“Standing On the Promises: Part 2” (Genesis 15:7-21)

Introduction: Starry Night

One of the things I love about camping is the sky on a clear night. Away from city lights, the night sky looks like millions of diamonds scattered on a black velvet cloth. There’s the milky way. There’s the big dipper. Over there Orion. Beautiful and also a bit intimidating, considering that we live on a tiny planet in the middle of it all. With a view of the sky like that, how could anyone deny the existence of God?

We stopped last week with Abram gazing up to the starry vault of the night and contemplating God’s promise—“Your offspring will be that numerous” (Genesis 15:5)—Abram believed the Lord. He saw the stars, and beyond the stars the promise, and beyond the promise, God himself. Abram believed with all his heart that a vast people would come from his own body. And on that silent night, that holy night, he inwardly breathed and, likely, voiced to God an audible “Amen” (“It is so”). And God credited his belief to him as righteousness. Whatever translation is used, whether “credited” it, “reckoned” it, “counted” it, or “imputed” it, the meaning is the same. Abram’s righteousness was all God’s doing. As we saw in the previous chapter, this landmark story informs the Scriptures of both the old and new covenants and is our singular hope. Paul wrote of this hope in Romans 3:27–28: “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

This morning we move forward in the text, and what we will discover is a deeply intimate interaction between God and Abram. A reassuring reminder. A strange and mysterious drama. And a surprising conclusion.

Let’s dig into the story.

The first thing the story points out to us is that …

We all have a history with God. (7-8)

God reminded Abram of their history together, but first God reminded Abram of who He was as Abram’s partner and provider: “I am the Lord your God …” Let’s stop here and chew on those six words.

“I am”. When we’re talking about God, we’re talking about the eternal and divine Person, who was, is, and will always be. He is the absolute and unchangeable one. He is ever-living, self-consistent and unchangeable.Both Moses and the Apostle John remind us that God has always existed: Moses wrote, “In the beginning God created.” John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word.” As followers of Christ, we are in a relationship and partnership with the Creator of all things. This is God we’re talking about: Yahweh, the Great I Am. By His very existence and nature, God deserves worship.

“the Lord.” God not only deserves our worship, He demands Lordship. As Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, true worship includes offering our lives to God as the master of our lives; and we are His servants. “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” That is what lordship means: living as His servant, a life that is holy, set apart from the way the world lives, pleasing Him alone.

This brings us to the final two words: “your God.” What do those two words mean? Do they mean that we own God. We say, “This is my car, or my house, or my phone”, expressing ownership. Is that what we’re saying when we say that the Lord is our God? Of course you know the answer; it’s quite the opposite. We’re saying that we belong to God. We’re saying that He alone is our God. We’re saying that there is no other we turn to in worship. Reflect on Peter’s words when Jesus asked the disciples if they too were planning on abandoning Him. John 6:68 “Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.” That’s what it means to call the Lord, “My God.”

I took time with these six words to remind us with whom it is that we have a history. We have a history with God. As the psalmists wrote, “Selah”, pause and consider the profound nature of that statement.

What was Abram’s past? What was his history with God? “I am the Lord your God who brought you from Ur …” Do you remember what Ur was like? This was the land of Abram’s birth. The people there were moon worshipers. It was a culture of idolatry and sin. God reminded Abram that He was the one who brought him out—delivered him from—a place of darkness into the light of knowing and journeying with God Himself.

As I wrote that sentence, I immediately thought of Paul’s words in Colossians 1:13–14 “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

I also remembered that this is a very similar statement that God later made to Moses in Exodus 20:2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

We are all “brought out!” That’s our history with God. He brings us out of darkness and death and give us light. Praise the Lord. And it’s because of this—our salvation history and other times in our lives when God has delivered us from disease, harm, wayward paths, and other places like Egypt and Ur—that we can trust God with His promise. By pronouncing his name and mighty acts the Lord ensured that Abram knew His identity, His proved reliability and His continuing work in His servant. God’s faithfulness was the foundation rock on which Abram could rely; he had only to recall the many times he had proved it in his experience since leaving Ur.

What is your history with God? Brought out. Bought and paid for. Transferred into God’s eternal Kingdom. That’s our history. For each one of us it is unique and personal. It is good and necessary for us to frequently to recall the works of the Lord, and in the light of all he has done to move on to new acts of faith.

After reminding Abram of his history, God made a new promise. “Then he said to him, ‘Your offspring will be that numerous.’”

