GOD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAM
Genesis 15:1-21 Lesson 7c
Key verse: 15:6
"So Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
*LOOK UP AT THE STARS (1-7)
1.What was God's word to Abram in a vision? Why might he have been afraid?
Why might he have needed assurance about a reward? (Think about the events of
the previous chapter.)
2.What was the real problem in Abram's heart? To whom and how did he complain?
What does this reveal about him?
3.What was God's specific word of promise regarding Abram's "no son" problem?
Why did he take Abram outside and show him the stars?
4.How did Abram respond to this word of promise? What do the words,
"(God) credited it to him as righteousness" mean? Why did Abram need to be
made righteous? What change occurred in Abram's life as a result of his belief?
*TO POSSESS THE LAND (8-21)
5.What question regarding God's promises was in Abram's mind?
Compare with verse 2. How does this question reflect a change in Abram's attitude?
6.How did Abram prepare for the covenant ceremony? What do you think might be
the purpose of this ceremony?
7.What happened to Abram as the sun was setting?
What prophecy about the future of Abram and his descendants did God
give him? When and how was this fulfilled?
8.How do these events contribute to enabling Abram's descendants to
take possession of the land?
9.After sunset, when darkness had fallen, what else happened?
What does this show about the covenant? What further promise did God give
Abram concerning the land? What might this mean to him?
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GOD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAM
Genesis 15:1-21 Lesson 7c
Key Verse: 15:6
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him
as righteousness."
Abram had just won a great victory. His shepherd's heart for Lot had
propelled him into a war that he had not planned to be involved
in--and, by God's help, he had won. Now, the war was over. Lot had not
come back to share his tent life, but had returned to live in Sodom.
Abram had seemingly gained nothing from this war. He had given a tithe
of everything to Melchizedek; he had refused to take any of the spoils
of war for his personal use. Before this war, he had kept a low profile
in Canaan, but now he had become very visible--and vulnerable. He was
sitting in his tent, nursing his sense of loss and entertaining all
kinds of fears.
1. Look up at the stars (1-7)
"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.'" God's
word was God's answer to his fear. "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your
shield." God's word was God's assurance that he would lose nothing.
God promised, "I am your very great reward." When we live by faith,
these two promises are enough to bring deep peace and joy to our
hearts. If God is my shield, who can harm me? He is God almighty.
Legions of angels are at his disposal at any and all times. If God is
my very great reward, what do I lack? God is the source of every good
and perfect gift. He knows my needs before I know them myself. He
himself is the only one who can really satisfy the needs of my heart.
But what about Abram? He was reluctant to let go of his fear and
self-pity. This kind of human thinking revived his deep, long hidden
problem. He had no son, no heir. He could not accept God's word.
Instead, he cried out to God, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me
since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is
Eliezer of Damascus? You have given me no son." When we begin to look
at ourselves and our lives without faith in God, everything looks
hopeless and meaningless. This is what Abram was doing. God had
promised Abram that he would make him a great nation. He had promised
him descendants as numerous as the sands on the seashore. But Abram
didn't have even one son. Before a man can have many descendants, he
must have one son. Abram complained to God. But Abram was a man of
prayer, and his complaint to God was his prayer.
God answered his prayer. For the first time, God specifically
promised him a son from his own body. "Then the word of the Lord came
to him: `This man will not be your heir, but a son from your own body
will be your heir.'" Then God took him outside of his small, dark tent
and made him look up at the stars. The black desert sky was filled with
bright stars of all magnitudes. People who live in the city cannot
imagine the splendor of the sky full of stars. God said, "Look up at
the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." The
Creator of heaven and earth had made each one and had hung each one in
its place. The multitude of them filled the sky. God had made them and
put them there, but Abram, bound by his human limits, couldn't even
count them. The Almighty Creator God promised, "So shall your offspring
be."
Abram believed the Lord. His inner fear disappeared. His worries
about a future heir disappeared. In reality, his human situation had
not changed at all. Still, he had nothing in his hand; but now he had
faith in his heart. This made all the difference. His outer
circumstances had not changed, but his inner heart was changed when by
faith he accepted God's word of promise. This made all the difference
in his life.
God credited his faith to him as righteousness. This means that God
forgave his sins. If Abram were not a sinner, he would not need to be
made righteous. It means that God made a new and right relationship
with Abram. "Righteousness" is a right relationship with God. Abraham
was justified by faith. In Romans 4, Paul writes more about the meaning
of this. He said, "If in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had
something to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture
say? `Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.' Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him
as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work
but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as
righteousness." (Ro 4:2-5)
God makes promises. When a person believes those promises, God
cleanses him from sin and takes hold of his life. He comes to dwell in
the believing heart of one who accepts his word, and he establishes a
right relationship with the one who believes his promises.
God knew that there was now another problem in Abram's heart, so he
said, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to
give you this land to take possession of it." When Abram despaired of
having an heir, he had not been interested in the land. But now he
believed that God would give him a son, so he became very interested in
God's promise of land. He immediately responded to God's word, "O
Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" The
rest of this chapter is God's answer to that problem.
2. To possess the land (8-21)
Abram asked, "O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain
possession of it?" God answered this question in the covenant ceremony.
This ceremony was based on similar ceremonies made to seal alliances
between kings of that day. It was a blood covenant. It is also called a
friendship treaty or covenant. Abram's friendship with God is sealed by
this covenant. God told Abram to prepare the animals. He did so, and
then he worked hard the rest of the day to keep the vultures away from
the rapidly deteriorating carcasses. The covenant promises are stated
in two parts. First, as the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep,
trans-like sleep. God's word came to Abram to reveal to him just how
God would make of his descendants a great nation. 400 years of slavery
and oppression would be the price. In the furnace fires of Egypt Israel
would become a great multitude. In God's time they would come out with
great possessions. If Abram's family had remained in Canaan, it would
have been impossible for them to grow into a multitude such as this. As
children were born, they would leave one by one, as Lot had done, and
would be assimilated into the Canaanite culture and be melted into
Canaan. But living in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, they would share a
common history of suffering and oppression, and a common history of
deliverance. They would be molded into a nation that would never lose
its identity. They would come out of Egypt with great possessions, and
would be used as God's instrument of judgment on the godless Amorite
(Canaanite) people. Second, when the sun had set and darkness had
fallen, God himself accepted and burned up the offering with a
smoldering firepot and a blazing torch. He sealed this blood covenant
with fire. And he promised to give to Abram's descendants the land. The
land he promised was all the land Abram's foot had touched--from Ur
beyond the Euphrates to the River of Egypt. He promised Abram the land
of Canaan and more. He promised him the world.