Genesis 15

Last week, we looked at how a massive war had broken out, four kings against five kings, and in the process, Lot had been captured. So Abram gathered his people and his allies, and went after them. He overcame the enemy and rescued Lot, and then brought back all of the spoils to their rightful place.

In the process, he met a very interesting fellow named Melchizedek, who was a king and a priest. Many believe that Melchizedek is a picture of Christ in the OT, and there is much evidence to support that. Abram pays a tenth of all he has to Melchizedek, signifying a tithe, and then returns home.

As we get into Chapter 15, we are going to see what happened after all of that took place. Abram has a tremendous encounter with God, and the result is what we call the Abrahamic Covenant.

Read Genesis 15

(Verse 1) God comes to Abram in a vision and reassures him of His promise.

He tells Abram that He will be Abram’s shield, his protector. He will watch over Abram and protect Abram, for Abram has a purpose, and nothing will happen to him until that purpose has been fulfilled.

This is a vital lesson for us. When we get a word from the Lord as to what our purpose is, we can rest assured that whatever comes, He will be with us. He will not commission us for a purpose and then not see us through. This provides hope and peace during those most difficult times.

Notice it says, “your exceedingly great reward.” Other translations say, “your reward shall be very great.” This seems to make more sense based upon how Abram responds in verse 2. But this fits with the promise. He is telling Abram that He has plans for him.

(Verse 2-3) Abram’s response is fitting. He is confused. What is the purpose of this exceedingly great reward when he doesn’t even have a proper heir to carry on the mission once he is gone? The only heir that Abram has is not even of his own flesh, but a child of a servant within his house.

(Verse 4) God reassures Abram that this child will not be his heir, but rather that the heir will be one of his own flesh. He is telling Abram that he will indeed have a son, and that son will carry on the promise to future generations.

(Verse 5) In fact, his heirs will be so many that God brings him outside to look up at the heavens. He tells Abram to count the start if he can, and that his descendants will be as the stars of the sky.

(Verse 6) This verse has so much meaning. Abram, “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” This verse is repeated several times throughout the NT, as it accounts for true faith. Abram simply believed the word of the Lord, and that belief was accounted to him for righteousness. That is faith. It is believing in the promises of the Lord. It is believing that what the Lord has said is true, to the point that you trust it and follow it. This verse serves as a popular landing spot for the writers of the NT, quoting it no less than 5 times to support true faith.

Faith is not just an intellectual awareness. It is a deeply rooted acknowledgement that God’s word is trustworthy and therefore sure and steadfast. When God speaks of something that will come to pass, believing in it, is to treat it as if it has already come to pass.

It is this way in salvation. We cannot work our way into salvation. The Word of God says simply, believe in your heart and confess with your mouth and you will be saved. To believe that is to have a full assurance that once one truly believes in God and openly confesses God to the world, that they are indeed saved. It is as simple as that. God promised it, so we believe it. This is true faith.

This is where the Lord makes a Covenant with Abraham. Now let me take a second to explain how covenants were made. The two parties would take animals that they owned. They would sill those animals by cutting them into. They would place one half of the animal over here, and then place the other half of the animal over here. In a sense, they were making a pathway through the center of the animals. They would then join hands at one end of the pathway, state their covenant to one another, join hands, and then walk down the pathway together. Before they walked down the pathway between the two animals, they would say something like, “If I break this covenant, let what has been done to these animals be done to me.”

That is a serious commitment. It goes to show how important keeping ones commitment to another was to them. You word was everything. A covenant wasn’t just an agreement… it was binding. To be more specific, it was bound in blood… it was life or death. You did not make these kind of covenants lightly. They were as serious as they could be.

(Verse 7-11) So God tells Abram that all of this had been put into motion a while ago when he was called out of the land of Ur. God always knew what the outcome would be with Abram, but Abram didn’t. So God reassures Abram, “I have been working towards this the whole time.”

Abram, does not doubt the Words of God, but he does wonder if there is some kind of sign that these things will come to pass as it has been stated.

So God tells Abram to go get the necessary animals and prepare them for a Covenant ceremony. Abram does as he is told and prepares the animals. But then there is a pause. Abram has done his part, but God still hasn’t shown up. It takes so long, that the scavengers of the air attempt to steal away the means of this covenant with God. Abram does his best to keep them away from the carcases, but after a whole days work, Abram gets tired.

This is very similar to what we deal with in life. We get a word from the Lord, but then as we wait for God to do what He has already promised He would do, the devil wants to come and steal the prepared means of our blessing away. In these moments, we must be willing to do what Abram did and fight them off. We are not to let the devil take away those things in which God will use to do great things. We must stand and fight.

(Verse 12) Once the sun has gone down, Abram is tired. It tells us that a great darkness fell upon him. Some have wondered why this was, but I simply believe that this is normal in the flesh. It is a frightening thing for sinful flesh to come into the presence of Almighty God. That is why so many who did fell on their faces before the Lord as dead men.

(Verse 13-16) God uses this sleep to show Abram what would take place within his nation.

Verse 13 - Abram’s descendants will enter a foreign land to be oppressed and enslaved for 400 years.

Verse 14 - Abram’s descendants will be delivered from the oppressing nation, and when this is accomplished, they will leave with great possessions.

Verse 15 - Abram will live to a good old age and die in peace.

Verse 16 - Abram’s descendants will return to this land that has been promised to Abram after the 400 years and will possess it as God has said.

(Verse 17) Now watch what God does. Instead of waking Abram up so that they could hold hands, state the covenant, and walk down this path together, God leaves Abram asleep. And while he is sleeping, God passes through the animals alone. He has stated the Covenant of promise, and now He has solidified it by passing through. This Covenant is now binding, with blood.

Notice a few things about this:

God passed through alone

If this Covenant would have been based upon Abram, it would have been broken and it would have cost him his life. Abram was a faithful man, but he was not perfect. Therefore, God alone walked down that dreadful path alone. The Covenant was based upon Him alone, but He is God. He does not lie. He does not grow weary. He does not faint. He does not get weak. He does not have lapses in judgment as we do. God secured the future of this Covenant by binding it alone with His own perfection.

This is a perfect picture of salvation. Salvation is by grace alone. It is not based any whatsoever on us. The Covenant of salvation is kept because Christ alone walked down that bloody pathway. Christ alone became the sacrifice. Christ alone secured the promise. So our salvation is kept by the power of His perfection, not by us. If we would have been involved in the Covenant, you can rest assured that it would indeed be broken, but it isn’t. We have an assurance of our salvation because it is based upon His righteousness, not ours. We are kept by His power.

1 Peter 1:3–5 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God passes through the animals not in the flesh, but in the image of a smoking oven and a burning torch.

Both of these images represented the presence of the Lord. The furnace is a symbol of purification. Things placed in the fire were either consumed or purified. The torch represents a guiding light.

God’s presence is always with us. Sometimes we feel the weight of the smoking furnace as God is burning the impurities of our lives away. Sometimes we see the guiding light of His torch leading us through the various paths of life.

This was true for Abram as well. Israel would be oppressed for 400 years, but then they would come away greater than when they went in. They furnace gives way to the torch.

This is a great truth for us to remember in life. We don’t always get the torch. Matter of fact, the furnace is a necessary prerequisite to the torch. We must first be cleansed of impurities before we are ready to move farther down the path. Once the furnace has completed its current work, it will give way to the torch so that we can know the path forward.

Either way, the presence of the Lord is with us and the Covenant promise still stands. God is in the midst, and we can rest assured that whatever the current experience of God we are in, forward is the goal.