Genesis 15.1-6-Abrahamic Covenant-Promising Guaranteeing a Child
Thursday December 8, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 15:1-6-Abrahamic Covenant-Promise Guaranteeing A Child
Lesson # 74
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 15:1.
This evening we will begin a study of Genesis 15 by noting Genesis 15:1-6, which records the Lord’s guarantee to Abraham that he would have a child and that his descendants would be innumerable.
Genesis 15:1, “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.’”
“After these things”: (1) Adverb of time `achar (rj^a^) (akh-ar), “after” (2) Noun davar (rbD), “these things.”
The adverb of time `achar denotes “when” the events of Genesis 15 took place, namely after the events of Genesis 14.
The noun davar, “these things” refers to the events of Genesis 14:1-16 where Abram and his 318 night rangers and the armies of the three Amorite princes routed the Four Eastern Mesopotamian Kings and rescued Lot.
It also refers to the “events” of Genesis 14:17-24 where Abram was blessed by Melchizedek and refused with an oath the King of Sodom’s offer to take the property of Sodom, and which refusal was tantamount to refusing to love the things of the cosmic system of Satan (cf. 1 Jn. 2:15-17).
The phrase “the Word of the Lord” is a title for the 2nd Person of the Trinity, who is God the Son.
John 1:1, “In eternity past the Word has always existed and the Word has always existed face to face with the God (the Father) and the Word has always existed as God.”
The term “vision” indicates Abram is receiving a visible appearance of the Son of God before His incarnation, which is called in theology, a “theophany” or “Christophany.”
This appearance of the Son of God to Abram was also auditory since the Lord speaks with Abram as seen in Genesis 15:2-5.
Also indicating the statement “the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision” is a theophany or Christophany is that Abram has a conversation with the Lord.
This appearance of the preincarnate Christ to Abram indicates that Abram was a prophet according to Numbers 12:6.
Numbers 12:6, “He said, ‘Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.’”
The prohibition “do not fear” that was issued to Abram indicates that Abram was thinking about his great victory over the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition and was fearful that they would return and attack him, thus the Lord told Abram to not be afraid.
Psalm 56:11, “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
The Lord gives assurance to Abram that he need not be afraid because the Lord would protect him as indicated by the statement, “I am your shield.”
Also, the Lord told Abram to not be afraid because Abram was thinking about the fact that he had no child and this is indicated by Abraham’s question to the Lord in Genesis 15:2-3.
Assurance is freedom from doubt and is a sense of certainty that something is true that it will occur or that all is okay.
In Genesis 15:1, the Lord is assuring Abram that everything is ok that he will be protected from his enemies and rewarded and in Genesis 15:4-5 he reassures him that he and Sarai would have a child.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary lists the following definitions for assurance: (1) a positive declaration intended to give confidence. (2) Pledge, guaranty, surety. (3) Full confidence; freedom from doubt, certainty. (4) Freedom from timidity; self-confidence; self-possession; firmness; courage.
Paraphrasing this definition and making application to Genesis 15:1, we can say that the promises of the Lord in a vision to Abram and which are enumerated in Genesis 15:2-5 are a positive declaration or guarantee from the Lord intended to give Abram confidence and courage.
“Shield” is the noun maghen (/g@m*), which is used in a metaphorical sense depicting the Lord as a shield to Abram in the sense of offering protection for Abram from reprisals from the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition.
This metaphor is used often in Scripture representing the Lord as the Protector of His people.
Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Also, Abram was thinking about his refusal to take the property offered to him by the King of Sodom as indicated in that the Lord promises Abram that his “reward shall be very great.”
Therefore, the Lord is telling Abram to forget about the past and do not fear reprisals from the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition and do not worry that you refused the King of Sodom’s offer, I will reward you for your great victory.
Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.”
“Reward” is the noun sakhar (rkc) (saw-kawr), which denotes “wages” rendered as payment for service and in the context of Genesis 15:1 denotes the “reward” that the Lord promises to give Abram for his military service and victory over the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition.
“Very great” is the verb ravah (hbr), which is in the hiphil infinitive absolute form functioning as an adverb and means both, “abundance” and “extraordinarily great”.
Therefore, the Lord is promising Abram that his reward for his service will not only be abundant but also extraordinary.
Genesis 15:2, “Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’”
Genesis 15:3, “And Abram said, ‘Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.’”
