Fear not but believe [Gen 15]

Genesis 15:1-21

Key verse 15:6

Is there anyone who has no fear problems? Almost everyone has some kind of fears or worries about health, job, loneliness, uncertain future, failure, conflict or rejection, children, and so on. These fears all boil down to two kinds of fears – insecurity and meaninglessness. How do you overcome your fear problems? People try to overcome their fears by relying on someone, money, human power, or even drugs. In today’s passage, Abram suffers fears. In the previous chapter, Abram defeated four kings and he was so victorious. But now he is gripped by fear and becomes so small. What is the source of his fear? How does God help Abram overcome his fear? I pray that through the passage we may learn how to live a secure and meaningful life.

I. Promise of a Son (1-6)

God’s offer and Abram’s complaint

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

After Abram defeated the four kings, the word of God came to him in a vision. God said to him that he should not be afraid. What was Abram afraid of? We can find a clue from what God said - “I am your shield, your very great reward.” Shield refers to security or protection. In chapter 14, he won a great victory. However, after the excitement of the victory was over he realized he was exposed to surrounding peoples and became a target of jealousy. And he was vulnerable to the probable revenge from the four kings he defeated. He was wealthy but was just a small patriarch. They could come at any time and destroy his household and take away all his possessions. Abram was afraid of losing his life and his household. God said to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. I will protect you.”

God also said, “I am your very great reward.” Even though he won a victory over the four kings, he did not get anything for himself. He yielded all the plunders to others, expecting that God would give something better for him. What was that? We can find the answer in verses 2-3.

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

As soon as God spoke to him, Abram began to complain. His language betrayed his fretfulness and frustration. From the beginning when he left Haran, his primary concern was getting a son. In ancient times, having an heir was the most honorable and blessed thing to all fathers. Conversely, having no heir was considered the most miserable. Abram retorted, “O Sovereign God, already several years have passed since you promised me a son. And my wife and I are getting too old to have a baby. What else could be a great reward for me other than having a son? How long before you will give me a son? Since you did not give me a son, one of my servants would be my heir, which makes me so miserable.” As he said, if Abram did not have a son now, Eliezer of Damascus, probably his chief confidential servant, would inherit his possessions according to their custom. He was afraid that he would die without his legacy or footprint in the world, which would make his life meaningless. He suffered a sense of loss. As such, Abram suffered fear of losing his household and remaining childlessness. Though Abram was wealthy, what was the point if he could not hand down his wealth to his son?

God said to him, “Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward.” God was saying that he would protect Abram from all his enemies and that God was giving himself as his reward, which was far greater than a son. But Abram was stuck with his childlessness problem and did not see how great God’s offer was. So God had to do something for Abram.

Abram believes God

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”  ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

God said, “No, Abram. The man will not be your heir. A son coming from your own body will be your heir.” God strongly rejected Abram’s plan that his servant would be his heir. And he confirmed his promise that Abram’s own son would be his heir. And then he led Abram out of his tent. That night the sky was full of stars. God told Abram to count the stars if he could count them. While counting the stars, he realized that it was impossible to count such a large number of stars. And he saw the immense dominion of the heaven God created. He saw how high and powerful God is. Abram remembered that God inflicted diseases on Pharaoh to rescue him and his wife in Egypt. He experienced the power of the Most High Creator of heaven and earth who defeated such a mighty army for him. And now his spiritual eye was opened to see the living God Creator in him. He came to realize that nothing is impossible with Creator God. Giving him a son was a piece of cake to God. When Abram realized Creator God, he saw how small and unworthy his problem was in God.  And then he could get out of himself and his problems and rely on Sovereign God. Then, God said to Abram, “So shall your offspring be.” “Your offspring will be as numerous as stars you are seeing. I will do it for you. Do you believe me?”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Abram believed God and thus believed that God would give him numerous offspring regardless of his human conditions – his old age and his wife’s barrenness. The word “believe” here means to place trust in someone with confidence. Abram came to firmly trust in God. He believed God’s power and also his faithfulness to his promise. Now he was willing to entrust his future to what God would do for him rather than to try to obtain his offspring by himself.

