Lessons from the Waiting Room

Text: Genesis 15:1-21

Introduction:

Nobody enjoys waiting.

We wait in traffic.

We wait in doctor's offices.

We wait in airport terminals.

We wait for phone calls.

We wait for test results.

We wait for doors to open.

We wait for prayers to be answered.

Waiting is one of the most difficult parts of life because waiting forces us to confront something we do not like:

We are not in control.

And if we're honest, some of the hardest seasons of faith are not the seasons when God says "No."

They're the seasons when God says:

"Not yet."

That is where Abram finds himself in Genesis 15.

God has promised him:

a land

a nation

descendants

But years have passed.

The promise remains.

The son has not arrived.

The vision is clear.

The fulfillment is absent.

Abram is sitting in God's waiting room.

"God is seldom early, but He is never late." — Anonymous

"Genesis 15 is about learning to trust God between the promise and the fulfillment."

And as this chapter unfolds, we discover four lessons every believer must learn while waiting on God's promises.

I). God Is Often Our Greatest Reward While We Wait (Vs. 1)

(Vs. 1a) The word of the LORD came to the people of the Bible in many different ways. It might come by a personal appearance of God, by an audible voice, by visions or dreams, by the ministry of angels, by the working of the Spirit of God upon the mind, by the making alive of a passage of Scripture to the heart, or by the ministry of a prophet or preacher. Here, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision.

(Vs. 1 b) God’s address begins with the command “Fear not” a divine imperative suggesting Abram was wrestling with anxiety. This fear could have been multifaceted: fear of reprisal from the powerful kings he had just defeated, or a deeper spiritual concern that by refusing Sodom’s reward, he had forfeited a blessing.

God directly counters both fears. By declaring, “I am your shield,” He promises supernatural protection far exceeding any military threat. By stating, “your reward shall be very great,” God assures Abram that divine favor is infinitely more valuable than earthly spoils…

God Himself is the ultimate reward, a profound theological truth that reframes Abram's entire value system away from temporal possessions and toward a relationship with the sovereign Lord.

Notice that God doesn't begin by solving Abram's problem.

He begins by revealing Himself.

Abram is worried about a son.

God reminds Abram about God.

Sometimes we become so consumed with the gift that we forget the Giver.

Psalm 73:25–26 KJV 1900

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Asaph learned that God's presence was greater than earthly blessings.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 KJV 1900

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Even when blessings disappear, God remains enough.

Philippians 3:8 KJV 1900

8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Paul counted everything else as loss compared to Christ.

A child on Christmas morning can become so focused on the presents that he barely notices the presence of the parents who lovingly provided them.

Many believers do the same with God.

We focus on the blessing we're waiting for and forget the God who is already with us.

All Abram got for his labors was God. That’s all! God was teaching Abram to be satisfied with him alone. This demonstrates, of course, what God desires to give us as we submit to the disciplines of a life of faith. He teaches us to be satisfied with him as enough—our all in all.

"The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One." - A.W. Tozer

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." - John Piper

"Sometimes God delays the gift because He wants us to discover that He is the greater gift."

II). Honest Questions Are Not the Enemy of Faith - (Vs. 2-6)

(Vs. 2) This is not rebellion. This is a faithful man wrestling with God's timing.

Abram was unhappy, but he was careful to address God as “Lord GOD,” which emphasized that God was Master and he was the servant. Abram would not allow his distress to compromise his respect and reverence for God. Yet his skepticism in the light of the divine promise of “shield” and “great reward” edged toward blasphemy. His apparent conclusion was that God’s promise had been of no effect, so that a household servant like Eliezer would be his heir. Such adoption was common where he came from…

(Vs. 3) Abram’s bold honesty before the LORD is a wonderful example of prayer. Instead of holding in his frustration, he brought it before God with an honest heart.The Bible is full of people who brought honest questions to God.

Psalm 13:1 KJV 1900

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

David asks questions.

Jeremiah 12:1 KJV 1900

1 Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

Jeremiah asks questions.

Habakkuk 1:2 KJV 1900

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

Habakkuk asks questions.

Mark 9:24 KJV 1900

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

One of the most honest prayers in Scripture…

"The Lord does not rebuke His children for asking questions when those questions are brought in faith." - C.H. Spurgeon

(Vs. 4) The promise was not to Eliezer, but to Abram and his seed… Even though it does’nt make sense, even though your an old man, even though Sarai is barren. Listen, don’t look at the negative circumstances, don’t look at the impossibility of the situation. Look at the promise of my word…

Sometimes it’s way easier to take our situations and apply logic, it’s way easier to take our situation and just apply what we know about how life works, and yet what God says is don’t look at how life works or how it always happens, but rather look at what I promise you… That old english phrase is funny, “Out of thine own bowels.”…

(Vs. 5) God not only told Abram the promise again, but He confirmed it with an illustration. The stars in the sky showed how vast the number of Abram’s descendants would be.  One of those descendants — the greatest of his descendants — would be the Bright and Morning Star

Revelation 22:16 KJV 1900

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

What’s Abram’s response?

(Vs. 6) Though Abram did not speak, Scripture does: The Hebrew sense is that he believed and continued believing the Lord. W. H. Griffith Thomas observes, “The original Hebrew for ‘believed’ comes from a root whence we derive our ‘Amen,’ and we might paraphrase it by saying that ‘Abraham said Amen to the Lord.’ ‘Amen’ in Scripture never means a petition (‘May it be so’), but is always a strong assertion of faith (‘It shall be so,’ or ‘It is so’).

