Lord, How Shall I Know, Genesis 15:7-21

From out of the clear blue, you hear you have an inheritance. A big one. Huge one. Bigger than anything you could’ve dreamed of. Enormous enough to set you, and your descendants, up, forever.

It sounds too good to be true.

However, it doesn’t come without conditions, and it requires total commitment.

You must leave your old life behind and move to a place you don’t know, a place where you’ve never been.   

Nevertheless, in hope, in faith, you travel to the place you were told to go. It was long, it was hard, but you went.

You saw it, walked around in it, tasted the fruit of it.

And sure enough, over and over, you’re told, it’s yours.

You finally get past thinking it’s a dream, and start thinking maybe it’s real.

The cat lets go of your tongue and you ask.

“How shall I know…?”

 

That’s where Abram’s at as we drop into Genesis 15:7.

Remember, God had just told him to look up, toward the heavens, see the stars, so shall your descendants be. Genesis 15:5.

Abram believed, really believed, and God knew it. Genesis 15:6.

 

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

I’ve been with you all along. I knew you back in your old pagan worshipping stomping ground.

I AM the Lord who brought you out of Ur, to here.

We’ve all been to Ur in one way or another.  You remember…

Urrrrrr, those sleepless nights, those ER visits, those endless tears.

Grrrrr, those irritating, frustrating, infuriating days when nothing went right.

And, for us here in snowbird city, we can’t forget how He brought us out of the land of Brrrrr… those cold days north of God’s country, the Sunshine State.  

So, God tells Abram, (and us) I’ve been with you from that day to this.

I even stayed with you when you dropped south, plumb out the bottom of My Promise Land; when you followed fear, not Me, and fled to Egypt, even then, event there, I defended, and delivered you, back to My Promised Land.

When you went north, to rescue lotta-trouble-Lot, I protected you.

I was with you then, I’m with you now.

I’ve never failed you. I never will.

I brought you here, to this time, this place, for such a time as this, to give you, My Promise.

 

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

Question: If God told you, “I brought you out of Brrrr of the Coldeans, to give you the land of Whispering Pines RV Village as an inheritance.”

What would you do?

Stand up at the Monday morning meeting and announce, “God told me, He gave me Whispering Pines. So, from now on, all rent payments go directly to me. Oh, and since I’m so nice, everybody’s rent is reduced by $100 a month.”

Or, with no title deed to the land, no certificate of ownership to show, would you respectfully ask the Lord, “How shall I know?

I trust You. I don’t trust me. I might not be hearing right; my imagination might be playing tricks on me. You know, I’m no spring chicken.”

There’s a big difference between requesting information, and demanding proof.

We keep receipts and confirmation numbers, not out of doubt, but as information to confirm our belief.  

Mary requested information when she asked, “How can this be, since I’m a virgin?” Luke 1:34. She desired understanding; and understanding was given.

Zechariah on the other hand, demanded proof; “How can this be since I’m old…” Luke 1:18. He was given proof—by making him mute. So, he couldn’t spout doubt.

Sounds similar, but Mary desired understanding how it would happen, Zechariah doubted and denied it could happen.

Abram had no title deed to the land, no certificate of ownership to show.

All he had was God’s Word. (Which is more than enough).

So, he asked from a desire for understanding, not doubt.

This is great constructive communication and leads to believing faith.

Faith comes by hearing the rhema (spoken) Word of Christ. Romans 10:17.

 

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Lord, umm, so, You said, You brought me here, to give me the land.

Right.

Okay. And then, I asked how I’d know. 

Right.

Okay. And then, You told me to get a cow, a goat, a ram and a couple birds?

Right.

Okay. So, umm, does that mean, You’re asking me to… start a petting zoo?

Wrong.

 

A man’s word is his bond.

A handshake seals the deal.

Or, at least that’s how it ought to be.

So, when Abram asked, Lord God, how shall I know?

God said, BECAUSE I SAID SO!

Wrong. Again.

 

God welcomes our questions.

He says come let us reason together. Isaiah 1:18.

He invites us to bring all our requests to Him. Philippians 4:6.

 

A man’s word is indeed his bond.

