01-51 God's Covenant with Abram
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Genesis 15:7-21
Genesis 15:7-21
Opening the Scriptures is an absolute treasure for us this morning. I’m not sure we fully understand or appreciate the rich, profound and untold blessing this is to hold God’s Word in our hands. What it took for us to have the Scriptures in our language has to be His providential hand working over the course of many centuries. It began with men like Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale who believed that the Scriptures ought to be translated into the language of the common people. Wycliffe in particular had a very high view of God’s Word:
John Wycliffe: “Holy Scripture is the faultless, most true, most perfect, and most holy law of God, which it is the duty of all men to learn to know, to defend, and to observe, inasmuch as they are bound to serve the Lord in accordance with it.”
John Wycliffe: “Believers should ascertain for themselves the matters of their faith by having the Scriptures in a language which they can fully understand .... Christ and His apostles evangelized the greater portion of the world, by making known the Scriptures in a language which was familiar to the people.”
Wycliffe stood against the RCC which held that all authority rested in the church and principally in the pope. The RCC wanted to keep the Bible out of the hands of the people and Wycliffe didn’t take kindly to that:
John Wycliffe: “Certainly, it were less cruelty to keep men from bodily meat and drink, and make them to die bodily, than to keep them from hearing the gospel and God's commands, which are life to the soul. What accursed antichrists are these worldly prelates and curates, who curse men for preaching and hearing of holy scriptures.”
Wycliffe died of natural causes but after his death, he was declared a heretic and his body was exhumed and burned in effigy as a symbol of what happens to those who oppose the authority of the pope.
We have a remarkable treasure—something tangible that we hold in our hands—its message brought us to faith and now we read it, study, learn and grow. And we need this b/c (as believers) one of the many problems of the human heart is that it is prone to doubt. Believers are not immune from the powerful temptation to doubt God and His Word.
We see it many times in Scripture:
Abram “How may I know?” Gen 15:8;
Gideon “show me a sign” (his doubt manifested several times) Judges 6;
Hezekiah 2 Ki 20—mortally ill; he prayed, wept bitterly and the Lord answered by giving 15 years to his life. Hezekiah asked: 2 Kings 20:8 “8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me”
Zacharias (father of Jn the Baptist) was told that he would father a son:
Luke 1:18 “18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.””
Mark’s gospel tells the narrative of a man who brought his possessed son to the Lord to cast out the demon.
17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
This man was honest about his doubt. We ought to be quick to acknowledge our own doubt and to be driven back to the Scriptures where doubt is quickly overcome.
This was a problem with Abram as well. God has revealed on several occasions that he would have descendants as numerous as the sands of the seashore and as vast as the stars in the heavens. And he believed the Lord which is always the only channel for justification—justified by faith alone. But it doesn’t take long for Abram to be moved from having faith that results in justification to having doubt and needing assurance that God will do what He promised.
And this really is where every believer will find themselves at times—having extraordinary faith, and yet its like the flip of a switch that remarkable faith will ask: “Lord, how do I know?” “Will the Lord really do this?” “Will He really forgive my sin? Does He truly give eternal life? Can he actually keep the saved from being snatched from His hand? Will He really provide all that I need?
We come back to the treasure of God’s Word:
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
And when you have doubt—be honest, acknowledge it and God will help your unbelief—strengthening your faith. God is gracious and patient—and blesses His people abundantly. This is what we see in our passage today. I want to walk thru these vv with you—5 headings that ought to encourage your hearts this morning to grow in faith and the faith.
1. The Initiator
1. The Initiator
vs 7
“I am the Lord...” This is nearly identical to another very important event in the history of Israel:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
The exodus of Abram from Ur and the exodus of Israel from Egypt are both examples of YHWH God—the personal, covenant name of God that He reveals to His people (the name that underscores His eternal pre-existence)—both of these events are initiated by the Sovereign One. God is reminding Abram that while he was a moon-worshiper in the land of the Chaldeans, God was drawing him out of that pagan culture and would set His affection upon this man, choosing to bless him (to give you this land…). Abram had done nothing to gain the favor of God. Abram was not living a singularly devoted life to the Creator. He was a polytheistic pagan—and if he was to be shown the favor of the sovereign creator—it must be initiated by God.
