Genesis 15:1-21

June 12, 20013 In our last study we saw Lot carried away by the kings of the north and how Abraham rescued him. Youd think Abraham would be on top of the world at this point, but we see thats not the case: After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Now, why is Abraham afraid? Some think hes afraid the Elamites will regroup and come for another battle, but the context of chapter 15 is Gods promise to Abraham for, not only a son, but innumerable descendants and for the Promised Land. God says, Your reward shall be very great, but Abraham cant understand how so when he doesnt have a natural-born son:
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And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Hes followed God in hopes of a land and nation, but he and Sarah are getting old and they still have no son. To be the father of many he first has to be the father of one. If he has no children then Eliezer will inherit all God has given and the promise is good for nothing.
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And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Here we see the divine decree of God. Eliezer is not Gods choice; God has chosen Isaac to be the heir, and Hell see it through.
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And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Not only is Abraham promised a natural son, hes promised innumerable descendants! Picture Abraham in his doubt and fear; hes worried about having one son, but God says, Count the stars! How pitiful that he worried about something as simple as having one son when the One who counts the number of the stars and gives them all names (Psalm 147:4) promised nations from him!

Abraham couldnt create a son for himself any more than he could count the stars, but God can do anything, and Abraham comes to this realization:
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And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Now, we remember that his belief (his faith) is a gift which is given to him by God in the first place (Heb. 12:2), and by this gift, Abraham was justified (Rom. 5:1). It says here that God reckoned it to him as righteousness. Now, notice that the text doesnt say that Abraham was considered righteous, but that God reckoned (or credited) faith as righteousness. Its true that Abraham is considered righteous simply because hes in Christ, but here we see that his righteousness is given to him by God as a credit. This is an important point because Paul uses it in Romans 4 to show that righteousness was given to him before he was circumcised: Before he was a circumcised Jew, Abraham was an uncircumcised Gentile! He was one who did not pursue righteousness (Rom. 9:30), yet he received it by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). So, God promises a son and many descendants, and Abraham believes Him.
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And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. But theres still a little doubt:
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And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

Hes saying, How can I know for sure that this will happen? Isnt it strange that Abraham believes God for descendants as countless as the stars, but he doubts whether God can give him a patch of land? But, you know, God is merciful and patient, and Hes going to help Abraham in his unbelief. He does something that at first seems strange, and I want to explain it to you before we read it so that it will make sense to you. What were about to read is sometimes called the Blood Path. Its normally a contract between two people which assures that both parties will uphold their end of the bargain. What happens is animals are cut in half and their parts are laid opposite each other in two parallel lines to make a path. The two people walk between the dead animals as a gesture to say, If I dont fulfill my end of the deal, then may what happened to these animals happen to me. And God uses a modified form of this contract to covenant with Abraham. Abraham asks, How can I be sure Youll do what Youre telling me?
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And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

So we have a cow, a goat, a ram, and two birds:

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And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. So Abraham prepares the animals and waits for the terms of the covenant to be established. While waiting, he falls into a deep sleep and terror and great darkness fell upon him.
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And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Before He gets into the details of the terms, God confirms His word to make Abraham into a great nation, and He prophesies in detail about how Hell bring it all about. He prophesies that Abrahams descendants will move to a land where theyll be enslaved for 400 years, but then theyll come out with many possessions. Now, we know from the rest of the story that Hes talking about Egypt. The sons of Israel went there to find food during a famine only to find that their brother, Joseph, had been made second in command to Pharaoh. He bid them come live with him there where they could be fed during the famine, and they did. They packed all their belongings and took their families to live in Egypt where they began to multiply. But after Joseph died there was a king who didnt know Joseph, and the Egyptians feared the Israelites so they forced them into servitude (Ex. 1:114). Then, youll remember, God raised up Moses to deliver His people, and, after the ten plagues (Ex. 2-12), the Jewish slaves of Egypt were allowed to leave. On their way out they asked their Egyptian neighbors for articles of gold and silver and clothing, and the Egyptians gave it to them (Ex. 12:35-36). Then the Israelites wandered around the desert for 40 years, and in the fourth generation (under the leadership of Joshua) the Israelites returned to the land of Canaan and conquered it for their own possession (Josh. 1:1-9). But, just as God promised Abraham, the land wouldnt be theirs until the sins of the Amorites reached its full measure. God warned the Israelites before they conquered the first city: Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness

the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee (Deut. 9:4). The promise has always been that the Israelites would receive the land after the sins of the inhabitants there reached its full measure. All of Gods promises would come to pass; Abraham could know for certain.
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And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. Here we see God passing through the pieces of the animals, walking the Blood Path, making an irreversible covenant with Abraham. Now I want you to notice something very interesting and inspiring here: normally the two parties of the contract wouldve both walked through the Blood Path, but in this case, God is the only one to take the oath! If I break my covenant (regardless of what you do) may what happened to these animals happen to me. This covenant is established entirely on Gods faithfulness!
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In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. Lets close with a few thoughts: #1- We can rest in joy knowing that God is patient and understanding of our weaknesses. God couldve been angry with Abraham but He wasnt. Im often reminded of things Ive said or believed that are far from true, but I see how God has gently and lovingly disciplined me to be more like Him. Sometimes Im too quick to be impatient with people who dont know as much as I do, but it does me well to remember His patience with me. Theres no room for false teaching or heresy; we have no fellowship with darkness; but we who are His are all growing in our understanding, and we need to be as patient with each other as He is with us. #2- Theres no good reason for us to doubt or disregard His promises to us because Hes the Almighty God. This point is somewhat opposite of the first, but it needs to be said that while God is patient in our weaknesses, theres no reason for us to doubt Him. Abraham received mercy and patience, but he still should have believed without question from the first word. Its also worth mentioning that God is only slow in keeping His promise as we understand slowness. More than 400 years passed before Abrahams descendants possessed the land promised to them.

Imagine the conversations around the dinner table for all those years: When will God give us the land He promised? But we have the luxury of looking back over the last 4,000 years and seeing how God did what He said He would do. Should He wait another 4,000, what will future generations say of us? Will we wait without doubt? #3- All our hope in salvation rests on Gods promise to remain faithful. God was the only one to walk the Blood Path because Abraham couldnt have possibly kept his end of the deal. We cant keep any terms of commitment in our salvation apart from the faithfulness of God. Thats why He promises that He will not lose one sheep (John 10). Theres nothing we can do to earn or keep our salvationHe has done it all. This is why we depend on Him in evangelism and this is why we believe in the eternal security of the believer. Hes not interesting in contracting with me if I have to hold up my end of the bargainHe already knows Ill fail (and have failed already). This is also why believers dont have to endure guilt. If youve entered into a covenant with God, its because Hes already fulfilled all the terms! What better motivation to love Him and be grateful than this? #4- God has our futures (even the bad stuff) planned out. God knew every detail in Israels future. He wasnt surprised when His people ended up as slaves, and He wasnt taken off guard when Pharaoh refused to let them go. In fact, were told that God intentionally raised Pharaoh up to fulfill His purposes (Rom. 9:17). There are difficult circumstances or people in our lives, but we have to know that God causes all of it to work together for our good. Even the worst evils which happen to many believers are permitted by our sovereign Lord and caused to work according to His will. Think about this: if God isnt sovereign in all things, then something else is more powerful than God, and we need to be worshiping that thing instead! When we realize God is sovereign, we wont complain and fight with each other; we wont hate or seek revenge. We know that everything is in His hands, and that Hell eventually bring us up out of our hardship into the good land! #5- God allows sin to reach its full measure so that He is glorified by His grace. When could the Israelites possess the land? In the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. God endures with patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy (Rom. 9:23). His judgment on them defines His grace for us; His condemnation on them defines His forgiveness for us; His hatred of them defines His love for us. In all this, He is glorified as the God who pardons and loves those who dont deserve it. May this be the foundation of our assurance and humility as we wait on Him to fulfill His promise to us.

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