Genesis
chapter 15 begins immediately follows Abrams defeat of the five
kingdoms in pursuit of Lot. He is clearly fearful of retaliation for
his boldness. We read, “The
word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “DO NOT BE AFRAID,
ABRAM. I AM YOUR SHIELD, YOUR VERY GREAT REWARD“.
Many times in the Bible we read of God speaking to man in dreams and
visions and through prophets. But understand, that is because they
did not have a Bible to refer to! How does God speak to you and I?
I believe He speaks to us through His written Word. That is one of
the many reason it is important to spend time daily reading His Word.
He will speak to our spirit by His Spirit through His word. Next
time you need God’s direction, seek Him in prayer, THEN READ HIS
REPLY! This was a revolutionary understanding in my life.
Next
Abram cries out to God, “I
remain childless…You have given me no children, so a servant in my
household will be my heir“.
God tells Abram, “This
man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will
be your heir“.
So God takes Abram outside and reminds him of the promise. “Look
up at the heavens and count the stars… so shall your offspring be“.
Then we are told “Abram
believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness“.
This is critically important to catch, Abram hadn’t DONE anything,
he simply BELIEVED and God considered him righteous. It is believing
the promise of Christ as Savior too that makes us righteous. In
fact, we don’t have to DO ANYTHING, except believe and God considers
us perfect. In order to grasp grace, we must accept this. Since we
can not be good enough on our own, the only way to receive
forgiveness is by faith- simply believing God’s promise that Jesus’
death paid the penalty for our sin. Ephesians 2:8 tells us “For
it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God- Not by works, so no man may
boast“.
God
also promises Abram, his descendents will possess this land, and
Abram asks “How
can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
So God does an amazing thing. At that time to seal a contract, an
animal was cut in half and the two parties would walk between them
repeating the terms of the agreement. The agreement was then binding
on both parties. God tells Abram to get an assortment of animals and
Abram cuts them in half and waits. He fully expects that God will
walk with him between them to seal the deal. After spending the day
chasing birds away, as the sun was setting, Abram falls asleep. God
first explains that the Hebrews will be taken captive as slaves for
400 hundred years, but then they will possess the land. But when Abe
wakes up, he sees “a
smoking firepot and blazing torch pass between the pieces“.
God makes the agreement with Himself! God in essence says, I will
keep my word. This is a good lesson for us to remember too. When
God’s blood was shed at the cross, we did not have a signature line
on the contract, God signed it for both of us. His promise for
reconciliation is for us, but we do not have any responsibility for
making it happen. We simply accept the agreement by faith.