --> 00:22:05.400 The Arab tribes descended from Ishmael. 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:10.560 Edom and Israel descended from Sarah, through Sarah. 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:12.600 And Midianites and others through Keturah. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:21.100 Now, maybe you could say that if you take all of those different people, groups and nations together, that adds up to a multitude. 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:24.980 And in that sense, Abraham is the father of a multitude of nations. 00:22:26.619 --> 00:22:29.819 Although maybe that feels like it's stretching the language a little. 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:34.539 I think next slide we go. 00:22:35.179 --> 00:22:40.819 But actually, Genesis doesn't really let us reach that conclusion anyway. 00:22:40.819 --> 00:22:57.539 Because later on in this chapter, in verses 19 to 21, God distinguishes between Isaac and Ishmael, two sons of Abraham, and says the covenant will be through Isaac, not through Ishmael. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:01.000 So that seems to narrow it down even further. 00:23:01.139 --> 00:23:05.039 Maybe the multitude of nations, next slide, is just Edom and Israel. 00:23:05.179 --> 00:23:07.819 But then that doesn't really sound like a multitude at all. 00:23:07.819 --> 00:23:08.700 That's just two. 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:23.839 Even more definitive, though, is when we get to it, Genesis chapter 35, verse 11, when the Lord repeats this or reaffirms this covenant to Jacob, Abraham's grandson. 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:30.259 Genesis 35, verse 9, God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram and he blessed him. 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:34.379 And God said to him, I am God Almighty, El Shaddai. 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:37.179 Be fruitful and multiply. 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:44.980 A nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall come from your own body. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.580 Can you hear all the echoes of Genesis 17 there? 00:23:49.600 --> 00:23:50.779 I am El Shaddai. 00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:52.340 Be fruitful. 00:23:52.820 --> 00:23:53.920 A company of nations. 00:23:54.340 --> 00:23:54.700 Kings. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:59.820 I mean, this is the Genesis 17 covenant being reaffirmed to Jacob. 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:03.539 And about the kings, God is explicit. 00:24:03.679 --> 00:24:06.599 He says, kings shall come from your own body. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.679 That is, by physical descent from you. 00:24:10.639 --> 00:24:11.899 But what about the first part? 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:16.960 A nation and a company of nations shall come from you. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:20.500 Well, physically, Jacob was the ancestor of only one nation. 00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:22.079 Israel. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:22.200 Israel. 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:26.759 So God distinguishes. 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:30.680 A nation would come from Jacob, a nation by physical descent. 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:36.740 But a company of nations could only come from Jacob in another sense. 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:48.380 In other words, to bring us back to Genesis 17, the covenant in Genesis 17 is not about Abraham's physical fatherhood of a few nations, 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:54.240 but his spiritual fatherhood of a multitude of nations. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:25:07.900 The covenant of Genesis 17 is God's formal, binding, eternal ratification of the promise initially announced in Genesis 12, verse 3, 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:12.120 in you, all families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.420 That's the meaning of the name Abraham. 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:27.840 It signifies God's promise and plan and purpose to gather together all nations, all peoples, all the families of the earth, 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:30.720 that they might receive his blessing. 00:25:33.539 --> 00:25:34.920 And what is the blessing? 00:25:36.340 --> 00:25:38.720 What is the ultimate goal of this covenant? 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:48.079 Well, it's there before us in that one promise, that one most important promise, which is the purpose of every other promise. 00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:50.640 Verse 7, 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.900 And I'll establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, 00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:04.539 to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:07.839 Or as God puts it simply at the end of verse 8, 00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:10.359 And I will be their God. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:17.240 God has made an everlasting covenant, from which he will not budge, 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:21.299 to bring together a multitude of nations, all the families of the earth, 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:25.420 so that he might bless us by being our God. 00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:30.299 Now think about that promise, and I will be their God. 00:26:30.299 --> 00:27:00.279 God has made an everlasting covenant, from which he will not budge, 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:03.579 promise that, because that is just a given of reality. 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:08.859 What God promises here, when he says, I will be their God, 00:27:08.899 --> 00:27:13.740 is the kind of relationship with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden. 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:17.440 When they dwelt in his presence, 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:19.740 heard his voice, 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.539 delighted in his blessing, 00:27:23.539 --> 00:27:26.440 when they walked with the Lord in the cool of the day. 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:32.100 It's the kind of relationship in which God is over us, 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:33.259 and with us, 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:34.640 and for us, 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:39.019 and nothing in all creation can separate us from his love. 00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:43.440 God pledged himself to restore, 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:47.120 with a multitude of nations, 00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:50.100 all the spiritual offspring of Abraham, 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:52.980 that perfect union of love, 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:53.819 and worship, 00:27:53.819 --> 00:27:54.759 and joy, 00:27:55.219 --> 00:27:56.939 for which we were made. 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:01.980 God promised to give himself to us, 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:03.419 that we might glorify him, 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:04.579 and enjoy him forever. 00:28:06.159 --> 00:28:09.259 And that promise is for people of every nation. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:12.699 And I will be their God. 00:28:12.700 --> 00:28:16.660 Now I want us to think about some implications of that. 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:18.220 We're going to think about one implication now. 00:28:18.340 --> 00:28:20.039 We're going to think about some further implications 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:23.059 after we've looked at the rest of chapter 17, briefly. 00:28:24.120 --> 00:28:25.299 One implication now. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:29.360 Martin Luther King used to say, 00:28:30.299 --> 00:28:34.600 11 a.m. Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:38.519 That is, 00:28:38.619 --> 00:28:41.339 he's making the point that in mid-20th century America, 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:44.799 nowhere was the division between black and white 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:46.699 clearer than on a Sunday morning, 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:50.179 when the country divided into black churches, 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.179 and white churches, 00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:52.399 African-American churches, 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:53.879 and European-American churches. 00:28:56.459 --> 00:28:57.099 Now, 00:28:57.500 --> 00:28:59.000 at one level, 00:28:59.379 --> 00:29:01.879 it doesn't matter if there are ethnic churches. 00:29:03.379 --> 00:29:04.159 Think about it. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:05.580 If in Glendale here, 00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:07.720 we had a Chinese church, 00:29:08.259 --> 00:29:09.519 and an African church, 00:29:09.600 --> 00:29:10.580 and a Korean church, 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:11.660 and a Spanish church, 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:13.540 and an Aboriginal Australian church. 00:29:14.180 --> 00:29:15.080 Well, if that happened, 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:16.920 if we had all those churches here in Glendale, 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:18.560 praise God. 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:23.800 There was a 1969 song 00:29:23.800 --> 00:29:25.960 by Blue Mink, 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.420 which proposed putting all the people of the world 00:29:30.420 --> 00:29:32.060 into a melting pot. 00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:34.440 And then, 00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:36.359 stirring the melting pot 00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:37.879 for a hundred years or more, 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:40.240 and then turning out 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:41.599 coffee-coloured people 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:42.399 by the score. 00:29:43.259 --> 00:29:44.240 Anyone know that song? 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:46.339 I could sing one or two nods, right? 00:29:46.679 --> 00:29:47.720 It's not a very good song. 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:49.059 But, 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:53.140 but, 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:54.880 but while God's plan 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:55.680 is to gather 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:57.059 one church, 00:29:58.059 --> 00:29:59.620 that one church 00:29:59.620 --> 00:30:00.559 is not uniform, 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:02.180 it's not monochrome. 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.180 God wants to be known 00:30:05.180 --> 00:30:06.000 and worshipped 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:06.839 in English, 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:07.740 and in Mandarin, 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:08.900 and in Swahili, 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:09.799 and in Spanish, 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:10.559 and in Arabic, 00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:12.039 and in Indonesian, 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:13.100 Telugu, 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:13.700 Creole, 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:15.100 and thousands of other languages. 00:30:15.099 --> 00:30:19.559 Abraham is not the father 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:21.779 of one coffee-coloured nation, 00:30:22.159 --> 00:30:24.639 but of a multitude of nations. 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:27.439 So there's no problem 00:30:27.439 --> 00:30:28.399 with specific ethnic 00:30:28.399 --> 00:30:29.919 or language-based churches. 00:30:30.139 --> 00:30:30.480 Every, 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:30.819 in fact, 00:30:30.899 --> 00:30:31.799 every congregation 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:33.980 is a language-based church. 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:35.299 You can't avoid it. 00:30:35.299 --> 00:30:38.619 At the same time, 00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:39.799 every church, 00:30:40.399 --> 00:30:41.500 while it may operate 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:42.700 in a specific language, 00:30:42.859 --> 00:30:44.039 should in principle 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:44.940 be a place 00:30:44.940 --> 00:30:45.759 where people 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:46.819 of every nation 00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:47.680 and ethnicity 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:48.720 and background 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:49.639 are welcome. 00:30:52.539 --> 00:30:52.740 Now, 00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:53.539 when the multitude 00:30:53.539 --> 00:30:54.259 of nations 00:30:54.259 --> 00:30:55.680 in the church 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.879 is mirrored 00:30:57.879 --> 00:30:58.919 in a plurality 00:30:58.919 --> 00:30:59.579 of nations 00:30:59.579 --> 00:31:00.960 in a church, 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:01.879 well, 00:31:01.919 --> 00:31:02.879 that's a beautiful thing. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:06.280 we have some 00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:07.100 of that diversity 00:31:07.100 --> 00:31:08.160 here at Grace. 00:31:09.360 --> 00:31:10.280 Praise God. 00:31:11.760 --> 00:31:12.820 We might pray 00:31:12.820 --> 00:31:13.640 for even more. 00:31:15.800 --> 00:31:17.060 So let's strive 00:31:17.060 --> 00:31:18.080 to be hospitable 00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:18.860 to one another, 00:31:19.560 --> 00:31:20.900 to build bridges 00:31:20.900 --> 00:31:22.060 across culture 00:31:22.060 --> 00:31:23.500 and across language, 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:25.860 so that anyone 00:31:25.860 --> 00:31:26.700 who walks through 00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:27.160 the doors 00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:28.040 of our church 00:31:28.040 --> 00:31:28.820 will know 00:31:28.820 --> 00:31:29.640 they belong, 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:31.700 wherever they come from. 00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:35.420 And so God's 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:36.460 covenant with Abraham 00:31:36.460 --> 00:31:37.720 might be visibly 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:38.500 displayed 00:31:38.500 --> 00:31:39.900 right here 00:31:39.900 --> 00:31:41.039 in this place. 00:31:45.100 --> 00:31:45.580 Okay, 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:46.240 I have some more 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:47.019 implications later, 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:47.519 but let's just 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:48.340 fly through 00:31:48.340 --> 00:31:49.580 the rest of chapter 17 00:31:49.580 --> 00:31:50.559 because there are 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:51.140 some more things 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:52.140 we need to notice here 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:53.019 and then we'll 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:53.980 wrap it up together. 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:57.200 The third speech 00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:57.900 of God 00:31:57.900 --> 00:31:59.380 in verses 9 to 14 00:31:59.380 --> 00:32:00.080 begins, 00:32:00.299 --> 00:32:00.920 verse 9, 00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:02.900 And God said 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:03.580 to Abraham, 00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:04.640 As for you, 00:32:04.779 --> 00:32:05.620 you shall keep 00:32:05.620 --> 00:32:06.500 my covenant, 00:32:07.299 --> 00:32:08.420 you and your offspring 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:09.140 after you 00:32:09.140 --> 00:32:09.819 throughout their 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:10.460 generations. 