The promise

1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward.”

2 And Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “Behold, to me You have given no seed [child]: and, lo, one born in my house is my heir.”

4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir.”

5 And He brought him forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if you be able to number them”: and He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” 6 And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for [imputed] righteousness.

After rescuing Lot Abram gladly returned to his tents and his flocks, but his mind was obviously disturbed by niggling thoughts. He had been a man of peace, as far as possible shunning bad feelings and strife; and with horror he now recalled the scene of massacre he had just witnessed. The nations whose forces he had defeated would surely renew their invasion of Canaan, and make him the special object of their vengeance. Becoming thus involved in national quarrels when he was really a non-citizen of this world (remember these words?), the peaceful quiet of his life would be broken.

Furthermore, he had not entered upon the possession of Canaan, which at this stage he still thought of as a physical promise. Nor could he now hope for an heir to whom the promise might be fulfilled [he thought he and Sarai were too old]. He couldn’t grasp the promise with unquestioning confidence as before. He prayed for some tangible evidence that it would be fulfilled, for how was the covenant promise to be realized, while the gift of a son was withheld?

Here we see the love of God in action. When Abram was worried about the future of his “family” (read church also) the Son of God came to him and explained the future, just as He had (through Daniel) for Nebuchadnezzar. Abram was to have his own child, and peace as He had promised.

But God’s word was not enough for Abram in his present state, so he asked for a sign!

7 And He said to him, “I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

9 And He said to him, “Take Me a 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 to Him all these, and divided them in the midst [split them in half – one side for God and one side for Abram], and laid each piece one against another [head to tail, with a channel down the middle between the two sides]: but the birds divided he not [for they represented the Spirit of God in the agreement].

11 And when the fowls [vultures] came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away [and waited].

This was common method of making an agreement in those days (Jeremiah 34:17-20), and Jesus is always willing to work at our level of understanding. Both parties normally walked between the bodies of the animals making a solemn oath they would perform the promise, or expect to die as had the animals.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram [he went into a vision]; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him [because of the things which he saw in the vision, especially the time].

13 And He said to Abram [in the vision], “Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], 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 you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.”

16 “But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

However, the length of time depended on TWO things – the faith of the Israelites and the sins of the Amorites. (Moses had quite a problem at the first getting them to move.) Exodus 6:8-12.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold [Abram saw] a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Our elder Brother has a sense of humour even in a serious message. These two items represent both Abram and Jesus. A smoking furnace is a “lukewarm” thing and not working very effectively yet it has the divine Presence in it, while the burning Lamp is ablaze. So Jesus showed that we are to enter into compacts with Him together, not unilaterally.

18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed have I GIVEN this land, from the river of Egypt to 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.”

The people would leave the land of Egypt by God’s power at the end of the four hundred years, and it was His plan that the Israelites were to receive the promised land as a gift, not fight for it. See Deuteronomy 7:17-22.

After all, their land was a picture of our “Promised Land” and the last thing we want to do is “fight” the inhabitants to get into heaven! Like Simon we may have a wrong idea of God’s “way”.

18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, “Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money [or by fighting]. 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter: for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”

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Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

17 Therefore thus says the LORD; You have not hearkened to Me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, says the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 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 two, and passed between the parts thereof. 19 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; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. Back

8 [The Son of God said] “And I will bring you in to the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.”

9 And Moses spoke so to the children of Israel: but they hearkened not to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

10 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” 12 And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened to me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?” Back

17 If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” 18 You shall not be afraid of them: but shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt; 19 the great temptations which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD your God brought you out: so shall the LORD your God do to all the people of whom you are afraid.

20 Moreover the LORD your God will send the Hornet [the Holy Spirit] among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from you, be destroyed [by self-destruction under conviction]. 21 You shall not be frightened at them: for the LORD your God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

22 And the LORD your God will put out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon you. Back

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