Genesis 15:1–21
Introduction
J. Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to
China, traveled to a bank in England to open up an account for the China Inland
Mission. While filling out the application, he came across a question asking
him to designate his assets. Taylor wrote, “ten pounds and the promises of
God.” Hudson Taylor was a great man of faith, and the foundation for his life
of faith stood on the promises of God. The promises of God are stepping-stones
upon the path of life that enable his people to move forward in the life of
faith.
The promises of God in Genesis 12:1–3 enabled Abram to
take a step of faith toward the Promised Land. The promises of God saved Abram
when he took a different path, a path that was not in line with God’s plans.
The promises of God gave Abram the victory over the four kings in Genesis 14,
and in Genesis 15 we’ll see how they enabled Abram to continue on his journey
of faith.
The promises God declares in Genesis 15 are not new;
rather, they are God’s confirmation of promises he gave to Abram in Genesis 12.
God’s continuous confirmation and reassurance of his promises keep Abram going
in the right direction.
Genesis 15 is a pivotal chapter both in the narrative of
the life of Abram as well in the story of God’s great plan of redemption for
all humanity. It begins a significant transition from a focus on the Promised
Land to a focus on that of the promised seed, or the heirs of Abram. Of great
importance is the glimpse Genesis provides of God’s unfolding plan of
redemption. Genesis 15 is mentioned three times in the New Testament, twice by
the apostle Paul and once by the apostle James. In all three occurrences we
find them defending justification by faith and expounding on the nature of true
saving faith.[1]
All those who are on the journey of faith can stand on the
same promises that Abraham was able to stand on. Charles Spurgeon has rightly
said that the promises of God are the Christian’s “Magna Charta of liberty,
they are the title deeds of his heavenly estate. They are the jewel room in
which the Christian’s crown treasures are preserved.” The first observation
that we make in Genesis 15 is that God’s people stand on his supernatural
promises.
Standing on God’s Supernatural Promises
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a
vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be
very great.” (Genesis 15:1)
As I’ve mentioned before, God’s people are most
vulnerable to temptation and discouragement after great victories won by the
Lord. Abram, after making a great declaration of no-compromise to the king of
Sodom, would become discouraged and somewhat dismayed. After the great battle
we read about in Genesis 14, God, knowing Abram’s thoughts and feelings, would
address them in a supernatural way, “After these things the word of the Lord
came to Abram in a vision.” Before we examine the nature of the word of God
that came to Abram, we would do well to recognize the means by which Abram
received this word.
The text tells us that the word of the Lord came to Abram
“in a vision.” This type of vision was one way that God’s prophets would
receive a word from him. The manner in which Abram received the word suggests
that Abram was a prophet, a title that in Genesis 20:7 would be specifically
given to Abram.[2]
In addition, the vision that brought about the word was
similar to other instances in the Bible where God’s word was used to bring
encouragement to certain people or groups. The Lord also calms fears as well as
encourages. In the New Testament three such occurrences (Acts 18:9; 23:11;
27:23) take place with the apostle Paul.[3]
God’s vision to Abram would come to calm his fears as well as to encourage him.
The very first thing the word of God addresses is Abram’s
fear, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision,
saying, ‘Do not fear.’ ” We can only speculate as to what caused Abram to fear.
It could have been the reality of the hostility that he would have to face on
his journey of faith. Perhaps while he was waiting for God to fulfill his
promises, doubt and fear set in. One thing we know for sure: the Lord is going
to address Abram’s fears and he does so through his supernatural promises. The
first promise he gives to Abram is one of supernatural protection.
The Promise of Supernatural Protection
The promise of supernatural protection is found
in the Lord’s declaration to Abram, “I am a shield to you.” The Hebrew word
translated here as “shield” is the same root of the Hebrew word in Genesis
14:20, which is translated “deliver.” The context of the latter is when
Melchizedek declared that the Lord was the one who brought Abram’s deliverance
from the enemy. In Genesis 15:1 the Lord confirmed his blessing upon Abram by
promising him continual supernatural protection. The word translated as shield
is appropriate because a warrior would carry a shield for protection. In the
same manner, the Lord promises Abram that he would deliver him from the enemy,
that he would be his protection in the midst of a hostile territory. Just as
the Lord supernaturally protected Abram from Pharaoh, and just as the Lord
supernaturally protected Abram from the power of the four kings, the Lord would
continue to give Abram supernatural protection throughout his journey of faith.