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:11.819 Now what God 00:32:11.819 --> 00:32:12.620 means by this 00:32:12.620 --> 00:32:13.180 when he calls 00:32:13.180 --> 00:32:13.720 on Abraham 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:15.640 to keep his covenant 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:16.720 is to keep 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:17.340 what he calls 00:32:17.340 --> 00:32:18.000 in verse 11 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:19.039 a sign 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:19.880 of the covenant. 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:22.279 Abraham's descendants 00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:23.759 were to be marked 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:25.400 by that sign. 00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:27.500 It was a way 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:28.019 of saying 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:28.720 we belong 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:29.420 to the covenant. 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:31.820 We are waiting 00:32:31.820 --> 00:32:33.019 on God's promises. 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:35.440 God is our God. 00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:37.620 The sign 00:32:37.620 --> 00:32:38.259 of the covenant 00:32:38.259 --> 00:32:39.300 was circumcision. 00:32:41.360 --> 00:32:43.080 Now why circumcision? 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:45.259 Well, 00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:45.900 this chapter 00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:47.220 doesn't directly 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:47.880 answer that. 00:32:47.940 --> 00:32:48.160 In fact, 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:48.640 I don't think 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:49.500 really anywhere 00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:50.060 in the Bible 00:32:50.060 --> 00:32:51.060 directly answers 00:32:51.060 --> 00:32:51.759 that question. 00:32:51.759 --> 00:32:54.700 but I think 00:32:54.700 --> 00:32:55.440 it's reasonable 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:56.180 to suppose 00:32:56.180 --> 00:32:56.900 that there is 00:32:56.900 --> 00:32:57.859 some relationship 00:32:57.859 --> 00:32:59.220 between the sign 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:00.420 and between 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:00.980 what God 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:01.759 has promised. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:03.759 Just as you 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:04.059 think about 00:33:04.059 --> 00:33:04.440 the covenant 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:05.019 with Noah, 00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:06.480 there's an obvious 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:07.379 connection between 00:33:07.379 --> 00:33:08.200 the sign, 00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:08.960 a rainbow, 00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:10.759 and the promise 00:33:10.759 --> 00:33:11.480 not to flood 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:12.039 the earth. 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:13.980 Well, 00:33:13.980 --> 00:33:14.420 the promise 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:15.059 of the covenant 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:16.180 in Genesis 17 00:33:16.180 --> 00:33:16.920 is, 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:18.580 I will multiply 00:33:18.580 --> 00:33:19.300 you greatly. 00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:21.000 I will make 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:21.680 you exceedingly 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:22.120 fruitful. 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:23.680 I will make 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:24.560 you into nations 00:33:24.560 --> 00:33:25.440 and kings 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:26.000 shall come 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:26.620 from you. 00:33:27.779 --> 00:33:28.660 So perhaps 00:33:28.660 --> 00:33:29.500 the best suggestion 00:33:29.500 --> 00:33:30.380 as to why 00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:31.100 circumcision 00:33:31.100 --> 00:33:32.120 is because 00:33:32.120 --> 00:33:33.180 of the association 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:34.320 with procreation. 00:33:36.320 --> 00:33:36.940 Circumcision 00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:37.680 was to serve 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:38.320 as a visible 00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:39.039 sign 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.600 that fruitfulness, 00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:42.380 multiplication, 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:43.720 descendants 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:45.259 are from 00:33:45.259 --> 00:33:45.860 the Lord. 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:47.620 They are the 00:33:47.620 --> 00:33:48.339 blessing of 00:33:48.339 --> 00:33:48.980 El Shaddai. 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:52.740 And ultimately 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:54.079 it was a 00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:54.600 reminder that 00:33:54.600 --> 00:33:55.380 it was God 00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:56.299 himself who 00:33:56.299 --> 00:33:56.880 would fulfil 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:58.140 his promise 00:33:58.140 --> 00:33:59.500 to bless 00:33:59.500 --> 00:34:00.180 all families 00:34:00.180 --> 00:34:00.880 of the earth 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:01.759 through the 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:02.539 seed of Abraham. 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:05.940 God commands 00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:06.600 in verse 10 00:34:06.600 --> 00:34:07.700 that every male 00:34:07.700 --> 00:34:08.380 among you 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:08.800 shall be 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:09.619 circumcised. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:10.340 And verses 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:11.119 12 to 13 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:11.940 go on to explain 00:34:11.940 --> 00:34:12.720 that this includes 00:34:12.720 --> 00:34:13.360 both those 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:14.220 born in your 00:34:14.220 --> 00:34:15.140 house and 00:34:15.140 --> 00:34:15.900 any bought 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:16.420 with your 00:34:16.420 --> 00:34:16.920 money from 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:17.559 any foreigner 00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:18.039 who's not 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:18.320 of your 00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:18.720 offspring. 00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:19.780 That is, 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:20.500 this sign 00:34:20.500 --> 00:34:21.260 of the 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:21.579 covenant 00:34:21.579 --> 00:34:22.780 wasn't only 00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:23.260 for the 00:34:23.260 --> 00:34:23.640 natural 00:34:23.640 --> 00:34:24.180 descendants 00:34:24.180 --> 00:34:25.300 of Abraham, 00:34:25.620 --> 00:34:26.240 it was for 00:34:26.240 --> 00:34:26.840 any who 00:34:26.840 --> 00:34:28.000 became 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:28.760 attached 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:29.940 to Abraham's 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:30.360 family. 00:34:31.780 --> 00:34:32.079 Whatever 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:32.760 people or 00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:33.260 tribe 00:34:33.260 --> 00:34:34.120 they might 00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:34.640 be from. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:36.120 All could 00:34:36.120 --> 00:34:36.740 be included. 