Here is the next talk in our series on the life of Abraham that I posted for our Youth Group. This time it was inside to help with the audio, and it was under 12 minutes. I think I am improving a little with this speaking to an empty room thing.
Waiting
Do you ever get impatient?Someone says they are going to do something, but they haven’t yet? School might be going back to normal, has it been too long already? Have you ever said you would do something, like clean your room, empty the dishwasher and then 10, 15, 30 minutes go by and you haven’t and then your folks are annoyed at you? Things were said, but there was no delivery.
Last year I sent my phone away to be repaired. They said in October that it was going to take up to 9 weeks. I didn’t get a replacement phone till March this year. I was cranky.
In both these chapters, we see Abram and Saria getting impatient. And we need to be prepared for this too. Faith can struggle with the passing of time. But God does respond with assurance and He wants us to lean into His promises for us.
God repeats his promise (Gen 15:1-5)
God comes again to Abram at the start of chapter 15 and tells him to not be afraid, but Abram speaks up. Verse 2-3 he says“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.”God is taking a long time and so Abram points out the realistic situation. All his stuff, once he dies, will be passed on to a servant in his household as there are no children to inherit his stuff. God has said Abram would have a child, but it hasn’t happened yet. We may think bad of Abram here, but Abram feels free enough to protest to God, reminding Him of what He has said. And God doesn’t rebuke Abram but reassures him[1]. God then takes Abram out stargazing.
I don’t know if you have ever just laid on the ground at night looking up. I remember, after my year 10 formal, it was probably the first time I had stayed up the whole night and watched the sunrise. Our after-party was in a paddock at a mates place, and sometime that night we were all just looking up at this fantastic display of stars. Our conversation turned to how big and far away they all were, and we wondered if there was life out there. We were all kinda in awe at this display, and I remember someone asking, “Why do you think there are so many stars?” and it was in that moment that I said without thinking “To show how small we are and to show how important we are”.
I think Abram experienced something of this when talking to God that night. In looking at the sky, God hasn’t really said anything new to him[2], but God showed Abram the sky - but with new meaning. Abram had obviously seen the stars before, but now God is showing Abram something more. The all-powerful God who made every star with just the use of his voice is saying to Abram, that he has the power to grant Abram a son. He can do it.
Righteousness (Gen 15:6)
In seeing this, we are told: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”Abram believed God’s promise and because of Abrams trust in God’s word, God considered Abram righteous. Abram of cause was not perfect, and the next story will show that, but still, because Abram trusted in God, God considered or judged Abram to be blameless.
This is the basis of faith for us too. We are not saved for our obedience; we are not saved because we do good things. Abram was not saved because he followed the 10 commandments, they had happened yet. Abram was not saved because he was a Jew, they do not exist at this time. Abram was saved because of his trust in God.
Paul says in Romans 4
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. (Rom 4:23-25)If you take nothing else from this talk, believe in Jesus - that He died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God. You too can be like Abram, who also trusted in God’s promises.
An oath ceremony (Gen 15:8-21)
God then takes part in an oath ceremony. Normally we sign our names on a line when making a legal promise, but back then it was more visual[3]. They would kill and cut an animal in two and then walk between the halves. And in doing so you are saying that you will keep your word, and if you don’t, may you be cut off, may your flesh be on the ground for the birds and animals to eat.We read about a similar situation in Jeremiah 34[:18-19], where some people vowed to free their slaves and then they actually break their promise, so God says what happened to the half calf they walked between will happen to the slave owners.
But what is strange here, is that God, in the form of the smoking pot, is the only one who passes between the pieces. It was God who went down the aisle. He was saying that if He breaks His promise, the impossible would happen. The eternal God would experience death, that He may be cut off and crushed. This is crazy and He alone passes through. Abram didn’t have to bind himself. God goes through for both of them. God said He would uphold both ends of the deal, even if it will cost Him His life. He says I will bless you, even if it means that I have to die. He will take the curse of the covenant.
And we know that later Jesus does that for us. He takes the punishment for our failure to obey God. He takes the curse. He dies for our deal-breaking. And He did this willingly and lovingly for us. This is the Gospel, the good news[4].
God finds, hears, and sees (Gen 16)
And then we turn over to Genesis 16 which has some Genesis 3 overtones[5]. With questioning what God said and the blaming of responsibility.We find at the end of this chapter that Abram is 86. This means 11 years have passed by since Genesis 12 and still no promised child. Would you get impatient? You have to feel a bit for Sarai. Was the promise just for Abram, was she included in this? Is God going to keep His promise? Time is passing, no one is getting any younger.
It has been too long for Sarai, the promises we just talked about may have happened years before. So she takes matters into her own hands[6]. Her plan is for Abram to make a baby with Sarai’s servant, Hagar. This was common back then[7], and children from servants’ wives could be counted as family. It happens with Jacob and the twelve tribes of Israel[8]. But even if their culture said it was ok, it still wasn’t the best plan in the world.
Like Abram’s plan in Genesis 12, it worked, but then backfired. Sarai and Hagar cannot get along and Sarai blames Abram for this mess. Abram says Sarai can do what she wants, so mistreats Hagar so much that she decides to run away, possible back to Egypt where she was from[9].
This is a real mess, and now Hagar is pregnant and by herself. But God comes down and finds her. The Lord has hears her (v11) and sees her (v13). Even though Hagar’s child Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’[10]), will not be part of God’s promises, God makes a promise of many descendants to her. This would elevate her place in life and ensure future provision[11]. By being with Abram, she will still be able to enjoy the blessing he will receive. So she does go back, and we see this promise start to be fulfilled with the son Ishmael being born and being taken under the responsibility of Abram.
Hagar was never far away from God, even on the run. God’s concern is for the outsider, he still cares for those outside the family line that He will bless. In this story, we see a God who finds, who hears and who sees. Our situation is never hopeless as long as God hears our affliction and sees us in the wilderness[12].
Faith can be hard. It is tested by time and circumstances. It calls for persistence. It calls for believing in a gift from God[13], which we may not see or feel. But look to the promises of God. See what Jesus did for us on the cross and believe. It is true, it is good and it brings life.
[1] Faith of our Fathers – Dale Ralph Davis, p. 49
[2] Genesis (Interpretation) - Walter Brueggemann: “But the sign proves nothing…It is not an argument, but a revelation.”
[3] Tim Keller, God's Covenant with Abraham | Genesis 15
[4] Tim Keller says whole bit better, God's Covenant with Abraham | Genesis 15
[5] Genesis 11:27-50:26 (The New American Commentary) - Kenneth A. Matthews, p. 178
[6] There is a thing about hands in this passage, v5 (arms), v6 and twice in v12.
[7] John Muddiman, the Pentateuch
[8] Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series) - Derek Kidner, p126
[9] Genesis 11:27-50:26 (The New American Commentary) - Kenneth A. Matthews, p. 188
[10] Faith of our Fathers – Dale Ralph Davis, p. 76, Matthew p190
[11] Genesis 11:27-50:26 (The New American Commentary) - Kenneth A. Matthews, p. 189
[12] Faith of our Fathers – Dale Ralph Davis, p. 77
[13] Genesis (Interpretation) - Walter Brueggemann
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