Genesis 15: 1-21
(Apologies – there was a problem with the sound. The transcription is below)
Tonight, we are in Genesis chapter 15. During these studies in the book of Genesis, we are learning about the origin or the beginning of all things created. Like the origin of the universe, man, marriage, sin and the origin of redemption. When man fell, God immediately went to work, initiating his plan to create a pathway of redemption to mankind. God gave a promised to Eve that her seed will crush the head of the serpent. All this originated in the garden of Eden. And in his plan, God created a nation, the nation of Israel. The origin of this plan was started in one man, Abram. In this chapter, chapter 15, a covenant will be made, legally binding God to his promise, an unconditional covenant with Abram. Abram was a Pegan idol worshiper, from the land of Ur of the Chaldees. Abram did not know God, but God approached Abram and made a promise to him. Abram believed and left for the land of Canaan. This will start the origin of the 3 great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These same promises are made to Isaac and Jacob. Israel is important to God’s redemptive plan, the Jewish Mesiah (Jesus) will be born in Israel and He will die to become the savior of the world. All of these origins are found in the book of Genesis.
Back in chapter 14, Abram makes this very heroic rescue mission. There were 4 kings from the north which were descendants of Ham and they went to war against 5 kings from the south which were descendants of Shem. Under the leadership of Chedorlaomer the 4 kings came down and cleaned house against the 5, they took spoils of war, and they rounded up people of these cities and took them hostages, including Abram’s nephew Lot. The word gets back to Abram, and what does Abram do? In a courageous manner, he takes 318 household servants, who are trained and battle ready to rescue his nephew. Abram divides up his army and raids the kings in the middle of the night. Abram is victorious over the kings; he wins back all the spoils and people, including Lot. When Abram returns from battle, he is met by 2 kings, first the king of Salem, Melchizedek and the second king of Sodom, Bera. All this is important for the first verse in chapter 15. King Bera offers Abram to keep the spoils of war and let him have the people. Abram rejects this offer, because Abram did not want anyone to think that he was made rich by anyone.
Which leads us to verse 1.
It’s very interesting that God would start this chapter by saying “do not be afraid.”
Abram should be on an emotional high right now. He gathered his household, they went out and won a major victory against a strong army. He rescues his nephew Lot, and he was visited by a God-fearing king and priest of Salem. Which Melchizedek bless Abram. I believe Abram’s mind started to wonder to the dealing with the King of Sodom; by rejecting the spoils, he rejected a potential ally. What if the armies from the north want to return to sack revenge on Abram? Who would come to Abram’s aid if he was ever in trouble?
It doesn’t matter where we are in our spiritual walk with the LORD, Satan will not waste any time to seed doubt in our minds about our walk with God. This is what is happening here. There are a range of fears running through Abram’s mind right now and God speaks right to Abram’s heart. God proceeds to tell Abram that the rewards that he could have received was nothing compared to the reward in having Him as an ally. Later in this chapter God will reward Abram more than he could ever imagine. I am sure you already understand this, but fear is one of the most destructive emotions we have. It can paralyze you; and it is irrational. It defies our logic and reasoning to look at a situation and tell ourselves that we can look at the fear logically. The fear eclipses our logic, and we don’t reason our way through the situation. We are just too afraid. There was a study done by the University of Minnesota about fear, and 40% of what we are fearful about will never happen. We become servant to the emotion of fear that will never happen. It’s irrational. So, how can we overcome this fear? How do we stop it from taking over our life? Take time to read the Bible, and understand God’s promises to us. And Pray! Give the fear to the Lord and let him take control. We must have faith in God. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” And when we are in a low point in our life, we can reflect on what we have read, then give our fear to God in prayer. Then God will be our shield and our great reward. Our great reward is heaven, where we will live forever with Him.
After this beautiful promise God gives Abram, Abram responds by, “I don’t have an heir.” This response may seem a little childish, but let’s put ourselves in Abram’s shoes. Back in chapter 12:2, God calls Abram out of the land of Ur and gives him this promise. “I will make a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” Here is the problem, to make a nation, you must have an heir. Abram believes this promise and leaves Ur at the age of 75 years old. In chapter 16 we are told Abram is 86 years old, so in this chapter Abram is around 85 years old. 10 years have passed and he is still childless. This is a perfect response after 10 years waiting for a promise. I mean, if it was me, I would ask God about this promise the hour after God gave it to me. But Sarai, age 90, will give birth to Isaac when Abram is 100 years old. In our time, it is impossible to have a child this old. Women stop having children around the age of 55. But nothing is impossible for God. In verse 4-5, God confirms his promise to Abram.
Did you notice in verse 4 that God tells Abram, “One who will come from your own body shall be your heir”? Well, since we are all great students of the Bible, we know how God structured marriage. In Genesis 2:24 God says, “A Man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Since Sarai is his wife, God made this promise to Abram and Sarai. God even expands the promise in verse 6, He tells Abram, “To count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “so shall your descendants be.”
