We are still talking about the promise God made to Abraham.  A promise is a declaration that something will or will not be done or given.  In the case of Abraham, Genesis 12:4 says he was about seventy-five years old when God told him to depart from Haran.  God promised Abraham that He was going to make a great nation out of this man.  Now, Abraham was very old and yet the promise had not been fulfilled. 

In Genesis 17, we hear God speaking about covenant.  A covenant is a conditional promise made to humanity by God.  Conditional meaning that one party promises to do something in order to receive what has been promised to them by the other party involved in a partnership.  In Genesis 17:11, we hear God saying to Abraham," And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you."

The word circum means around or about something; so to circumsize is to remove a part of something from around or about something else.  Circumcision as we know it today is also done to ensure cleanliness and to decrease the risk of infection. 

In Genesis, we see that God instructed Abraham to be circumcised as well as  all the men in his household.  This was the condition necessary to obtain the promise and you will notice that it is after Abraham obeyed God in circumcision, that Sarah became pregnant..........................................  

To be Continued