GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 15

• Genesis 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.

Truly there is no greater reward than having the presence of God Himself within our innermost being. Before Christ, this was only possible for a few people who sought after God and stood alone against all others who preferred to live in sin with no repentance or remorse. Through Christ God can be the exceeding great reward for all those who believe in the one God sent to save us from sin, Jesus (Yeshua) our Christ.

It says after these things so we can assume this occurred after the things written in the chapters before this one.

• Genesis 15:2 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?

Abraham knew that the inheritance was not going to become his in his natural lifetime so he wondered how God was going to bless him with a seed that would bless the whole world if he didn't have any children. Abraham remembered that God had promised him a seed before and to make of him a great nation so he was probably wondering when it was going to be.

• Genesis 15:3 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.

Since both Sarah and Abraham were very old, it seemed unlikely that they could bear children but, God is able to work in things that are naturally impossible.

• Genesis 15:5 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.

Abraham's faith is what made him a righteous person, not because of any good works or inheritance by birth. It is hard for the world to understand faith. Atheists must wonder how we can believe in a God we cannot see and do not always feel His presence and when we do faith precedes it most of the time. They must wonder how we can still believe in the literal second coming of Jesus, His marvelous creation, and how we can gather together in joyful worship and praise to someone we never see. It is because of a thing called faith. This faith ushers in His presence, grants us victory over sin, opens the door to the infilling of the Holy Spirit and gives us not only peace in this life but the hope of life eternal.

• Genesis 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?

This seems to indicate doubt here as opposed to the faith mentioned above but we must consider that perhaps, Abraham was trying to verify or make sure what He heard God speak was really God speaking and not his imagination or a dream caused by something other than God. Today every voice we hear and every thought we think is not necessarily the Holy Spirit speaking. That is why the bible speaks of trying the spirits. He gave us the written word for us to have a resource to go to. God will not go opposite His word. That is one way we can tell the bible is true because of the witness of the Holy Spirit and also because it has been tried and found to be faithful in leading us into righteousness.

It is when the bible is set aside and something else is substituted that we fall into trouble.

• Genesis 15:9 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.

Sometimes when God gives us a command, the enemy (Satan) will try to hinder our fulfilling the command.

• Genesis 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

Not all things we get from God is going to be pleasant. Some times there are warnings and prophecies of darkness.

• Genesis 15:13 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;

God saw that the promised seed of Abraham would come into trouble. He knew that the future descendants of Abraham would fall away from the truth and become captive to other nations. When Jacob and his sons first went into Egypt, they had a good life but later on a king rose up who didn't know Joseph and they began to afflict the Israelites.

This may have been the result of Abraham going down to Egypt for substance during the famine but that is me adding to what the scriptures say, so it is just speculation and not to be taken as "Thus says the Lord." Another speculation is that perhaps those that came after the sons of Jacob died had begun to enjoy the things of Egypt and forget God. We don't really know why they went from being free to being captive but it happened and not without God seeing it.

There are scriptures warning of trusting in Egypt in different places in the bible but it was mostly concerned with trusting them for help in place of trusting in God rather than escaping famine. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt once to escape the king who wanted to kill the Christ child and we know that wasn't wrong but it fulfilled the prophecy, "Out of Egypt have a called my Son". I believe that prophecy had a double meaning. God's actual Son, Jesus the Christ and also the whole nation of Israel. We now think of Egypt as the world. We trust too much in the world for help instead of God.

In spite of Abraham's failure and he failed at times, we see that his heart is what God looked at. God saw a man who desired to be righteous and sought God continually even though he may have made mistakes. God saw his heart. Abraham believed in God. He was saved by faith in God. The faith chapter in Hebrews 11 tells us more of this.

We too suffer the consequences of our mistakes or sins even though our faith in Jesus saves our soul from eternal destruction because of our sins. We still may see the natural consequences of bad decisions. For instance a person who spend his life on drugs and alcohol may come to Christ and be saved but his body might still retain the harm done by substance abuse.

There have been occasions when the body is healed by the power of God when a person comes to Christ but that doesn't always occur. That is when faith kicks in again and we trust in God.

It takes just as much faith to believe in God when things do not work out the way we might desire as it does to see miracles in the name of Jesus that occur instantly.

• Genesis 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Even though God will allow unbelieving nations to take over and bring judgment to His own chosen people, He also brings punishment to the nations that do the harm to His people.

We never want to be part of persecuting anyone. God has not given up on the Jewish people. Many of them are coming to Christ today. I know it can't be because of the love the Christian church has shown in the past toward them. It has to be God Himself that is bringing them into the knowledge of their Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). The church or I should say the church in name only, has failed for the most part to win Jews to their own Messiah.

God will severely judge those that persecute His people. His people can be either the chosen elect (Israel) or those that came to God through faith in Jesus Christ. To become children of God by faith one has to be "born again" by the spirit of God. To become "born again" one must repent of sin and believe in the one God sent to redeem us from sin, this was Jesus the Christ. We must believe in Jesus as God who came in human flesh, born of a virgin, died for our sins, and rose from the dead and is forever at the right hand of the Father. To deny the deity of Jesus Christ is to deny salvation for one's own soul for eternity. This is true whether we are Jew or Gentile.

• Genesis 15:15 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.

God didn't allow Abraham to take over the land of Canaan at this time because He was still waiting until the Amorites or Canaanites went to the point of no return when they were past repentance. That is usually when a nation is destroyed. When it gets to the point that their sin is so great that they refuse to listen to God or repent of sin, that is when the axe will fall.

America please watch out. Right now we allow abortion and sexual immorality without repentance. If we ever get to the place where we persecute either Jews or born again Christians, America will be history.

• Genesis 15:17 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.

God Himself passed between the pieces of offering. God Himself will make the way for the salvation of all mankind through the promised seed of Abraham. This is Jesus. God Himself will return the promised land to the seed of Abraham in the future from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. There is nothing any nation can do to keep this from happening at the appointed time.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Tony Blair, Obama, Biden, Trump or anyone in the future cannot permanently remove the land God promised to Israel. What God promises cannot be overturned. It will happen just as He says it will and woe to us who stand it the way. Forcing Israel to trade land for peace will not bring peace. Israel will not obtain peace until the Prince of Peace returns visibly. Even so come Lord Jesus.

• Genesis 15:18 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.

When God gives His promises, He remembers that promise for eternity. Praise the Lord. - DC

Genesis 16