King David trusted in the Lord’s supernatural protection
when he said in Psalm 3 that the Lord was his “shield.” Likewise, when David
declared in Psalm 23, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they
comfort me,” he was declaring that the Lord would protect him with a
supernatural protection.
The Promise of Supernatural Provision
The Lord also gave Abram a promise of
supernatural provision in the latter part of verse 1, “Your reward shall be
very great.” The idea the Lord conveyed to Abram is that of “payment.” This
phrase is tied in with the previous chapter. It was after the blessing of
Melchizedek that Abram responded by giving a tenth of all the plunder that he
accumulated from the battle. By tithing on the plunder, Abram acknowledged that
the Lord was truly the “possessor of heaven and earth” and that God was the
source of victory.
After tithing ten percent of the plunder, the king of
Sodom offered Abram all the plunder for himself; however, Abram did not accept
it because he did not want to compromise his faith and bring dishonor upon the
Lord.[4]
The Lord affirmed to Abram that his faithfulness did not go unnoticed and that
the Lord would take care of his provisions.
Some translate this verse to mean that the Lord is Abram’s
reward, that is, because Abram has the Lord he does not need the tainted
plunder of earthly kings.[5]
I would say that because Abram has the Lord as his reward, he could be sure of
the Lord’s provisions. Abram does not have to take tainted plunder because the
Lord, the King of kings, is greater than any king, including Pharaoh or the
king of Sodom. Abram did not have to compromise his faith to get ahead because
the Lord would reward his faithfulness.
The apostle Paul declared this truth when he wrote, “My
God will supply all your needs according to the riches in glory in Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Just as the Lord promised to reward the faithfulness
of Abram, he also promises to reward the faithfulness of all his children.
The promise of supernatural provision reminds me of one of
the stories that I heard while I was serving at First Baptist Church of Dallas.
A woman in the church was a very generous giver to kingdom purposes. She always
wore a necklace with a gold shovel pendant. She said that she wore it because
it reminded her that she could never out give the Lord and that her “reward
shall be very great.”
Many men would have been totally satisfied with the
supernatural promises of protection and provision given to Abram, but Abram
wasn’t. This is not to say that Abram disrespected these two great promises or
that he did he not care for them. But Abram was looking for something
greater—the fulfillment of the promise of a supernatural progeny.
The Promise of a Supernatural Progeny
Up to this point we have seen monologue
recorded on the part of the Lord, but now we will “listen in” on a dialogue
between Abram and the Lord. Genesis 15:2 presents the first recorded
conversation between God and Abram.[6]
Abram responded to the Lord’s promises with what seems at first like a
complaint, “Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, since I am
childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ ” The “complaint” that Abram made is by no means from a lack of
faith in God or from unbelief, rather it is a show of Abram’s confidence that
God would, as promised in Genesis 12 and 13, make him a “great nation”[7]
and make his descendents “as the dust of the earth.”[8]
In Abram’s mind the promises of supernatural protection
and provision meant nothing if he had no son to benefit from the inheritance.
If anything, the question Abram posed arose out of trust. Abram believed the
Lord would make him a great nation and make his descendants as many as the dust
of the earth, but he wanted to know when and how God would fulfill his promise.
Abram and Sarai were already up there in years and, from
Abram’s perspective, God seemed to be taking his time in fulfilling his
promise. Their biological clocks stopped ticking a long time ago and Abram
thought a delay was not going to help. Cultural practices were also at the
forefront of Abram’s mind when he said to the Lord, “I am childless, and the
heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus.” It was common practice that if
there were no blood heir, the head of the household would adopt a servant in
the household to be the heir.[9]
But as we read further, we see that the Lord addressed Abram’s concern. God
revealed how he would bring about the fulfillment of his promise, and then he
illustrated the magnitude of the promise.