Prompted by God’s declaration, Abram naturally inquired about the land: “But he said, ‘Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?’” (v. 8). It was the question of a believing heart, and consistent with the strongest faith that God, of course, knew full well was in Abram. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, asked the same question when he was told by Gabriel that he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, would have a son—“How shall I know this?” (Luke 1:18)—he was struck dumb for his unbelief. Why wasn’t Abram struck dumb? Didn’t he ask the same question? Apparently, Abram’s question was more in the attitude of “I believe; help my unbelief!” (cf. Mark 9:24). This is similar to Mary’s question to the angel: “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” Hers and Abram’s questions were more out of curiosity than doubt. I believe it, Lord, but how are you going to pull this off?

And God answered Abram’s request. God is good and faithful, and knows when we need encouragement. In that moment, …

2. God reassures our hope for the future (9-16).

These verses read to us as a strange and mysterious event: animals slaughtered, halved and laid in opposing rows; birds of prey; a great and terrifying darkness; a smoking fire pot and flaming torch passing between the divided animal carcasses. A covenant was made. An agreement sealed. That’s not the way we make agreements today. Our way is much simpler: a contract and a signature. Used to be a handshake; but now we’re more civilized—and suspicious—so signatures on the dotted line work for us. That’s not anything like what we read in this story. What in the world?

But Abram knew exactly what God was talking about. This custom was common in Abram’s homeland where, when two parties ratified a covenant, they would kill a donkey, divide it in two, and arrange the halves so that the covenanting parties could walk between the severed body of the animal. What did it all mean?

This ceremony dramatized a self-imposed curse. When the two parties passed between the severed animal, they were in a sense saying, “If I break my word, may I become like this severed animal.” That’s a pretty serious promise. A lot more serious than a signature on a modern-day contract. Today, if we break a contract, we might lose some money or some property, but not our lives.

God instructed Abram to bring to God a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. The significance here is that it foreshadows the future law that God would give Moses. These are the five animals that Israel would sacrifice in a variety of sacrifices at the temple. However, this time they were not sacrificed on a fire, but simply killed, cut in half, and laid in opposing rows. Abram knew exactly what to do and was obedient to God’s instructions. But as soon as all was prepared, birds of prey descended on the carcasses and Abram had to drive them away. Does this detail have some meaning? Perhaps so; for a few verses later God will inform Abram that his offspring will endure attacks and oppression. Maybe the birds of prey foreshadow the attempts the enemies of God will deploy to destroy the promise.

I’m wondering if that has some meaning for us today. What have you experienced lately that may have been an attempt by the enemy to compromise your commitment to Jesus? What seeds of doubt has he planted in your mind to distrust God’s promises? I don’t think I’m straying away from the meaning of this story by suggesting that, like Abram, we must be aware of “birds of prey” that the enemy sends to try and ruin what God is doing in our lives. Spiritually speaking, we're in a fight. There are times we must drive away birds of prey.

The daylight following Abram’s belief under the stars was spent in carrying out God’s directives—slaughtering the animals, arranging them into the covenant path, and fending off the birds—as he awaited further directions for the covenantal pageant. However, the weary patriarch was not conscious for the covenant ceremony because “As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.” (v. 12). Abram’s sleep engulfed him in terrifying darkness. Hmm. What’s that about?

I took some time to reflect on this mysterious and terrifying darkness. One thought that came to me was the covenant on Mt. Sinai. That covenant was also inaugurated in a similar darkness. Exodus 19:16–18 “On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from a trumpet, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.”

Then I thought of the new covenant of Christ’s blood inaugurated at the cross. As Jesus was dying for the sins of humankind, a darkness covered the land: Matthew 27:45 “From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the whole land.”

While still asleep in the darkness, God spoke to Abram. God answers Abram’s question in verse 8: “How can I know?”

“Know this for certain,” God said to a sleeping Abram. Certainty. That’s a rare word in our day. There’s not much that we’d call certain in our day. Certainly not the stock market. Not the weather. Many folks would say that not even love is certain. People change their minds, break their promises, make plans that fall apart, and die when they least expect it. But God is certain. The word certain describes something that is well established and substantiated. And God is about to tell Abram something that is certain; but it’s not all good news. Here’s what God told him:

Abram’s offspring will be aliens in a foreign land for four hundred years. We have hindsight, so we know that Go was talking about Egypt.

In that land, they will be enslaved and oppressed. That’s certainly not something to look forward to.

However, God will eventually judge their oppressors and bring them out with many possessions. That reminds me of God’s bringing Abram out of Ur, and once again out of Egypt.