Verse 6 sums up the whole Christian faith, to believe the Lord, and he will count it as righteousness. It is this belief, faith in the only living God, that saves the sinner from sin. It does not say we obtain righteousness by works, but through faith alone. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Our Faith in Jesus Christ, that he came to this earth, he died of our sins, and he rose from the grave on the 3rd day, this is counted to us as righteousness. It doesn’t matter how much good we do, or how much we help others, or if you are part of some kind of organization that helps others. Yes, these things are good and we should do them, only our belief in Jesus Christ are we saved.
Starting in verse 7 through 21, we transition into what we call the Abrahamic Covenant. This is an unconditional covenant made between God and Abram. And before we get into these verses, I want to do a little back story about why this is important and I want to tie all this together. I want to remind you that Genesis was pinned by Moses, while in the wilderness. This was after the nation of Israel was freed from their bondage in Egypt. Then at Mount Sinai, Moses receives the Law and there will be another covenant made with Israel. And all this happens while they are on the way to the promised land.
Read Verse 7
God starts this verse by saying, “I am the Lord.” Remember the audience Moses is writing to, s the nation of Israel. While wondering in the wilderness, the Law was given as part of the Mosaic Covenant in Exodus 20:2, and here God starts off by saying, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Using this title “I am the LORD,” Israel can connect these two covenants together in their minds. The Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant. Now God is speaking with authority “I am the LORD, I am Yahweh, and then God reminds Abram, that He brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees. In other words, God initiated this relationship with Abram. He starts this relationship; it wasn’t the other way around. Abram didn’t start the relationship with God. In John 15:16 Jesus tells his disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” God called us out of this world. He called us out of our sin to be His disciples. If you are a disciple here today, God can use this phrase on our life. “I am the LORD, who brought you out of, fill in the blank.” Where were you when God called you? What did God bring you out of? Maybe you can say, “He brought me out of despair.” Or Addiction, Loneliness, Pridefulness, Physical relationship, depression, anger, or whatever it was that he brought you out of. Only God can say that he saved you from these things. He is the one that brought us out of our old life. He has made you new!
Read Verse 8
I believe this is not a question of doubt. He is not doubting God’s promise that he will inherit the land. Just in verse 6, that Abram believed God. This question is more out of curiosity, like “How are you going to do it? How will I inherit this land? God says here is how.
Read verse 9-12
From verses 9-12, we see the contract drawn out. Now picture with me, a figure 8 and the two halves of a heifer, goat, and ram places on both sides of the figure 8. Also, laid on the sides of figure 8 were the turtledove and pigeon, these birds were not cut in two. I was going to bring the animals to show you how it was done, but the cleaning crew voted it down. So, I settled on a picture instead. Now what would happen is one or two people would walk in this figure 8 pattern and recite the terms of the contract. Then like signing your name to the contract, they would say, “Understanding what happens to these animals, let it happen to me if I break this contract.” It was common practice in Abram’s day to create a contract or covenant in this way. Then it says that Abram fell into a deep sleep. The last time someone fell into a deep sleep, it was Adam in the garden of Eden. While Adam was in the deep sleep, God created Eve. Now that Abram is in a deep sleep means there is something big about to happen. And it says, that horror and great darkness fell upon Abram. Remember the first audience to read Genesis are the children of Israel while they are at Mount Sinai. In Exodus 20:18-20, the children of Israel experience this same thing Abram is experiencing. They can relate in a real way. In the next verses, God will reveal Abram’s future and his descendant’s future.
Let’s read verses 13-16
The children of Israel will be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and part of God’s redemptive plan for them, God will send Moses to bring them out of Egypt and into the promised land. But why 400 years? God will set a time for the people of Canaan to repent of their sins, but Satan has other plans. He will start to corrupt the people like he did in Noah’s time.
Verses 17-21
Here in verse 17, God finalizes this covenant. While Abram is in a deep sleep, God passes through the separated sacrifices. It should have been Abram who passed through them, but God substituted himself. Making this covenant unconditional and eternal, and in this covenant, there are 4 promises made. 1st Abram will have descendants from his own seed. 2nd His name will be great. 3rd Blessing of the land of Canaan. Lastly, all people of the earth would be blessed. God even took the blessing of the land a step further, He defines the area that He will give Israel. Everything from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iran, and as far north as Turkey.
As we close, I want to stress the importance of this covenant and its blessings. Most people do not understand what this covenant means for them. Picture blessings as branches on a tree. The Abrahamic covenant is the trunk and roots-strong, deep, and holding everything up. Every good thing in life, every bite of God’s kindness, grows from His faithfulness to that ancient promise. But it’s bigger than just you and me. The promise extends like branches of a tree to “all families of the earth” to be blessed through Abram. That’s why sharing our faith matters-its about spreading those blessings to the whole world. The beautiful part about this covenant, we don’t earn them by being perfect; we receive them through our faith in God. It’s a huge reminder of how generous God is!
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