1.31.10 – The Promise and the Covenant (part 1)

This morning’s sermon is, in some ways, a two parter. We’re going to look at an enormous event in Abram’s life (in Genesis 15) that impacts every one of us. In fact, it’s almost like all of human history is encapsulated in what happens here.

What I want to do, then, is focus this week on what happened to Abram and what it meant to him. And next week I want to draw from that some enormous lessons for us. There’s just so much here I didn’t want to cram it into one sermon. After all, this is a marathon, not a sprint, right?

Genesis 15
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (NIV)
Bible scholars have debated for several millennia about how much of what happens in this chapter is a vision. Is all of it a vision, or just those first few verses? My personal thought is that only verse 1 is the vision, then Abram wakes up and doesn’t exactly object to the vision, but does have a question.

Who hasn’t done this? “I know you’re going to help me/save me God … but could you tell me when? Could you speed it up a little?”

[God’s timing is something we’ll look at in more depth next week.]

So God takes him outside and shows him the stars in the sky and promises that Abram’s offspring will be greater in number than the stars. Think about it: God didn’t have to do that. He’d already made the promise. He was good for it. But he is not just a faithful God, he is a loving God. He wanted to give Abram a concrete reference for the promise.

Remember what I quoted a few weeks ago about how God addresses the here and now before the future and eternal? God’s promise would ultimately be fulfilled in the future, but he wanted to give Abram something in the here and now that would put it into perspective.

And Abram believed the promise. This passage is significant if for no other reason than that it’s the first appearance in Scripture of the word “believe”. And it’s not just that “head knowledge”. Abram proved constant in his belief by being constant in his actions.

This thing where God has Abram cut the animals in half and lay them out on the ground sounds pretty weird to us, but it was actually a common way of making a covenant with someone. Typically, though, only a donkey was used. They would cut it in half, then lay the parts out on the ground and the two parties making the agreement would walk between the halves. This symbolized that they were pledging something of great value (for donkeys were top-dollar animals) but they were also pledging that what was done to the donkey would be done to whoever violated the covenant.

Notice, though—as with the covenant that God made with Noah—only God walked through. In other words, God is placing all the strictures of the covenant on himself. He’s not requiring Abram to do anything.

But Abram does something, anyway.

He believes! Now, this is not just a thing that takes place in Abram’s head. Abram’s actions display the truth of his belief. We’ve been talking about this a lot in our Wednesday night study of 1 John. Look at

1 John 2:4
If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. (MSG)

The way of salvation is the same in the OT as in the NT: complete trust in God.

Think about how Abram “proved” his belief. He’s already uprooted his whole life and moved what must have seemed then like going halfway around the world. He’s risked his body and wealth to rescue his nephew. Later, he’ll be willing to sacrifice his own son.

God looked into Abram’s heart and credited him with righteousness!

Romans 4:18-25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (NIV)

What does God see in your heart?

What do I DO with this?

Abram showed his belief with his actions. James tells us that faith without works is dead. We CANNOT work our way into heaven. We cannot do enough or say enough.

If we believe, however, it’ll show up in our actions. Your actions indicate your true beliefs. What do your actions say about your beliefs?