Lesson 38

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Bible Study 1 - Genesis 15

 

Series # 4:   FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FAITH

Lesson 38: Genesis 15.1-21 BATTLING FEAR IN THE MIDST OF FAITH

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

Just suppose God is not faithful to His promises?  Suppose the Bible is all wrong?  What if Jesus is not the Son of God? What if Jesus did not die on the cross for your sins? What if Jesus never rose from the dead?  Suppose there will be no coming Day when all wrongs will be righted? Suppose there is no eternity ahead in which those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will praise God? Has there ever been a time or a moment in time when a flicker of such fears of any of these thoughts ever came upon you?  Such fears similar to that came upon Abraham.  The fact that such fears cross a Christian’s mind is not sin.  The real question is: How do you battle with your fears in the midst of faith?

 

In these Bible Studies our goal is Growing Together In Christ’s Love, however, there can never be growth without some growing pains along the way. Any time you are in the process of growth of growth you can expect there is going to be some kind of conflict, either internally or externally, or both. As we will learn, this is not a bad thing, this is a good thing if we allow it to bring us closer to God, obeying and trusting Him more and more and trusting in ourselves less and less. In Genesis chapters 12 to 14 we see Abraham growing in faith, but not without times of doubt and unbelief.  In faith, Abraham obeyed God’s command to journey to the promised land.  But no sooner had he arrived there than he was met with famine. 

 

  • Without any word from God, Abraham in fear, left the promised land for the safety of Egypt.  There, again in fear, he lied to the Egyptians, telling them that Sarai was his sister.  Through all this, however, God patiently teaches Abraham to trust Him.

  • We see Abraham’s faith in God in his response to the dispute with the herdsmen of Lot over water and grazing land.  Remember that God had promised Abraham ALL of the land in which he sojourned.  Yet Abraham, acting in faith, willingly allowed Lot to choose whatever land he wished. 

  • We also see Abraham’s faith in rescuing Lot after Lot’s capture by the invading kings.  Abraham acknowledged that this astounding victory was entirely from God’s hand by giving a tenth of all the spoils to Melchizedek, and by refusing to keep the plunder that had been taken from Sodom.  These actions clearly demonstrate Abraham’s firm conviction that all he has comes ultimately from God.

 

Therefore, through all of these trials and battles, Abraham has grown mightily in faith.  However Abraham’s battle over fear in the midst of faith is far from over.  In this study we will see that this man of faith – just like us – was tempted at times to doubt God’s promises.  When God’s obvious past interventions in our lives tend to fade from our memories sometimes we are tempted to doubt that God will fulfill those promises that are yet in the future, especially when we are faced with unexpected immediate battles and trials.

 

That appears to be the way it was with Abraham for a season. I seems that a number of years had passed between chapters 14 and 15. We do not know exactly how many years it may have been, but perhaps it was seven or eight years.  There is no record of God speaking to Abraham during these years. We have no record of any miraculous interventions in his life during this time.  Time passes, and still there is no son; still Abraham lives in a tent, Abraham still has no permanent home. I am sure that certainly in the deafening silence of God, many questions must have traveled through his mind as he kicked over the clods each day wandering alone in the wilderness, not knowing where he was going, or when he would get to the place God was leading him, just following God by faith. Questions like: Will I ever really have a son?  Is the promise of this land really certain?  Will all the families of the nations really be blessed through this son’s offspring?  Will God really crush the head of the serpent through the seed of the first woman – through my own seed? Sara is past the age of baring children and I am as good as dead, is this really going to happen?  Abraham was truly a man of faith like no other man on earth, but he was a man, and as time passed I am certain that many thoughts crossed the idle mind of this wonderful man of God that he had to battle in the midst of faith.  The old saying I have heard all of my life is that “An idle mind is the workshop of the Devil.”

