Introduction
For the last three teachings, we have been studying the life of Abraham with a special focus on his faith. This is because the New Testament sees Abraham as the "father of our faith" – one who exemplifies what faith in the God of the Bible looks like in real life. This morning we will continue this focus as we look at Gen. 15, in which God cuts a covenant with Abraham (read 15:18a). Let's first read through the passage and make sure we understand what's going on. Then we will distill some insights into Abraham's faith and consider how they apply to us.
Explanation of the text
Read 15:1. "After these things" (see Gen. 14 – the war of the kings), Abraham would have freshly experienced God as his shield. But God's assertion that he will be greatly rewarded stirs up a big problem for Abraham. Read 15:2,3. All of God's promises hinge on Abraham and Sarah having a child – but they are still childless. Under ANE custom, Abraham could designate one of his household servants as his heir, but this doesn't seem to fit what God has previously promised (see "your descendants" in 12:7 and 13:15).
Read 15:4,5. God emphatically rejects Abraham adopting an heir because He will indeed give him a biological son. Through the star-counting exercise (SLIDE), He also emphatically insists that a vast multitude of descendants will come from his unborn son. Read Gen. 15:6 – Abraham chooses to trust God's promise over his present childlessness, which pleases God (we'll come back to this soon).
Read 15:7,8. God also reiterates His promise to give the land to his descendants (see 12:7). Again, Abraham sees no evidence of this happening, so he asks God for some kind of additional assurance. Read 15:9 – God issues a command that sounds strange to us, but which was apparently familiar to Abraham (read 15:10,11). It was a common ANE way for two parties to solemnize/ratify a treaty by cutting a covenant.[1] The two parties would cut animals in half to form a corridor (SLIDE). Then they would walk through the animal halves together, each reciting their part of the contract (EXAMPLE). They would conclude by calling on the gods to do to them what they had done to these animals if they did not keep their promises.
But God deviates from the normal ratification process (read 15:12). This does not mean that God rendered Abraham unconscious, because he heard God's following words. Rather, it means that God paralyzed him so that he was not able to pass through the animal parts (more on this in a moment).
Rather, God first announces the main sequence of events that will precede his descendants possessing the land (read 15:13-16). His descendants will not inherit the land until after Abraham dies (15:15). They will first be enslaved and oppressed in a different land for ~400 years (the Egyptian Sojourn – see Gen. 45 – Ex. 1). Then God will deliver them from their oppressor and even enrich them at their oppressors' expense (the Exodus – see Ex. 3-15). Then his descendants will return to this land to possess it (the Conquest – see Joshua). Why will God wait so long to fulfill this promise? "Because the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." God waited until the Canaanite culture became utterly corrupt[2] before they forfeited their right to live in the land – then He removed them.
Read 15:17. Then God (signified by the smoking oven and flaming torch) alone passed through the animal pieces (remember that Abraham was paralyzed and therefore could only watch). This is to emphasize that this promise is unilateral (it depends on one party only – God), not bilateral (dependent on both parties – God and Abraham).[3] Read 15:18-21. So certain is God's promise that He uses the past tense (sometimes called the "prophetic past tense")[4] to describe this future transfer of real estate to Abraham's descendants.[5]
Now let's walk back through Gen. 15 and note three key lessons it teaches us about a living faith in the God of the Bible . . .
3 key lessons on a living faith in the God of the Bible
15:6 informs us of one of the greatest things about biblical faith (re-read). God saw Abraham's invisible decision to trust His promise, and "He reckoned it to him as righteousness." This means that God declared Abraham to have right standing with Him on the basis of his faith alone. Paul twice cites this verse as an Old Testament confirmation of the gospel, which says that God justifies people (declares anyone to be in right standing with Him) through our faith in His promise concerning Christ's death for our sins. Consider two complementary truths concerning justifying faith:
On the one hand, it is passive. That is, we do nothing to earn right standing with God; God accomplishes this apart from any meritorious works on our part. Rom. 4:1-5 contrasts faith in God's promise to earning His acceptance through good works.[6] Abraham's paralysis when God cut the covenant also emphasizes this aspect of faith. Do you agree with God that you can never be good enough to earn right standing with Him? Do you agree with God that your best deeds contribute nothing whatsoever to your right standing with Him? Do you agree with God that your only hope is in His free gift of charity? "Faith is the empty hand by which we receive Christ and all His benefits."[7] This sentence connects to the next point . . .
On the other hand, it is active in that it chooses to personally receive God's gift of right standing through Jesus' death for us, believing that it is for us. This is why the New Testament sometimes speaks of faith as a work (read Jn. 6:29; 1 Thess. 1:2,3). Our empty hands do not earn anything from God, but they do actively seize and embrace the right standing that God offers (MARRIAGE PROPOSAL SLIDE). We do nothing to accomplish right standing with God; God accomplishes this Himself by giving His Son – but we must actively cooperate with Him by choosing to personally receive His gift. You can understand the Bible's explanation of Jesus' death on the cross – but not benefit from it unless you personally receive His death for your sins. Have you made this decision?
We also learn that doubt is not the opposite of biblical faith; it is faith under strain from the tension between what God says and the present reality of our situation. God promises a great reward, but His promise hinges on Abraham having a child (15:1b,2) – and Abraham and Sarah are still childless, and Sarah is still barren. How Abraham deals with his doubt is instructive.