A handshake does indeed seal the deal.

Or, at least that’s how it ought to be.

God agrees.

Abram believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Gen. 15:6.

Abram believed and that was good enough for God.   

However, it was easy for God. He saw the end from the beginning, and could see in advance that by faith, Abraham would obey. Hebrews 11:8.

 

That’s encouraging for folks like me who don’t have a perfect past. Because at this moment, no matter our past, we can make a quality decision to follow Jesus, no matter the cost, no matter the task, great or small. “Lord God, I give You my heart, my life; whatever You want, I will obey, right away, all the way.”

God will see it and before you know it, He will have you off the bench, on the field, pursing your Divine Eternal Purpose.

Then, rain or shine, you’ll be having the time of your life, because you’ll be walking inside your Divinely designed passion and calling.

Okay back to our text.  

For us mere mortals, we cannot see the end from the beginning, and since things aren’t always as they ought to be, we feel the need to get stuff in writing.

In today’s vernacular, God’s answer to Abram’s question (how shall I know?) is something like, “Okay, let’s write it up, sign it; seal the deal.”

Today that’s how we cut a deal. Write it up and sign it.

God is kind. He wants us to understand; and so, He speaks our language.

To help Abe understand, God spoke in a way he could understand.

When God said to get the animals, Abe knew exactly what He meant; they were about to cut a deal; cut a covenant.  

By the way, that phrase, cut a deal, cut a covenant, comes from what we’re reading here.

Back then, to cut a deal, or, cut a covenant, they used animals, and knives, and witnesses.

The word, cut, was for a reason we’ll see in a moment. (It’s bloody.)

To cut a deal today, we use paper and pen…and lawyers (that’s the bloody part). Just kidding dear lawyers. I love you.

 

¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

See, he knew what to do.

Abram respectfully, correctly, followed blood covenant protocol, and prepared the animals.

Imagine the bloody scene.

Five dead animals.

A cow, a goat, and a ram, cut in half, laid in a row. Each half separated just enough to leave a path—a blood path.

Additionally, a dove and a pigeon one on each side.  

Now the cutting is done. The stage is set. Everything is ready for the blood covenant ceremony to begin.

What happens next?

The terms of the agreement are clearly stated.

In this covenant, God promises to bless Abraham exceedingly, to make him a great nation, with lands and descendants; including the Messiah, who blesses all the nations of the earth. Genesis 12:2-3.

Abraham’s part, according to, Genesis 17:1-2, was to believe and be blameless (same word used for Passover lambs that had to perfect, spotless, without blemish, blameless).

After the terms of the agreement are stated, the powerful, oath taking, covenant making part of the ceremony begins.

So, Abraham is all set. Ready. Waiting…

But where’s God?

 

(Further study: Jer. 34. Lev. 1).

¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Abe obeyed.

And then waited.

And waited.

And stayed.

He took ownership of the situation.

He counted the covenant as Holy and chased away the vultures that'd steal, and defile, the substance of the covenant.

When God gives a plan, or a command, we must count it as Holy, obey right away, and then stand guard, stay the course, protect the seed, until further notice.

We must never get bored, let down our guard, let apathy become atrophy allowing the substance of His Word to be devoured by buzzards.

How many races are never won, because they were never run?

How many battles are lost, because they were never fought?

God never forgets, He’s never late.

Stand. Guard what God’s given, even if ever so little. Count it as oh so Holy.

What appears to be God’s procrastination, is actually for our preparation.

Abram stayed the course. Guarded what God had given.

We should do the same.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.

God tells Truth—even if it’s hard and painful Truth.

God’s about to reveal to Abram the nightmare of what will come upon his descendants. 

Amos 3:7. Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

God tells Abram about 200 years ahead of time about Israel’s 400-year Egyptian bondage.

Please understand the affliction, the persecution, is an evil act of evil people, doing evil things; not a Divinely orchestrated event.

The Lord knows everything that will happen, but that doesn’t mean He makes everything happen. And it certainly does not mean that everything that happens is His will.

It’s not His will that any perish (2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 33:11). Alas, many do.

