Abraham Believed the Lord

December 11, 2011

Lesson: Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18

Key Verse: Genesis 15:6

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Introduction

The covenant between God and man is expressed in His covenant with Abraham; confirmed with Moses (Deut. 5:2); repeated through Jeremiah, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (31:33); and fulfilled in the Messiah, “Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (Heb. 12:24), who “has obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Heb. 8:6).

The covenant of God is a pledge or alliance, an obligation written and sealed by a solemn oath, with blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience. The covenant, in this case, is made by God, is and assured by Him, through Christ, that it will be kept by both parties, forever and ever. By the sacrifice of the blood of His Son, the promise is kept, sin and guilt has been atoned, and righteousness is imputed to those whom He is saving. Since the promise or covenant of God has been made, confirmed, and fulfilled, our faith rests on a solid rock, even Christ our Lord.

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Abraham’s Shield—Genesis 15:1–6

After being blessed by Melchizedek, the “word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Abram had been victorious in battle, freeing the captive Lot, knowing that the blessing of Melchizedek was true: “blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand” (Gen. 14:18–20). God, Abram’s shield, is the Lord who delivers His servants from their enemies. Fear can make us poor listeners, poor disciples of Jesus. However, the Lord restrains the fear that comes to those who acknowledge Him as an awesome and glorious God, and makes them ready listeners. Our Lord comes to us as one who loves us. As with Abram, He is the one who protects and provides. “He teaches Abram to be satisfied with Himself alone” (Calvin).

Abram raises this question, “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless.” The covenant has been engrafted into the heart of Abram. How could he be blessed with a nation? “Behold to me,” says Abram, “thou has given no seed.” The word of the Lord came to Abram, saying that “he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” Abram need not look for a son by his servant, Eliezer, but would see God’s promise come from his own flesh.

The Lord then tells Abram to “Look toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them”; and he said unto him, “So shall thy seed be.” The promise of Abram’s seed is enlarged numerically, with a number which could only be established by the Lord. There is no chance happening here. As Abram looked, and as he heard the voice of the Lord, “he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” True faith emphasizes the object of that faith. These words of John Calvin speak clearly of this justification of the believer: “the faith of Abram is commended, because by it he embraced the promise of God; it is commended, in the second place, because hence Abram obtained righteousness in the sight of God, and that by imputation. And truly faith does not justify us for any other reason, than that it reconciles us to God; and that it does so, not by its own merit; but because we receive the grace offered to us in the promises, and have no doubt of eternal life, being fully persuaded that we are loved by God as sons.”

Discussion: What does it mean to believe what the Lord has spoken?

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A Deep Sleep—Genesis 15:12–18

From the darkness of despair comes the promise of light, the light of deliverance: “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.” This sign is explained by the Lord to Abram: “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years: and also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” The people of God would be under Egyptian bondage for over four hundred years—a part of God’s providential plan to be with them and to deliver them. Calvin wrote, “For thus does the Lord deal with his own people; he always makes a beginning from death, so that by quickening the dead, he the more abundantly manifests his power. It was necessary, in part, on Abram’s account, that this should have been declared; but the Lord chiefly had regard to his posterity, lest they should faint in their sufferings, of which, however, the Lord had promised a joyful and happy issue; especially since their long continuance would produce great weariness. And three things are, step by step, brought before them; first, that the sons of Abram must wander four hundred years, before they should attain the promised inheritance; secondly, that they should be slaves; thirdly that they were to be inhumanely and tyrannically treated. Wherefore the faith of Abram was admirable and singular, seeing that he acquiesced in an oracle so sorrowful, and felt assured, that God would be his Deliverer, after his miseries had proceeded to their greatest height.”

God promises that Egypt “whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” When the Lord delivers us from the darkness of our transgressions, He gives a great inheritance, of which Paul spoke to the elders of Ephesus: “brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

Abram receives this promise: “thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.” The Amorites, who must make way for the children of God, are given generations under the longsuffering of God; then they will know His judgment: “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Abram sees this darkness within a vision: And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” This covenant assures the giving of a promised land to the people of God. In verses 19 through 21 are listed the various nations whose land would be given to God’s people; as God’s people are a great people. Matthew Henry wrote: “The land granted is here described in its utmost extent because it was to be a type of the heavenly inheritance, where there is room enough: in our father’s house are many mansions. The present occupants are named, because their number and strength, and long prescription should be no hindrance to the accomplishment of this promise in its season, and to magnify God’s love to Abram and his seed, in giving to that one nation the possessions of many nations, so precious were they in his sight, and so honourable (Isa. 43:4).”

Discussion: What does the covenant given to Abram promise to the people of God?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2011 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.