First, he brings his doubt into the light by expressing it to God (15:1,2). Doubts are like fungus – they thrive in the darkness, but they shrink in the light. When you have doubts about God, do you keep them to yourself – or do you express them to God, and to your Christian friends?
Second, he re-checks his understanding of God's Word. Maybe God didn't promise to give Abraham a biological heir; maybe an adopted heir would be sufficient (15:3). Although God corrects him on this (15:4), this is still instructive for us. Bill Counts: "If your experience contradicts your understanding of God's Word, either your experience is wrong or your interpretation of God's Word is wrong." Christians often suffer from doubts because they have misinterpreted God's Word, and are holding Him responsible to do something He has not promised (e.g., PROTECTING US FROM TEMPTATION; HEALING ALL OUR DISEASES; GIVING US A SPOUSE/CHILDREN; PROVIDING FOR OUR MATERIAL WANTS VS. NEEDS; DELIVERING US FROM PAINFUL CONFLICT).[8]
Third, he asks God for additional assurance (15:8). God was glad to give it in this case (15:8 – "How may I know for certain?" >> 15:13 – "Know for certain"). This is different from "testing" the Lord, which is demanding that God prove Himself as a condition for trusting Him (Israelites in the wilderness). This is a request for help for our weak faith (see Mk. 9:24), and it will trust God's wisdom in His answer (even if it means taking a "No – just trust Me").
Finally, we learn that biblical faith submits to God's plan – both to His timing for its fulfillment and to our part in His plan. This is a posture of humility which accepts that God is redemptively multi-tasking (accomplishing more than we comprehend), and that His timing is perfect.
As we saw in 15:2, he was bothered by God's timing on having a son. And as we will see next week, their insistence on their own timing led them into a serious faith-lapse. God was going to be doing lots of things over a long period of time to get his descendants into the Promised Land (15:13,14,16). There were many reasons for this (e.g., 15:16b). As to his part/role, Abraham's part was to live in the land as a public God-worshiper, keep having sex with his wife until she conceived, raise son up to follow God – and then go to be with God (15:15).
Like Abraham, we play a part in God's long Big Story; He is not the Facilitator of our short little stories. But because He is good, His role and care for us is always for our good. Therefore, we are content to play our part in God's plan, and then pass from the scene. Like the prophets of old, we don't have to see the fulfillment of all of God's promises in our lifetimes in order to faithfully play our parts (1 Pet. 1:10-12). And we are content to trust God's role and timing on His plan for us in this life? Ask yourself:
"Am I submitting my life to God's Big Story – or am I insisting that He facilitate my little story?" Recommend Crabb, The Pressure's Off.
"Am I trusting God's timing for my role in His story – or am I cutting corners to get it sooner?" (EXAMPLES: marriage; children; career; etc.)
"Do I want a (prideful) life of chronic anxiety/frustration – or a (humble) life of growing peace?" "When we worry, we are saying: "I know the way my life should go, and God's not getting it right" (Tim Keller; see also Ps. 131:1,2).
Conclusion
NEXT WEEK: Doing God's Will God's Way (Gen. 16-18,21)
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
[1] "The oldest reference to animal rites as a part of treaty-making appears in the 18th-century (BC) Mari letters. Here an animal rite, the killing of an ass, is the method to complete the act of covenant-making. Another 17th-century text (Abba-AN) also appears to show an animal rite as the ratification of an agreement. In light of these texts, the ritual in Genesis 15 may be conceived as the conclusion of the covenant in which Yahweh binds himself to Abram." Tyler J. Patty, "The Animal Rite of Genesis 15 in Comparative and Canonical Perspective," May, 2016, p. 6.
[2] Their moral corruption included wide-spread child-sacrifice and ritual prostitution (i.e., sex trafficking). See Deut. 7:7,8; 9:4,5 - God gave the Israelites the land because He promised to Abraham and because of the exceeding wickedness of the inhabitants – not because the Israelites deserved it. This is why God forbade them to take booty, and why He promised that they too would be expelled if they became as wicked as the Canaanites (REFS.?).
[3] "In this text, no responsibilities, stipulations, or threats are given to Abram. In fact, he is a completely passive party in the covenant-making process (15:12). Yahweh is the sole guarantor of the covenantal promises, and he ensures Abram that his offspring will inhabit the Promised Land following years of servitude (15:13-16). Yahweh concludes the covenant by passing between the animal pieces in the form of a "smoking fire pot" and a "flaming torch," symbols of the divine presence (cf. God's appearance at Sinai, Exod. 19:18). This shows incredible initiative. . on the part of God, as he takes . . . all responsibility for the fulfillment of all covenantal responsibilities. By passing through the animal pieces, he even claims culpability (i.e., curse!) in the event it fails. Abram need only believe in his promises and walk into them (15:6)." Tyler J. Patty, "The Animal Rite of Genesis 15 in Comparative and Canonical Perspective," May, 2016, p. 21.
[4] See also 15:13 – "Know for certain . . ."
[5] In the rest of the Old Testament period, Israel possessed the full territory only once – during the reign of Solomon (see 1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chron. 9:26).
[6] "This story and the argument of Romans 4 present faith not as a crowning merit but as readiness to accept what God promises. Note that Abram's trust was both personal (in the Lord) and propositional (the context is the specific word of the Lord in verses 4, 5)." Kidner, D. (1967). Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 135). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[7] KJV Study Bible, ed. Joel Beeke (Reformation Heritage, 2014), Luke 7:50 note.
[8] Most of these errors apply God's future promises to the present, or they omit our part in conditional promises.