The Faith of Abram
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text: Genesis 15:1-6
1 After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
2 But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PRAY
Review Events of Genesis 1-14.
In Genesis 1-2, we have the account of God’s very good creation of all things, with a special focus on His creation of mankind in His image and His purposes for us in relation to Him and to each other.
Genesis 3 recounts for us the tragic fall into sin as Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator. God pronounces a curse and banishes them from the Garden of Eden, but first, He gives a promise of hope. God will raise up a seed from the woman who will defeat the serpent and restore people (and the world) to the way it’s supposed to be.
Genesis 4 tells us of further human sin as Cain kills his brother Abel, and his descendant Lamech also boasts of killing other men.
Then Genesis 5 traces the line of the seed of the woman from Adam all the way through Noah and his sons. It’s taking longer than they expected, but God is bringing about the fulfillment of His promise.
Genesis 6-9 tells us of the flood — God’s judgment against His sinful creation, but also His mercy and grace toward Noah and his family and the animals, rescuing them from the flood. God then renews His covenant with Noah and his descendants.
Genesis 10-11 trace the line of the seed of the woman from Noah through Abram and show us how God’s plan to fulfill His promise now centers in on one old man with a barren wife.
So from Genesis 12 through the beginning of Genesis 25, we now have the record of the life of Abram (later renamed Abraham).
At the beginning of Genesis 12, God called Abram to leave his family and native land and go to a new place that God would show him.
God then gave him some amazing promises:
2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Abram responded in faith, obedience, and worship. Trusting God’s promises, he left behind what was comfortable and familiar, and went out into the unknown.
In the second part of Genesis 12, Abram stumbled a little in his faith, lying to the Egyptians about his wife and pretending she was his sister in order to protect himself. Despite his lack of faith, God continued to protect and bless Abram, and he left Egypt with great wealth.
In Genesis 13, Abram showed great love and kindness to Lot, allowing him to have the first choice and best-looking portion of the land. Once again, God gave more promises to Abram, and he responded in faith, obedience, and worship.
In Genesis 14, some pirate kings from the east came and took Lot captive. Then Abram, along with some of his allies, pursued the enemies and brought back Lot along with all the other people and plunder that the enemy had taken. Abram refused to keep any of the plunder for himself though, choosing rather to trust God and His provision for him.
So now we come to Genesis 15, which contains one of the most important verses in all the Bible.
Notice as we begin looking at this chapter the pattern we have here:
Verse 1: God speaks; Verses 2-3: Abram Responds
Verses 4-5: God speaks; Verse 6: Abram Responds
Verse 7: God speaks; Verse 8: Abram Responds
Verse 9: God speaks; Verses 10-12: Abram Responds
Verses 13-21: God speaks and acts
So God is the first and the last one to speak in this passage.
And notice the tone of Abram’s questions and other responses. His words in v. 2-3 and again in v. 8 could be interpreted as distrusting God if we didn’t have the two other responses. But v. 6 and v. 10 show Abram responding in faith and obedience.
So he has serious questions, and he doesn’t understand what God is doing or how God is going to do what He said. But he does trust God.
I think there’s an important lesson there for us:
God can handle your tough questions. Bringing our doubts, questions, fears, and concerns to God is a good thing, as long as we do so in humble dependence on Him and with proper respect toward Him.
But let God have the final word, trust what He says, and obey Him.
Today, we’ll look at the first two parts of this dialogue between the LORD and Abram, in v. 1-6.
God Speaks
God Speaks
v. 1
Genesis 15 begins with God revealing Himself to Abram in a special way. He reassures and comforts Abram and continues to make promises to him.
1 After these events, 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 these events
The events of the end of ch. 14 shape these first words from God to Abram.
A few years have probably passed since God first called Abram to come to Canaan. At the end of ch. 16 it tells us he’s 86 years old, and in 12:4 it told us he was 75. So now he’s somewhere between 75 and 86, probably around 85 if I had to guess. It has probably been about 10 years since God first made His promises to Abram.
Abram the Prophet
The next thing Moses tells us here is fascinating, and I believe it’s his way of showing us that Abram is functioning as a prophet. He says,
“The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision”
This is the first time we find this expression in the Bible, and it is almost always associated with prophets.
When we see the phrase “The word of the LORD came to…”, we expect to see a prophet’s name: Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and several other lesser known or unnamed prophets.
Two other men whom we don’t normally think of as prophets who directly receive the word of the LORD are David (1 Chron 22:8) and Solomon (1 Kings 6:11). Perhaps we should think of them as prophets though, considering the large amount of Scripture they wrote.
