When God appeared to Abram at the age of ninety-nine, He established His covenant by declaring that Abram would become the father of many nations. To mark this role, God changed his name to Abraham, stating that He had made him a father of many nations and would make him exceedingly fruitful. From Abraham would come nations and kings, and the covenant would extend as an everlasting agreement to his descendants after him, with God serving as their God and granting them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. This promise formed the foundation for the continuing preservation of God's truth and established the line through which the Savior would come. Abraham's position as father of many nations connected directly to his responsibility as patriarch to command his children and household after him, ensuring they kept the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. In this capacity he passed on the education, understanding, and wisdom received from God, enabling the fulfillment of the covenant that all families of the earth would be blessed through him. The same covenant later confirmed to his Seed, identified as Christ, underscored Abraham's central place in the divine purpose that extended from the days after the Flood through the patriarchal line to future generations.