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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, 'I [am] God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be thou 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 give My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee very exceedingly.' |
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| 3 And Abram falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying, |
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| 4 'I lo, My covenant [is] with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations; |
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| 5 and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for 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 have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee. |
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| 7 'And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee; |
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| 8 and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.' |
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 saith unto Abraham, 'And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations; |
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| 10 this [is] My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to 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 have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you. |
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| 12 'And a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed; |
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| 13 he is certainly circumcised who [is] born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during; |
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| 14 and an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.' |
Cut off – An argument against Anglo-Israel concepts. R2086:1
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| 15 And God saith unto Abraham, 'Sarai thy wife thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] 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 have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations kings of peoples are from her.' |
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| 17 And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, 'To the son of an hundred years is one born or doth Sarah daughter of ninety years 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 saith unto God, 'O that Ishmael may live before Thee;' |
O that Ishmael – Type of natural Israel. F170; R5178:2
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| 19 and God saith, 'Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, to his seed after him. |
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| 20 As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation; |
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| 21 and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year;' |
With Isaac – Type of Christ. F170
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| 22 and He finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham. |
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| 23 And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money every male among the men of Abraham's house and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with him. |
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| 24 And Abraham [is] a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised; |
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| 25 and Ishmael his son [is] a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised; |
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| 26 in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and Ishmael his son; |
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| 27 and all the men of his house born in the house, and bought with money from the son of a stranger have been circumcised with him. |
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