The Authority of God's Word

The Origin of the Covenant

v. 1-2 Genesis 15:1 (NLT) The LORD’s Covenant Promise to Abram

Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

Just as the encounter with Melchizedek had occurred, and Abram had pleased God through his decisions and actions in that encounter, God comes to Abram ‘some time later’ with an assurance that He would fulfill the covenant that had been established in Genesis 12:1-3. God is faithful to remind us that even as His timing is unique to Him, and not to us, He will still stick to His Word. Moses had surely expected his son to have arrived by now. As God tells Abram that his reward would be great, Abram seems to relate this directly to the Genesis 12 promise that his offspring would be great, and he addresses God in the context of the offspring part of the promise. (To Abram’s credit, he didn’t go to the part of the promise that would address the great wealth Abram would have, but he went to the part that would speak to Abram’s descendents… For Abram, the plenteous nature of his descendents would be validation of the value of Abram’s own life.)

v.2 Genesis 15:2 (NLT) 2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.

Abram asks an interesting question of the Lord. It seems that he is challenging God in a way: ‘What good is having these promises ‘out there’ if they don’t come to fruition...’ Abram was likely thinking of his and Sarai’s ages and thinking that time was running out. Abram would show the same impatience with God’s promises as we do in our own lives. waiting on God is tough sometimes.

Abram lets God know that he is in a pickle. Abram has been promised by God great riches (which he has received by now), a great land and a great family. The inheritance of great wealth that he would pass on the his family for their development was there. But the family was not there. Abram was perplexed. Time was running out. He even goes so far as to ‘hyperbolize’ the situation, telling God that he would have to leave his vast inheritance to a servant . The implication was that this would be a waste. Leaving his inheritance to a servant would probably have been OK if Abram had not been led to believe that he would have a family.

v.3 Genesis 15:3 (NLT) 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

V. 3 seems to be a verse of frustration. Abram basically puts the finger of blame toward God. for his not seeing God coming thru with his promises. God’s response demonstrates God’s compassion when we earnestly seek to understand Him and His ways, but we simply can’t. God allowed Abram to speak to him with emotion and frustration. God would respond patiently.

v.4 Genesis 15:4 (NLT) 4 Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.”

God responds with a reinforcement of what he had already told Abram before, with a declarative statement that simply lays out the fact of God’s intent to bless Abram with a son. God gives Abram no reasoning or rationale as to why the son has not yet come, or anything about WHEN his son would be conceived and born. God gives just a straightforward response.

Point: God wants us to keep our focus on the end goal. He doesn;t want us to fret over the ‘whether’ or the ‘how’. This is where real faith comes in - when we can trust God for the end result, but not worry about how we get to that end result.

v.5 Genesis 15:5 (NLT) 5 Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Then God gives Abram an even more tender and compassionate response, calling his attention to the star of the heavens, and assuring that the number of his descendants would rival the number of the stars in the sky.

Point: God is willing to give us what we need to help us continue to move forward in FAITH, as long as we are moving forward in faith. Once we have taken initial steps of faith, i.e. Abram had just tithed to Melchizedek, He will continue to give us what we need to continue in faith - and not certainty.

God’s covenantal requirements facilitate the benefits of God’s ultimate Authority to us....

a) Agreement between God and parties to the Covenant.

v.6 Genesis 15:6 (NLT) 6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Abram would receive the gift of salvation as the outcome of the outcome of the application of the covenant. Verse 6 is the Key verse in the entire story. BKC makes the point that Abram’s salvation had already been secured through his faith in leaving Ur and Haran. That is when God gave Abram the initial covenant in 12:1-3.

Genesis 12:4–7 NLT

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Three NT passages speak to the fact that Abram’s FAITH had led God to count this toward’s Abram’s righteousness. In other words, God applied ABRAM’S FAITH IN JEHOVAH GOD TO THE GRANTING OF THE STATUS OF ‘RIGHTEOUS’ FOR ABRAM. This status of righteous is what would be needed to be reconciled to God for salvation. Similarly, Once Jesus was crucified and resurrected, one’s FAITH IN THE BLOOD SACRIFICE OF CHRIST WOULD BE APPLIED TO ATTAIN THE STATUS OF RIGHTEOUS.

This states the KEY truth regarding salvation. FAITH is the necessary ingredient. This FAITH is required for the AGREEMENT with God. When I am in faith with Him, I walk forward in agreement with him. Because what God has done for me is supernatural, I must see what He has done on His terms, at his plane, and I can ONLY do that through FAITH. This is because I am natural. I am physical. God is supernatural. He is spiritual. It takes FAITH for me to get there with Him.

This AGREEMENT constitutes the first step in the establishment of a covenant. Again, the covenant was originally established once Abram left Ur / Haran. Abram’s faith was demonstrated there and the original imputation of righteousness for his faith was instituted there.

b) The bond and Relationship between God and man.

v. 7-8 Genesis 15:7–8 (NLT) 7 Then the LORD told him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” 8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

God reminds Abram that it is He - God - who has chosen Abram for this mission, and that He has indeed granted Abram this land for the homeland for his family. Abram again questions God, demonstrating the depth of the relationship that had been established. His question goes further. Again he had the wealth but not the land for his family, which God had promised him would be a large nation, and that in fact would turn into a great nation.

God had allowed Abram to settle in the land. But it was not completely ‘his’. However, it would be, but perhaps not in Abram’s lifetime.

c) The Sealing of the Covenant between God and man.

v.9-10 Genesis 15:9–10 (NLT) 9 The LORD told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half.

In response to Abram’s question of verse 8. God gives Abram a sign through the establishment of a covenant. This is the sealing of the covenant with the blood of animals, as a foreshadowing of the ultimate covenant that Jesus would make for us, with his blood that He shed on the cross. So the covenant has the three components that were noted at first.... the Agreement, the Relationship and the Sealing.

v. 11 - 12 Genesis 15:11–12 (NLT) 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. 12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.

The vultures, or birds of prey, are most likely symbolic of the opposition that came against the establishment of this covenant between God and Abram. Satan would vehemently oppose the family of Abram AND the establishment of the nation - simply because he can read a geneology chart. He knew that ultimately the Messiah Who would come from the seed if Abram would defeat Him. He would commit himself to stopping whatever God would do in establishing the nation through which the Messiah would be born. Here is a possible question Satan would struggle with: Would God create a Messiah? Did he have any idea that God would come through His Son as Messiah? The likely answer is NO. Satan probably never had a clue that the Messiah would be God Himself in the flesh! The OT is such a story of the back and forth conflict between God and Satan.

The terrifying darkness he experienced in his sleep - a terrible nightmare - is also likely indicative of the spiritual battle going on in the heavenlies. Satan probably had an inkling that this was a BIG deal - this giving to Abram a son through who the Messiah would be born, and the world ultimately redeemed. The timing of this sleep was interesting. Abram’s deep sleep and nightmare of darkness would coincide with the day turning into night. Again, this is indicative of how Satan lurks and works in the darkness.

v. 13 - 16 probably beyond the scope and time allotment for this message. Can use this as a kickoff to the issue of Accuracy in the next message before pivoting to the Number 14 story of the twelve spies at Kadesh Barnea.

v. 17-21 Genesis 15:17–21 (NLT) 17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

The fire pot and torch were symbols and tools of sacrificial ritual in these ancient times. God would use the imagery, which Abram was surely familiar with, to put a period on His intent to keep His covenant that He had made with Abram.