When God Makes Promises

I. Introduction

Would you please be turning in your Bibles to Genesis Chapter 15. We will be looking this week at Genesis Chapter 15, and verses 1-123, that’s all of that chapter. You’ll recall last week while we were in Chapter 14, we saw the very first war and how Abram’s nephew Lot was caught up in the midst of it. He lost pretty much everything to a foreign army…and then Abram came in special operations-style and perpetuated the first rescue mission in history. That brings us to the story we are in today.

So let’s go ahead and get right into the text this morning…Genesis 15:1-21.

a. Scripture: Genesis 15:1-21

I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

So here we have a dialogue between Abram and God in a vision....now let’s be clear here: this was NOT a dream. There is a difference between a vision and a dream. A dream occurs when a person is unconscious and a vision occurs when a person is wide-awake and conscious. It’s not a daydream or a moment of letting one’s mind wonder....this is the Lord taking hold of a person’s mind’s eye, and controlling what they are seeing in their minds at that moment.

This is really a story about promises. Now promises are made and broken every single day, aren’t they?

I know a person in their job who has been flatly promised a promotion by his bosses 3 or 4 times and that promise was broken every single time....that’s hard to deal with isn’t it?

I remember a President that promised us not too long ago if we let the government get involved in the healthcare business that it would pay for itself....13 or so years later our country currently sits in 28.3 TRILLION dollars in debt.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said “The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.”

People and promises have a terrible relationship....promises....covenants....contracts....they are like eggs anymore: they’re meant to be broken as far as the world is concerned....but with God, he ALWAYS keeps His word....if God fails to keep His word, then He fails to be God. Here, God makes a covenent…something very, very unbreakable with Abram and his descendents.

Now there are TWO promises made through Abram here. In fact, they are something quite more than that....they are covenents. One of them has to do with his descendents known as the Nation of Israel, and the other has to do with saving humanity. Both of these are promises from God…and I want us to talk a little bit about what happens when God makes promises. Now God has made many promises....but in Chapter 15, God lays down two of them:

II. Major Points: God’s Promises

Abram’s Legacy

The Time of Struggling

A Great Nation

III. Point #1: Abram’s Legacy

Explanation Now Abram had no children of his own. He had no direct son to be an heir of all that he had worked his entire life to build. The Lord comes to him in a vision and tells him in verse 1 that he will be both protecting him and that he has a reward coming:

Genesis 15:1 NASB95

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

Now what was he being rewarded for…well if you look back at the end of chapter 14, Abram had just been tempted by the King of Sodom.

Genesis 14:21 NASB95

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.”

Abram could have taken the money and run and left his people to be ruled by this godless king, but he said NO....he refused. So here, in this vision, God promises Abram a reward.

Abram comes right out and says what is troubling him....his heart is heavy because he doesn’t have an heir....the closest heir would have been a servant named Eliezer, who also functioned as the head of Abram’s household. Now, he actually may not have been kin to Abram in anyway…he was just a servant. We aren’t sure because the Bible is silent on that issue…so we are sort of left to wonder....but here’s the point: Abram wanted a son…an heir....and God promised him a son here....partly to reward Abram’s faithfulness....and also partly to bring about His Holy Will and master plan....

God tells him:

Genesis 15:4 NASB95

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

So this man Eliezer will not be his heir…but God will bring him what he desires, and that is a son. And God assures him that his descendents will be immeasurable....they will be like the stars....

Illustration

That’s an interesting way for God to have described Abram’s descendents isn’t it?..that they’ll be numbered like the stars....

Have you ever thought about how many stars there are in the universe?

Scientists at the University of California in Santa Barbara have come up with this number to illustrate the immense number of stars in the universe: There are about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in space, or about 10 raised to the 21 (10 21....That number is called about 1 sextillion.....I’m told that this amount is about equal to the number of grains of sand on ALL of the beaches on planet Earth!!! Now folks, that is a lot!!

Application

Folks listen carefully: God rewards his faithful servants.....we might not get eactly what we want all the time, but trust in this we will always need exactly what we need....God knows what is best for us.

We serve a good God, amen?

IV. Point #2: The Time of Struggling

Explanation Take a look at verses 12-15

Genesis 15:12–15 NASB95

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

So Abram has another message from God, this time in the form of a dream....in this part he was unconscious and God spoke to him and told him more....He told him that there would be a time of struggling for his people.....now there are several parts to this part of the promise…first of all, the land that will belong to the Jews is not going to be given to them immediately.....there will be a time of testing and trials first....and this will last many generations....we now know that God was talking about the enslavement of the people of Israel in the land of Egypt for 5 generations.

That is the first part....the next part says that these people that enslave them (who, of course, we know to be the Egyptains) will be judged harshly...

and the last part of the promise is this: Abram, himself, won’t ever experience that harshness, because he will die comfortably as an old man.

Illustration

I can think of many times in my own life when there was a time of trial of some kind that immediately followed God answering some prayer of mine....