First the Lord addressed the “how.” “Then behold, the word
of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one
who will come forth from your own body” (Genesis 15: 4, emphasis
added). The Lord told Abram to have no doubt about how he would bring about
this promised seed. Though Abram and Sarai were childless, God would bring
through them a promised descendent.
To be without a child in Abram’s day had different
connotations than it does today. In Bible times, people thought being childless
was a sign of God’s judgment from their wickedness. But in Abram’s case it was
an opportunity for God to show his supernatural power. Abram and Sarai were
both well past childbearing years and the prospect of having a child eluded
them long ago, but God would use their childlessness as an opportunity to show
his power. The Lord would use his supernatural power to turn Abram and Sarai’s
hopeless situation into one filled with hope.
The Lord confirmed his promise of a supernatural progeny
with a sign in verse 5, a sign that showed the magnitude of God’s promise, “And
he took Abram outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the
stars, if you are able to count them.’ And he said to him, ‘so shall your
descendants be. ”
Obviously, from this verse we learn that Abram’s vision
came to him while he was in his house. The Lord took Abram outside to look into
the sky and count the stars. Imagine Abram’s thoughts as God revealed the
enormity of his promise in this great object lesson. The first time the Lord
reaffirmed his promise to Abram he had him look down to the ground and count
the dust. Some say that this was to reaffirm the Lord’s commitment to give
Abram the land. This time the Lord had Abram look up to the stars.
Most likely the use of “stars” to reaffirm the promise is
pointing back to Abram’s earlier declaration in Genesis 14:22 when he said to
the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High, possessor of
heaven and earth.” To declare God to be possessor of heaven and earth pointed
to the creative power of God. It was God’s creative power that made the heavens
and the earth, and it will be God’s supernatural, creative power that would
enable Abram to have descendants that outnumber the dust of the earth and the
stars of the sky. Just as the Lord was faithful in his supernatural and
creative power in the past, he would also be faithful to demonstrate this power
in Abram’s future.[10]
Abram could stand on the Lord’s supernatural promises of
protection, provision, and progeny. In the same way, we who are living the life
of faith can stand on the promises of God, knowing that the all-powerful God
who made the heavens and earth will uphold his promises.
When we claim a promise such as the one given in Isaiah
41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God; I will
strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand,” God’s people can be assured that an all-powerful, supernatural God will
keep that promise because of his supernatural power. Not only do we stand on
God’s supernatural promises, but we also stand on God’s saving promises.
Standing on God’s Saving Promises
Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
Abram will respond to the Lord’s reaffirmation
of his promise in verse 6. We find that this was a saving response to God’s
promise. It is important that we understand before we get into this verse the
importance it plays in God’s unfolding plan of redemption and justification
before God by faith alone. This great verse is used in the New Testament to
teach how one is saved, by faith alone. That is why I call it Abram’s
saving response to God’s promise.
The Response to God’s Saving Promise
“Then he believed in the Lord”(Genesis 15:6).
This declaration is a transition statement for the whole chapter, showing us
the response to the first appearance that Abram had with God in this chapter
and preparing us for a second appearance (which might never have happened had
Abram responded differently).
To say that Abram believed the Lord in this verse is not
to say that this is the first time Abram had faith in the Lord, for it was by
faith that Abram left his home of Ur and traveled to the Promised Land. Abram’s
faith had been demonstrated by his actions, that is, by his obedience to the
word of the Lord. We need to view Genesis 15:6 not as Abram’s initial step of
faith, but instead as his response to the supernatural promise of God
reaffirmed in the first five verses of Genesis 15.
This is the first time the word “believed” is used in the
Bible. It is the Hebrew word “amen.” The idea conveyed by this word is that of
certainty. Faith is not something that we deem possible or hopeful, but
instead, biblical faith means to believe with total firmness and certainty in
the object of belief.[11]
This invites the question concerning that which Abram believes with certainty.
