Close Your Eyes What do You See?

Genesis 15:1

Genesis 15:1 NKJV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

The story of Abraham is one that we all know very well. Being called from Ur to a land that he did not know, Canaan. I wonder how he knew where to go. I wonder if God spoke directly to him as the traveled. We see that his journey takes him all the way to Egypt and then back to Canaan. We also read that God not only promised to take him to Canaan but also to bless the whole world through him. The journey is recored in . His story has a key place in scripture. In the New Testament Abraham is the one who responds to the promise of God by faith. Paul in romans uses this faith response to God’s promise as a means of explaining the plan of salvation.

The story of Abraham is one that we all know very well. Being called from Ur to a land that he did not know, Canaan. I wonder how he knew where to go. I wonder if God spoke directly to him as the traveled. We see that his journey takes him all the way to Egypt and then back to Canaan. We also read that God not only promised to take him to Canaan but also to bless the whole world through him. The journey is recored in . His story has a key place in scripture. In the New Testament Abraham is the one who responds to the promise of God by faith. Paul in romans uses this faith response to God’s promise as a means of explaining the plan of salvation.

God promises Abram that He will be his shield and his great reward and therefore Abram need to be afraid. This statement of God comes after some time after the original call out of the Ur. One would have thought that by now Abram would have know that God was taking care of him. But in this statement do you thing that God was trying to get Abram to see the bigger picture. God has given this promise but in the mind of Abram one of the important things in life was to have an heir and we see in that he tells God that you have not given me a child. The promise is given that he will have a child of his own. God takes Abram outside and shows him the stars in the sky and says that his defendants will be as numerous as the stars. On this hope of a family says And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Paul picks up on this statement of “accounted to him as Righteousness” in ,, and uses this as his primary foundation on justification by faith. So the idea of an accounting or Judicial system is imbedded in Scripture. This system is founded on the promise of And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Paul uses the judicial system in a beautiful way to declare that we are acquitted. In other words the faith that Abraham had in God freed him from the condemnation of sin. The acquittal is not one based on our moral condition by rather it is based on the external righteousness of Jesus. It is founded only in the substitutionary death of Jesus and the imputed merit of His righteousness. Imputed what does that mean? It means to weave in to give. It means that Jesus give us His righteousness, He weaves Himself into out lives. Abram had not done anything to receive this gift from God it was given to him solely because he believed.

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

Paul picks up on this accounted to him as Righteousness in ,, and uses this as his primary foundation on justification by faith. Paul uses justification as a judicial declaration of acquittal. In other words the faith that Abraham had in God freed him from the condemnation of sin.

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel

So what faith did Abram have? says he believed in the Lord. Abram did not just have an intellectual knowledge of God but a relational one. The texts wants us to see that he put His trust in God. describes the faith of Abram by saying that, Hebrews 11:8 “he went out, not knowing where he was going. This is one of the greatest challenges in our walk with God. He calls us to follow Him even when we do not know where that path will lead. He followed not based on the dreams he had for himself but on what God dreamed for him even though he did not fully understand God’s dream. Not only are we to have trust in the destination that God is leading us in by also in what He has done for us. Does this story of Abram tell us to believe in what God has done for us?

Paul uses the judicial system in a beautiful ways to declare that we are acquitted. In other words the faith that Abraham had in God freed him from the condemnation of sin.

says, And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

And he went out, not knowing where he was going

Abram struggled with this even though he believed. He believed in God but did not understand. Even though God is trustworthy there are things that we will not fully understand but we know that God can be trusted. At times God will express Himself in terms that we are better able to understand. This is what He did for Abram. In God tells Abram to make an offering. God was expressing the covenant that He was making with him in terms that he could understand. A covenant was established by the cutting in half an animal and where both parties pass between the two halves. The passing between the two haves means that if one of the parties breaks the agreement then they would suffer the same consequence as the animal. In a covenant there could be one party that was superior to the other like a suzerian-vassal agreement. In this covenant that God made with Abram he was the suzerian the greater party and Abram was the vassal or the lesser party. Ellen White tells us that Abram walked through the animals thereby saying that he would be obedient to God. Then he wanted for God.

I want to pause here a moment and bring our attention to the fact that even though Abram was accounted righteous or justified by his faith he still wanted a sign from God. Is it possible that even though we may doubt like Abram we can still be righteous? Faith is never compelling, or it is not 100% convinced. God does not force us to believe. There is always the element of the unknown. At times we might have all the answers and our faith is established. But what do we do when we doubt when we are not sure. This was the position that Abram was in.

And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. What has happened here? Smoke and a burning torch pass though animals. At times smoke is used in scripture to express the presence of God as in Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace... Torches are used to describe His presence as well as in His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire… We see the Divine presence passing though these animals pledging to man that He will never forsake us. That if we respond to Him and accept the terms He gives us we will be justified.

His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire,

To make a covenant is done by cutting and the Hebrew word for that is “karat” and this is the same word used in , 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off “Karat”, but not for Himself;… 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant “Karat” with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. We need to remember here that the root word for covenant in Hebrew comes from “to cut” “Karat”. So, the covenant that Abram makes points forward to that which Jesus would do for us.

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks

Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come

And the people of the prince who is to come

The New King James Version Chapter 9

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks

Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;

And the people of the prince who is to come

Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The end of it shall be with a flood,

And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;

But in the middle of the week

He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The end of it shall be with a flood,

When Paul writes that it was his faith that justified him we see that it was his faith in that which Jesus would do in His life, death and resurrection. Being justified or made righteous in Christ is a gift that is given to us by God. It is by God “grace” that we receive the righteousness of Jesus thereby being justified. We do not earn this it is given to us on the merits of Jesus. It is also not a reward either. We have done nothing to deserve it. Only though God’s love and generosity do we receive it.

Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces

And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

It is beautiful to see that while Abram look to the future in faith and as we look back in faith to the same event we are justified. We are seen as righteous in Christ. Abram chose to be obedient to God he chose as says to allow righteousness to reign in his life. We may not have all the answers, we may actually have more questions than answers but that is ok. Abram was in the same position as us. We all need to trust in Jesus. We all need to look to Him. We all need to accept His atoning sacrifice on calvary for us. At times we may feel uncertain of our salvation, uncertain of our commitment to Jesus. But, as we look back to the cross we can be assured that Jesus has given to us His righteousness. Resulting in us being justified and freed from the condemnation of sin. Why, because Jesus took on the cures of sin for us.

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;

I chose this title because what do we see when we look at our salvation. This past few weeks have been pulling out weeds in my lawn and this past week as I was pulling out the same weed over and over again. At a point i closed my eyes and guess what I saw? Yes it was the image of the week in my eyes. I thought that this is often how we can look at salvation. We can have our eyes focused so much one thing that we miss what our focus needs to be. Our attention needs to be one Christ. Because it is in him that we are saved, it is in Him that I can live with hope, it is in Him and only in Him that I am justified. May we when we close our eyes see Jesus and Him alone.

But in the middle of the week

It is beautiful to see that while Abram look to the future in faith and as we look back in faith to the same event we are justified. We are seen as righteous in Christ. Abram chose to be obedient to God he chose as says to allow righteousness to reign in his life.

Amen

He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), .