If that first phrase doesn’t convince us that Abram is a prophet, the second should. When we read “in a vision”, this is God’s stated method of revealing Himself to His prophets, as He tells Moses in Numbers 12:6 “He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.”
So Abram is a prophet. And prophets don’t just receive God’s word for themselves; they are to communicate it to others. And God says that this is His intention for Abram, later on in Genesis 18:19: “For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.””
God revealed Himself to Abram so that Abram would teach the coming generations God’s truth, so that they would obey Him and ultimately receive His promised blessings.
So what does God reveal to Abram here?
Do not be afraid
The first thing God says is “Do not be afraid, Abram.”
Why would God say that?
Seeing God in a vision is a terrifying thing. In fact, this phrase (do not fear) is often used when either God or an angel appears to someone. The initial response is fear, and God wants to calm that fear.
Abram might also be tempted to be afraid because of the events in ch. 14. You remember what happened? Abraham took his trained men and his allies to defeat the mighty kings of the east and rescue Lot.
With God’s help they had won the battle, but Abram might be afraid that those same kings or perhaps others may come with even more powerful armies to attack him. He’s living in tents, not in a walled city, so he’s vulnerable. He may be afraid because of that.
Abram might be tempted to be afraid because the clock keeps ticking and there’s still no son. No one to carry on his name and inherit the land God promised. Abram may be starting to worry or fear because He doesn’t see God fulfilling His promises.
How are you tempted to fear? What things in your life tempt you to be afraid or to worry? Regardless of the difficult situation you may be facing, hear God’s word to you today, “Do not be afraid. Do not fear.”
There is a kind of fear that honors God, and there is a kind of fear that dishonors God.
We are commanded to fear the Lord — to have a proper respect and awe of who our God is. And we are told that we ought to fear sinning against Him or falling away from Him.
But most of our fear dishonors Him. Much of our fear comes out of a lack of faith and trust in God’s character and His promises to us. When we feel fear, we are failing to trust completely in God’s power, His wisdom, and His love.
I think this is why God tells us so often in His Word, “Do not fear.”
You may have heard that God says “Do not fear/do not be afraid” at least 365 times in Scripture. It is God’s most frequent command to us.
When God tells us not to fear, He is commanding us to trust Him instead of ourselves. Trust His power instead of your own strength. Trust His wisdom and love instead of your own purposes. Trust His precious promises instead of the lying promises of sin.
Do not be afraid. Trust God.
God the Protector
The next thing God tells Abram is “I am your shield.”
What is a shield for? It protects you in battle.
God had protected Abram in the battle he fought in ch. 14, and God is promising to continue protecting Abram. “Even if those kings come back, I will protect you. Even if Pharoah decides he wants revenge, I will protect you. Whatever people may plot against you, I will protect you.”
“I am your shield. I am your protector.”
Psalm 28:7: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.”
God the Rewarder
Then God says, “Your very great reward.”
Now, the Hebrew here is a little unclear, and you can see that if you compare several translations.
Some take this phrase to mean, “You will have a great reward”
Others interpret the phrase as “I will be your great reward.”
Both are possible interpretations of the Hebrew phrase.
What makes it hard to interpret is that both of those things are true as confirmed by other Scriptures:
God Himself is the greatest reward — no earthly gift, no material possession, no human relationship, nothing in the world can compare to the reward that God Himself is for those who will have Him. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 73:25–26: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God is also the One who gives every other reward — every possession, every relationship, all that we have comes from Him, as James tells us in James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.”
So whichever translation we prefer, we can agree that both of those things are true. God Himself is the greatest of all rewards, and He is the giver of every other reward.
How did Abram understand God’s words here? Based on his response to God in v. 2-3, I think Abram was interpreting God’s statement along the lines of Psalm 127:3: “Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” The reward Abram is hoping for is a son. A physical offspring who will carry on his name and inherit what God has promised.
So let’s see Abram’s response.
Abram Responds with Questions
Abram Responds with Questions
v. 2-3
Keep in mind as we consider Abram’s response that his heart attitude is that of trust. There is a proper way to question God and an improper way. The key is to have a heart that is ready and willing to trust and obey God whether or not we get the answer we desire.
2 But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Respectful questioning
The way he addresses God seems to indicate respect, even if he’s struggling to understand what God is doing. He addresses Him as “Adonai Yahweh” - including both God’s personal covenant name and a term of respect - Master, Lord (Lord GOD in BSB)
The Reward Abram wants
It’s clear from Abram’s response here that the reward he desires from the Lord is a son - the seed that God had promised him - the seed from whose line the ultimate seed would come who would crush the serpent and restore people to God. Twice he uses the verb “give” with the object being a child or offspring. This is the blessing Abram wants from God.
