Romans 4:17
(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
Truth to Learn
God’s promise to Abraham referred to both his physical descendants and to his spiritual descendants.
Behind the Words
The words “I have made” are translated from the Greek verb tithēmi, meaning “to place” or “to put.” The Hebrew word in the passage Paul is quoting (Genesis 17:15) is nathan, which can have several shades of meaning, one of them being “to give or to grant.” The Greek word is expressed here in the perfect tense indicating past completed action with an ongoing effect.
“In the presence” is from katenanti, which literally means “down over against.” It is used to indicate being “in the sight of” or “in a place in front of” someone or something.
Meaning Explained
Like a number of verses we have looked at in the past, this verse must be looked at in connection with the previous verse in order to get its full meaning. Connecting the first part of this verse (a quote from Genesis 17:15) with the previous verse gives us:
… so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”)
The point is that Abraham is the father of all who are saved through faith. In other words, at the time that God said this to Abraham, because of Abraham’s faith, God had already granted to Abraham that he would be a father of many nations.
If we look at the descendants of Abraham, we see that he is the father of the Jews through Isaac (from his wife Sarah), the father of the Arabs through Ishmael (from Sarah’s handmaid Hagar), and the father of numerous other tribes through the six sons with his second wife, Keturah. However, the Apostle Paul evidently understood the promise as referring, not to the physical descendents of Abraham, but to the spiritual descendants (all those who believe in God’s message).
The next phrase, “in the presence of Him” refers back to the first part of the previous verse. Hence, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace… in the presence of Him whom he believed—God …” In other words, the faith is demonstrated in the presence of God. It’s not just some ethereal “Yeah, I believe in God” type of experience. Rather, it is a belief in what God says, in His presence, so that there is no doubt either in what is believed or in the reality of that belief.
Paul then says of God that He both has the ability to give life and to call things which do not yet exist as if they already did exist. In other words, this God of ours neither has any bounds on his power nor is he bound by time. He is without limit in both time and space. We will see the significance of this in the next verse.
Application
If you believe the promise that your sins are paid for through the blood of Jesus Christ, then God has declared you as righteous and you are a son or daughter of Abraham through faith.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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