OVERVIEW. A commentary on how Genesis 13:16 displays the physical seed and the spiritual seed of Abraham. Circumcision and baptism.

“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.” Genesis 13:16

In this verse, the LORD is speaking to Abram and is repeating and confirming the promise which He made to Abram in Gen. 12:2-3. Also note that, in the original Hebrew, “descendants” is literally “seed.”

EXEGESIS / COMMENTARY

The LORD promises Abram that his descendants (literally “seed”) will be as numerous as the dust of the earth. This is a repetition of the promise the LORD made in Gen. 12:2 when He promised Abram that He would make him a “great nation.”

PHYSICAL SEED. Certainly this refers to a promise of many physical descendants. (As a side note, consider that at this time, Abram had exactly zero descendants and his wife was barren. The LORD likes to act  in the face of impossible odds! This is also a testimony to Abram’s faith, for he believed that the LORD’s promise would be fulfilled even when there was no human possibility. Romans 4:18-22; etc.) The LORD was promising Abram a multitude of physical descendants, and the Scriptures attest that the LORD fulfilled that promise in the Old Testament nation of Israel. But we also see that promise fulfilled today, for the modern nation of Israel lives in the land of Canaan and is a testimony to the LORD’s fulfillment of His promise given to Abraham of a physical seed which would dwell in the land “forever” (Genesis 13:15).

SPIRITUAL SEED. But the LORD’s promise here is not only of a physical seed, but this promise to Abram is also of a spiritual seed. As we examine the New Testament, we read that “it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7) and “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise” (3:29). Thus we see that all believers are Abraham’s spiritual seed by faith in Jesus. Paul’s argument in Romans 4:11-16 is that Abraham is the spiritual father of circumcised believers and uncircumcised believers because of their shared faith in Jesus. Thus in Genesis 13 the LORD is promising Abraham that he will be the father “of a great multitude which no one could count” (Rev. 7:9) of spiritual seed.

SIGNS. To prove that the LORD kept His promise of a physical seed, He gave Abraham the covenant sign of circumcision and commanded that all male descendants of Abraham receive the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17). Circumcision marks the physical seed of Abraham.

And to prove that He kept His promise to Abraham of a spiritual seed, the Lord Jesus commanded that all disciples must be baptized (Matt. 28:19). Baptism marks the spiritual seed.

Since, regarding the physical seed, Hebrew males who did not receive circumcision “shall be cut off from His people” (Gen. 17:14), it follows regarding the spiritual seed that those who do not receive biblical baptism shall likewise be cut off from Abraham’s spiritual people.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/20/2025                   #716