When I first graduated college, there were many placed I could have worked and been happy....but I wanted to work at Metter High School....I felt like that wa smy calling....so instead of applying for a bunch of full time jobs elsewhere, I applied one place: Metter High School. All they had to offer me was part-time position....49% pay. No benefits....it wouldn’t count towards my years of retirment, the pay was awful.....the only good part really was that I got to leave at lunch time most days. It was hard....but the next year, God gave me full-time.....but....I still had to be patient....

I was teaching part-time in the mornings at the Middle school and part time in the afternoons teaching at the high school....part-time plus part-time equals full-time.....but it was hard yall....I had two separate schools to deal with....two separate bosses.....two sets of meetings....two sets of expectations that were different....nobody was on the same page....but princiapls wanted me in multipla places at the same time.....it was impossible and frustrating. Sometimes I wanted to up and quit....it didn’t feel worth it....but something inside of me said “wait....be patient.”

Folks, I really believe that God rewards faithfulness....and he did.....now I’m as happy as I”ve ever been teaching....but I had to be patient to get the job I have now....it took me three years of struggling and waiting, but now God gave me what I asked for.....

I’m sure many of you have had experiences just like that.....its wondeful to see God work, amen?

Application

Church: Many times God allows us to have our own “wilderness wonderings” before God gives us what we want or need....and there’s a good reaosn: because were’t READY for it! We may have THOUGHT we were, but God knows better, doens’t He?

Often times we are ready to rush in and fight for the kingdom....we pick up the first thing we see and are ready to fight....a long piece of metal or a rod, for example....but God takes it....he puts it through the fire and trouble....then it is beaten and shaped and eventually turned into a sword perfect enough for battle.....

You see church: God allows these times of trials and fire so that we can be better shaped into what he wants us to be.....like when Washington had is army at the coldness and misery of Valley Forge....he had a choice: sit here and freeze and starve....or make the best of it. So they used Valley Forge as a time to train and get better....when the American Army came out of that winter, they were a completely different army....leaner....meaner....more disciplined…better at drilling....they could load their muskets faster and therefore get more shots fired quicker than the enemy....they were ready to face British forces twice thei size.

Trials make us better....they sharpen us....strengthen us.....and they get us ready for what is ahead....and the Nation of Israel needed to be shaped for what was ahead....this brings us to our thir point:

V. Point #3: A Great Nation

Explanation

Now we know that a covenant is so much more meaningful than a regular promise or a government contract. This whole business of the meat being cut up and the two parties traveling through it together…that’s how it normally worked....but remember: Moses fell asleep....God caused that.....and then look what happened:

Genesis 15:17 NASB95

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

You see, this last part of the covenant is apromise directly from God....He didn’t have Abram go through the carcusses with Him....God went through alone, represented by that torch: Folks, I believe that means that this covenent, espcially this last part about Israel.

God promises to do two things:

The people of Israel are going to be given a track of land that belongs to them....period....Now some people like to argue that because the Jews rejected Christ as Savior that this land was taken from them....and the covenant was then made null and void.....let me ask you something: do you see any clauses or phrases here where God says “I’ll be faithful to you as long as _______” or “As long as you _______ I’ll be faithful?” No? I don’t either. I don’t see it saying “Folks, if you break _______commandment, this covenant ges away.” I don’t se ethat anywhere. It’s a promise from God. Therefore, I take the position that God granted that land TO Israel for HIS glory until the end days. Now, it has been invaded and taken from them by the Arabs multiple times…the Romans occupied them....and they stayed occupied for hundreds of years....but guess what? THEYRE back!

There’s also a theory that says that Israel was replaced by the church, and therefore their claim on that land is invalid. It’s a theory called replacement theology, and it is a weak view in my opinion. It is a theory that lacks Scriptural support in my opinion. People who believe this usually say “well look, they rejected Christ, so Christ rejected them and that’s why the Romans destroye dtheir temple and they lost their land....LISTEN: That is not Biblical interpretation, it is conjecture....if it’s not in the Bible, we have no reason to draw such a conclusion. Besides: is ther enot yet hope for Israel to be saved? It’s going to happen in the end times, we are told that! ONly at THAT moment will the church and Israel become one. Israel is STILL a blessed nation.

Don’t you know that when Israel declared independence once again on May 14, 1948 that not one, not 2, not 3, not 4, but SIX nations declared war on them and, even without the support of the United States, Israel prevailed over them?

The Jew are still special in God’s eyes....

And the primary reason for that is this....and it is the more subtle part of God’s promise: The seed of God....the Messiah.....would be born from the Nation of Israel....a young Jewish girl would be the earthly mother of the Son of God....the hope of the whole world would come through the lineage of the Jews.....and that is the promise of Jesus Christ....they are still special because Jesus came from them.

That is important for both me and you to know. For one, we should love Israel and protect her, whether they recognize the truth of Christ or not.

Genesis 12:3 NASB95

And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

That still applies!

It is also importat to use because Christ came for all of us amen?

VI. Conclusion

a. Let me ask you this morning: do you know Him? That is the part of the promise that is for you and me. Listen: when God makes promises: He keeps them, plain and simple. He keeps them.

b. Let’s Pray