Patience wearing thin
And he has already waited awhile. Have you ever had to wait a long time for something?
We don’t know for sure how long he had already waited, but it’s possible it has been 10 years already since God first made promises to him. And as far as Abram can see, nothing has happened yet.
If he has already waited 5 or 10 years, he might be struggling to be patient. “How much longer do I have to wait, God?”
Do you ever struggle to be patient and trust God’s timing?
When am I going to find the right house?
When am I going to find the perfect job?
When will God grow this church?
When will my health struggle be over?
There are many things in life that we have to wait for. We might feel like we’re pretty patient, but the longer we have to wait, the harder it is to continue waiting.
A line that has stuck with me from the 1960s TV show “Get Smart” is when someone tells the villain to be patient, and he responds, “I have all the patience in the world, it’s just that waiting bugs me.”
No offspring yet
Twice in these verses, Abram states the apparent problem. God says that he’s going to give Abram a great reward, which Abram interprets as a son, or offspring.
But there is no son.
No offspring.
No reward.
Yet.
So Abram says in v. 2, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless” and again in v. 3, “Behold, You have given me no offspring”
You say that I’m going to have a great reward, but I don’t see it. So far there’s nothing at all. Not even a hint of a reward. I don’t understand.
A Servant as heir
Abram concludes that instead of having a son, God will fulfill His promise through Abram’s servant, who will inherit everything he has.
He says in v. 2, “The heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus” And then in v. 3, “So a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Since he has no son to leave his belongings to, he’ll have to leave them in the care of his servant.
This is where things stand, and as far as Abram can see, this is just the way it will be.
I don’t think he’s doubting God’s faithfulness to His promises; but I think he’s struggling to trust God’s goodness and generosity.
But God wasn’t done speaking.
God Speaks and Clarifies His Promises
God Speaks and Clarifies His Promises
v. 4-5; Deut. 1:10; 10:22; Gal 3:9, 29.
God’s previous promises had left some details unstated which God chooses now to reveal to Abram.
Once again God reveals Himself to Abram and clarifies His promises to him:
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
The heir is not your servant but your son
God tells him in v. 4, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
Your servant Eliezer is not your heir. Your son will be your heir.
And to make crystal clear that this is not a son by adoption or some other relation, God says that Abram’s heir will come from his own body. He will have a son — physically descended from him — one who will carry on Abram’s name and family line.
A visual aid
Then God goes a step further:
5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
How many of you like visual aids? Sometimes seeing a picture or an example helps us grasp an idea or truth that might otherwise be hard to receive.
I think this visual aid was helpful for Abram. God tells him to look up in the night sky and count the stars if he can.
And this was before electricity and all the light pollution we deal with today.
Have you ever been in a remote place out in the middle of nowhere on a clear night and you looked up in the sky? How many stars can you see?
I think that phrase, “If you are able” is important. We can’t count all the stars. There are thousands of thousands. The light of morning would come before we could count each one, so we could never finish.
And that was God’s point.
Descendants like the stars
Then God said those amazing words, “So shall your offspring be.” Your seed, your offspring will be so many that you won’t be able to count them all.
You won’t just have one son. There won’t just be one generation of descendants. Someday you will have so many descendants that they will be as hard to count as the stars in the night sky.
Skip ahead about 500 years or so, and God has in fact done what He said. Moses tells us, as he speaks to the people of Israel,
10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
22 Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
And of course, the NT tells us that we also are among Abram’s descendants if we trust God’s promises like He did. If we share Abram’s faith, we also are his descendants, Paul tells us in Gal 3:9 & 29:
9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
So God has fulfilled His promise, and until Christ returns, He is multiplying more descendants of Abram from all the nations.
Abram only saw two generations of offspring. Probably just 20 or 30 descendants in his lifetime. But God did fulfill his promise, and someday Abram will enjoy the full fruit of the blessing God promised him.
So how did Abram respond to this incredible promise?
Abram Responds in Faith
Abram Responds in Faith
Despite all the obstacles, and despite not having any physical evidence to back up God’s promise, Abram chose to trust God. And because of his faith, God counted him righteous.
v. 6
6 Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
I’ve heard it said that it’s not the strength of your faith that saves you but the object of your faith. Abram’s faith is not perfect; he still has some questions, and he’s going to mess up pretty spectacularly in ch. 16. But he is trusting in God, and that’s what counts.