This is always the case—even with you and me. If you are a believer, it is b/c God has called you out of the world, out of unbelief, out of spiritual bankruptcy, out of deadness b/c of your sin and He has called you to Himself (to salvation, to forgiveness of sin, sanctification/holiness. What remarkable, amazing, glorious grace! This is the testimony of God’s Word:
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
God has called you out of the world, has called you to Himself, into His kingdom. If you are there in the kingdom of His son you can’t be in the kingdom of darkness. you don’t have a foot in both realms. The believer belongs to God b/c of His calling and that b/c God initiated your salvation to His glory. God told Abram “I brought you out…you would have remained there if I didn’t act…but b/c I acted—here you are and you are going to receive all this land...”
2. The Questioner
2. The Questioner
vs 8
“He” (Abram) addresses God in the same way as vs 2 “O Lord God” lit Adonai YHWH. Adonai is a term that means lord, master—referring to one that is sovereign supreme. This is the name for God that a devout Jew would substitute for YHWH. Abram uses this to address the One who had complete sovereignty over HIs creation, and was indeed the master over him. Even in the moment of weakened faith, Abram understood the One to whom he should turn for help.
“how may I know...” The fact that God does not rebuke him shows the compassion and patience of the Lord toward those who need something tangible to hang on to. Abram heard the Lord’s promise. As of now, the land was full of people who would stand opposed to God giving the land to Abram and his descendants forever (all the “ites”).
To be fair, we’d probably be asking for the same thing. We’d want to know specific details. That’s a weakness in us—to walk by sight rather than faith.
We be right there along with Thomas:
25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
Jesus’ response:
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Faith is magnified in circumstances like this. When you don’t have all the details, when all your questions aren’t answered. When obstacles appear to be insurmountable. But b/c the Lord said it—it will believe it. That’s where we should all be—walk by faith not by sight.
Its like the old song says: “God said it, I believe it and that settles it for me.” The righteous will live by his faith. But Abram needed a bit more.
3. The Preparation
3. The Preparation
vv 9-11
God responds to Abram’s request for confirmation by directing him to bring 5 distinctive animals to Him: “3 year old...” I would encourage you to resist the temptation of trying to find something hidden or a deeper meaning than what Moses has recorded. Some have said 3 years represents the time of Jesus earthly ministry and His sacrifice after 3 years. It may be that this was the optimal age for an animal. But God’s directive was understood precisely by Abram, and he knew what God was commanding and why.
And he obeyed promptly vs 10— “then…cut them in two...” Now, this is a strange custom to us, but is very familiar to Abram. In that day, when 2 parties needed to solemnize a promise/covenant they would kill a donkey, divide it in half and arrange each half so that both parties could walk between the halves of the killed animal. It sounds a bit grotesque but this was the degree of importance that a covenant/promise had in early times.
By walking thru the rows of freshly killed animals, both parties were placing a curse upon themselves that if either party should break the terms of the covenant they would become like the severed animals. This was a pledge to death if they broke the covenant. How’s that for being serious about something you’ve agreed to? Of course, our culture is so flippant about making promises but back then covenants were permanent and irrevocable.
A close parallel to this is:
17 “Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 ‘I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
Now, after Abram cut the animals in half vs 11 “birds of prey...” Abram is seen defending the integrity of the ritual, but beyond this we are not told the significance of what this means. Some have suggested that birds of prey represent nations in other parts of Scripture and that this would be a picture of the opposition that Abram and his descendants would encounter b/c of the covenant. It sounds good but again, resist the temptation to find something deeper here.
4. The Details
4. The Details
vv 12-16
“now when the sun...” this is day 2 of the vision Abram received (vs 5—count stars) and it would have taken time to carry out God’s directive regarding the animals. Notice the hand of God in the account: “a deep sleep fell on Abram.” The Heb term means lethargy. It is the same “deep sleep” that God caused on Adam before the divine surgery resulting in the creation of Eve (2:21). This is the same sleep that fell on the soldiers who were protecting Saul when David again spares Saul’s life and he took the spear and water jug beside Saul’s head (1 Sam 26:12 “12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.”
