God Calls You By Name Part 2- From Abram to Abraham

Genesis 17: 2-5 NLT

“I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.”

God changes Abram’s name

Genesis 17 begins with God telling Abram to walk blameless before Him so He can demonstrate His mighty power. Abram’s relationship with God was to be pure, innocent, uncompromising, and without idols. Forever established is the fact that the heart and mind must not be occupied by anything or anyone that takes God’s place. Only after this step does God change Abram’s name to Abraham.

God changes Abram’s focus

From now on, Abram whose name means ‘exalted father’ (1) is changed to Abraham meaning ‘the father of a multitude of nations’. Abram will hear himself being called ‘the father of a multitude of nations’ all day long! In all of his business transactions, he will sign his documents ‘the father of a multitude of nations’. When Sarai chats with him at the dinner table and asks about his day, she will call him ‘the father of a multitude of nations’. When he introduced himself to others and shook their hand, he would tell them that his name is ‘the father of a multitude of nations’. Whenever God will speak to him from this moment on, He will call him ‘the father of a multitude of nations’.

What is the lesson here?

God was teaching Abraham to hear, speak, and remind himself of the promise of a son and future descendants. Abraham was learning to speak his promise into existence. This is how El Shaddai, God Almighty will do miracles on his behalf. This is how El Shaddai, God Almighty does miracles on our behalf. And this is why Abraham is called the ‘father of our faith’.

Let’s Pray:

Father, I will follow the example you have set with Abraham so You can be El Shaddai in my life. I will be mindful of what I depend on and remove all idols from my heart. My relationship with you is now my first priority. Change my focus from how I see my situation to how You see my situation. I will believe Your promises for me according to the Bible by reminding myself of those promises all day long, and by speaking them out loud. In Jesus name, Amen.

References:

1) https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H87&t=KJV