Jesus told us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Matt. 6:10.

There’d be no need to pray for His will to be done, if His will was always done.

¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

God is just. The wicked will be judged. Justice will prevail.

What appears to be God’s procrastination, is actually His patience because it’s not His will that any perish.

¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

Now, sit still Abram. I’m not talking about you.

You’re not going to move to Egypt—you already tried that and I had to bail you out.

You stay right here. And he did.

Genesis 25:7-8; This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Now, back to Abram’s descendants, the children of Israel.

They will be in Egypt over 400 years.

Then, God will deliver them, out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, and into the Promise Land, by the hand of Joshua.

Now notice the enormity of the heart of God.

His eye is not only on Abram, or Israel, or you and me… or the sparrow.

But He sees everyone. Even the wicked. The Amorites are on the way to destruction, but His patient mercy endures all the way to the point of no return.

Then, when the heart is too calloused, to ever return, the bowl of iniquity spills, and the wrath of God falls.

It happened to the Amorites. It happened to those living in the very same city as Abram’s nephew Lot (Sodom and Gomorrah).

It’s happening to a world on the verge of entering the Great Tribulation.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.

Finally, the moment Abram’s been waiting for.

God shows up; in the form of a smoking oven and a burning torch.

Now, the powerful, part of the ceremony begins.

The bloody pieces are still laying in a row, separated by a path of blood between them.

Now at this part of the ceremony the involved parties, first one, then the other, walk the path of blood between the animals.

In so doing, they take an oath to abide by the terms of the covenant, or, may it be done to me as was done to these animals.

God goes first.

Now it’s Abram’s turn.

Abram. Abram! Where’s Abram?

Oh, for Pete’s sake, he’s still asleep from verse 12.

Like the deep sleep that fell on Adam, when God was about to create Eve— and the covenant between man and woman.

Now, Abram’s in a deep sleep when God’s about to create the greatest covenant of all—between God and man.

So, what happens?

Well, if Abram walks the blood path and takes the oath, to abide by the terms of the covenant, to be perfect, spotless, without blemish, blameless—he’s doomed.

God knows this, of course.

Hey, did you notice, when God showed up, He appeared as a smoking oven, AND a burning torch.

He did that on purpose.

Normally, multiple times in Scripture, He appears as one or the other. But here, He shows up as both.

Per protocol of the blood covenant, both parties need to walk the blood path.

So, what happens?

The Lord steps up and walks the bloody trail in Abram’s place.

Now, when Abram breaks the oath, is less than perfect, when you and I are less than blameless, when we break the covenant, when we fail, when we sin, when we turn our backs on Him, and doom ourselves to destruction…

Jesus steps up and says, WAIT!  

I passed through the blood for them. I took their place.

Then He stretches a nail scarred hand toward us and says, “Wake up. Follow Me.”

To follow isn’t easy, it requires total commitment. You must leave your old life behind and move to a place you don’t know, a place you’ve never been. The journey may be long, and hard, the road narrow, and straight, but it’s solid and sure, and leads to an inheritance bigger than anything you could’ve dreamed of; enormous enough to set you, and your descendants, up, forever.  

Matthew 7:13-14; 16:24-26.

¹⁸ On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying:

Made, in the original text means: to cut.

The Lord cut a covenant with Abram, knowing the cut and the blood would one day, be His own.

If you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the Promise. Galatians 3:29.

“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

I have given—it’s a done deal.

God’s Promise Land to Abraham and descendants is 300,000 square miles. It covers all or part of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey.

To put it in language we understand, 300,000 square miles covers all of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North and South Carolina.

300,000 square miles is bigger than Texas by 30,000 square miles.

It’s the size of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.

God never breaks His Promise.

He Promises much, His inheritance is huge, bigger than anything you could’ve dreamed of; yet, alas, few receive it.

 

Today Israel dwells in only about 8,000 square miles. It could fit in the Florida panhandle, in the state 7 times; it could sit in lake Michigan

His promises are exceedingly above and beyond all we could ever ask or think.

Genesis 15:1

Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.

 

Let’s pray, His Word, from Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

 

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Thanks for sharing.