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:38.760 And so 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:39.300 the covenant 00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:39.920 with Abraham 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:40.760 was both 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:41.880 universal 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:43.579 and 00:34:43.579 --> 00:34:44.240 particular. 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:46.280 We've 00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:46.579 seen the 00:34:46.579 --> 00:34:47.039 universal, 00:34:47.220 --> 00:34:47.780 Abraham the 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:48.579 father of 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:49.099 a multitude 00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:49.760 of nations. 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:50.880 But there's 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:51.500 also a sense 00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:51.980 in which this 00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:52.559 covenant is 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:53.260 particular. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:55.660 And the 00:34:55.660 --> 00:34:56.340 fourth and 00:34:56.340 --> 00:34:56.880 fifth speeches 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:57.440 of God in 00:34:57.440 --> 00:34:57.760 this chapter 00:34:57.760 --> 00:34:58.500 sort of draw 00:34:58.500 --> 00:34:58.900 out the 00:34:58.900 --> 00:34:59.260 connection 00:34:59.260 --> 00:34:59.780 between the 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:00.480 universal and 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:01.000 the particular. 00:35:01.740 --> 00:35:02.480 Speech 4, 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:03.240 verse 15, 00:35:03.239 --> 00:35:04.299 And God 00:35:04.299 --> 00:35:04.679 said to 00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:05.059 Abraham, 00:35:05.339 --> 00:35:05.779 As for 00:35:05.779 --> 00:35:06.259 Sarai, 00:35:06.359 --> 00:35:06.979 your wife, 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:07.899 you shall 00:35:07.899 --> 00:35:08.419 not call 00:35:08.419 --> 00:35:08.839 her name 00:35:08.839 --> 00:35:09.500 Sarai, 00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:10.339 but Sarah 00:35:10.339 --> 00:35:11.019 shall be 00:35:11.019 --> 00:35:11.599 her name. 00:35:12.539 --> 00:35:12.939 I will 00:35:12.939 --> 00:35:13.759 bless her 00:35:13.759 --> 00:35:15.359 and moreover 00:35:15.359 --> 00:35:15.759 I will 00:35:15.759 --> 00:35:16.099 give a 00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:16.679 son by 00:35:16.679 --> 00:35:17.019 her. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:18.339 I will 00:35:18.339 --> 00:35:18.939 bless her 00:35:18.939 --> 00:35:19.459 and she 00:35:19.459 --> 00:35:19.739 shall 00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:20.139 become 00:35:20.139 --> 00:35:21.019 nations. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:22.439 Kings 00:35:22.439 --> 00:35:23.339 of peoples 00:35:23.339 --> 00:35:24.000 shall come 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:24.579 from her. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:26.159 Now, 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:26.839 when God 00:35:26.839 --> 00:35:27.239 says I 00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:27.699 will bless 00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:27.959 her, 00:35:28.139 --> 00:35:28.519 I will 00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:28.899 give you 00:35:28.899 --> 00:35:29.459 a son 00:35:29.459 --> 00:35:29.979 by her, 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:30.539 that's the 00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:31.059 particular. 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:32.059 family 00:35:32.059 --> 00:35:31.199 line. 00:35:32.759 --> 00:35:33.320 Physically, 00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:34.099 Sarah would 00:35:34.099 --> 00:35:34.599 be the 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:35.039 mother of 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:35.719 a particular 00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:36.259 family 00:35:36.259 --> 00:35:36.799 line. 00:35:38.360 --> 00:35:39.199 When God 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:39.599 says I 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:40.039 will bless 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:40.480 her and 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:40.860 she shall 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:41.219 become 00:35:41.219 --> 00:35:41.739 nations, 00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:42.340 that's the 00:35:42.340 --> 00:35:42.900 universal. 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:44.820 Spiritually, 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:45.460 Sarah would 00:35:45.460 --> 00:35:45.799 be the 00:35:45.799 --> 00:35:46.199 mother of 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:46.679 a multitude 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:47.380 of nations. 00:35:48.299 --> 00:35:49.179 So what's 00:35:49.179 --> 00:35:49.799 the relationship 00:35:49.799 --> 00:35:50.460 between the 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:50.860 two, 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:52.320 between a 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:53.759 son and 00:35:53.759 --> 00:35:54.259 nations, 00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:55.279 between a 00:35:55.279 --> 00:35:55.719 particular 00:35:55.719 --> 00:35:56.699 family line 00:35:56.699 --> 00:35:57.380 and all 00:35:57.380 --> 00:35:57.940 the families 00:35:57.940 --> 00:35:58.239 of the 00:35:58.239 --> 00:35:58.619 earth? 00:36:00.099 --> 00:36:00.320 Well, 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:01.100 Genesis 17 00:36:01.100 --> 00:36:01.539 is giving 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:02.059 us hints, 00:36:02.180 --> 00:36:02.380 right? 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:03.140 It's laying 00:36:03.140 --> 00:36:03.720 seeds, 00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:04.300 it's beginning 00:36:04.300 --> 00:36:04.980 threads that 00:36:04.980 --> 00:36:05.740 will flow 00:36:05.740 --> 00:36:06.160 through the 00:36:06.160 --> 00:36:06.480 rest of 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:06.940 the Bible. 00:36:09.580 --> 00:36:10.100 Here's 00:36:10.100 --> 00:36:10.740 another hint. 00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:12.460 Kings 00:36:12.460 --> 00:36:13.580 of peoples 00:36:13.580 --> 00:36:14.440 shall come 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:15.019 from her. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:15.539 The 00:36:15.539 --> 00:36:16.019 particular 00:36:16.019 --> 00:36:16.760 line 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:17.920 through 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:18.660 Sarah's 00:36:18.660 --> 00:36:19.080 son 00:36:19.080 --> 00:36:20.240 would be 00:36:20.240 --> 00:36:20.900 a royal 00:36:20.900 --> 00:36:21.720 line, 00:36:22.620 --> 00:36:23.740 a line 00:36:23.740 --> 00:36:24.080 that would 00:36:24.080 --> 00:36:24.500 produce 00:36:24.500 --> 00:36:25.120 kings, 00:36:26.620 --> 00:36:27.740 which 00:36:27.740 --> 00:36:28.660 may well 00:36:28.660 --> 00:36:29.280 explain the 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:29.800 third new 00:36:29.800 --> 00:36:30.200 name we 00:36:30.200 --> 00:36:30.780 encounter in 00:36:30.780 --> 00:36:31.220 this chapter, 00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:31.740 Sarah. 00:36:34.220 --> 00:36:35.080 No longer 00:36:35.080 --> 00:36:35.519 Sarah, 00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:36.780 but call 00:36:36.780 --> 00:36:37.320 her name 00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:38.300 Sarah, 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:40.420 because Sarah 00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:41.280 means princess. 00:36:43.160 --> 00:36:44.039 It's a name 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:44.800 fitting for the 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:45.220 mother of 00:36:45.220 --> 00:36:45.660 kings. 