God Confirms His Promise The Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 15: 7-21 Created by David Turner

When God Confirms His Word Genesis 15:6 (NIV) 6 Abram believed the L ORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Even the Man of Faith Needs a Reminder Genesis 15:7-21 (NET) 7 The L ORD said to him, “I am the L ORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” Genesis 12:1–3 (NET) 1 Now the L ORD said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.”

Even the Man of Faith Needs a Reminder Genesis 15:7-21 (NET) 7 The L ORD said to him, “I am the L ORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” He needed a reminder: He needed a reminder: Of who God is : Yaweh- God of promise and covenant from where he was called to what he has been promised Without constant reminders we fall into doubt. Without constant reminders we fall into doubt.

Even the Man of Faith Needs Confirmation 8 But Abram said, “O sovereign L ORD, by what can I know that I am to possess it?” Has God not told him? Has God not told him? It has been over a decade and Abram has doubts. It has been over a decade and Abram has doubts. Genesis 13:14–16 (NET) 14 After Lot had departed, the L ORD said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.

God’s Word is Made Binding 9 The L ORD said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. God makes his Words binding in a Covenant (legal contract) with Abram. God makes his Words binding in a Covenant (legal contract) with Abram. In Abram’s day, legal and binding agreements were not drafted by attorneys and then signed by the parties involved. Instead, legal agreements were formalized by means of a very graphic covenant ceremony: the dividing of an animal sealed the covenant. The animal was cut in half and the two parties would pass between the halves while repeating the terms of the covenant. By doing so, the two parties were stating, “If I fail to fulfill my commitments to this covenant, may I suffer the same fate as this animal” "Fear Factor" (Genesis 15:1-21) By: Keith Krell from Bible.orgKeith Krell Jeremiah 34:18–20 (NET) 18 I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence. 19 I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf. 20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.

They Oppose God’s Contracts 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. The birds are an evil Omen. They are a symbol of those opposing God’s Covenant. The birds are an evil Omen. They are a symbol of those opposing God’s Covenant. There is always Opposition to God’s Covenants. There is always Opposition to God’s Covenants.

Even the Faithful Fear 12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. (ESV) 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Terror: Terror: Was is the darkness? Was it the presence of God? Was it insight into future? Abram sleeps. God writes and seals the covenant. Abram sleeps. God writes and seals the covenant. God encourages Abram not to Fear, but brings to Abram fear. Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the L ORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.”

God’s Covenant Promise 13 Then the L ORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. Abram Sees the future and it’s not pretty. Abram Sees the future and it’s not pretty. The sevenfold prophecy for the nation of Israel. The sevenfold prophecy for the nation of Israel. 1. You will be strangers in another country. 2. You will be slaves in Egypt. 3. You will be oppressed for 400 years.

God’s judgment is fair 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. The sevenfold prophecy for the nation Israel. The sevenfold prophecy for the nation Israel. 4. God will judge Egypt. 5. Israel will come out with many possessions. 6. Abram will not live through this period of slavery.

Why So Long To Fulfill His Promise? 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” The sevenfold prophecy for the nation of Israel. The sevenfold prophecy for the nation of Israel. 7. The nation will return to the land after the fourth generation. Why wait 400 years? Why wait 400 years? The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit! Amorites were Abram’s allies, but Deuteronomy 9:4–6 (NET) 4 Do not think to yourself after the L ORD your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the L ORD has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the L ORD your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the L ORD your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people!

It’s A One-sided Contract 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. The smoking firepot and flaming torch represented the presence of God, as the pillar of fire did for Israel. The smoking firepot and flaming torch represented the presence of God, as the pillar of fire did for Israel. Point: The Lord passed between the pieces. In doing so, He obligated Himself to fulfill this covenant. It’s unconditional Point: The Lord passed between the pieces. In doing so, He obligated Himself to fulfill this covenant. It’s unconditional

God Defines the Land Promise 18 That day the L ORD made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River – 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Land Promised to Abram Israel Has never possessed the land promised to Abram. It is still future.

Applications Remember: Remember: God is the God of Covenant – His promises are rock solid God is the God of Covenant – His promises are rock solid Remember where you came from Remember where you came from Remember where God has promised to take you Remember where God has promised to take you Believers Sometimes have doubts. Take them to God. Believers Sometimes have doubts. Take them to God. The faithful fear. It’s not fear, but what we fear. The faithful fear. It’s not fear, but what we fear. Watch out for the birds of pray that would rob you of the covenant blessing. Watch out for the birds of pray that would rob you of the covenant blessing. God isn’t finished fulfilling his covenant promises. God isn’t finished fulfilling his covenant promises. Christ’s Covenant with us is founded on God’s Covenant with Abram. Christ’s Covenant with us is founded on God’s Covenant with Abram.

Believe God’s Promise John 3:16 (NASB) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. It’s a Contract Made in Blood