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Gen. 15:1
"After these things the word of the LORD
came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear
not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said,
Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I
go childless, and the steward of my house is
this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and,
lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto
him, saying, This shall not be thine heir;
but he that shall come forth out of thine
own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he
brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now
toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou
be able to number them: and he said unto
him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed
in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness."
"After these things the word of the LORD
came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear
not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward." Now Abram had just
prior to this experienced the delivering
power of God in the defeat of Chedorlaomer
and his host. Certain questions arise in
the mind of God's children such as "Now that
God has delivered me from my enemy, shall
others come after me. Abram was a stranger
in a strange land. Living in a foreign
country where others are different in skin
color and customs and beliefs than you can
be a scary proposition. God assured Abram
that He would be Abram's shield. A shield
is for protection against the swords and
arrows of the enemy. God promised Abram
that He would be that protection against the
swords and arrows of those who would attempt
to hurt or destroy him.
Abram had willing given up a proposed great
bounty of material goods that the king of
Sodom had offered him. For the vast
majority of people times are hard for every
one of them. Relatively few of God's
children are wealthy in this world's goods.
Abram had given up a possible reward, now
God has promised him that God was Abram's
exceeding great reward. There are two types
of rewards in this life for God's children.
There are material rewards, which perish
with the using. There are spiritual rewards
that men cannot break through and steal or
moth or rust does not corrupt. We should
desire the spiritual rewards that come from
God. Abram's service would be richly
rewarded with spiritual blessings from God.
Likewise our service to God is richly
rewarded with spiritual blessings from God.
God had appeared to Abram and promised him
great things. Some things were puzzling to
Abram as to how these things would be
accomplished. God promised that he would
multiply the seed of Abram to an innumerable
host and that his seed would possess the
Promised Land. Yet, Abram was childless.
He was getting old and his wife was old.
Who would be his heir? Thus, Abram asked
God, "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt
thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the
steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born
in my house is mine heir." If Abram had no
children, then Eliezer of Damascus would be
Abram's heir. This did not seem right to
Abram based on the promises that God had
made unto him. Abram was looking for
assurances from God that he would have a son
who would be his heir. Up to this point God
had not given Abram a child.
"And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto
him, saying, This shall not be thine heir;
but he that shall come forth out of thine
own bowels shall be thine heir." God
assured Abram that his steward would not be
his heir, but that he would have a child
come forth from his own body that would be
his heir. This was of great comfort to
Abram, even though, God did not tell Abram
at this time how this would be brought to
pass. Abram just knew that according to the
promise of God that he would have a child
that would be an heir.
"And he brought him forth abroad, and said,
Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars,
if thou be able to number them: and he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be." Once
again, God confirms to Abram that his seed
would be multiplied into a great multitude.
Previously God had told him that they would
be like the dust of the earth for multitude,
now God said to Abram that his seed would be
multiplied to like the stars of heaven for
multitude. Upon hearing this, Abram
believed God and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.
Some have taken the statement in the 4th chapter
of Romans to mean that Abraham became
righteous because he believed God. They
maintain that he was born of the Spirit and
washed in the blood of Christ because he
believed God. Yet, this is not the first
time that Abram had believed God and
certainly there were many evidences of
Abram's faith before this incident. Abram
had left his country, left his father's
house, left his kindred, and come to the
land of Canaan because God had told him to
do so. Abram had built altars and worshiped
the Lord before this incident. Abram had
acted in faith in the destruction of the
army of Chedorlaomer. Abram had received
the bread and wine that Melchizedek had
given him and had given tithes to
Melchizedek. Thus, Abram's belief in God
which was counted to him for righteousness
did not make him a child of God. Rather, it
was an indication that God was pleased that
Abram believed the promise of God and God
counted it as a righteous thing for Abram to
believe his promise.
Abram's Second Question
Gen. 15:7 "And
he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee
this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord
GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall
inherit it? 9 And he said unto him, Take me
an heifer of three years old, and a she goat
of three years old, and a ram of three years
old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he took unto him all these, and
divided them in the midst, and laid each
piece one against another: but the birds
divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came
down upon the carcases, Abram drove them
away. 12 And when the sun was going down, a
deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an
horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto 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; 14 And also that nation, whom they
shall serve, will I judge: and afterward
shall they come out with great substance. 15
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16
But in the fourth generation they shall come
hither again: for the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet full. 17 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. 18 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: 19 The Kenites, and the
Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the
Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the
Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the
Jebusites."
In the above passage of scripture God
reveals to Abram through a word picture the
elements of the covenant of redemption. We
really do not know how much Abram understood
of this word picture, but in the
associations consistently made in the
scriptures the picture is that of the
covenant of redemption.
"And he said unto him, I am the LORD that
brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to
give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he
said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I
shall inherit it?"
God had told Abram that he had brought Abram
out of Ur of the Chaldees to the land of
Canaan and that he would inherit that land.
Again, Abram wondered in what way that he
would come to inherit that land, and thus he
asked God for a sign whereby he would know
that he would inherit that land.