In what did Abram place his total trust concerning the Lord’s supernatural
promises?
From the immediate text we can conclude that Abram
believed the Lord would protect him, provide for him, and ultimately give him a
child. All of these promises are directly related to the promises given to
Abram back in Genesis 12. His belief revealed in Genesis 15 is connected more
with the supernatural progeny than with anything else, and it is connected with
the promises to become a great nation and to have descendants that outnumber
the dust of the earth and the stars of the heavens. If all we had was the book
of Genesis, we could conclude that this is exactly what Abram “believed in the
Lord.” But the New Testament, especially the teachings of Paul found in the
book of Galatians, gives us greater insight into exactly what Abram believed.
In Galatians 3 we see three indications of exactly what
Abram believed here in Genesis 15. First, Paul told us that Abram believed in
the gospel, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel before hand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations
will be blessed in you’ ” (Galatians 3:8). Paul pointed back to God’s promise
of Genesis 12 and declared that Abram understood the statement, “All nations
will be blessed in you” as more than a physical blessing, but rather as the
greatest spiritual blessing of all, salvation.[12]
Second, we learn from the third chapter of Galatians that
Abram believed in redemption. According to verses 10 through 14, Paul declared
that Christ redeemed us from the curse of sin. This was done in Christ Jesus,
who as Paul says “is the blessing of Abraham.” Christ made the payment that set
us free from the penalty and the power of sin. Abraham believed in God’s
redemption.[13]
Third, we learn from the teachings of Paul that Abraham
believed in Christ. Paul points to this truth in Galatians 3:16 when he wrote,
“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And
to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that
is, Christ.”
If we go back to the book of Genesis we can confirm that
Paul is referring to the use of the Hebrew word translated “descendants” or
“seed.” The literal translation is the singular form of the word “seed.” Paul
explained that Abraham understood this promise as more than just a promise of
many descendants, but as a promise of one particular descendant—the Redeemer
Jesus Christ—who would bring justification from sin to the whole world.[14]
Abram believed in God’s good news, in God’s redemption,
and in a specific descendant who would bring salvation and justification. Did
he understand the promise fully? No! But what he did understand completely is
that he believed in the Lord. This was Abram’s saving response to God’s saving
promise, which brought about a saving result.
The Result of God’s Saving Promise
The result of Abram’s belief in God’s
supernatural promise is declared in the latter part of verse 6, “and He
reckoned it to him as righteousness.” There are two words we need to understand
in the saving result of God’s promise: reckoned and righteousness.
As Abram placed his faith in the gospel, in redemption,
and in the coming of a particular descendant whom we know as Christ, and God
“reckoned it to him as righteousness.” The word “reckoned” has the connotation
of crediting or paying something to someone’s account. The Lord imputed
righteousness to Abram’s account on the basis of his faith.
Some say that “righteousness” refers to Abram’s act of
faith, that is, his act of faith is an act of righteousness, and to some degree
it is. But, what this verse means is that when Abram believed in the promise
given to him about a particular seed, a seed that would bring eternal
blessings, the Lord enabled Abram to have a right standing before God.
Since the fall of humanity recorded in Genesis 3, man has
been condemned before God, objects of his wrath. The question that has been
asked throughout the ages is, How can a person be righteous before God? Some
argue that good works will give a person right standing before God, but the
Bible clearly says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23). No matter how good our works are before God, our works of
righteousness are as filthy rags before a perfect God (Isaiah 64:6).
Only God can make a person righteous before him. Only God
can give a person right standing before him. The way God made this possible is
through the seed of Abram, who is Christ. Christ took upon himself our sin and
has given us his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). The only way that we can
have righteousness credited to our account is through faith in God’s provision
of salvation. For Abram, his faith was in the promise of salvation, but for you
and me our salvation is in the fulfillment of that promise, the fulfillment
being Christ.