And then, God was pleased to credit it to Abram as righteousness. God counted his belief as righteousness. Here “righteousness” can be best understood in terms of relationship. Now Abram began to recognize God as Sovereign God Creator and thus honored. Though Abram was not perfect, God counted him as a man who had a right relationship with him. Now Abram’s relationship with God was solidified and deepened by faith. And that became his life-turning point. God established him as the father of all believers. 

As such, faith is basically to honor God as God and entrust ourselves to his hands. If we do so, God counts our faith as righteousness. By the way, Abram’s faith is the same as our faith in Jesus. Though we are sinful and weak, when we recognize God as God and accept his offer Jesus, he will credit it to us as righteousness. Paul said in rom 4:5, “ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

The first Bible passage I studied was Genesis chapter 1. I learned for the first time in my life that God created the heaven and the earth. That came to me as a great shock and amazement. What I had looked for until that time was to enter a good college and get a high-paying job. I thought that was the only way to secure my life and rebuild the Yun family, and so I studied hard, sleeping only 3-4 hours a day to enter a good college. But after entering college, I learned that life was insecure and meaningless no matter how much I achieved or have. Then, through the Bible study I learned that there was a secure and meaningful life, which I never knew; that is, the life in Creator God. God created me in his image for his holy purposes and offered his Son Jesus as gift. When I believed him and accept his offer, he counted me righteous. That was my life turning point from an insecure and meaningless life to a secure and meaningful life. Our Creator God is awesome. He created this world and made you with good purposes. Now he is offering you security, protection, and blessing. He is your shield and your great reward. I pray that all of you have put your trust in God and enjoy his immeasurable blessing.

II. Prophecy of Land (7-21) – God’s commitment

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

Now based on Abram’s faith, God was pleased to confirm his promise on the land as well. It was clear that from the beginning God brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give him the land. What was Abram’s response?

⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

This does not necessarily mean that Abram was still in doubt. But he simply asked God for the confirmation of the land promise through tangible evidence of it. In response to Abram’s request, God told him to bring some animals - a heifer, a goat and a ram, a dove each three years old along with a dove and a young pigeon. What were they for? God would like to show Abram a sign to seal his promise to Abram. And Abram brought them all and cut them into two except the birds (Lev 1:17) and then arranged the halves opposite to each other. In the meantime, birds of prey came down on the carcasses but Abram drove them away. Let’s see what God did with these.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 

That evening Abram fell into a deep sleep and God said to him in a thick and dreadful darkness, which might show God’s presence as he appeared to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:16) or allude to the great afflictions that should come upon Abram’s descendants in the future as described in verse 13.

¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Previously, Abram asked God how he knew he would possess the land. Now here God said, “Know for certain…” That means that what he was going to say to Abram would happen for certain as a sign for his promise on the land. 

Let’ see God’s prophesy concerning Abram’s descendants and the land.

·         Abram’s descendants would be strangers in a foreign country for four hundred years and would be enslaved and mistreated there.

·         God would punish the nation and afterward they would come out with great possessions.

·         In the meantime, Abram would live in peace and die at a good old age. In verse 1, Abram was afraid of his security and God said, “I am your shield.” Here we can learn that Abram would live in peace under God’s protection.

·         Lastly, in the fourth generation Abram’s descendants would come back to the land where God promised and Abram lived now.

Interestingly, neither Abram nor his descendants could obtain immediate possession of the Promised Land. And his descendants would suffer for a long time. Why?

It was because the sin of the Amorites did not yet reached its full measure. The Amorites were infamous for their violence and sensuality. By delaying his judgment against the Amorites, however, God expressed forbearance toward them. But ultimately God would punish them when their sins would reach the threshold God set. The land would be the land of God’s people. Both the land and the people living there must be holy. So, God would remove the Amorites from the land and in the meantime Abram’s descendants would be purified through suffering to grow to be a holy nation. And then they could conquer the land of Canaan. As such, God’s plan and purposes regarding the land had to do with the sin of the Amorites and the sin of Abram’s offspring as well.