"And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of
three years old, and a she goat of three
years old, and a ram of three years old, and
a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he
took unto him all these, and divided them in
the midst, and laid each piece one against
another: but the birds divided he not." God
had Abram to sacrifice five animals and to
cut them up into eight pieces. Throughout
the Old Testament scriptures there were five
animals used in sacrifice that were
acceptable sacrifices unto God. The
sacrifice of cattle, goats, sheep, doves,
and pigeons were acceptable sacrifices unto
God and were used in the tabernacle and
temple services. Five in the scriptures is
associated with death. The animal
sacrifices point us to the only sacrifice
that did away with sin. They pointed us to
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross
of Calvary. It was through the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we were
justified: 2 Cor. 5:21 "For he hath made him
to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in
him."
Next, the heifer, the she goat, and the ram
were all three years old. Three is
associated in the scriptures with the
Godhead: 1 John 5:7 "For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one." God showed to Abram that the
covenant was a covenant made by the Godhead.
There were eight pieces of the animals that
were laid out. Eight is associated in the
scriptures with the subject of new
beginnings. In the covenant of redemption
there are at least three new beginnings.
"And when the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of
great darkness fell upon him." In this
Abram got a little taste of what Jesus
suffered on the cross for His people. On
the cross where Jesus justified us there was
darkness over all the earth for three hours
and Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me." Truly, this was an
horror of great darkness.
"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."
The smoking furnace is associated in the
scriptures with the subject of
justification. This shows us that the
smoking furnace is a picture of God the
Father rendering judgment upon his people.
The burning lamp is associated with the work
of the Holy Spirit in the scriptures. In
the covenant of redemption the Holy Spirit
does the calling and the glorification of
the elect family of God.
That the burning lamp and smoking furnace
passed between the pieces indicates to us
that all the Godhead is involved in
fulfilling the covenant of redemption.
Elsewhere in scripture when a covenant is
made it was ratified by the parties to the
covenant passing between the pieces: Jer.
34:18, 19 "And I will give the men that have
transgressed my covenant, which have not
performed the words of the covenant which
they had made before me, when they cut the
calf in twain, and passed between the parts
thereof. The princes of Judah, and the
princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the
priests, and all the people of the land,
which passed between the parts of the calf;"
The covenant revealed in word picture unto
Abram was a covenant that the burning lamp
(Holy Spirit) and the smoking furnace (God
the Father) ratified by passing between the
pieces (God the Son).
The covenant of redemption is set forth in
Rom. 8:29, 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also
called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he
also glorified." In this covenant we make
the following observations that are
consistent with the word picture that God
gave unto Abram:
1. This covenant
brings about justification of the elect
through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ died to justify the
elect family of God. He suffered the horror
of great darkness in the room of his
children in order to justify them before
God.
2. There are three
new beginnings in this covenant brought
about by the following:
a.
Calling – This brings God's children from a
state of being dead in trespasses and sins
to being born of the Spirit of God and given
another spiritual nature in the new birth.
b.
Justification – God's children are brought
from a state of condemnation to a state of
righteousness through the atoning blood of
Christ.
c.
Glorification – God's children are brought
from a state of corruption in their natural
bodies to a state where they will stand
before God in heaven's glory world conformed
to the very image of Jesus Christ.
3. The parties to
the covenant of redemption are God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost. This covenant was made and confirmed
by the Godhead and all the work is
accomplished by the Godhead. Those God
foreknew do not have any work that they
perform to bring about the predestination,
calling, justification, and glorification.
The elect are passive in this work. It is
performed upon them, but the work is all of
God.
"And he said unto 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, will I judge: and afterward shall
they come out with great substance. And
thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou
shalt be buried in a good old age. But in
the fourth generation they shall come hither
again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is
not yet full." Here God informs Abram that
he would not possess the land of Canaan in
his lifetime, but that his seed would be a
stranger in a land that is not theirs and
they would serve in bondage in that land and
be afflicted for four hundred years. This
is typical of God's children today. We are
in bondage under the elements of this world
and made to serve in this world until we
die. However, there is coming a day of
deliverance for us, just as there was a day
for deliverance of the descendants of Abram
and then they would possess the Promised
Land. We shall have a day of deliverance
when the Lord comes to take us home to the
glory world of heaven.
The children of Israel were made to come out
of Egypt with great substance. We shall
come out at the appointed time with
substance far greater than the children of
Israel possessed when they came out of
Egypt. We shall come out of the grave as
heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus
Christ. What greater substance can a person
have than this? "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: 19 The Kenites, and the
Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the
Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the
Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the
Jebusites." This confirms that the word
picture God gave to Abram was a word picture
of a covenant. The covenant God made with
Abram was an unconditional covenant. God
would bring his descendants unto the land of
Canaan and give them an inheritance in that
land. Abram would not have to do anything
for them to possess that land. Likewise,
the covenant of redemption is an
unconditional covenant whereby God gives us
an inheritance and does everything to bring
us into that inheritance. |
