Genesis 15:7-21 PART 2

I keep returning to the first verse in this chapter, when God said to Abram, I am your shield and your very great reward. Really, that should have been enough for Abram - and it should be enough for us! Yet, Abram questions God’s plan, by reminding God that He had not given Abram an heir. God gets that we need lots of reassurance and tangible evidence of His love (which is why He came in the flesh), so He very lovingly and patiently reaffirms the promise He had made in chapter 12, when He says here, “ ... a son from your own body will be your heir.” Again, Abram appears to need something more solid as proof, when he asks, “...how can I know...?”


I mentioned yesterday that Courson points out in his commentary that there was a custom when men made a bargain, that they formally sealed it by both men meeting in the middle of the carcasses and joining hands. Did you notice here that, because Abram was asleep, the only one to pass through the animals was God (the flaming torch symbolizing His presence)? When God makes a promises He swears by Himself. He is the covenant maker. I covered this yesterday, so why am I going back to it? Because I’m astounded at the patience of God! His Word should be and is enough for us. We need to take Him at His Word - He said it and that settles it!

Yet we struggle throughout our lives with questions - even when He continues to prove Himself faithful over and over. I am so thankful that God has given us so many examples of those who wrestled with Him. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane to the point of sweating blood! He agonized in prayer to His Father - until He came to that place of complete obedience and surrender, when He said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26:39) And that is the key. It’s okay to have questions - so long as we take them to Him, and then rest in His answers!

Did you wonder why in the world God bothered to tell Abram about something that would happen long after he was dead in verses 13-16, or who all of the “-ites” were that were mentioned - and what did God mean when he said, the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure... ? And why should we care??? God told Abram about the future captivity and brutal treatment of his descendants, the Israelites in Egypt, then gave the promise of their eventual release after 400 years:

Know for a certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. But... they will come out with great possessions. (vs 13)

And God gave a final promise here:
To your descendants I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates - the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites. (vs. 18-21)

In other words, “Your descendants, not you, will get all of this land - although, for now, it is inhabited by the enemy. And this enemy is truly evil - but I’m restraining myself from judging them until they have gone beyond the pale. I will give them 400 years to repent, because I am a gracious God, slow to anger, full of compassion. But, eventually, they will refuse to repent, and they WILL be judged and driven from the land. You will be given victory over all of them and finally take the promised land.” So often we hear people describe the “Old Testament” God as being vengeful and harsh - as if there were two different Gods - an Old Testament and a New Testament God! He’s the same throughout - and His love and patience, even for the truly pagan nations is astounding! God is not willing that ANY should perish! He wants ALL to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)  And, in His patience, He offers a lot of opportunity to repent. However, there comes a day of reckoning - and all of these “-ites” eventually met it!

Think about God as your very great reward today. Treasure Him and thank Him that He is all you need. There is NOTHING on this earth that lasts, and we need to cling to HIM!

 

Genesis 15:7-21

This morning I’m gong to try to get us through this very important passage, so I’m trusting the Holy Spirit to do the work! Let’s remember that after God had promised to be Abram’s very great reward, Abram does a little complaining: You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir. (vs.3) Then God takes him outside and shows him all of the starts and promises that Abram’s heirs will be as numerous as the stars! Now, we saw yesterday that Abram believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. But, like the man in Mark 9:24 who said to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief,” Abram struggles with belief:

But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” (vs.8)

Instead of thumping him on the head, the LORD is longsuffering with Abram, as He is with you and me. So he makes a formal covenant with Abram. According to Jon Courson’s commentary, it was customary for men to seal a deal be cutting an animal in half, then meeting between the halves of the carcass and clasping each other’s hands, “showing they were deadly serious about keeping up their end of the bargain.”

Abrams brings the required animals and birds, and arranges the carcasses . We’re told, Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. (vs.11) Birds of prey generally symbolize evil  - is there any bird more evil than a big, fat, black crow feeding on dead animals??  So, Courson says, while Abram is preparing to make this covenant with God, he is having to fight off the “birds of doubt and unbelief.” He’s busy flapping his arms to shoo them away. Eventually, exhausted by his own efforts, Abram falls asleep waiting for the blessing. Have you wearied of waiting for your blessing? Have you been praying for many years for the salvation of your family? Have you been waiting forever to become a bride or a mother? Does it seem like the job you want and need will never come? Have you fallen asleep waiting? GOOD! Because now it’s time for GOD to do the work.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” (vs 12-21)

It was GOD who was making this covenant that could not be broken. God knows our weaknesses - that no matter how sincerely we would like to, we just can’t keep our promises. And so the promises of God are “yes” in Him alone! (2 Cor 1:20)

Here’s what Jon Courson says about this passage: There is only one Promise Keeper, only One in Whom all the promises are yea and amen. Jesus came on the scene and did what we were unable to do. He kept the covenant, the promises, the commandments. All of the promises of God are in Him and kept by Him.


Tomorrow we’ll take one last look at this great chapter. Have a great morning!
 

