What’s in a name change…
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham,[a] for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants[b] after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:1-8 New Living Translation (NLT)
Commentary: In Genesis 17 Abram receives a visit from God, a name change and confirmation of the covenant. In addition, Abram (now Abraham) gets a promise that he will be “the father of many nations” with his descendants becoming many nations. And though he is in his 90’s, he is told that he will have a son. We will cover this in more detail in tomorrow’s prayer post.
Prayer: You have a plan for us all. You know what’s in store, what is just around the corner. You are sovereign, Almighty God, you are in control of everything. Amen.