But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Gen 17:21
My covenant will I establish with Isaac
Isaac, a type of Christ
1.
He is born in a miraculous manner. He was the child given by promises, and came not in the ordinary course of nature. So Christ was long promised and miraculously born.
2. He was the son of the house, while all others were his servants. So the position of Christ in the heavenly household was made by His birth. No circumstances could alter His relationship to that household. He was there by a natural necessity. Others may come and go, but the Son abides.
3. He was the progenitor of a free race. Isaac was the son of the free woman, and the ancestor of a great and free people. Christ makes men free when they are born into the kingdom of God by His spirit, and thus belong to that holy nation whose children walk in perfect liberty.
4. He was the channel of blessing to all nations. Christ was the life and power which gave effect to that blessing. He was that blessing itself.
Isaac, a type of the regenerate man
1. He was born by a distinct act of the will of God. So the regenerate man becomes Gods child, not by the course of nature, but by a special grace. He is eminently born of God.
2. He was free born. So each child of God is made free from all bondage. He needs not the commands of law to compel him to obedience, for he obeys from love of his Father. Thus Isaac was the type of the evangelical dispensation, as Ishmael was that of the legal.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. My covenant will I establish with Isaac] All temporal good things are promised to Ishmael and his posterity, but the establishment of the Lord’s covenant is to be with Isaac. Hence it is fully evident that this covenant referred chiefly to spiritual things-to the Messiah, and the salvation which should be brought to both Jews and Gentiles by his incarnation, death, and glorification.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The covenant of the promised Seed to come out of his loins, and of life and salvation to accrue to himself and to his posterity by virtue of that Seed; in comparison whereof God speaks slightly of all the temporal blessings conferred upon Ishmael, though in themselves they were great and glorious. By which it may sufficiently appear that Abrahams faith, whereby he is said to be justified, Rom 4:1-25, had a further reach in it than to his own immediate child, even to the Messias, whose day therefore Abraham is said to have seen, Joh 8:56.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But my covenant will one establish with Isaac,…. The covenant of circumcision; for though Ishmael was circumcised, and his posterity practised that rite, yet it was not enjoined them of God; nor was it to them, or served the same purpose as to the Israelites; and particularly the promise of the land of Canaan, made in that covenant, belonged only to the posterity of Isaac, and to those only in the line of Jacob, and especially that of the Messiah springing from him, which circumcision had a respect unto:
whom Sarah shall bear unto thee, at this set time, in the next year: that is, at the end of nine months, which is the set time a woman goes with child.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Gen 17:21-22. My covenant will I establish, &c. This is an abundant proof, that the covenant which God entered into with Abraham, was of a spiritual as well as a temporal nature, by being thus limited to his descendants by Isaac only; whom he condescends to promise him at a short and fixed period approaching, this set time in the next year. Michaelis has it, “my spiritual covenant with Christ.” After this information, the Lord left off talking with him, and went up from Abraham, most probably in some resplendent cloud, the symbol of the Divine appearance, Jdg 13:20.
REFLECTIONS.God now more explicitly reveals his designs to Abraham.
1. A son is promised, not of the bond-woman, but of the free. Sarai shall share with Abraham in the blessing; she shall be a mother of kings and nations. Observe, (1.) Husband and wife must count their mercies one. (2.) A child from the Lord is a blessing, for which we cannot be enough thankful.
2. Sarai’s name is changed. She has a new name, to intimate the new honour now to be conferred upon her. She is a princess, indeed, from whom he springs, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. We have Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael. Though Isaac is preferred, Ishmael shall not want a blessing. Note; God gives us more than we are wont to desire. He asked one blessing, God promises two.
4. When Abraham is fully satisfied, God withdraws, and leaves him for a while to meditate upon these wonders of mercy.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Ver. 21. But my covenant. ] This is the thirteenth time that the covenant is named in this chapter, saith an interpreter; and hereby is meant the promise of Christ and salvation by him. A subject so sweet to every sanctified soul, that St Paul cannot come off it. He names the Lord Jesus Christ ten times together in ten verses. 1Co 1:1-10 It was to him Mel in ore, melos in aure, iubilum in corde . a
a Bernard.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaac. Hebrew. laughter.
set time. See note on Gen 1:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
my: Gen 21:10-12, Gen 26:2-5, Gen 46:1, Gen 48:15, Exo 2:24, Exo 3:6, Luk 1:55, Luk 1:72, Rom 9:5, Rom 9:6, Rom 9:9, Gal 3:29, Heb 11:9
at: Gen 18:10, Gen 21:2, Gen 21:3, Job 14:13, Act 1:7
Reciprocal: Gen 6:18 – establish Gen 17:19 – Sarah Gen 18:14 – I will Gen 21:12 – in Isaac Gen 48:19 – I know it Deu 5:3 – General Jdg 20:38 – sign 2Ki 4:16 – About this Ecc 3:2 – time to be born Mat 1:21 – she
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 17:21. He names that child Isaac, that is, laughter, because Abraham rejoiced in spirit when this son was promised him.