Lord, What Will You Give Me, Genesis 15:2-3

 

God is about relationships and relationships are about communication.

God opened the communication (I Am Your Shield and Exceeding Great Reward, Genesis 15:1).

Genesis 15:1; After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

Today we look at Abram’s response.

Genesis 15:2-3

² But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

At first glance, Abram’s response, Lord God, what will You give me…may sound a bit greedy, but Abram doesn’t have a greedy bone in his body.

Remember he just recovered the plunder of five kingdoms and said, I don’t want as much as a shoelace (Genesis 14). Before that he handed the keys to the Promise Land to his nephew, lotta-trouble-Lot. Take whatever land you want; I’ll take the leftovers; let’s just not fight (Genesis 13).

Abram’s response had nothing to do with greed.

In Genesis 12:3, at 75 Abram left Haran. In Genesis 16:3, not far from here, we’ll see it’s been ten years.

So, Abram is probably near 85 years old; that’d make Sarai, 75.

So far, at least four times God had promised Abram many descendants;

Acts 7:2-4, before leaving Ur of Chaldeans (Iraq).

Genesis 12:1, in Haran, after his dad, Terah, died (southern Turkey)

Genesis 12:7, in Shechem (Israel; about 40 miles north of Jerusalem)

Genesis 13:14-17, between Bethel and Ai (about 20 miles north of Jerusalem)

Now, he’s settled and sunk his tent pegs in Hebron (about 20 miles south of Jerusalem.

Now put yourself in their sandals.

If you were trying to have kids your whole life, to no avail, but then, at 75, the Lord says you’re going to have lots and lots of kids.

What would you think?

Even if you believed Him; what if ten more years went by and nothing happened?

Then what?

The clock’s ticking.

That’s where we’re at today as we drop into Genesis 15:2.

The Lord just told Abe, not to fear, I’m your Shield and Exceedingly Great Reward. I’m your Protector and Provider.

That much was obvious.

The Lord had been faithful to protect and provide for Abe and Sarai.

From Abe’s foolish fear, dropping him south into Egypt. To his courageous, rescue operation to the north, saving the skin of his nephew, lotta-trouble-Lot.

Without a doubt God protected and provided, in abundance.

Yet, Abram was afraid, or the Lord wouldn’t have said, don’t be afraid.

So now, after the Lord calms Abe’s fears; Abe addresses the elephant in the room.

“Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless…”

 

Where’s the kids?

We’ve been staring at an empty nursery for a decade.

At this rate, the toys will be antiques before they ever get played with.

At this rate, we’ll all be wearing diapers.

I don’t get it.

Lord, did I hear you right? Maybe my memory’s messy…

He wasn’t doubting God’s Word, he was doubting his own understanding of God’s Word.      

Never doubt God’s Word

Doubt your understanding of God’s Word

 

Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

 

Lord God, can we review the promise one more time to be sure I didn’t misunderstand?

I thought You said, we’d have kids, lots and lots of kids…

Up to this point it’s a healthy inquiry; constructive communication.

God welcomes this kind of conversation.

He says things like:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6.

Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7.

Come let us reason together… Isaiah 1:18.

Abram wants clarification about God’s Word to him regarding a child.

We may want clarification about God’s Word regarding…

Peace. Lord God, I thought You said, You’d keep me in perfect peace, if my mind is stayed on You (Isaiah 26:3); but I’m so stressed I can’t stand myself—what’s going on?

Provision. Lord God, I thought You said if I seek first, Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, then all these things, these earthly needs, would be added unto me; (Matthew 6:33); but look, the bills are skyrocketing and the income is nosediving.

Salvation. Lord God, didn’t You tell me to tell them about You? Well, I did, and I’m still looking at an empty pew; they’re still dancing with the devil.

Healing. Lord God, I thought You told us to pray for the sick (James 5:14-16). We did, they died.  

The Lord can handle that kind of conversation. He welcomes it. He listens.

Then, if we listen, He will respond, and we will grow.  

However, if we’re not on our guard, we wind up, jumping to conclusions and solutions.

That’s when our healthy inquiry takes a hard nose dive south.

What does that look like?

“Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

If only Abe would’ve stopped after, “I go childless.”

A couple scenarios and obstacles to avoid:

Jumping to our own conclusions and solutions.

Whenever we go from asking God, (what will You give me, seeing I go childless); to telling God, (the heir of my house is Eliezer); our communication has gone sideways.

We remove God from the throne, and put ourselves there in His place. Like trying to kick the judge off the bench at your own hearing.

Then, as if we can see the future, we spew conclusions and solutions; self-fulfilling prophecies.

You said we’d have kids; we don’t have kids.

Conclusion: we’re never going to have kids.

Solution: my eldest servant, Eliezer from Damascus, will be my heir.

There.

What about us?

Peace. I’ll never have peace (conclusion); I’m going to have a nervous breakdown (solution).

