{"id":15733,"date":"2021-05-12T22:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_14_13-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-05-09T17:58:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:58:12","slug":"genesis_15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_15\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whole Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 15\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 15.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 15:1 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After this, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous chapter, Abram refused to take any material goods from the King of Sodom, even after he had rescued the people of Sodom from Kedorlaomer.\u00a0\u00a0After Abram refused to receive any reward from the King of Sodom, now the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, saying, \u201cI am your very great reward\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0The greatest reward, the greatest treasure we can have is to know God personally and have His presence in our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

God says another thing to Abram here after Abram\u2019s victory over Kedorlaomer in battle.\u00a0\u00a0He says, \u201cI am your shield.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In other words, the reason why Abram was able to go into battle against a more powerful enemy and come out unscathed is because God was protecting Abram.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly,\u00a0you and I face Satan, an enemy more powerful than us, but God is our omnipotent shield against the enemy<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 blood shed on the cross shields us from all further accusations that Satan would want to hurl at us.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus protects us from God\u2019s wrath against our sin.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was Abram\u2019s shield.\u00a0\u00a0He is your shield too.<\/p>\n

Genesis 15:2-3 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Abram said, “O Sovereign\u00a0LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-3:\u00a0\u00a0Abram was not in a good place emotionally here.\u00a0\u00a0Worrying about his future and unhappy that he had no children to pass his estate onto, Abram openly shares his frustrations with the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0when you\u2019re frustrated, disappointed, or upset, don\u2019t run away from God.\u00a0\u00a0Run to Him.\u00a0\u00a0Go to God with your worries, your frustrations and your disappointment.\u00a0\u00a0If you are real with God and also humble before God at the same time, it can actually lead to greater revelation of God\u2019s character, power and presence in your life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>We will see this happening with Abram in the verses that follow.<\/p>\n

Genesis 15:4-5 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He 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.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-5:\u00a0\u00a0After Abram pours out his heart to the Lord, the Lord responds with a word in verse 4.\u00a0\u00a0Then God leads Abram out of his tent to view the night sky as a way of telling Abram that his offspring will be as many as the stars above.<\/p>\n

Notice in how many ways so far God has spoken to Abram: in a vision (v1), with a word (v4), and with an outdoor object lesson (v5).\u00a0\u00a0Why was Abram able to hear from God this way?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s because his heart was open to God, Abram had the habit of worshiping God regularly and drawing near to Him (Genesis 13:18), Abram tried to honour God with his life (Genesis 14:22-24) and Abram was not afraid to go to God with his fears, worries and frustrations (see verses 2-3).\u00a0\u00a0Likewise\u00a0if<\/strong>\u00a0you want to hear from God, do the same: keep your heart open to God, be in the habit of worshiping and drawing to God, seek to honour God with your decisions, actions and words, and go to God just as you are and pour out your burdens before Him.\u00a0\u00a0When you do these things, you\u2019re positioning yourself to hear from God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 15:6 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Abram believed the\u00a0LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 6:\u00a0\u00a0This is one of the most powerful and important statements in the Old Testament.\u00a0\u00a0Because Abram believed the Lord, the Lord honoured Abram\u2019s faith and \u201ccredited it to him as righteousness\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Later on in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 Paul will use this same verse to show that\u00a0righteousness (that is, being right with God, worthy and qualified to stand in God\u2019s holy presence) is not something we can earn with our deeds, but is something that we receive by faith when we simply believe in Him<\/strong>\u00a0who raised Jesus Christ from the dead (see Romans 4:23-25).\u00a0\u00a0That is the power and importance of having the right kind of faith: it can lead to righteousness.<\/p>\n

