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God’s Fulfilled Promise To Abraham
ecstatic dream that brings a revela- tion) and in that the word of the Lord came to him (mentioned twice in our text—verses 1 and 4).
Before the particulars of the covenant were announced, God called Abram away from fear and identified himself. He gave Abram 2 good reasons for Abram to have courage! God promised to defend him=(Iamthyshield)and,(2)he promised him exceeding great re- ward. These metaphors for God are common in the Bible (Psalm 3:3; Isaiah 40:10). Abram was re- spectful in his direct address, “Sov- ereign Lord,” but he admitted his angst in that he had not witnessed the fulfillment of the promise given earlier (Genesis 12:3). Abram recognized that he was “as good as dead” and that his wife, Sarai was beyond the age to bear a child (He- brews 11:11, 12).
Abram tried to work his own deal with God by suggesting that his chief servant, Eliezer (“The Lord helped”) become the heir of prom- ise. This was not uncommon in Abram’s world. Eliezer had been with Abram for some time. Al- though Abram loved his servant, he wanted a son to carry on the family line. So the prominent servant would not be the promised son.
A Promised Son Genesis 15:4-6
The covenant would be made through Abram’s own flesh and blood. To reinforce that promise God used an object lesson with Abram. God took Abram outside and had him look up at the sky and count the stars—one, two, three. This could take a while. Later God would use another object lesson, the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17), to reinforce the promise. While these object lessons could have been visionary in nature, they could also have been literal in time and space.
Without one son to his name, Abram was asked to believe that his descendants would number in the billions (and they do at this very mo- ment in history). The narrative reached a climax in one of the most significant verses in the Bible.
Abram just believed.
This verse is used several times in the New Testament (Romans 4:3, 9, 22; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) and became the basis of Paul’s argument about justification by faith (Romans 4:18-22). God’s faithful righteousness was embraced by Abram and became the example for the church (Galatians 3:23- 29). This is no small verse of a
promised son.
A Provided Sacrifice Genesis 15:17-21
Abram knew this sacred space was encompassing a holy moment. God had him prepare a sacrifice (a heifer, a goat, and two birds). A most strange thing happened next. In the midst of darkness (see Matthew 27:45), a smoking firepot with a blazing torch . . . passed between the pieces. Fire is a symbol of God’s presence.
A part of that covenant involved possessing the land (from Egypt to Syria) that for now belonged to the ites.” God’s covenant, both then and now, will need to be kept in the midst of unbelievers.
When you fear what lies ahead, remember that God will stay with you through difficult times and that he has promised you great blessings. And like Abram, while he demon- strated his faith through actions, it was his belief in the Lord, not ac- tions, that made him right with God. So trust God with your life. A right relationship is based on faith — the heartfelt confidence that God is who he says he is and and does what he says he will do. Right actions follow naturally as a result.
Genesis 15:1-21
God made covenants regarding creation (rainbow), about days (Sabbath), in bodies (circumci- sion), and within the spiritual parts of bodies (heart)—all last month’s lessons.
But he also made covenants with individuals (Abram and David) and with groups of people (ancient Is- rael and post-exilic Israel)—this month’s lessons. The God of the Bible loves to work an agreement.
The Abram narrative makes up a large portion of Genesis (chap- ters 12 through 25). Much had happened to Abram by the time we get to this text. He had been called from Ur and Haran to the land of Israel. He had moved his family to
Egypt to escape a famine and lied about his wife. He had both sepa- rated from and rescued his nephew Lot. Finally he had had a most in- teresting encounter with a king- priest of God named Melchizedek.
A Prominent Servant Genesis 15:1-3
But it had been a while since God gave Abram his original com- mission/covenant (Genesis 12:1- 3), and hence the phrase in our text, “After this.” It was time for God to initiate the “promise” re- garding it (15:15) and give the “sign” about it (v. 17). Abram played the role of a prophet (20:7) in that he experienced a vision (an
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