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.
Thirteen silent years pass between Ishmael's birth and this appearance. God does not scold Abram; He tells him His name and gives one short command — so what does "God Almighty" mean, and what walk does it ask for?
A note on wording: where the ESV reads "be blameless," the older translations these writers quote read "be perfect."
Why the long gap? One writer links the silence to Abram's own effort to gain the blessing.
The story of Hagar and Ishmael has shown that, under pressure, he failed in patience. That story closed with the statement that Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Now we read, "When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram." For thirteen years he patiently endured. During these years there is no record of any communications to Abraham. God waits until every hope of gaining the blessing by the efforts of the flesh is gone.
The Hebrew behind "God Almighty" is El Shaddai. Commentators differ on how to translate the second word.
The first mention of this name is in Genesis 17:1: El Shaddai — God Almighty. The word El is said to mean strength, or almighty power. Some think Shaddai means the same thing. Others prefer to translate it all-sufficient, or self-sufficient. Either way, the two words together point to divine attributes, since only God has almighty power and all-sufficiency.
Earlier God had described Himself by what He would do for Abram — shield him, reward him. Here the language changes, and the change carries a demand with it.
God is faithful to His word. His grace rises above failure and gives fuller, deeper disclosures of Himself. Earlier God had said, "I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" — what He was to and for Abram, Protector and Giver of blessings. Now He reveals Himself, a far more blessed thing: "I am El Shaddai." With this revelation comes the command, "Walk before me, and be perfect." When God was only giving promises, He gave no such call to holy walking. When He reveals Himself, the person who receives the revelation must be holy. True and peaceful knowledge of God cannot be separated from a holy life. If we want to enjoy close communion by walking with God, we must also walk before Him in holiness. These two things cannot be pulled apart.
The word does not mean a life without sin. It points back to the name just given, and Abraham himself later fell short.
God said to Abraham, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect" (Gen. 17:1), which means that he was to walk before God, always trusting in His almighty power. Abraham did not do so. He failed here, and told a lie (Gen. 20:2), for the very reason that he did not trust God's almighty power. Here again the passage is not about the sin Abraham had by nature. It is about his acting in full confidence in the almighty power of God.
You might expect almighty power to point at armies and enemies. See what this verse ties it to instead.
If He was the Almighty God, it was not just a question of enemies now. Not a word is said about them. They do not need God's almighty power to deal with them. But He needed to be the Almighty God to bring about the blessedness He is here speaking of. El Shaddai, I repeat, is linked not with putting down enemies but — wonderful to say — with Abram's walk before Him! "Be perfect."
God has made Himself known by three names. Each one comes with its own call to be perfect.
God revealed Himself to the fathers as "El Shaddai," and they were to walk in the faith of that name. He revealed Himself as Jehovah to Moses and Israel, and they were to walk in the faith of that. He reveals Himself to us as Father, and so we are to walk. "I am El Shaddai, walk before me and be perfect," "You shall be perfect with the LORD your God," "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- Wait — thirteen silent years follow Abram's own effort to secure the promise. God speaks again only when hope in the flesh has run out.
- Name — El Shaddai joins strength to sufficiency. Commentators differ over the exact sense of Shaddai, but both readings point to what God alone is.
- Shift — earlier God said what He would be for Abram. Here He says what He is, and that revelation brings a call to a holy walk.
- Measure — being perfect here is not sinlessness. It is steady trust in almighty power, and Abraham later lied because that trust failed.
- Reach — the pattern repeats: Almighty to the fathers, LORD to Israel, Father to us. Each name sets the standard for the walk that answers it.
And I will set my covenant between me and thee, and will very greatly multiply thee.
God speaks to Abram here at the end of a long wait: Abram is ninety-nine, and his own effort to secure a son through Hagar has already failed. What does God promise, on what terms, and why does He wait until natural hope is gone?
God names Himself first, and only then speaks of the covenant. Notice what He does not say:
God first presents Himself to Abram in His almighty power. Then He speaks of the land given for ever to him and to his offspring. But not a word of this at first. It was of the greatest importance to Abram that not one word be said about his prospects until God had revealed Himself. God does not even say, "I am your God." He does not connect Himself with Abram in any such way. The first word here was the simple revelation, "I am God Almighty." On this Abram's heart rests. It is not Abram seeking it for himself from God, but God unfolding Himself to Abram... He does not yet explain how the covenant would be carried out; that follows in due time.
Across this chapter one word keeps returning, and one word never appears at all.
"I will" is the phrase that marks this covenant. It begins, "I will make My covenant," and it ends, "I will be their God." The little word "if" stands out by being absent, because this was a covenant with no condition on Abram's part. He had tried to get a son by natural means through Hagar. But God meant to multiply him greatly. God would make him the father of many nations, secure the land of promise for his offspring, and be their God in a special way.
Abram's record before this was not spotless. The name God takes here answers that, and shows who can speak in such absolute terms:
Abraham's way had not been altogether perfect. He was a man of true faith and patience. Yet when he turned aside to Egypt, he failed in faith. In the matter of Hagar, he failed in patience. Now, having learned his weakness, he learns that God is Almighty. If God is Almighty, then His purposes and promises will come true. They will come true however impossible they look to nature, to sight, and to the flesh. Abraham only has to remember that God is Almighty, and at once every difficulty will disappear and every obstacle will be overcome. In quiet faith and patience he will be able to wait for God to act in God's own time. No longer is Abraham to expect anything from nature. Everything depends upon God from first to last. We can say, "If God wills." Who but the Almighty God can rightly say, "I will"?