No one wants suffering. But whether you like it or not, or whether it is part of God’s plan for you or not, we are purified through suffering. A couple of years ago, my friend’s wife was found with a serious disease. She could no longer work. My friend couldn’t eat and sleep well. But later he testified that he was so thankful that through her illness he lost worldly desires. When we have sufferings from job-searches, schoolwork, health problems, or when your desperate prayer is not answered for a long time, remember that God has good purposes for you. Just trust in him. Then, our suffering will turn out to be good for our spiritual life and we will be purified.

By God’s revelation Abram came to know that he and his descendants could not obtain immediate possession of the land. But he was assured that God would give his descendants the land according to his plan, which alleviated his concern about his offspring and the land.

God makes a covenant with Abram

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

When the sun was set and darkness fell, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch pass between the animal pieces Abram prepared. And on that day, when Abram believed God, God made a covenant with Abram. What is covenant? Covenant was a legal agreement, pact, or contract used by the people in the time of Abram. When two or more parties joined in a compact, they passed through between the animal's bloody carcasses. That way they promised to uphold their agreement and bound to it. However, if they didn't fulfill the covenant, they would be cut in two just like the animals were. As such, the covenant was so serious and also costly if they failed to keep it. It required total commitment and so it was the most convincing way of making a deal.

The fire pot and flaming torch here symbolized God. As it passed between the animal parts, it signified that God was bound to the covenant. But here was a very interesting thing about this covenant ceremony. Usually, a covenant involved two parties. But here Only God participated in the covenant ceremony. That means that God was bound to the covenant but Abram was not. In other words, God himself would do everything for the covenant requirements for Abram and so this covenant would never be broken. This was God’s one-sided grace for Abram. The content of the covenant was that God would give Abram’s descendants the land extending from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates, which was so huge and vast. This way, God sealed and confirmed his promise on the land.

Later when Abram’s offspring came back to the land, the covenant was renewed with them through Moses. And it was again reinforced over different generations. However, Israel failed to keep their covenant with God. And finally God has made the ultimate and complete covenant that cannot be broken for all people through Jesus. This is the finale, which God and his people looked forward to since the fall of man. And the covenant is that God will not condemn anyone who believes in Jesus. How is it possible? God has paid for all our sins in advance, by shedding the blood of his son Jesus Christ. God is faithful to his promise and so his covenant with us through Jesus is 100 percent sure and will never be broken.

Conclusion

	1-6	7-21
God’s word begins with  “I am”	Abram’s shield and a very great reward	The Lord who brought Abram to the land to give it to him
Abram’s question about or request for a sign	His son	The land
God’s answer	Abram’s own son would be his heir. Confirmed his promise that his offspring will be numerous	Prepare animal sacrifice
Abram’s response	Believed God	Prepare and cut the animals in two
Result	Credited it to him as righteousness	Made a covenant with Abram regarding the land
Focus	Abram’s faith in God	God’s commitment to his promise based on Abram’s faith

Interestingly, this passage includes a long dialog between God and Abram and is divided into two sections. Abram’s focus is to solve his problems. But God’s focus is to have a right (trust) relationship with Abram. The first sentence of each section begins with “I am.” That means God’s ultimate purpose of this dialogue is to reveal who he is to Abram. In fact, this theme runs through chapters 12-22.

God gave Abram the promise on his offspring and land. However, his main purpose was to let him know who God is and have a right relationship with him. Through a series of events, Abram came to know more of God and finally recognized God as Creator and put his trust in him. Abram’s concern was about his offspring and land. However, God wanted to give bless him with more, which was expressed as reward in this passage. And the reward is God himself. God himself is the greatest reward for us. But we are easily stuck with our own agenda and problems and do not see it. And we are dejected and become impatient when we do not see tangible evidence. God wants us to believe him. He knows what we need and eventually will make our life secure and meaningful. Most of all he wants to give himself as reward. Let’s praise God, who is the greatest reward and blessing for all of us!

by David Yun