Genesis 15

Genesis 15--notes from Jack Abeelen, Morningstar Christian Chapel

Everything has a beginning...except God.  Genesis is full of beginnings...world, marriage, sin, the idea of salvation.

Abraham is a peace making man.

Four kings from the north formed a coalition and subjugated five kingdoms from the south (Shem)...then they finally said enough.  Fall of Sodom came out of this.  Sometimes you fight for the right reasons.  Abraham gives chase with his 318 people, chases five kings and the King of Salem is tied to this (Melchizedek).
Bera--King of Sodom--offered Abram $, Abram walks away.

"After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision" v. 1

First thing God says..."Don't be afraid"  Joshua: Be strong.  Be of good courage.  Don't be afraid of them. Ephesians 6--shield

Eliezer--God's help, servant of Abram

The Beginnings of "Faith"

The Lord's response to Abram's doubt is to continue to present God's promises.  In crisis, people don't need explanation, just the promises.

"and he, Abraham, believed in the Lord, and got it accounted to him as righteousness." v 6
Aman--Hebrew word means believe, Amen, "so be it"
this small act of faith is the pivot on which the scriptures teach salvation by grace alone.  Romans 4, Galatians 3, James 2.

Read Romans 4 before bedtime. 24 verses

Abraham said "amen" to the promises of God---that's it.

Why does the Lord reintroduce Himself?  It's a commonplace
autocorigma--self proclamation of God.  underscores presence of God, grab kid and look in the face.

Covenant Between Abram & God

Covenant between God and man, walk between split offering and verbalize covenant

"Thus the fulfillment of the promises to Abram involves a retributive judgment on the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Abram’s seed would get the land - but not one hour before absolute justice required it. God had much to do before fulfilling His promise - including disciplining His nation to make it fit for receiving the promise. Abram’s seeing this in advance was horrible - like watching birds of prey." -BKC

"Then after sunset God revealed Himself in connection with the image of an oven (smoking fire pot) and a torch, two elements that were connected with sacrificial ritual in the ancient world. These images are part of the “burning” motif that describes God’s zeal and judgment in the world. Fire represents the consuming, cleansing zeal of Yahweh as well as His unapproachable holiness, which are interrelated (cf. Isa_6:3-7). In the darkness (Gen_15:17) Abram saw nothing else in the vision except these fiery elements that passed between the pieces of the slaughtered animals." -BKC

"Now Abram prepared the place of covenant that God had asked him to prepare, and no doubt it took quite a while. He sat down to wait. The Lord didn’t come. Eventually he got tired, and after chasing the vultures off from trying to eat the dead flesh, Abram just went to sleep; he couldn’t stay awake any more. And the Lord was still not there. And when he fell asleep, fear gripped his heart. “What can I do?” Only in that kind of condition – verse 13 – do we find the Lord then speaking to Abram and telling him of his descendants who will eventually inherit the land, but He gives him lots of information that we verify as we read forward." -Jack Abeelen

"Notice God’s view of death for Abram is different than ours. He says, “You’ll live to be a good old age, and then you’ll come to be with Me.” That’s not bad." -Jack Abeelen