Abraham Revealed: Genesis 17:3-8
This story is so much more than a name change. It often feels weird for people who read these verses for the first time to wonder why God would make such a smaller alteration like adding two letters to the middle of a person’s name. To the veteran, it feels odd to speak of Abram instead of Abraham throughout the prior five and a half chapters. Why couldn’t he be called Abraham (or Abram) the whole way through the story?
The name Abram means exalted father or high father. As Genesis tells us, the name Abraham means father of many nations. The names look similar in many ways, but their meanings are quite different.
It is true that God changes Abraham’s name in this story to line up with His promise. Ever since Abraham left Ur, he has been on a quest to live out God’s promise. He searched for Canaan, the land God promised, and subsequently found it. He searched for the wealth God promised, and found it in Canaan. As God promised, Abram gained prestige and became great. It is only as God prepares to finally bring forth an heir that God changes Abram’s name to Abraham. The eternal part of God’s calling for Abram is the heir and the offspring, not Abram himself.
God changes Abram’s name at this point in the story to demonstrate worldview. The name Abram, a name given to him by his earthly father, is all about him. Abram means exalted father. The name Abram is centered on Abram’s glory, Abram’s reputation, and Abram’s success. Abram is a name that is all about Abram.
Abraham, on the other hand, is a name that is inherently about other people. Abraham is not a reminder to us of Abraham’s greatness, but his offspring’s size. Abraham is about God’s glory in His ability to make His promise come true. While Abram is a name that focuses our attention on a human being, Abraham is a name that focuses our attention upon God and His hand in motion.
When God called Abram to Canaan, it wasn’t for Abram’s glory. When God called Abram to Canaan, it was to initialize His plan of redemption. Before Abram, some people worshipped God, some people worshipped other gods, and many people worshipped themselves. None of these people had the promise of redemption. They may have had hope in some amorphous form of redemption, but they didn’t have a promise of God’s redemption.
God called Abram to Canaan so the redemption process could officially begin. God called Abram to Canaan so hope could turn into reality. God’s call to Abram was for a purpose, and that purpose officially goes from hope to promise at the changing of his name. Now Abraham will produce an heir. That heir will produce heirs. This process will continue until God’s Messiah is born and the hope that became a promise will become a reality. This story is so much more than a name change.