The Lord caused this sleep to come upon Abram as well—the why would be revealed in just a moment. In his sleep “terror and great darkness fell on him” (a terror of great darkness fell on him)—this is b/c there’s about to be a divine appearing that commonly brought an abject terror on those to whom God revealed Himself.
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
The holiness of God produces this in the hearts of sinners. Abram is no different. God then speaks and reveals the details of His covenant with Abram. And there’s both national and personal blessings here.
“know for certain” God is the author of history. And He can reveal the future b/c He has determined the end from the beginning (Is 46:10). Abram would have complete assurance that God is able to bring to pass what He is promising b/c God alone sovereignly moves history to its end. It cannot happen any other way than what He has purposed.
National Blessings: your descendants enslaved…400 years. That’s not a contradiction to 4th generation (vs 16) or in the more specific dating of 430 years (Ex 12:40). This is a general statement revealing that the nation will endure a period of servitude in a foreign land. God also promises divine judgment upon that nation (Egypt—10 plagues) and afterward divine blessing upon Abram’s descendants (many possessions). And return here “iniquity of Amorites...” (vs 16).
God is revealing divine patience toward the pagan nations. The Amorites (inhabitants of Canaan) would take God’s patience for granted. They worshiped 3 primary goddesses (Astarte, Anath and Asherah) which were concerned with sex and war. The primary function of these goddesses was ultimately sex. Lev 18:1-24 lists 12 variations of incest that were practiced in Canaan along with adultery, child sacrifice, sexual perversion and bestiality. God warns Israel:
24 ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.
Fulfilled ultimately in Joshua and the conquest that happens following the 40 years of wandering.
Personal blessing: “as for you” (vs 15) longevity of life and die in peace—there’s a calming assurance in God’s gracious words.
5. The Ratification
5. The Ratification
vs 17-21
In the midst of the darkness there appeared “a smoking oven...” This is what is known as a “theophany” (theos/phanein). The appearance of God. Theophanies are rare in the Bible but we do see them. The burning bush was a theophany. Cloud by day, pillar of fire by night—also a theophany. Abram sees a theophany—God revealing Himself in a manner visible to man (Jn 1:18).
The smoking oven and flaming torch are connected to each other. Fire is often a symbol of the presence of God. The oven shoots flames of fire and depicts the unapproachability of God who is holy. And the point of all this is that this theophany—God Himself “passes between the pieces.” When God does this He is emphasizing a very important reality about the covenant. BTW: vs 18—the Lord made (lit “to cut”—cutting of the animals very graphic illustration of the seriousness of a covenant)
Bi-Lateral Covenants
Bi-Lateral Covenants
2 parties would walk together thru the divided animals—each party had to keep the terms of the covenant.
Uni-Lateral Covenants
Uni-Lateral Covenants
Is a one-sided, unconditional covenant. When God Himself, and God alone passes thru the pieces it was the attestation that the terms of the covenant fell only to God. The idea was that if God were to break His end He would become like the killed animals—He would cease to exist. This is how important the Abrahamic Covenant is. Abram had no responsibilities with regard to keeping anything pertaining to God’s promise. Only God has an obligation and at stake is His own nature.
“To your descendants...”
Now, Israel has never possessed that land—all that God had promised (all he set his eyes on 13:14). At the height of Israel under David it was the most expansive but still short of what God had promised. After Solomon, Israel becomes a divided kingdom. Even in 1948, Israel only possess a tiny sliver of what God promised.
The bottom line—there must be a time that is coming when God fulfills this covenant and to the people He made it with. His own nature depends on the literal fulfilment. And when this happens, the earth will literally be shaken to its core, and the heavens will convulse and as JC returns, He will set up a kingdom that will fulfill this covenant God made with Abram 4000 years ago.
And whenever you have doubts that God will do what He says He will do—come back to Scriptures. Come back to Gen 15 and remember the lengths God goes to to confirm His Word with people. We have a great God!