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:47.760 Kings of 00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:48.360 people shall 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:48.940 come from 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:49.220 her. 00:36:51.539 --> 00:36:52.120 So as the 00:36:52.120 --> 00:36:53.120 Bible unfolds, 00:36:53.180 --> 00:36:54.640 the particular 00:36:54.640 --> 00:36:55.480 promise, 00:36:57.260 --> 00:36:58.180 Sarah's line, 00:36:58.179 --> 00:37:00.619 is the 00:37:00.619 --> 00:37:01.179 key to the 00:37:01.179 --> 00:37:01.699 universal 00:37:01.699 --> 00:37:02.279 promise, 00:37:03.379 --> 00:37:03.659 all 00:37:03.659 --> 00:37:04.079 nations. 00:37:06.259 --> 00:37:06.899 It's 00:37:06.899 --> 00:37:07.379 through 00:37:07.379 --> 00:37:08.419 the son 00:37:08.419 --> 00:37:08.940 of Sarah 00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:10.960 that the 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:11.539 nations would 00:37:11.539 --> 00:37:12.039 be blessed. 00:37:14.179 --> 00:37:15.119 The promise 00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:15.579 to Sarah 00:37:15.579 --> 00:37:16.279 sets us 00:37:16.279 --> 00:37:17.239 waiting for 00:37:17.239 --> 00:37:17.879 a king, 00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:20.000 a king 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:20.579 to whom 00:37:20.579 --> 00:37:21.079 would belong 00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:21.719 the obedience 00:37:21.719 --> 00:37:22.440 of all 00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:22.879 nations. 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:23.079 nations. 00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:26.400 Now 00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:26.800 Abraham 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:28.180 responds to 00:37:28.180 --> 00:37:28.660 all this, 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:29.960 the promise 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:30.400 that Sarah 00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:30.720 will have 00:37:30.720 --> 00:37:31.240 a son in 00:37:31.240 --> 00:37:32.119 verse 17, 00:37:33.220 --> 00:37:34.140 by falling 00:37:34.140 --> 00:37:34.400 on his 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:35.000 face again 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:36.680 and laughing. 00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:39.559 And then 00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:40.099 he speaks to 00:37:40.099 --> 00:37:40.660 himself and 00:37:40.660 --> 00:37:41.260 he speaks to 00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:41.500 God. 00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:42.340 In verse 17, 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:43.220 Abraham says 00:37:43.220 --> 00:37:43.780 to himself, 00:37:44.220 --> 00:37:44.860 shall a child 00:37:44.860 --> 00:37:45.519 be born to 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:46.059 a man who's 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:46.380 a hundred 00:37:46.380 --> 00:37:47.019 years old? 00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:47.640 Shall Sarah 00:37:47.640 --> 00:37:48.160 who's ninety 00:37:48.160 --> 00:37:48.900 years old 00:37:48.900 --> 00:37:49.260 bear a 00:37:49.260 --> 00:37:49.619 child? 00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:51.779 I mean, 00:37:51.839 --> 00:37:52.420 it's impossible. 00:37:52.859 --> 00:37:53.859 His laughter 00:37:53.859 --> 00:37:54.299 is laughter 00:37:54.299 --> 00:37:55.199 of disbelief. 00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:56.819 I'm too 00:37:56.819 --> 00:37:57.359 old. 00:37:58.219 --> 00:37:58.659 Sarah's 00:37:58.659 --> 00:37:59.359 too old. 00:38:00.179 --> 00:38:01.139 This can't 00:38:01.139 --> 00:38:01.519 happen. 00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:03.559 It's 00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:04.219 ludicrous. 00:38:05.639 --> 00:38:06.079 And so 00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:06.859 Abraham 00:38:06.859 --> 00:38:07.960 speaks to 00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:08.359 God in 00:38:08.359 --> 00:38:08.980 verse 18 00:38:08.980 --> 00:38:09.359 and offers 00:38:09.359 --> 00:38:09.699 a very 00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:10.359 practical 00:38:10.359 --> 00:38:11.000 solution. 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:12.819 And Abraham 00:38:12.819 --> 00:38:13.279 said to 00:38:13.279 --> 00:38:13.460 God, 00:38:13.579 --> 00:38:13.920 oh that 00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:14.759 Ishmael 00:38:14.759 --> 00:38:15.380 might live 00:38:15.380 --> 00:38:16.219 before you. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:18.380 Abraham 00:38:18.380 --> 00:38:19.079 already had 00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:19.599 a son. 00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:22.000 Oh may 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:23.000 that this 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:23.460 son, 00:38:23.579 --> 00:38:23.940 the son 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:24.779 born according 00:38:24.779 --> 00:38:25.119 to the 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:25.559 flesh, 00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:26.859 the son 00:38:26.859 --> 00:38:27.480 born through 00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:28.179 Sarah's 00:38:28.179 --> 00:38:29.239 and Abraham's 00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:29.839 scheme back 00:38:29.839 --> 00:38:30.239 in chapter 00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:30.719 16, 00:38:30.819 --> 00:38:31.239 may this 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:31.659 son be 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:32.059 enough. 00:38:35.699 --> 00:38:36.219 Abraham 00:38:36.219 --> 00:38:36.819 laughed at 00:38:36.819 --> 00:38:37.359 the impossible 00:38:37.359 --> 00:38:38.500 but in his 00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:39.000 fifth speech 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:39.779 God picks up 00:38:39.779 --> 00:38:40.480 on Abraham's 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:40.880 laughter. 00:38:41.139 --> 00:38:41.880 Verse 19, 00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:45.659 no but 00:38:45.659 --> 00:38:46.539 Sarah your 00:38:46.539 --> 00:38:47.279 wife shall 00:38:47.279 --> 00:38:48.019 bear you a 00:38:48.019 --> 00:38:48.940 son and 00:38:48.940 --> 00:38:49.380 you shall 00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:50.280 call his 00:38:50.280 --> 00:38:50.840 name 00:38:50.840 --> 00:38:52.099 Isaac. 00:38:53.260 --> 00:38:53.900 Which means 00:38:53.900 --> 00:38:54.639 he laughs. 00:38:55.900 --> 00:38:56.260 You shall 00:38:56.260 --> 00:38:56.659 call his 00:38:56.659 --> 00:38:57.320 name Isaac. 00:38:57.780 --> 00:38:58.139 I will 00:38:58.139 --> 00:38:58.840 establish my 00:38:58.840 --> 00:38:59.420 covenant with 00:38:59.420 --> 00:39:00.480 him as an 00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:00.880 everlasting 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:01.539 covenant for 00:39:01.539 --> 00:39:02.139 his offspring 00:39:02.139 --> 00:39:02.740 after him. 00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:03.360 As for 00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:03.820 Ishmael, 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:04.320 I've heard 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:04.740 you and 00:39:04.740 --> 00:39:05.360 behold I've 00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:06.159 blessed him 00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:06.880 and will 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:07.260 make him 00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:07.840 fruitful and 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:08.440 multiply him 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:08.720 greatly. 00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:09.079 He shall 00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:09.760 father twelve 00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:10.320 princes and 00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:10.659 I'll make 00:39:10.659 --> 00:39:11.079 him into a 00:39:11.079 --> 00:39:11.780 great nation. 