 

God knows every thought we think as well as every word we speak. I wonder, honestly, what kind of questions do you ask? What promises of God seem extremely long delayed to you? How do you respond when God seems silent and distant to you?  What are your true feelings when His promises to you that you have counted on so closely for an outcome to materialize seem to have failed? Everything rides on your response to questions like these as you battle your fear in the midst of faith.

 

INTERPRETATION:

 

Before I begin our expositional study of these Scriptures I want to briefly consider the structure of this chapter.  It appears that there are two sections joined by a hinge verse which is verse 6.  There are verses 1-5, which I consider the first section and then then there are verses 7-21 which I consider the second section.  Each section begins with God repeating a promise.  Then each section is followed with Abraham asking if what is promised is really going to happen. Each section concludes with God responding, strengthening, and elaborating on His promise.  If you will look at this closely you will see why it appears that verse 6 is the hinge upon which both sections turn. Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

 

THE CAUSE OF MAN’S FEAR:

 

Genesis 15:2-3,"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. "

Genesis 15:8, “And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? [the land]?"

 

Back in chapter 12, God told Abraham to leave his country, his kin and go to the land God would show him.  God promised that he would make Abraham a great nation, and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him.  After Abraham obeyed and went to Canaan, God told him, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Abraham surely knows that God’s promise of blessing to all nations is far in the future. But if this promise is to be fulfilled, a necessary first step is for him to father a child. Yet it doesn’t happen.  And he’s getting older.  And Sarai is getting older. So he calls out to the Lord, “What can you give me to make up for THIS! No child! And I don’t see any way out!  Without a child I will have no heir, your promise will fail, and a servant will inherit whatever I possess.  And this land?  I’m still just a wanderer here. You’ve promised it to me – but none of it is mine!”

 

The psalmist asks similar questions in Psalm 77:7-9 “7  Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more? 8    Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 9    Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?”

 

I suspect many of us have been in similar situations in our Christian life if we would be honest about it.  There may be some of us in such a situation right now. What was the problem for Abraham? What was the problem for the psalmist? What is the problem for some of you? In each case, the problem begins with fear – fear that God is not who He says He is; fear that He can’t or won’t provide, or deal with our enemies, or fulfill His promises. “Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail for evermore?”

 

We have all been let down by others - not just by friends, but by family – spouses, parents and siblings.  We learned that no human is completely reliable.  We ask ourselves in those seemingly silent, lonely, melancholy periods of life, what about God?  Can we completely trust Him?  Even when the years drag on and we don’t see any fulfillment of His promises? Thus, the source of fear is fundamentally a lack of faith in God.

 

EXPLANATION:

 

THE CURE FOR MAN’S FEAR:

            

Genesis 15:1, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."

Genesis 15:4 -5 “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.  5 And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

 

GOD’S PROMISE:

 

In the first of the passages above, this takes the form of a command, three promises, and a reminder. GOD BEGINS WITH A COMMAND:

“FEAR NOT!”

 

This is the first time this command appears in Scripture.  In the English Standard Version, this phrase is used in Scripture 33 times.  In 29 of these it is spoken by God or by Christ.  In the remaining four cases it is used by God’s spokesmen and addressed to God’s people. God tells us again and again: “Fear Not!” We are tempted to fear, but we must battle for faith against fear.  To defeat the temptation to fear, we must use the cure for fear that God has given us ­which are His promises.

 

GOD THEN GIVES THREE PROMISES:

 

THE FIRST PROMISE IS THAT “I AM YOUR SHIELD.”

 

A shield protects us from the attacks of the enemy. The temptation to fear and doubt God’s promises is such an attack. In what sense is God a shield?  Some commentators argue that the term is related to the previous chapter, and suggest that Abraham feared military reprisal for his defeat of the invading kings.  But chapter 15 is all about God’s promise, not about kings.  No, in Abraham’s case IT IS NOT GOD’S MIGHT that is in view, BUT GOD’S CHARACTER.  The Lord is saying to Abraham,  “Remember who I am! I am faithful to My promises. And why did I promise in the first place?”  God made these promises to Abraham as an overflow of His character. As Jesus tells us in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” This passage reminds us of God’s kindly disposition toward His children.  He says to us “I DELIGHT to do you good. My ways will seem mysterious, but KNOW that it is MY PLEASURE to give you the kingdom!”

