NOTES for Gen 17:1-27
When people speak about a covenant with God, the person or people entering such a covenant almost always face the question: what is this covenant? What is its essence and meaning?
Some results, fruits, something visible and tangible are expected, something that will say: yes, God is truly in covenant with me, or with us. In Abraham's case, it was a matter of land, although Abraham himself would not possess it, but his descendants would. Yet something more important is also said. God tells Abraham: the chief result of the covenant being made is Myself.
Many of us today would be disappointed by such an answer, because it would mean that we must fulfill our religious duties without receiving anything in return. Abraham, on the contrary, rejoiced, because even earlier God had called Himself by the name El Shaddai, which means "God of power." This was the power that lies at the foundation of the universe; whoever possesses it possesses the world. It is no surprise that when God promised Abraham that He Himself would be the foundation of the covenant, Abraham rejoiced. For him, this was not about rites and rituals, but about the real presence in his life of God, to whom the whole world is subject.
Every true covenant with God can only be like this. God can, of course, confirm the relationship by giving something as a sign of His complete trust to the person or people with whom the covenant has been made. But the basis of the covenant, its chief meaning, remains the relationship itself. Any gifts are only a consequence; in this sense, a person's relationship with God is like relationships between people. What would a gift be without a relationship? An offering or a bribe, and nothing more.
With God, of course, this is impossible. Nothing can be brought to Him, and nothing can be received from Him, if a person or a people are not bound to Him by deep and trusting relationships. But if such relationships exist, the one who has entered the covenant shares in that power of God which governs the world. The power of God, the breath of God, is the chief gift, because it opens to a person the main thing God can give: His Kingdom.