00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:13.820 but I 00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:14.460 will establish 00:39:14.460 --> 00:39:15.080 my covenant 00:39:15.080 --> 00:39:15.800 with Isaac 00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:16.680 whom Sarah 00:39:16.680 --> 00:39:17.380 will bear to 00:39:17.380 --> 00:39:17.880 you at 00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:18.519 this time 00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:19.620 next year. 00:39:21.340 --> 00:39:22.000 Here's the 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:22.600 fourth of the 00:39:22.600 --> 00:39:23.280 new names. 00:39:24.019 --> 00:39:24.700 Isaac, he 00:39:24.700 --> 00:39:25.300 laughs and 00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:25.940 the name 00:39:25.940 --> 00:39:26.320 here, the 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:26.760 naming of 00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:27.400 Isaac points 00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:28.220 to the 00:39:28.220 --> 00:39:29.420 improbability 00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:30.960 of what God 00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:31.360 was going 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:31.820 to do. 00:39:33.680 --> 00:39:34.200 How 00:39:34.200 --> 00:39:34.780 ludicrous 00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:35.440 it was. 00:39:39.540 --> 00:39:39.800 But you 00:39:39.800 --> 00:39:40.080 see the 00:39:40.080 --> 00:39:40.540 blessing of 00:39:40.540 --> 00:39:41.060 all nations 00:39:41.060 --> 00:39:41.600 couldn't be 00:39:41.600 --> 00:39:42.519 achieved by 00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:45.300 man but 00:39:45.300 --> 00:39:45.700 only by 00:39:45.700 --> 00:39:47.040 God, by 00:39:47.040 --> 00:39:47.680 El Shaddai. 00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:49.160 It couldn't 00:39:49.160 --> 00:39:49.660 be achieved 00:39:49.660 --> 00:39:50.440 by the 00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:51.180 flesh or 00:39:51.180 --> 00:39:52.320 our plans 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:54.260 but only by 00:39:54.260 --> 00:39:55.000 the promise 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:55.920 of the 00:39:55.920 --> 00:39:56.280 Lord. 00:39:58.860 --> 00:39:59.640 And as 00:39:59.640 --> 00:40:00.400 for Ishmael, 00:40:00.540 --> 00:40:01.100 well Ishmael 00:40:01.100 --> 00:40:01.960 wouldn't be the 00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:02.540 son through 00:40:02.540 --> 00:40:03.060 whom all 00:40:03.060 --> 00:40:04.100 nations would 00:40:04.100 --> 00:40:04.660 be blessed. 00:40:04.780 --> 00:40:06.040 Rather Ishmael 00:40:06.040 --> 00:40:06.800 would come to 00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:08.220 be a nation 00:40:08.220 --> 00:40:10.080 who must 00:40:10.080 --> 00:40:10.600 come to 00:40:10.600 --> 00:40:11.200 that son 00:40:11.200 --> 00:40:12.640 for blessing. 00:40:16.120 --> 00:40:16.840 Let's draw 00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:17.260 together some 00:40:17.260 --> 00:40:18.080 implications for 00:40:18.080 --> 00:40:18.380 us. 00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:20.460 What does 00:40:20.460 --> 00:40:20.800 this mean 00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:21.300 for us? 00:40:21.820 --> 00:40:22.220 One of the 00:40:22.220 --> 00:40:23.580 places Genesis 00:40:23.580 --> 00:40:24.540 chapter 17 is 00:40:24.540 --> 00:40:25.260 picked up later 00:40:25.260 --> 00:40:25.580 in the New 00:40:25.580 --> 00:40:26.260 Testament is in 00:40:26.260 --> 00:40:26.660 Galatians 00:40:26.660 --> 00:40:27.320 chapter 3. 00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:27.960 Here are some 00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:28.420 verses from 00:40:28.420 --> 00:40:28.860 Galatians 00:40:28.860 --> 00:40:29.560 chapter 3, 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:30.740 verse 26 00:40:30.740 --> 00:40:31.420 to 29. 00:40:33.220 --> 00:40:34.360 In Christ 00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:34.840 Jesus, 00:40:35.620 --> 00:40:37.500 you are all 00:40:37.500 --> 00:40:38.200 sons of 00:40:38.200 --> 00:40:38.820 God through 00:40:38.820 --> 00:40:39.400 faith. 00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:41.420 For as many 00:40:41.420 --> 00:40:42.000 of you as 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:42.500 were baptized 00:40:42.500 --> 00:40:43.340 into Christ 00:40:43.340 --> 00:40:44.000 have put on 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:44.480 Christ. 00:40:44.680 --> 00:40:45.140 There is 00:40:45.140 --> 00:40:45.760 neither Jew 00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:46.400 nor Greek, 00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:46.740 there is 00:40:46.740 --> 00:40:47.460 neither slave 00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:48.079 nor free, 00:40:48.220 --> 00:40:48.760 there is no 00:40:48.760 --> 00:40:49.559 male and 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:50.019 female, 00:40:50.380 --> 00:40:50.940 for you are 00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:51.640 all one 00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:52.380 in Christ 00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:52.780 Jesus. 00:40:53.620 --> 00:40:54.460 And if you 00:40:54.460 --> 00:40:55.599 are Christ's, 00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:57.099 then you 00:40:57.099 --> 00:40:58.059 are Abraham's 00:40:58.059 --> 00:40:58.539 offspring, 00:40:59.900 --> 00:41:00.340 heirs 00:41:00.340 --> 00:41:01.019 according to 00:41:01.019 --> 00:41:01.579 the promise. 00:41:03.600 --> 00:41:04.200 God's 00:41:04.200 --> 00:41:04.579 covenant, 00:41:04.860 --> 00:41:05.160 God's 00:41:05.160 --> 00:41:05.579 plan, 00:41:05.780 --> 00:41:06.120 God's 00:41:06.120 --> 00:41:07.320 promise was 00:41:07.320 --> 00:41:07.920 that whoever 00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:08.780 you are, 00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:09.600 whatever your 00:41:09.600 --> 00:41:10.320 nationality, 00:41:10.539 --> 00:41:11.100 whatever your 00:41:11.100 --> 00:41:11.720 background, 00:41:12.720 --> 00:41:13.620 whether you're 00:41:13.620 --> 00:41:14.559 rich or poor, 00:41:15.019 --> 00:41:15.440 whether you're 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:16.260 educated or 00:41:16.260 --> 00:41:16.920 illiterate, 00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:18.539 slave or 00:41:18.539 --> 00:41:18.920 free, 00:41:19.620 --> 00:41:20.079 male or 00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:20.180 female, 00:41:20.240 --> 00:41:20.860 whoever you 00:41:20.860 --> 00:41:21.300 are, 00:41:22.300 --> 00:41:23.460 that you 00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:24.960 might know 00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:26.820 him through 00:41:26.820 --> 00:41:27.220 the Lord 00:41:27.220 --> 00:41:27.519 Jesus 00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:28.140 Christ. 00:41:31.240 --> 00:41:31.840 Jesus 00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:33.160 Christ 00:41:33.160 --> 00:41:34.180 is the 00:41:34.180 --> 00:41:34.760 King of 00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:35.220 peoples. 00:41:36.760 --> 00:41:37.700 He is the 00:41:37.700 --> 00:41:38.519 royal son of 00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:38.940 Sarah, 00:41:39.680 --> 00:41:40.440 the son of 00:41:40.440 --> 00:41:40.800 Isaac, 00:41:40.940 --> 00:41:41.440 the son of 00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:41.840 Jacob, 00:41:42.980 --> 00:41:43.600 for whom 00:41:43.600 --> 00:41:44.160 the covenant 00:41:44.160 --> 00:41:44.840 was waiting. 00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:49.559 Circumcision's 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:50.440 no longer 00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:51.160 required of 00:41:51.160 --> 00:41:51.500 us, 00:41:52.500 --> 00:41:52.940 Paul makes 00:41:52.940 --> 00:41:53.260 that very 00:41:53.260 --> 00:41:53.680 clear in 00:41:53.680 --> 00:41:54.160 Galatians, 00:41:54.280 --> 00:41:54.920 circumcision's 00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:55.300 no longer 00:41:55.300 --> 00:41:55.840 required, 00:41:55.840 --> 00:41:57.800 because we're 00:41:57.800 --> 00:41:58.180 no longer 00:41:58.180 --> 00:41:58.860 waiting for 00:41:58.860 --> 00:41:59.400 the promise. 