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| 1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old, when Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty *God: walk before my face, and be perfect. |
And when – About the year 1900 BC. R5178:3
The LORD appeared – Jehovah appeared. E67
The Almighty God – "He is to be feared above all gods." (1 Chron. 16:25) E68
And be thou perfect – Do your best to be perfect. R5244:1
God could not set an imperfect standard, although he clearly states in his Word that none can attain perfection in the flesh under present conditions. R3939:1
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| 2 And I will set my covenant between me and thee, and will very greatly multiply thee. |
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| 3 And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying, |
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| 4 It is I: behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of a multitude of nations. |
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| 5 And thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. |
Be called Abram – High Father. R3935:3
Abraham – Father of a multitude. R3935:3, R5169:3 Representing God in a figure. R5909:5
Of many nations – Represented in the many tribes of Israel. R4389:6
All who love righteousness and truth. OV154:2
All the nations of the earth. F119; R4454:3, R3945:2; CR59:6; Q171:T, Q622:T
"In becoming thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves." R5909:5
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| 6 And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. |
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| 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. |
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| 8 And I give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be a God to them. |
Give unto thee – Stephen implied that Abraham will yet receive that land. R5182:5
Thy seed after thee – An implication that the Ancient Worthies will pass to the spirit nature. R5182:5
The land of Canaan – Not a heavenly Canaan, but an earthly one. C244
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| 9 And God said to Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. |
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| 10 This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee--that every male among you be circumcised. |
Be circumcised – It was obligatory upon every Jew, and still is. R2158:1
Symbolizing a cutting off, a separation, from the flesh--its aims, hopes and desires. R3022:3, R5170:1, R2032:3
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| 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and that shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. |
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| 12 And at eight days old shall every male in your generations be circumcised among you--he who is born in the house, and he who is bought with money, any stranger who is not of thy seed. |
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| 13 He who is born in thy house, and he who is bought with thy money, must be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. |
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| 14 And the uncircumcised male who hath not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples: he hath broken my covenant. |
Cut off – An argument against Anglo-Israel concepts. R2086:1
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| 15 And God said to Abraham, As to Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. |
Said unto Abraham – Type of Jehovah. F170
But Sarah – Type of the Abrahamic covenant. F170
The name signifies Princess. R5169:6, R4371:6
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| 16 And I will bless her, and I will give thee a son also of her; and I will bless her, and she shall become nations: kings of peoples shall be of her. |
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| 17 And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear? |
And laughed – The name Isaac means "Laugther," symbolizing the glad tidings of great joy yet to come through the anti-typical Isaac. R3952:3
The name also symbolizes our joys in the Lord in the present time. "We brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." (Gal. 4:28) R2861:5
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| 18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! |
O that Ishmael – Type of natural Israel. F170; R5178:2
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| 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall indeed bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. |
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| 20 And for Ishmael I have heard thee: behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will very greatly multiply him; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. |
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| 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year. |
With Isaac – Type of Christ. F170
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| 22 And he left off talking with him; and God went up from Abraham. |
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| 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money--every male among the people of Abraham's house--and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that same day, as God had said to him. |
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| 24 And Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. |
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| 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. |
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| 26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son; |
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| 27 and all the men of his house, born in his house, or bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. |
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