 

THE SECOND PROMISE IS THAT “YOUR REWARD SHALL BE VERY GREAT.”

 

In some translations, this is rendered “I am your very great reward.”  While superficially different, it is fundamentally the same idea: God’s gifts are wonderful, but His greatest gift is Himself.  He Himself is the pearl of great price; He Himself is our peace; He Himself is our husband.  The Lord is saying to Abraham ­– and saying to us ­– “The reward of being MINE may not appear to be great, but it IS.  BELIEVE.  The joy that is yours is beyond your comprehension.”  So hold on to this incredible truth!  Battle for the faith and to believe!

 

THE THIRD PROMISE TO IS THAT “YOUR VERY OWN SON SHALL BE YOUR HEIR.”

 

The command and the first two promises hold is for all God’s people; this promise, however, is to Abraham in particular.  From a human standpoint, it may look impossible, but God assures Abraham that he WILL father a son, and that this natural-born son will be his heir, not Eliezer of Damascus. To reinforce this third promise, God gives Abraham a powerful reminder.  He tells Abraham to step outside his tent, into the clear desert night, and says to him, “Number the stars. So shall your offspring be.”  God here restates and reinforces His promise.  But even more than that, He gives Abraham a daily picture to remind him of God’s promise.  Every evening, the stars appear.  Whenever Abraham is tempted to doubt, he has an awesome visual reminder of the certainty of God’s promise. Remember back in chapter 9, where God gives the rainbow as a sign of His promise never again to flood the earth.  We need such reminders, don’t we?  What do you hold on to in order to remind yourself of God’s faithfulness?

 

GOD’S OATH/COVENANT:

 

In the second section of our passage God again underlines His promises, but He does so in a way that sounds strange to our ears: by reminding Abraham of His oath to give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.  In Genesis 15:7 we read, “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.” The LORD is saying, in effect, “The very reason I brought you here is to GIVE the land to you and your descendants. Remember that!”

 

After Abraham’s fearful statement in verse 8, God gives him not a reminder but a picture of His unwavering intention to fulfill His promise. Look closely at Genesis 15:9-21 “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 carcasses, 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.”     

 

God uses here a cultural form of an oath.  According to this custom, one or more animals would be cut in half, and both parties to the oath would walk between them.  In doing so, each party was saying, “May this happen to me if I don’t fulfill my promise.” However, God modifies this custom in affirming His promise to Abraham.  Here, there is only ONE party who walks between the carcasses: God Himself.  In this way, God makes clear that the fulfillment of the promise rests entirely with Himself.  Moreover, there is no implied curse in the sacrifice of the animals.  Instead, these sacrifices picture the future sacrifice of Christ, by which means God will ultimately fulfill all His promises.

 

There is an important lesson from this passage regarding God’s promises.  We have seen that Abraham is fearful because of the delay in God’s promise to him being fulfilled. God does not say to Abraham, “In the future, there will be no more waiting – I’ll fulfill My promises right away”  Just the opposite! “They will be afflicted for 400 years”!  It is as if God were saying “You need to learn this lesson so that those behind you can learn it too.”

 

Nevertheless, whatever delays there may be, the final outcome is certain. “To your offspring I give this land.”  In the Hebrew, this statement is in the perfect tense, so we can translate it “To your offspring I have given this land.” The promise is so certain of fulfillment that it can be stated as if it is already accomplished.

 

This passage has much to teach us about holding fast to God’s promises.  In particular, as Abraham is called to remember God’s faithfulness in the past in bringing him out of Ur, God calls us to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as pictured in these sacrifices.  Also, we must remember that God ALWAYS works through trials and delays.