This new generation of Abram’s descendants will return to the land that God is giving them.

Finally, Abram will not enter the land. He will die long before his descendants take possession of the land; but he will die in peace at a good old age. I recall that Moses also was not allowed to enter the land of promise.

How do all these prophecies encourage Abram? These explicit prophecies of a captivity and exodus must have been shocking knowledge for Abram. But the information was also helpful. Abram could be certain that, in spite of the long Egyptian captivity, nothing would not stop the fulfillment of the promises! Remember, the promise to Abram had forward motion: it was primarily for his offspring.

What does this say to us?

It says that we can know for certain that God will keep his promises.

It reminds us that the fulfillment of God’s promises sometimes goes through hardship and pain.

It reminds us to be patient and wait on the Lord to do His thing.

It highlights that God is sovereign; sovereign in history and sovereign now in our day.

God is sovereign; and that is why we can be certain that all of His promises are as good as done. Hebrews 10:23 instructs us, “Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.”

But there’s one more phenomenal reason we can stand on God’s promises:

3. God ratified His covenant by His own death (17-21).

Now you are probably wondering how I got this principle from this text. There’s nothing in the story describing God’s dying to ratify the covenant. Well, take another look.

What did we learn earlier about this covenant ritual? The two parties walked between the carcasses as a self-inflicted curse: “If I break this covenant may I become like these animals: dead!” Now, let me ask you, who passes through the covenant row of carcasses? Did Abram pass through? No. Who then? Only God.

The smoking fire pot and flaming torch are theophanies: a visual manifestation of God Himself. Moses would see a similar phenomenon in the burning bush. Israel saw it and heard it on Mt. Sinai in the thunder that shook the mountain and the fire that came down. They also saw it in the pillars of cloud and fire that led them along their way in the wilderness. It symbolized God’s unapproachable holiness but certain presence, protection, and guidance. What Abram saw was an unconditional commitment from God. God (with astounding condescension) walked between the carcasses, symbolizing that if he were to break his word, he would be severed like the butchered animals. It was an acted-out curse, a divine self-denunciation guaranteeing that Abram’s descendants would get the land or God would die. And God cannot die.

And then God spoke again: “I give this land to your offspring …” That is about as certain as it gets.

Today some 4,000 years have passed since that mysterious and terrifying event. And what does it mean to us? Think for a moment: How could God demonstrate his commitment more graphically to Abram? How could it have been displayed more vividly? The only way would have been for the figures—the fire pot and the flaming torch to become human, for the ever living God to take on human nature and taste death in the place of the covenant-breaking children of Abram. And that is precisely what God did in Jesus Christ. We broke the covenant, but on the cross, the covenant curse fell completely on Jesus rather than us, so that the guilty ones who place their trust in him might experience the blessings of the covenant. Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, so that God might be our God and we might be his people.

What a God? What a Savior we have! Abram’s God is the God of creation, the God of the universe. He is the sovereign God who scripts history. He is the long-suffering God whose kindness reaches out today to the lost. He is the One who guides us through the sufferings by which we enter the kingdom. He is the One upon whom the covenant curse fell, so that we guilty ones who trust him might be heirs of the blessings. And Abram’s God is our God!

Let me ask you: How big is your God?

Listen, as a follower of Jesus, a son or daughter of Abraham, you have a big God.

You have a God who will fulfill His promises.

You have a God who will lead you through times of suffering and pain.

You have a God who will do miracles in your life.

You have a God to direct your life.

You have a God who will answer prayers.

You have a God to whom you must give all your love.

The question is, is your God the God of Abram, the God of this text? Or is he a God of your own puny imagination or your sinful reductionism? If you have the God of the Bible, not a puny God but a HUGE God, you can stand on HIs promises.

You have a history: God has always been and is still working in your life.

You have God’s Word: it is perfect and true, reassuring you of the promise and empowering your steps of faith.

You have a Savior, who died in your place so that you can have eternal life, and live forever in the Promised Land called Heaven.

Let me encourage us with three application for fleshing out this story in our own daily lives:

Application

Live with CONFIDENCE in God’s Word. Spend time every day reading and studying God’s Word. It is God’s persuasive voice directing your life and encouraging your faith.

Live with PURPOSE. Since we have been brought out of darkness into His light, we have a new and glorious reason for living.

Live WORTHY of Christ’s sacrifice. He who is holy has called us to be holy. He who died for our sins and rose again, gives us new life so that our lives are a living “thank you” for His sacrifice and eternal gift of life.