When Abram put his trust in God, specifically in God’s promise to him (descendants leading to the Messiah), God credited (accounted) this belief to Abram’s account as righteousness.

There are essentially two types of righteousness: righteousness we accomplish by our own efforts, and righteousness accounted to us by the work of God when we believe.

Since none of us can be good enough to accomplish perfect righteousness, we must have God’s righteousness accounted to us by doing just what Abram did: he believed in the LORD.

God’s accounting is not pretending. God does not account to us a pretended righteousness, but a real one in Jesus Christ

This is one of the most important verses in all the Bible.

Paul builds Romans 4 around it.

Paul builds Galatians 3 around it.

Abram was not declared righteous because he obeyed perfectly.

He was declared righteous because he believed God's promise.

Romans 4:3

Galatians 3:6

James 2:23

"Faith is not the absence of questions. Faith is bringing those questions to God and continuing to trust Him."

III). God Understands Our Need for Assurance - (Vs. 7-11)

As was the custom in those days, covenants were confirmed in visible ways. A covenant is an agreement which both sides enter into that agreement as opposed to an unconditional covenant which this indeed is… God is going to allow Abram to participate, but God is the one who is going to ratify the covenant unconditionally.

What they would do is offer an animal, and cut that animal in half sacrificially and what they would do is walk between the animal together. That was symbolic of the fact that this covenant was unto death. the thought was, “May this happen to me if I break this covenant.”

Now obviously God cannot die… So any covenant He makes is going to be a covenant that He keeps and that is a great visible sign to Abram…

(Vs. 7-8) How? It was the question of a believing heart, and consistent with the strongest faith that God, of course, knew full well was in Abram.

Abram was not questioning “If” but rather “How”?

Again, God responds graciously.

(Vs. 9-11)

Hebrews 6:17–18 KJV 1900

17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

God confirmed His promise with an oath.

This is almost a New Testament commentary on Genesis 15.

An engagement ring does not create love. It confirms commitment. The covenant ceremony doesn't create God's promise. It confirms God's promise.

When Abram had his doubts and wanted assurance from the LORD, God said to him clearly, “Let’s sign a contract and settle this once for all.”

As Abram waited for the LORD to appear and walk through the carcasses with him (to sign the covenant), God didn’t come right away. He had to wait and fight off the vultures until God appeared to complete the covenant ceremony.

"God condescends to the weakness of His people and gives them supports suitable to their condition." - Matthew Henry

"Weak faith can lay hold of a strong Christ." - J.C. Ryle

God is not threatened by the weakness of our faith. He is often pleased to strengthen it.

IV). God's Promises Rest on God's Faithfulness - (Vs. 12-21)

(Vs. 12-16) As evening came, God had not yet appeared to walk through the animal parts with Abram and seal the covenant. Instead, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Abram. Apparently, at least part of what followed came to Abram in a dream while he was under this deep sleep.

 Abram wanted concrete proof from God, and God would soon sign the covenant. Yet Abram needed to know he would have land and descendants, but all would not go well with his descendants in the future. This was a dreadful aspect to an amazing promise.

After God told him some of the hardship that would befall his descendants, Abram might have said, “If that is what is going to happen, I don’t want any children.” This was a complicated blessing.

c. They will afflict them four hundred years: Specifically, God told Abram of the slavery and hardship Israel would endure in Egypt (Exodus 1:1-14). Though the land was given to Abram and his covenant descendants, there would be this long period where they lived outside the land and in affliction. Yet after four generations they would return here (Canaan), and come with great possessions.

As Abram was either asleep or perhaps still groggy from the deep sleep, he saw God do an amazing thing. Abram saw God pass through the animal parts all by Himself, while Abram watched on the sidelines.

b. A smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces: In walking through the sacrificed animals in the covenant ceremony, God represented Himself by two emblems — a smoking oven and a burning torch.

The smoking furnace reminds us of the many times smoke or a cloud represented the presence of God:

As the pillar of cloud with Israel in the wilderness ().Exodus 13:21-22

As the smoke on Mount Sinai ().Exodus 19:18

As the cloud of God’s Shekinah glory ().1 Kings 8:10-12

The burning lamp reminds us of the many times fire represented the presence of God:

As the pillar of fire with Israel in the wilderness ().Exodus 13:21-22

As the burning bush displaying the presence of God before Moses ().Exodus 3:4

As the fire from heaven that at times consumed sacrifices that pleased God (,,).1 Kings 18:38 1 Chronicles 21:26 2 Chronicles 7:1

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram: God, represented by the smoking furnace and the burning lamp, passed through the animal parts by Himself; as Abram watched, God showed this was a unilateral covenant. Abram never signed the covenant, because he passively watched while God signed it for both of them in the ritual.

iTherefore, the certainty of the covenant God made with Abram is based on who God is, not on who Abram is or what Abram would do. This covenant could not fail, because God cannot fail.

In a sense, the Father walked through the broken and bloody body of Jesus to establish His covenant with us, and God signed it for both of us. We merely enter into the covenant by faith; we don’t make the covenant with God.

Ephesians 2:8–9 KJV 1900

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Imagine signing a contract where one party assumes all responsibility for keeping every condition.

That is what God does.

The covenant stands because of His character.

At Calvary, Jesus took upon Himself the obligations of the covenant.

The covenant of salvation rests not upon our performance but upon Christ's finished work.

Romans 5:8 KJV 1900

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

"God's promises are not exhausted when they are fulfilled; they are only begun." - C.H. Spurgeon

"The Lord's timing is always perfect. He is never late." - George Muller

"The security of God's promise is not found in the strength of our faith, but in the faithfulness of our God."