13_A covenant-making God Gen 17:7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. It had been 24 years since Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans at God’s call. He had stepped out in faith on a journey to an unknown destination. God had promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Thirteen years had passed since the birth of Ishmael, the son of Abram through the Egyptian slave Hagar, his wife Sarai’s maidservant. That shared decision, born out of human reasoning and desperation, fomented strife and jealousy in the household. The passage of time and their bodily experience of aging pushed the fulfilment of the promise into the realm of impossibility. Abram and Sarai were at a point of complete helplessness. And then, God appeared to Abram. This wasn’t his first encounter with God. The God of glory had appeared to Abram in Mesopotamia and commanded him to leave. He had seen visions of God in moments of worship and sacrifice. But this time was different. God appeared to him, revealing Himself personally by a significant name that Abram had never heard before: El Shaddai—God Almighty. This name was a declaration of God’s infinite power, His sufficiency, and His ability to fulfill His promises. To a man who felt powerless, God’s message was clear: “I am the Almighty. Nothing is too hard for Me.” In a season of waiting, facing apparently impossible circumstances, let us remember El Shaddai, God Almighty. God began with a breathtaking declaration: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations" (Genesis 17:4-5). God’s covenant with Abram was a binding agreement that rested entirely on His faithfulness. Abram’s ability played no part in it, but his faith in God was essential. The repeated words “I will” echoed the divine commitment. God was not offering possibilities; He was making promises. His promises were unchangeable, unbreakable, and irrevocable. His covenant was a display of sovereign grace. It demonstrated for all time that God’s plans and salvation do not depend on or require human strength or effort. Abram’s name was changed. No longer was he the “exalted father”, Abram, but Abraham, “father of a multitude.” This was a prophetic change, declaring God’s purpose through him. Abram was now nearly 100 years old. He had fathered only one son, that too by a woman other than his wife. It needed immense faith to carry the name "father of a multitude". Yet he believed God. He trusted that what seemed impossible to him was entirely possible for the Almighty. The covenant of God gave rich promises to Abraham and his people: Posterity: God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Moreover, the covenant would be established