The Patriarchs
The Struggle of Faith
Genesis 15
David Taylor
April 10, 2016
All of us, if we are honest, struggle with our faith at times. In the midst of life, we wonder where God is and how he is going to work in our circumstances. King David felt this way when he wrote, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Today we look at a similar situation in the life of Abraham. It has been ten years since God had made him promises that have not come to fruition and he is struggling with when will this happen and how will this happen? If you have ever felt that way, then you are in good company with many biblical characters, including Abraham. Let’s look at this situation in Genesis fifteen.
“After these things” is after Abraham’s battle with the kings and his encounter with Melchizedek, God reassures Abraham of his promises to him, the promise of offspring and the promise of land. In verse one we are told the “word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision: Fear not, Abram, for I am your shield, your reward shall be great.” That phrase, “the word of the Lord came” is used in the Old Testament when Gods speaks to a prophet. Being Abrahams’ shield is a metaphor for God promising to protect him against retaliation from the kings he battled or others who pose a threat. And because he rejected the spoils of war God promises to reward or provide for him. Then we see Abraham’s struggle, “but, I am childless; my only option for a heir is my servant Eliezer of Damascus.” I know you promised me a son but it has been almost ten years and Sarah is past child bearing age; I don’t see any other way. Abraham is struggling with trusting God and so looking for a way to help God out. The apostle Paul tells us that the life of faith is a fight to trust God promises. The only way you will win this fight in your heart is by finding your strength in God. It is much easier to believe in God than to trust him. In our culture many people believe in God but do not trust him. Maybe you are in that group. In some sense, all of us are in that group in some area of our lives. Are you fighting the fight of faith? To not fight is to give up, to become passive and be pummeled. God comes right back to graciously address Abraham’s struggle in verse four, “Behold the word of the Lord came to him, “this man will not be your heir; your very own son will be your heir.” Trust my word Abraham, I said I would give you a son and I will but you must be patient. God can say something will happen because God makes it happen. God is asking Abraham to trust his future in God’s hands. The issue for Abraham and many of us is patience; it’s a waiting game. Then God, ever gracious and patient, takes Abraham outside and tells him to look to the heavens. “Count the stars if you can, so shall your offspring be.” If you have ever been out in the middle of nowhere, when there are no clouds, no lights, and it is pitch black, the stars light up the sky. God is saying, I created all those stars wherever the eye can see and the same power that created those stars will create life in Sarah’s womb. Trust my word and stop trying to make it happen. Maybe that is your struggle right now. Maybe you don’t trust God has the power to deal with some issue or problem in your life so you think you are going to have to take matter into your own hands.
With that promise, Moses gives us this commentary, “He believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” This is one of the most pivotal statements in the bible, quoted in the New Testament three times to prove that salvation is by faith not works or human effort. Abraham trusted his future in God’s hand and therefore was considered righteous based upon the future work of Christ and so he was accepted and forgiven by God. That is the gospel, I trust my future in God’s hands. You are a Christian or a follower of Christ by trusting God and not by what you do; doing grows out of trusting. Trusting is the root; what you do is the fruit. Let’s look at two New Testament texts that quotes this verse, Romans 4:1-8 and Galatians 3:1-9 to flesh this out.
God has reassured him of the promise of offspring, now he reassures him of promise of the land. Look at verse seven, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” God chose Abraham and rescued him from an idolatrous people. That language is the same language of the Exodus, when God brought Israel out of Egypt. Abraham struggles with this promise also, saying “how am I to know that I will possess it?” Abraham left everything for the promise of land but it has been ten years and he has nothing to show for it. Have you ever asked God that question? How are you going to work this out? God, ever so gracious, responds patiently toward Abraham in his struggle. He tells Abraham to bring a heifer, a female goat, a ram – all three years old, as well as a turtle dove and a young pigeon. So he gets them, cuts them in half, except the birds, and lays them out, forming two rows. God is making a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is an agreement between two parties binding themselves to one another. The two parties would slaughter the animals then lay them out and walk between them, mingling their lives together by the blood. If either one party broke the covenant, they would face the same fate as the animals. God is guaranteeing the promise by binding himself to Abraham with this covenant. As Abraham waited for the covenant ritual, God is teaching him patience; faith often lives with delays. As night fell, a great and dreadful sleep fell upon him which pictures the judgment of God against sin. Then the Lord said to Abraham, “know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and serve them and be afflicted for 400 years. But I will bring judgment upon that nation, bringing your offspring out with great possessions.” God is referring to Israel going to Egypt to live, then becoming slaves and God delivering them miraculously through the Exodus. But as for you Abraham, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried in a good old age. That is, don’t fret over this Abraham. When the sun went down and another day passed, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passes between the animals, representing God’s presence. Normally, both parties would pass between the animals but only God does here. God takes responsibility for both parties of the covenant. If either party breaks the covenant God will pay the price, which he does with Jesus. Christ became a man and walked between death and took the curse of the covenant for us. He paid the price by his blood and in so doing, he established a New Covenant, fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant so that all who put their faith in Christ become sons of Abraham. God is securing his purposes that will ultimately be fulfilled in Christ. We can have confidence in our struggle of faith because God is faithful to his promises.