00:42:01.260 --> 00:42:02.220 The son we 00:42:02.220 --> 00:42:02.640 were waiting 00:42:02.640 --> 00:42:03.079 for has 00:42:03.079 --> 00:42:03.420 come. 00:42:06.220 --> 00:42:06.740 Through 00:42:06.740 --> 00:42:07.720 faith in 00:42:07.720 --> 00:42:08.360 Christ, 00:42:10.120 --> 00:42:11.240 the promise 00:42:11.240 --> 00:42:12.519 that is the 00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:13.200 purpose of 00:42:13.200 --> 00:42:13.860 all promises 00:42:13.860 --> 00:42:14.660 is yours 00:42:14.660 --> 00:42:16.579 and I will 00:42:16.579 --> 00:42:16.960 be their 00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:17.300 God. 00:42:19.660 --> 00:42:20.579 He is our 00:42:20.579 --> 00:42:21.240 God and we 00:42:21.240 --> 00:42:21.579 are his 00:42:21.579 --> 00:42:21.980 people, 00:42:22.780 --> 00:42:23.500 not just 00:42:23.500 --> 00:42:23.960 his people, 00:42:24.059 --> 00:42:24.920 his sons. 00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:27.600 because the 00:42:27.600 --> 00:42:28.260 one Genesis 00:42:28.260 --> 00:42:29.019 17 is 00:42:29.019 --> 00:42:29.660 waiting for 00:42:29.660 --> 00:42:30.320 has come. 00:42:32.579 --> 00:42:33.740 Four names, 00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:36.260 one promise, 00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:39.240 El Shaddai, 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:41.720 Abraham, 00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:44.480 Sarah, 00:42:46.680 --> 00:42:47.260 Isaac 00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:50.860 will be their 00:42:50.860 --> 00:42:51.260 God. 00:42:59.260 --> 00:42:59.900 But let me 00:42:59.900 --> 00:43:00.300 make one 00:43:00.300 --> 00:43:02.200 last point 00:43:02.200 --> 00:43:02.720 in closing. 00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:05.300 Because 00:43:05.300 --> 00:43:05.780 brothers and 00:43:05.780 --> 00:43:06.180 sisters, 00:43:06.920 --> 00:43:07.440 heirs of 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:08.100 Abraham's 00:43:08.100 --> 00:43:08.500 promise, 00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:11.400 the task 00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:12.000 isn't finished 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:12.360 yet. 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:13.360 God 00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:14.360 will be 00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:15.360 saved. 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:16.920 You can 00:43:16.920 --> 00:43:17.700 jump online 00:43:17.700 --> 00:43:18.180 and go to 00:43:18.180 --> 00:43:18.579 a website 00:43:18.579 --> 00:43:19.079 called the 00:43:19.079 --> 00:43:19.460 Joshua 00:43:19.460 --> 00:43:19.980 Project, 00:43:20.780 --> 00:43:22.860 which kind 00:43:22.860 --> 00:43:23.380 of tracks 00:43:23.380 --> 00:43:24.039 the progress 00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:24.360 of the 00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:24.700 gospel 00:43:24.700 --> 00:43:25.120 throughout 00:43:25.120 --> 00:43:25.800 the world, 00:43:27.340 --> 00:43:28.579 the progress 00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:28.920 of the 00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:30.519 promise of 00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:31.320 salvation in 00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:32.079 Jesus Christ. 00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:32.159 Christ. 00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:35.059 And according 00:43:35.059 --> 00:43:35.360 to the 00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:35.679 Joshua 00:43:35.679 --> 00:43:37.719 Project, 00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:40.519 1.9 00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:41.000 billion 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:41.639 people, 00:43:41.739 --> 00:43:42.039 that's 00:43:42.039 --> 00:43:43.460 one quarter 00:43:43.460 --> 00:43:43.739 of the 00:43:43.739 --> 00:43:44.059 world's 00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:44.619 population, 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:45.799 1.9 00:43:45.799 --> 00:43:46.199 billion 00:43:46.199 --> 00:43:47.559 people live 00:43:47.559 --> 00:43:49.880 in 3,215 00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:51.079 frontier people 00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:51.579 groups. 00:43:52.739 --> 00:43:53.199 Now, 00:43:53.299 --> 00:43:53.619 a frontier 00:43:53.619 --> 00:43:54.239 people group, 00:43:54.319 --> 00:43:54.659 according to 00:43:54.659 --> 00:43:54.920 the Joshua 00:43:54.920 --> 00:43:55.659 Project, 00:43:55.819 --> 00:43:56.279 is a 00:43:56.279 --> 00:43:57.860 people group, 00:43:58.860 --> 00:43:59.579 a tribe, 00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:00.159 a people 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:00.400 group, 00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:01.119 in which 00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:01.780 there are 00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:02.700 fewer than 00:44:02.700 --> 00:44:03.260 one in a 00:44:03.260 --> 00:44:03.539 thousand 00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:04.039 Christians, 00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:04.920 often far 00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:05.220 fewer. 00:44:07.260 --> 00:44:08.099 These are 00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:08.660 unreached 00:44:08.660 --> 00:44:09.380 people groups 00:44:09.380 --> 00:44:09.800 in our 00:44:09.800 --> 00:44:10.220 world, 00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:10.920 with virtually 00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:11.800 no followers 00:44:11.800 --> 00:44:12.400 of Jesus, 00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:14.019 with no 00:44:14.019 --> 00:44:14.559 known 00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:15.220 movement 00:44:15.220 --> 00:44:16.480 to Jesus, 00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:18.840 but people 00:44:18.840 --> 00:44:19.380 groups still 00:44:19.380 --> 00:44:20.039 in need of 00:44:20.039 --> 00:44:21.360 pioneering 00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:22.760 cross-cultural 00:44:22.760 --> 00:44:24.300 mission. 00:44:26.039 --> 00:44:28.039 3,215 00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:28.780 people groups, 00:44:29.220 --> 00:44:30.099 1.9 00:44:30.099 --> 00:44:30.639 billion 00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:31.079 people, 00:44:31.159 --> 00:44:31.579 a quarter 00:44:31.579 --> 00:44:31.839 of the 00:44:31.839 --> 00:44:32.139 world's 00:44:32.139 --> 00:44:32.759 population. 00:44:35.619 --> 00:44:36.199 Among 00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:36.639 them are 00:44:36.639 --> 00:44:36.819 the 00:44:36.819 --> 00:44:37.319 Khunbi 00:44:37.319 --> 00:44:38.059 people. 00:44:39.219 --> 00:44:39.980 This is a 00:44:39.980 --> 00:44:40.440 people group 00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:41.159 in central 00:44:41.159 --> 00:44:41.579 and western 00:44:41.579 --> 00:44:42.079 India, 00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:42.679 a people 00:44:42.679 --> 00:44:43.819 of 22 00:44:43.819 --> 00:44:44.259 million 00:44:44.259 --> 00:44:44.739 people. 00:44:45.980 --> 00:44:46.839 They speak 00:44:46.839 --> 00:44:47.539 Gujarati, 00:44:47.779 --> 00:44:48.420 Kannada and 00:44:48.420 --> 00:44:48.779 Telugu, 00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:49.159 they're the 00:44:49.159 --> 00:44:49.739 main languages 00:44:49.739 --> 00:44:50.199 of this 00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:50.539 group. 00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:52.900 Their 00:44:52.900 --> 00:44:53.239 religion, 00:44:53.519 --> 00:44:54.199 they're Hindu 00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:55.119 by religion, 00:44:55.239 --> 00:44:56.960 99.3% 00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:57.440 Hindu. 00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:00.240 The Bible 00:45:00.240 --> 00:45:00.980 is available 00:45:00.980 --> 00:45:01.500 in their 00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:03.380 language and 00:45:03.380 --> 00:45:03.920 yet people 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:04.280 in this, 00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:06.380 Khunbi 00:45:06.380 --> 00:45:06.900 people, 00:45:07.720 --> 00:45:08.179 regard 00:45:08.179 --> 00:45:08.760 Christianity 00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:09.539 with fear 00:45:09.539 --> 00:45:11.199 as an 00:45:11.199 --> 00:45:11.840 intrusive 00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:12.300 religious 00:45:12.300 --> 00:45:13.119 system which 00:45:13.119 --> 00:45:13.980 will disturb 00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:16.300 their culture 00:45:16.300 --> 00:45:17.579 and their 00:45:17.579 --> 00:45:18.119 families. 