Genesis 15:1-6

This morning we are looking at the pivotal point in Abram’s life - where he decides whether or not to believe God. In the first verse we saw that Abram had been full of fear, so God dealt with that immediately: Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield and your very great reward. Does it amaze you, like it does me, that God knows our names? Not only that, He knows what troubles us - and CARES! Abram’s response seems tenuous, if not actually whiny:

But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” (vs. 2-3)

Since Abram had no children, he had no one to carry on his name. Even Lot could not do that, because Lot had to carry on his own father’s name. So, the only option in Abram’s mind was to adopt his servant, Eliezar, and pass everything on to him. So, even though God has promised Abram to be his “very great reward,” Abram admits that there really is nothing he wants except a son, and God has not given him one of those...

Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (vs 4-5)

Oh my goodness! “I’m not just going to give you the son, Abram, I’m going to give you so many offspring, you will never be able to count them all!!” What an amazing promise to give an old man! Here’s another Ephesians 3:20 moment!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...


Jon Courson points out that scientists think there are as many stars as grains of sand - and in Gen 22:17, God reaffirms to Abraham that his family will be as numerous as the grains of sand. He finds it interesting that computer chips, made up of silicon (sand) can perform one trillion calculations per second, and that “clear back in antiquity, God measured his thoughts toward us [as well as Abram’s offspring] with the subtsance that would come to epitomize our computer age.”

This statement by God must have boggled Abram’s mind. But what does the next verse tell us?

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (vs, 6)

Now, we know, looking backward, how God fulfilled this promise, and we now recognize that Abram is the father of the faithful. But let’s remember that when this promise was made, Abram had no Bible in his hand. He could not flip to all of the promises and the biblical events to read for himself how God was faithful and would keep His promises. He could not turn to a passage to hold onto a verse. So, when we are told that Abram believed God we have reason to be amazed. WOW! No wonder it was credited it to him as righteousness!!! And yet, even with all we have in the way of evidence, God still credits us as righteous when we, too, believe! Abram’s heart is the heart God is after. He is looking for those who will just believe what He says!

What promise do you need this morning? A couple of weeks ago our speaker at Bible Study Fellowship recommended we go an a “shopping spree” in God’s Word for verses of encouragement and promise. Doesn’t that sound better than a day at the mall looking for things that will wear out, or go out of style, and. ultimately, not satisfy? I'm game! What are some promises from God’s Word that He has made to you personally? Will you share them with us, please??
Off to work! Have a great morning!
 

Genesis 15:1

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Gen 15:1)

Oh my goodness! There is so much here! This is the first time the phrase, “the word of the LORD,” is used. What does that mean? Well, the verse indicates that Abram had a vision - whether or not this was while he was sleeping or he was wide awake, we don’t know. But he definitely both SAW and HEARD from God in some way. And the LORD knew his heart and his need at that moment, for He tells Abram, “Do not be afraid...”

Abram must have been dealing with an inner struggle with fear. Note that the chapter opens with “After these things...” After what things? Well, he had just had an amazing military victory when he rescued Lot; he had just experienced a spiritual victory when he resisted the temptations of the king of Sodom; and he had also had a spiritual high in his encounter with Melchizedek. After all of that spiritual adrenaline, Abram hit an emotional low - and this is so typical!

We need to be on guard after we’ve had a mountaintop experience, because Satan waits to rob our joy. Whenever I have spent time away at a women’s retreat, where I’ve been fed and blessed, I most often found discouragement waiting for me back in the valley. I have also found that being forearmed with prayer has truly helped me recognize and deal with the enemy!

Anyway, this is the first time in the Bible where God says, “Do not be afraid!” Knowing our predilection to fear, God repeats this phrase over and over. I’ve often heard that this phrase, or a form of it, appears 365 times - one for each day - of course, I googled the question! The answers were split on the exact numbers, but all agree that it’s used MANY times!

Fear is immobilizing. It paralyzes us, making us completely ineffective for God. It is the exact opposite of fear. And, yet, God knows our weakness so He reminds us that HE is our strength! Here, He specifically tells Abram, I am your shield. “Whatever you are facing, Abram, I will be there to protect you and defend you. I’m in front of you - whatever comes your way, has to come through me first!” And beyond that, God tells Abram that He is also his “very great reward.” Can we hold onto that??! Friends, there is NOTHING more that we can want or gain that is equal to God - He IS the prize - He IS the reward. He is our goal - the Alpha and the Omega, the A-Z, the beginning and the end, everything we could ever want or need is met in Him alone!

What is it that is causing you fear today? Is it financial disaster? Marital stress? The test results you received from the doctor? Is it the future of your wayward teen? Are you fearful that you will never marry or have a child? Whatever your fear is, God commands us to “Fear not!” He goes before us, He walks with us and He goes behind us! He has us covered!  Don’t let anything shake that trust! He IS your shield and He IS your great reward! Tomorrow we will look at how specifically He meets Abram’s deepest fears and longings!