Monday, Feb. 25

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Monday

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am your shield,
    your very great reward.”
But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”  So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.  Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.  But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.  You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”  

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.  - Genesis 15:1-18

This is a fascinating passage with admittedly some strange and mysterious images: smoking firepot, blazing torch, animals cut in half. We’ll get to all of these in a moment. But at its heart, this passage is about Abraham’s doubt and his need for assurance, and how God handles Abraham and his doubts. There is much we can learn from this story about us, about our doubts, and about how God handles doubters.

When our kids were younger, they were (like most) continually in need of assurance from us as parents. Usually this assurance came in the form of a “promise” from mom or dad.  Our children were always trying to get us promise them, they would ask us, “Do you promise?”  In their minds, a promise from mommy or daddy was a sure thing.

As adults, we also are in need of assurance: of our future, of our health, of the love of those we love, etc. We are insecure creatures and doubt is a natural part of being human. When it comes to matters of faith, spiritual matters, doubt can be an especially acute problem. Which of us hasn’t, at one time or another, had some degree of doubt about the existence of God, the goodness of God, or the will of God?

One of the lessons this story from the life of Abraham teaches us is that not only is doubt natural to human experience, it is also necessary in the growth of our faith.

Abraham has experienced a very special prophetic revelation from God. I have heard many people say things like: “If I could just see or hear from God, if He could only speak clearly to me, if only I could be sure it was really God.” But here is Abraham who has just experienced a clear, specific, definitive, audible revelation from God. What is his response? Does he say, “Whew! I was starting to lost it, but now I feel much better.” Gen. 15:2-3. 

No, he says something more like, “Um, well God, since you brought up this reward thing, um, about that son you promised, um, where is he!?” Abraham’s response to this incredible revelation from God is more doubt!

Now here is the amazing part. Look at how God responds to Abraham’s question and doubt. Gen. 15:4-5. “Don’t worry; come with me, let’s go outside for a little walk.” God doesn’t say, “How dare you doubt Me!” or “How dare you question my word!”  God takes Abraham outside for a little object lesson, and He reminds him of who He is and what He has already done for Abraham (Gen. 15:7).

How gentle God is; how patient God is with Abraham and his doubts!  How gentle and patient He is with you!

Jeff Frazier