00:45:18.119 --> 00:45:19.119 people. 00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:20.440 There are 00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:21.039 very few 00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:21.539 believers, 00:45:23.119 --> 00:45:24.179 perhaps one 00:45:24.179 --> 00:45:24.960 in 2,000. 00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:29.139 But God's 00:45:29.139 --> 00:45:29.839 plan is to 00:45:29.839 --> 00:45:30.339 bless the 00:45:30.339 --> 00:45:30.900 Khunbi 00:45:30.900 --> 00:45:33.079 people through 00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:33.639 faith in 00:45:33.639 --> 00:45:34.059 Jesus, 00:45:34.659 --> 00:45:37.039 that he may 00:45:37.039 --> 00:45:37.480 be their 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:37.880 God. 00:45:37.880 --> 00:45:42.340 and that's 00:45:42.340 --> 00:45:42.880 just one of 00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:44.380 thousands of 00:45:44.380 --> 00:45:44.820 unreached 00:45:44.820 --> 00:45:45.420 people groups 00:45:45.420 --> 00:45:45.760 in our 00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:46.160 world. 00:45:49.640 --> 00:45:50.460 So brothers, 00:45:50.579 --> 00:45:50.780 sisters, 00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:51.320 let's keep 00:45:51.320 --> 00:45:51.820 praying for 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:52.420 the unfinished 00:45:52.420 --> 00:45:53.140 task. 00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:55.519 Let's 00:45:55.519 --> 00:45:56.380 support those 00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:56.680 who are 00:45:56.680 --> 00:45:57.619 engaged in 00:45:57.619 --> 00:45:58.320 reaching the 00:45:58.320 --> 00:46:00.619 nations with 00:46:00.619 --> 00:46:00.980 the message 00:46:00.980 --> 00:46:01.579 of Christ 00:46:01.579 --> 00:46:04.840 and even 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:05.559 let's pray 00:46:05.559 --> 00:46:06.300 that God 00:46:06.300 --> 00:46:07.240 may send 00:46:07.239 --> 00:46:08.019 out people 00:46:08.019 --> 00:46:08.739 from our 00:46:08.739 --> 00:46:09.139 midst 00:46:09.139 --> 00:46:11.519 to the 00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:11.859 furthest 00:46:11.859 --> 00:46:12.359 reaches of 00:46:12.359 --> 00:46:12.799 the world. 00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:15.879 Will you 00:46:15.879 --> 00:46:16.199 pray with 00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:16.419 me? 00:46:24.419 --> 00:46:25.000 Heavenly 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:25.399 Father, 00:46:25.500 --> 00:46:25.959 we thank 00:46:25.959 --> 00:46:26.359 you for 00:46:26.359 --> 00:46:26.759 your 00:46:26.759 --> 00:46:28.099 everlasting 00:46:28.099 --> 00:46:29.659 promise 00:46:29.659 --> 00:46:31.059 and covenant, 00:46:31.759 --> 00:46:32.699 your 00:46:32.699 --> 00:46:33.219 commitment 00:46:33.219 --> 00:46:35.000 to us 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:36.619 that you 00:46:36.619 --> 00:46:37.199 will be 00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:37.960 our God 00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:40.139 through your 00:46:40.139 --> 00:46:40.519 Son, 00:46:40.859 --> 00:46:41.199 the Lord 00:46:41.199 --> 00:46:41.460 Jesus 00:46:41.460 --> 00:46:41.960 Christ. 00:46:44.579 --> 00:46:45.139 Father, 00:46:45.259 --> 00:46:45.839 we pray 00:46:45.839 --> 00:46:46.679 that at 00:46:46.679 --> 00:46:47.359 church here 00:46:47.359 --> 00:46:49.359 we might 00:46:49.359 --> 00:46:50.059 be welcoming 00:46:50.059 --> 00:46:50.960 to people 00:46:50.960 --> 00:46:51.440 of all 00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:51.880 nations 00:46:51.880 --> 00:46:52.599 and all 00:46:52.599 --> 00:46:53.159 backgrounds 00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:53.739 and all 00:46:53.739 --> 00:46:54.239 cultures. 00:46:56.739 --> 00:46:57.299 Please, 00:46:57.400 --> 00:46:57.779 may we 00:46:57.779 --> 00:46:58.460 be a 00:46:58.460 --> 00:46:59.359 visible 00:46:59.359 --> 00:47:00.739 demonstration 00:47:00.739 --> 00:47:02.279 of your 00:47:02.279 --> 00:47:02.639 covenant 00:47:02.639 --> 00:47:02.879 with 00:47:02.879 --> 00:47:03.259 Abraham. 00:47:05.419 --> 00:47:05.979 And 00:47:05.979 --> 00:47:06.219 Father, 00:47:06.279 --> 00:47:06.619 we pray 00:47:06.619 --> 00:47:07.019 for the 00:47:07.019 --> 00:47:07.599 progress 00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:08.119 of the 00:47:08.119 --> 00:47:08.519 gospel 00:47:08.519 --> 00:47:09.359 of Jesus 00:47:09.359 --> 00:47:09.859 Christ 00:47:09.859 --> 00:47:10.179 throughout 00:47:10.179 --> 00:47:10.719 the world. 00:47:11.959 --> 00:47:12.639 There are 00:47:12.639 --> 00:47:13.299 still so 00:47:13.299 --> 00:47:14.019 many people, 00:47:14.179 --> 00:47:14.799 billions of 00:47:14.799 --> 00:47:15.079 people, 00:47:15.259 --> 00:47:15.500 Lord, 00:47:16.019 --> 00:47:17.359 who will 00:47:17.359 --> 00:47:18.119 live and 00:47:18.119 --> 00:47:18.619 die 00:47:18.619 --> 00:47:20.599 without any 00:47:20.599 --> 00:47:21.719 real opportunity 00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:23.059 to know 00:47:23.059 --> 00:47:23.319 their 00:47:23.319 --> 00:47:23.819 saviour 00:47:23.820 --> 00:47:25.620 unless 00:47:25.620 --> 00:47:26.019 someone 00:47:26.019 --> 00:47:26.539 goes to 00:47:26.539 --> 00:47:26.780 them. 00:47:28.500 --> 00:47:29.200 So, 00:47:29.380 --> 00:47:29.640 please, 00:47:29.800 --> 00:47:30.000 Father, 00:47:30.620 --> 00:47:31.200 continue 00:47:31.200 --> 00:47:32.160 and speed 00:47:32.160 --> 00:47:33.059 the work 00:47:33.059 --> 00:47:33.740 of 00:47:33.740 --> 00:47:34.180 worldwide 00:47:34.180 --> 00:47:34.660 mission. 00:47:36.180 --> 00:47:37.059 Help us 00:47:37.059 --> 00:47:37.360 to be 00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:37.940 prayerful 00:47:37.940 --> 00:47:39.400 and to 00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:39.800 support 00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:40.320 those who 00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:40.640 go to 00:47:40.640 --> 00:47:41.059 do that 00:47:41.059 --> 00:47:41.440 work. 00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:43.200 Please 00:47:43.200 --> 00:47:43.800 raise up 00:47:43.800 --> 00:47:44.280 more from 00:47:44.280 --> 00:47:44.940 here and 00:47:44.940 --> 00:47:45.920 throughout 00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:46.539 the world 00:47:46.539 --> 00:47:47.440 to send 00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:47.900 to those 00:47:47.900 --> 00:47:48.460 unreached 00:47:48.460 --> 00:47:49.400 frontier people 00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:49.800 groups. 00:47:49.800 --> 00:47:51.640 we pray 00:47:51.640 --> 00:47:52.000 for the 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:52.400 Kumbi 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:53.280 people and 00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:54.640 thousands of 00:47:54.640 --> 00:47:55.140 people groups 00:47:55.140 --> 00:47:55.680 like them. 00:47:57.019 --> 00:47:57.880 We ask 00:47:57.880 --> 00:47:58.360 that in 00:47:58.360 --> 00:47:59.060 this 00:47:59.060 --> 00:48:00.300 generation 00:48:00.300 --> 00:48:01.980 you would 00:48:01.980 --> 00:48:02.440 bring 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:03.660 Christ, 00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:04.580 his name, 00:48:04.700 --> 00:48:05.400 his gospel, 00:48:06.680 --> 00:48:07.280 the saving 00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:07.720 word, 00:48:08.240 --> 00:48:08.840 to them in 00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:09.500 such a way 00:48:09.500 --> 00:48:09.960 that their 00:48:09.960 --> 00:48:10.560 hearts are 00:48:10.560 --> 00:48:11.100 gripped, 00:48:12.100 --> 00:48:13.140 that they 00:48:13.140 --> 00:48:13.820 are convicted 00:48:13.820 --> 00:48:16.000 and that 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:16.760 they call 00:48:16.760 --> 00:48:17.300 on the 00:48:17.300 --> 00:48:17.660 name of 00:48:17.660 --> 00:48:17.840 their 00:48:17.840 --> 00:48:18.240 saviour. 00:48:19.800 --> 00:48:21.300 And we 00:48:21.300 --> 00:48:21.720 ask all 00:48:21.720 --> 00:48:22.380 this for 00:48:22.380 --> 00:48:22.640 Jesus' 00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:23.039 sake. 00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:24.240 Amen.