Abram believed the LORD
How should we understand this phrase, “Abram believed the LORD”?
Some people’s concept of faith or believing in God is simply agreeing with what God says, affirming that what He says is true.
Certainly that is part of faith. But true faith, saving faith, is more than just acknowledging and agreeing with what God says. Even the demons do that according to James in James 2:19.
To believe is to trust God — to entrust ourselves to God. We take our hands off our past, present, and future and place them in God’s hands. We relinquish control of our lives and circumstances and entrust our lives, our hopes, our dreams, everything to God. We choose God and His way rather than ourselves and our own way. That’s what it means to believe.
That’s what Abram is doing here. He’s taking his hands off his future and his desire for a son and placing it all in God’s hands. “I believe You, LORD. I trust You. You’ve got this.”
The nature of faith (Hebrews 11:6)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
This is what the author of Hebrews says about the nature of faith — true faith is taking hold of the reality of God and the reward of God; the person of God and the promise of God; the being of God and the bounty of God.
The nature of faith is defined by the nature of God. And the two things that he says faith embraces are the absolute being of God and the overflowing generosity of God.
The kind of faith that pleases God takes hold of these two things. Faith embraces God as the God who simply and unchangeably IS, and faith embraces God as the self-sufficient, generous supplier of all things.
And God is pleased when people do this.
6 Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
So when it says in Genesis 15:6 that “Abram believed the LORD”, it means that he embraced the LORD as the God who exists and the God who rewards. He banked his life, his hope, his future on the person and promise of God. God Himself and all His promises were more real to Abram than anything he could see with his eyes.
That’s the kind of faith Abram had. That’s the kind of faith that pleases God. And it’s the kind of faith we need if we are to be found pleasing to God.
God is honored and we are satisfied when we trust Him like this.
We know that God was pleased with Abram because of what it says next:
The result of faith - justification
The end of v. 6 says, “It was credited to him as righteousness.” That is, on the basis of his faith, God counted Abram righteous.
God was pleased with Abram’s faith. He was honored by Abram’s faith, because that faith exalts the very character and nature of God.
And so God justified Abram. He declared him righteous. Not sinless, as we’ll clearly see in the next chapter.
But righteous. Free from the guilt and shame of sin, able to freely walk into the presence of God and live in His presence forever without fear of judgment or condemnation.
And this verse serves as the basis of the NT teaching on justification. God declares ungodly people — sinners — to be righteous, not because of any good things they’ve done, but simply because they embrace God and His promises by faith. They believe that God exists and that He rewards, and they embrace this God as their own.
Let me ask you this:
What promises of God do you find it hard to believe?
God’s promise to forgive all your sins — do you really trust that Christ has paid the price of all your sin (past, present, and future) once for all by His perfect sacrifice? Or are you still living in the guilt and shame of your sin, trying to ease your conscience or make God happy by your performance? Are you still trying to work your way to God, or are you resting in His forgiveness?
God’s promise to completely satisfy you in Him — Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life and if we come to Him we’ll have our hunger and thirst forever satisfied in Him. Do you trust that promise? Or are you seeking fulfillment and satisfaction in other things that this world offers?
God’s promise to give you grace to fight sin and live for Him — God has promised that His grace is sufficient for you and that He will help you in your battle against sin and temptation. Are you trusting that promise? Are you resting in God’s grace and power to fight sin and live for Him, or are you depending on your own strength?
God’s promise to supply all your needs — God promised that He will meet every one of our needs. Do you trust Him to be your Provider and give you everything you truly need?
God’s promise to give you peace in the midst of trials — Jesus told His disciples “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.” And even as He promises we will face tribulation in the world, He comforts and assures us with the reality that He has overcome the world. Are you trusting Him and looking to Him for peace? Or are you seeking peace in another relationship, a nicer home or car, a better job, a bigger bank account?
God’s promise to always be working for your good — God has promised to work all things together for the good of His chosen ones who love Him. Do you trust that God is going to use every circumstance in your life for your ultimate good, to make you more like Christ?
All of God’s promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. If we receive Him by faith, we have all of God’s blessings in Him.
23 Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham, 24 but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
If we have this kind of faith — embracing the person and promises of God — we too, like Abram, will have righteousness credited to us. We will be justified, declared righteous, and free to live in God’s presence forever.
So believe.
Trust the promises of God.
Embrace God as the God who exists and the God who rewards. Love Him for that.
Give yourself completely to Him.
And by grace, keep trusting Him more and more.
PRAY