 

APPLICATION:

 

GOD’S RESPONSE TO MAN’S FEAR IS FAITH:

 

As made mention at the beginning, verse 6 is a hinge, looking back and looking forward.  Both in the passages which precedes and in the passages which follows verse 6, Abraham, though initially fearful, battles fear and by faith believes God and verse s says, “And he believed in the LORD…”

 

Abraham exercises faith in the midst of his battle with fear, in the midst of trials, in the midst of delays. Abraham battles to believe that God is true to His promises.  He remembered God’s faithfulness in the past, he remembered God’s character, he saw how God could use this trial in his life for the good of others, so he put the fear behind him and believed God.

 

But WHAT did He believe? Surely he believed that God was his shield. Surely he believed that God would reward him. Surely he believed that God would give his offspring the land of Canaan. Surely he believed that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. But do you see – ALL THESE PROMISES ARE WRAPPED UP IN THE REDEEMER, JESUS CHRIST.  The promise back in the Garden of Eden to Eve that her seed would crush the head of the serpent, and the promise of blessing upon all the nations through the offspring of Abraham, both are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

 

So Abraham’s faith ultimately is in the coming Redeemer. In battling with fear and doubt will you be like Abraham?  Will you remind yourself of God’s faithfulness in the past in your own life? Will you remind yourself of God’s faithfulness in the lives of the people in the Bible? Will you remind yourself of God’s faithfulness in the lives of the people throughout church history?  Will you remind yourself of God’s character in His Word?  Will you consider how God has used the trials of others to help you and how He might use your trials to help others?  If you have not already, will you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord right now?

 

GOD’S CREDIT TO MAN’S FAITH IS RIGHTEOUSNESS:

 

Genesis 15:6 “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

 

As with the phrase “fear not”, here we have the first instance in the Bible of a key concept: Justification by grace through faith. God “credits” or “counts” Abraham’s faith as righteousness.  We know already that Abraham is not perfectly righteous, and we will encounter more examples of this in the chapters ahead.  However God credits Abraham with righteousness. The Scripture does not say “Abraham believed the Lord, and he imagined him to be righteous.”  The Scripture does not say “Abraham believed the Lord and he hoped he would become righteous.”  No, The Scripture says “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted (or credited) it to him for righteousness.” There is a huge difference between someone saying “I’m feeling kindly to you, so I’m going to imagine you have $1,000,000” and someone saying “I’m feeling kindly to you, so I’m going to credit your bank account with $1,000,000.”  When God imputes righteousness to us in Christ, it is an ACTUAL CREDITING, NOT MERE IMAGINING.

 

This is not an equal transaction; it is all of grace.  Thus we read in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God …” This truth is conveyed in Romans 4:17-22 “17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.  18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.  19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:  20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;  21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.  22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

 

CONCLUSION:

Does it seem to you that God is slow in keeping His promises?  Have you prayed and prayed and yet you see no answer?  Do you feel like God used to act in your life but now for some reason you see little evidence of His presence? I want you to know  that Abraham – the man of faith! – felt just like you feel.  So learn from the way God deals with that man of faith! God told him: “Fear Not!” God told him: “I am your shield” God told him: “Your reward is very great” God told him: “Trials are certain, but My promises are sure”  What God told Abraham – God tells each of us who believe by faith today!

 

Furthermore, God tells us “All the promises of God find their YES in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  He is indeed risen from the dead.  He is indeed coming again, and will see to it that all sins are punished.  He will indeed invite into His eternal presence all who trust in Him. So have you believed in Him! Have you trusted Him! Dear fellow believer battle that fear for faith and wait for Him! Hold onto His promises!  Do not be afraid to step out in faith – the faith of Abraham – and receive the righteousness that comes by faith from God our Heavenly Father.

 

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

 

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you.

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ALWAYS REMEMBER!

 

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord. Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word. Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Any other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord. Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have. Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord. It is on loan to you – so manage it well! There will be an audit one day! Make sure the Books Balance!

 

All Bible Studies Are Prepared by Pastor Frank Denning And May Be Used By Permission.