Provision. You’ll never provide, I’ll go bankrupt, be homeless, starve, (conclusion); I’ll run to Egypt, welfare, illicit lifestyle, (solution).  

Salvation. They’ll never listen. They’re headed to hell in a handbasket. (conclusion). I give up, (solution).

Healing. Prayer is pointless. I tried. It failed. I quit.

 

Self-fulfilling prophecy. We do it to ourselves, and blame God.

Watch how it spirals:

³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

You… Like Adam in the garden pointing a finger at God—it was the woman YOU gave me. Genesis 3:12.

Jumping to conclusion and solution about our future is like hitting a curve at 70mph…on black ice.

The best thing to do if spinning out of control in a situation like this is what Carrie Underwood sang so well. Put your hands in the air and shout, “Jesus, take the wheel.”  

And then, put hands over our mouth, and listen.    

Words are powerful.

Luke 1:18-20, Zechariah spoke doubt and was muted until Elizabeth bore John the Baptist.

Lord help us bite our tongue and never spout, doubt.

Okay, let’s look at this from another angle.

 

“…the heir of my house is Eliezer

…one born in my house is my heir!”

 

Steer clear of alternate plans 

This scenario may be closer to how Abram was handling this situation.  Alternate plans.

It’s okay to not understand, (lean not on your own understanding) but alarms should sound when alternate plans appear.

God doesn’t need a plan B.

Never doubt God’s Word, and just as important, never make alternate plans, off of God’s Word.

The devil loves counterfeits.

By the way. Eliezer means God is help. It does NOT mean God needs help. But the mind can play tricks, the devil can deceive, and alternate plans can be conceived.

Abram may have been thinking…

God, hello, it’s been ten years, the clock is ticking. Um, You know, perhaps, Eliezer should be my heir, he’s a good servant. After all, it’s common practice these days among folks who can’t have kids. It’s a good idea.

A good idea, but not a God idea, is a dangerous idea—it’s black ice.

It’s the smooth slippery tongue of the serpent in the garden hissing doubt into Eve, “Has God said…” Genesis 3:1.

It’s his forked tongue whipping Jesus, who was tired and hungry after 40 days and nights of fasting.

But Jesus didn’t blink, He played it straight and strict, by the Book. (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).

Man shall not live by bread alone… do not test the Lord… worship God and Him alone... Now get behind me snake before I make an alternate plan and crush your head right here and now! 

Abram’s thinking wasn’t nearly as clear as Christ’s.

Abram entertains the idea of an alternate plan, and that poison infects his wife Saria; the results of which afflict us to this very day.

Compromise leads to corruption.

Sarai tells Abe: Since the Lord has restrained me from having children, perhaps an alternate plan, will be that I obtain children by Hagar, Genesis 16:2.

Abram questioned the plan God had been repeating for a decade, but Sarai makes one foolish comment about sleeping with Hagar and he jumps right in the sack, no questions asked.

Only God knows the turmoil and bloodshed the world has endured as a result of that alternate plan.

His plan is simple. Hard. But simple. 

Stop complicating God's plan with alternate plans.

They should’ve known better after what happened when they were in Egypt. God plagued Pharaoh’s house for Sarai’s sake. (Genesis 12:17). Making it perfectly clear that Abram’s wife, Saria, was included in the fulfillment of His promise.

It was through Abram and Saria, that the Seed would come and be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

God does not need a plan B.

When God has a plan, He plants a seed. It usually begins with the birth of a child… and ultimately leads to the Seed, and the Child.

The devil counters by trying to steal, kill, destroy the seed; he’s been doing it since God’s head crushing Seed prophecy of Genesis 3:15.

Before a deliverer named Moses came to set the children of God free from the bondage of Egypt, Pharaoh slaughtered babies.

Before The Deliverer named Jesus came to set the children of God free from the bondage of sin, Harod slaughtered babies.

Before The Deliverer calls His children Home, and delivers head crushing judgement to the serpent, babies are being slaughtered in the largest genocide the world has ever known.

The numbers don’t lie.  

So far this year in the world:

57.1 million total deaths.

42.1 million abortions (not included in total deaths for some demonic reason)

14.6 heart disease (highest cause of death, not including abortion)

9.2 cancer deaths

 

What Abe wanted was a child.

What God offers is a Child.

 

Isaiah 9:6-7

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You, for sending Your Child.

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing up, and sticking to the Divine Plan.

Holy Spirit, thank You for coming to us, and dwelling in us.

Lord God, help us to guard our lips and take captive our thoughts, so we don’t jump to our own conclusions and solutions, but humbly follow You.

Please sound an alarm if we even begin to consider alternate plans, outside of Yours.

We want to follow You, only You, no matter what that looks like. And help us to follow in such a way, that leads others to You.

Thank You.

We love You, forever,

Amen.

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