Genesis 15:7-21 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He also said to him, “I am the\u00a0LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Abram said, “O Sovereign\u00a0LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Abram 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.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said 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.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.<\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On that day the\u00a0LORD\u00a0made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates–
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-21:\u00a0\u00a0What is going on in these verses?\u00a0\u00a0Here God tells Abram that He brought Abram out of the land of Ur (Genesis 11:31) so as to give him \u201cthis land\u201d (v7), meaning the land from the Nile River (\u201cthe river of Egypt\u201d – v18) to the Euphrates River (v18).\u00a0\u00a0When Abram asks God for assurance about this promise (v8), God tells Abram to bring a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon (v9).\u00a0\u00a0Abram takes those animals, cuts the heifer, the goat and the ram in half, and arranges the halves opposite each other (v10).<\/p>\n

What is Abram doing?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to some scholars, people in the ancient Middle East would enter into a contract by cutting an animal into two halves and standing together in the middle of the halves to show that they meant business.\u00a0\u00a0It was their way of saying, \u201cWe are deadly serious about keeping the promises we are making to one another.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In this case, Abram sets up the animal pieces, but it is God, represented by the smoking firepot and the blazing torch, who passes between the pieces Himself without Abram (v17).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s as if God is saying to Abram, \u201cI\u2019m not just going to meet you half way, Abram.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, I\u2019m going to go the whole way for you so that you don\u2019t need to do a thing.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m deadly serious about keeping this promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same goes for us today.\u00a0\u00a0God knew that we could not live up to our part of the bargain to obey Him completely and qualify for eternal life.\u00a0\u00a0So God went the whole way for us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0He sent Jesus Christ to do on our behalf what we could not do ourselves: live a life that fulfills all of God\u2019s requirements.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus also died to pay the penalty for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0God went the whole way and did everything necessary so that we wouldn\u2019t need to do a thing except believe in Him.<\/p>\n

Finally, sandwiched between Abram cutting the animal pieces and God walking through them, a number of things happen.\u00a0\u00a0First, birds of prey come to feast on the animal pieces compelling Abram to shoo away the birds of prey (v11).\u00a0\u00a0Second, presumably tired from fending off the birds of prey, Abram falls into a deep sleep where Abram senses God telling him what will happen in the future: that Abram\u2019s descendants will be slaves in a country not their own for 400 years (v13) but would finally be rescued out of that country with great possessions (v14); that Abram himself will die in peace (v15); and that when the sins of the Amorites (i.e. those living in the land that God has given to Abram) have reached their full measure, Abram\u2019s descendants will then take over this land (v16).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0\u00a0Before God would completely fulfill His promises to Abram, Abram\u2019s descendants would need to endure a great deal of hardship first (indicated both by the birds of prey that Abram had to shoo away as well as God\u2019s own words to Abram in v13-14).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the end, however, the story will conclude with Abram\u2019s descendants taking possession of the land God has promised.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly, between the giving of God\u2019s promise and the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise, we will often need to endure great hardship and fend off unwanted enemies.\u00a0\u00a0The key is to persevere and not give up, continue hanging onto God, knowing that in the end a happy and glorious ending awaits.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that You didn\u2019t just meet us in the middle, but You went the whole way in doing everything necessary for us to be with You.\u00a0\u00a0You only ask that we believe in You who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and You credit our faith as righteousness.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 15.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 15:1 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0After this, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous chapter, Abram refused to take any material goods from the King of Sodom, even after he had rescued the people of Sodom from Kedorlaomer.\u00a0\u00a0After Abram refused to receive any reward from the King of Sodom, now the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, saying, \u201cI am your very great reward\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0The greatest reward, the greatest treasure we can have is to know God personally and have His presence in our lives.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

God says another thing to Abram here after Abram\u2019s victory over Kedorlaomer in battle.\u00a0\u00a0He says, \u201cI am your shield.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In other words, the reason why Abram was able to go into battle against a more powerful enemy and come out unscathed is because God was protecting Abram.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly,\u00a0you and I face Satan, an enemy more powerful than us, but God is our omnipotent shield against the enemy.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 blood shed on the cross shields us from all further accusations that Satan would want to hurl at us.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus protects us from God\u2019s wrath against our sin.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was Abram\u2019s shield.\u00a0\u00a0He is your shield too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15733"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15734,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733\/revisions\/15734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}