The timing matters. God speaks when nature has nothing left to give:
Abram has a promise, and now tries to make it good independently of God. But when Abram is set aside — his body now dead at ninety-nine years old — God reveals Himself. He says, I am going to give you many descendants, and you must circumcise them, and so on. That is, now that you are viewed as dead, I can do something with you.
Chapter 15 had also named nations to Abram. Those names carried a very different weight:
Those listed at the end of chapter 15 were the enemies. They were the races that had taken over the land, and they had to be subdued. But now a far higher range of things opens. Abram should have a child, and be the father "of many nations." Clearly, then, the circle is far wider, and all in pure grace. Abram has not asked a word; nor does he seek any pledge or token.
The covenant carries no conditions, so the call to walk before God cannot be its price:
As Christians we are not asked to walk well in order to get the blessing, and Abraham was not asked that either. We are asked to walk in a way that suits God because we are blessed. To walk in this way and be perfect before God calls for dependence upon God and His Almighty power. But this involves the entire refusal of the flesh. Circumcision was brought in for this purpose. It was a sign that the flesh must be put to death, if the walk is to be perfect before God.
- Name first. God reveals what He is before He mentions a single blessing. The covenant rests on His character, not on Abram's prospects.
- Almighty. The promise is safe because of who guarantees it — we may say "if God wills," but only He can say "I will."
- No "if." The chapter runs on "I will" from start to finish. The word "if" never appears, because nothing depends on Abram.
- Death first. God waits until Abram is ninety-nine and past natural hope. Then He multiplies him, working where nature has nothing left to offer.
- Then walk. The call to walk before God does not buy the blessing. It is the life that suits a man already blessed, and it means refusing the flesh — what circumcision stood for.
And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying,
God makes Himself known, and Abram drops to the ground with nothing to say. The verse holds two things that belong together: a man flat on his face, and God speaking with him.
Abram did not fall because he was asking for something. In an earlier scene he had asked. Here God shows who He is, and that alone brings him down.
But now there is far more than this; not what Abram feels or wants, but what God wanted for him and loved to give him. So God gives the richest revelation ever made known up to that time... What was the consequence? No horror of deep darkness follows now, no deep sleep falls on him here. "Abram fell on his face"... So the circle is far wider now, and all in pure grace. Abram has not asked a word; nor does he seek any pledge or token.
In the first meeting Abram is taken up with his own case. In this one he is taken up with God.
When the word of the LORD came to Abraham in a vision, it revealed what God was for Abraham. At once Abraham thought of himself. In happy confidence he speaks to God, spreading out his needs and stating his difficulties before Him. Here God visits Abraham in person and reveals who He is in Himself. Abraham falls on his face as a listener, and God speaks to him. He realizes his own nothingness in the presence of God's greatness. This revelation leads him to think of God, and forms in him a character that matches the One who meets his need: he walks before God and is perfect.
Commentators differ on the state of Abram's soul in the dust. One reading takes the fall as nearness, not distress:
He never felt so overwhelmed in the presence of God, just because he had never been so near Him in spirit before... His falling on his face is not conviction of sin, or darkness of soul, but lowliness before God. In practice he is far nearer to God than in Genesis 15, and he can trust His word more simply.
Another reading finds darkness in it rather than nearness:
Abraham had not fallen on his face when the Lord appeared to him and spoke to him in chapter 15. There he stood, conscious that he was in the light with the Lord. But darkness had now come over his soul, and he is not ready for the Lord. He is on his face, silent and amazed... The change in his experience is great; but there is no change in the Lord; for it is the same love, whether He rebukes or comforts.
Some translations render the second half of the verse "God talked with him." That wording is conversational, and one writer draws a sharp line from it.
Joy in God is communion, and a deeper thing. Presenting a need to God (as in Genesis 15) is not communion. "God talked with Abraham… his friend" — this is communion. What a different idea of God we tend to have! Communion with God is the place the heart retreats to.
The name used here is worth noticing. The title announced a moment before is not the one that carries the talk.
Note the calmness of Abram here. He can enter, with nothing coming between, into what God is in Himself as "the Almighty God." But further, it says, "God talked with him" — not "the Almighty" and not "Jehovah," but "God talked with him, saying, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations... No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham."
This is not the end of the story. The man who asked nothing for himself here pleads for others one chapter later.
Abraham fell on his face; he is brought to nothing. But he may enjoy God, with no fear and no holding back. God has made Himself known to him, and the result of this is communion... Then in the next chapter do we find him talking about himself? No! he is pleading for others. He has come into the tone of God's heart. He is not struggling with God for a blessing for himself, as Jacob did. Because he knows what he has been given, he is able to intercede.
That turn becomes a test anyone can apply.
How far can you intercede for others? I find this often a test to my own soul. God wants us to live knowing Him and enjoying Him. He wants us to live in a spirit of intercession. If I am in the presence of God, I shall fall on my face and be nothing — God is everything.
- Revelation. God is not answering a plea here. He shows who He is, and that is what brings Abram down.
- Lowliness. The face in the dust is lowliness, not terror. Commentators differ here: another reading sees a soul in darkness, silent and amazed.
- Communion. Asking God for things is not yet fellowship with Him. God talking with a man is.
- Covenant. What God then speaks is all gift: His covenant, a new name, many nations. Abram asked for none of it and sought no token.
- Intercession. The man emptied of himself is free to plead for others. How far you can intercede shows how far you have been in that presence.