“O Lord God” is a term of respect and denotes Abram’s awareness of and acknowledgement of his covenant relationship with the Lord and that the Lord is sovereign over his circumstances, which are weighing on Abram’s mind, namely that he is still childless.
The Lord’s reassuring Abram in Genesis 15:1 that He would protect and reward him, prompts Abram to think about the Lord’s promises to him and his descendants in Genesis 12:1-3 and 13:14-17.
Abram is of course childless at this time and so we see Abram asking the Lord if he is fulfilling these promises of descendants through his servant Eliezer who he purchased in Damascus, Syria.
Ancient documents show that if a man had no child, he could adopt a male servant or slave to be his heir.
Abram had as his business manager or chief servant a slave named, “Eliezer” whom he acquired in Damascus on his way to Canaan.
Abram thought the Lord would fulfill the promise through Eliezer, since legal inheritance was as important as natural inheritance in the days of Abram, as archaeological discoveries at Nuzu in Mesopotamia have demonstrated but this left Abram without personal satisfaction and it brought a question to his mind.
The mind of Abram had been burdened by the fact that he was still childless and thus prompts his question to the Lord.
Genesis 15:4, “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.’”
Genesis 15:5, “And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”
The Lord guarantees Abram that the promises would be literally fulfilled by a child of Abram’s own and to drive the point home, the Lord compares the number of the stars of the universe to the number of descendants of Abram there will be in the future.
Bruce K. Waltke, “The representation of offspring like the uncountable stars is not just an amazing promise but an assurance of God’s creative and sovereign power” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 242; Zondervan).
The promise of Genesis 15:4-5 not only pertains to Abram’s “natural” progeny (cf. Deut. 1:10; 10:22; Heb. 11:12) but according to Romans 4 it refers to his “spiritual” progeny (cf. Gal. 3:29).
Deuteronomy 10:22, “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.”
Galatians 3:29, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Genesis 15:6, “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Abram’s faith in the Lord in Genesis 15:6 and the Lord imputing His righteousness to Abram as a result of his faith is employed by the New Testament writers as the pattern of a sinner’s justification (Rm. 4).
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
“Believed” is the verb `aman (/m^a*) (aw-man), which is in the “hiphil” (causative) stem meaning, “to cause to have confidence in, to trust.”
The object of Abram’s faith is the Lord Himself who alone can make this guarantee to Abram because He sovereign and omnipotent and omniscient.
Although, the New Testament writers employ Genesis 15:6 to teach that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone, it does “not” mean that Genesis 15:6 records the moment when Abram first got saved.
There at least three reasons for this.
First of all, Abram had already obeyed the Lord’s call to leave Ur and Haran (Acts 7:2-5; Gen. 12:1-5).
Secondly, the Lord had entered into a covenant agreement with him as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:4-5, which is something the Lord would never do with an unbeliever.
Thirdly, the perfect tense of the verb `aman, “believed” demonstrates that Abram’s faith did “not” begin after the events recorded in Genesis 15:1-5 since it represents the state of Abram trusting in the Lord, which flowed from his initial faith in the Lord the moment he got saved in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Bible Knowledge Commentary, The Old Testament, “Abram’s faith is recorded here because it is foundational for establishing the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant did not give Abram redemption; it was a covenant made with Abram who had already believed and to whom righteousness had already been imputed” (page 55, Victor Books).
“Reckoned” is the verb chashav (bv^j*) (khaw-sawv), which refers to the Lord imputing His righteousness to Abram and as a result it refers to His “viewpoint” of Abram as a result of Abram’s faith in Him in delivering on His promise to give Abram a son.
Imputation is the function of the justice of God in crediting something to someone for cursing or for blessing.
At the moment of spiritual birth, God imputed His righteousness to the believer so that he is “positionally” the righteousness of God meaning God has given His righteousness as a gift to the believer and that God views the believer as righteous as Himself.
Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”
Romans 3:22, “even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.”
The righteousness of God is received through faith in the gospel concerning Jesus Christ since in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ is revealed.
Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Romans 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’”
The Bible teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s righteousness.
1 Corinthians 1:30, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
The righteousness of God can never be attained by anyone through human power and dynamics or by keeping the Mosaic Law but rather it is received as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ who is the righteousness of God incarnate.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.”
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Romans 5:17, “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”