Abram demonstrated a great theological truth, a truth that
Paul declared in Ephesians 2:8–9 when he said, “For by grace you have been
saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as
a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The only way one can truly have
salvation, the only way one can have a right standing before God is by standing
on God’s saving promise of salvation in Christ. And the way that we stand on
that promise is with a confident trust, not a probable trust, not a hopeful
trust, but a certain trust that Christ and Christ alone is our salvation. One
of the hymns of the faith describes this truth well.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.[15]
Any other promise of salvation is no promise at all; it is
sinking sand. Abram was standing on the Lord’s supernatural promises, the
Lord’s saving promises, and the Lord’s sure promises.
Standing on God’s Sure Promises
After Abram demonstrated his certain belief in
the promise of eternal life, the Lord would then make a sure covenant with
Abram, a covenant that came only after Abram placed his total trust in the
Lord’s saving promise.
The Sure Covenant of God
The covenant that is made in the next verse is
one primarily concerning the land the Lord promised to Abram and his
descendants, but it is also a covenant that guaranteed the Lord’s fulfillment
of both the promise of land and seed.
The Lord said to Abram in verse 7, “I am the Lord who
brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
Here the Lord reaffirmed the promise of land to Abram, and Abram responded in
verse 8, “How may I know that I will possess it.” Abram believed, but he needed
a little help with his faith. In giving Abram help, the Lord made a covenant
with Abram, as we’ll read in the verses that follow.
This is not the first time we read of a covenant in
Genesis. The Lord made a covenant with Noah in Genesis 6 and with all humanity in
Genesis 9, right after the flood. This next covenant the Lord made dealt with
Abram’s physical descendants and applies in a secondary manner to Abram’s
spiritual descendants, those of us who have placed our faith in Christ Jesus.[16]
Covenants were very common in the ancient Near East. They
were made between parties for the purpose of defining the nature of the
relationship that was being entered into. The covenant defined the
responsibilities and the obligations of both the parties entering into covenant
together.[17]
But the covenant the Lord made with Abram was different. It was one-sided. God
gave the directions to Abram concerning the covenant in verses 9 through 11,
telling him to gather animals for sacrifice. The Lord then prophesied
concerning the future of Abram’s descendants and how they would suffer under
Egyptian bondage and how the Lord would deliver them to back to the Promised
Land. After he prophesied, the Lord ratified the covenant, “It came about when
the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking
oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces” (v. 17). The Lord
passed through the animal pieces that Abram had cut.
Normally, a covenant like this would require that Abram
pass between the cut-up animals; however, it is significant that Abram did not
have to pass through. This one-sided covenant was not dependent upon Abram, but
upon the Lord himself. The sure covenant of God was based upon the sure
character of God.
The Sure Character of God
The covenant was dependent upon God’s grace and
upon God’s character. Though potentially Abram would fail at times to fulfill
his covenant obligations, the Lord would never fail his. That is why the Lord
told Abram that he could be sure that after Egypt he would bring Abram back to
his land; God would uphold his end of the covenant. And just as the Lord has
been faithful throughout history to his covenant with Abram, Christians can be
assured that the Lord is always faithful to his promises. For the eternal
covenant that the Lord made is made not with the blood of animals, but with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18–19). God’s promises are sure
because they are not based on what we do, but on who God is.
What promises are you standing on? The only sure promises
to stand on are the Lord’s supernatural and saving promises. The only way we
can stand on those promises is through total trust in Christ Jesus. If you
stand on anything else, you are on sinking sand.
[1] Romans 4:3,
Galatians 3:6, James 2:23.
[2]Hamilton 418.
[3]Hamilton 418.
[4]Hartley 155.
[5]Hamilton 419.
[6]Hamilton 419.
[7]Waltke 241.
[8]Genesis
13:16.
[9]Walton and
Matthews 41.
[10]Sailhamer
151.
[11]Gleason L.
Archer, Jr., R. Laird Harris, and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Workbook of
the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980) 51.
[12]Boice 549.
[13]Boice 549.
[14]Boice 550.
[15]“My Hope Is
Built on Nothing Less,” words by Edward Mote, circa 1834; music by William B.
Bradbury, 1863, verses 1 and 4 and refrain.
[16]Boice
561–562.
[17]Hartley
157–158.
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