Confirmation from God (Genesis 15)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:11.429 Let's turn to Genesis Chapter Fifteen, and here God's word here from Genesis, 2 00:00:11.509 --> 00:00:27.780 the first book of the Bible, and in this chapter we will come to 3 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:35.579 hear God's confirmation of a promise that he made to Abraham, the reminder that 4 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:42.609 his promises are true and reliable. Let's give our attention to God's word, 5 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:50.840 which never fails. Genesis Chapter Fifteen. After these things, the word of 6 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:56.320 the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram, I 7 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:03.840 am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, 8 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.670 Oh, Lord God, what will you give me for? I continue childless 9 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:14.349 and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, 10 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:19.500 behold, you have given me no offspring and a member of my house will 11 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:23.859 be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. 12 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:30.379 This man shall not be your heir, your very own son shall be 13 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:34.890 your heir. And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven and 14 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:40.049 number the stars. If you are able to number them, then he said 15 00:01:40.090 --> 00:01:45.969 to him, so shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord and 16 00:01:46.170 --> 00:01:51.519 he counted it to him as righteousness, and he said to him, I 17 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:56.239 am the Lord who brought you out of out from Er of the Chaldeans, 18 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.120 to give you this land to possess. But he said, Oh, Lord 19 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:05.349 God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? He said 20 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:08.870 to him, bring me a heffer three years old, a female goat three 21 00:02:08.870 --> 00:02:12.750 years old, a ram three years old, a turtle, dove and a 22 00:02:12.870 --> 00:02:16.340 young pigeon. And he brought him all of these, cut them in half 23 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:22.219 and laid each half over against the other, but he did not cut the 24 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:25.139 birds in half. And when the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, 25 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:30.169 Abram drove them away. As the Sun was going down, a deep 26 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:38.210 sleep fell on Abram and behold dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then 27 00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:43.689 the Lord said to Abram, know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners 28 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:47.319 in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they 29 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:53.439 will be afflicted for four hundred years, but I will bring judgment on the 30 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:58.199 nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 31 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:02.789 As for you, you shall go to your father's in peace, you shall 32 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:07.870 be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in 33 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:13.099 the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. 34 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:19.900 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold a smoking fire, 35 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:25.300 pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day, 36 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:30.889 the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying to your offspring, I will 37 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:36.129 give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River 38 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:40.370 Euphrates, the land of the Kenites and the Kennazites, the CADMANITES, the 39 00:03:40.409 --> 00:03:46.479 Hittites, the parasites, the refiem and they the Amorites, the Canaanites, 40 00:03:46.520 --> 00:04:00.389 the Geergashites and the jebusites. May God bless his word to us. But 41 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:03.590 you remember, I hope, and if not, I'll tell you right now, 42 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:13.060 that back in Genesis Chapter Twelve, God called Abram out of idolatry, 43 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:18.500 out of his homeland, into a new place. His life was turned upside 44 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:26.689 down in many ways. It's like others that God had called to change everything 45 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:32.649 because he told them to do so. You might imagine Jonah being told to 46 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:44.199 go to Nineveh. The the early disciples, called to leave behind their livelihoods, 47 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:48.399 or at least in some way, go and follow Jesus, to turn 48 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:55.910 aside from things of this world. This is what happened to Abram, later 49 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:00.670 called Abraham. The God of all creation called him to himself, and what 50 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:04.430 this chapter reminds us of, that we saw back then, is that this 51 00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:11.579 wasn't because of anything that Abraham had done, but simply because God had decided 52 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:16.339 to be gracious and, through this man, bless the whole world. He 53 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:21.410 had promised that through Abraham, he would become a blessing to all the nations, 54 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:28.649 and would particularly happen through a promised child, on offspring that would be 55 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:32.889 given to Abraham, an offspring that would somehow result in many, all offspring, 56 00:05:33.250 --> 00:05:38.120 I'm as many, as he says here, as the stars in the 57 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:43.199 heavens. I hope that at some point you in your life have tried to 58 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:47.560 count the stars. It's a good thing to do. You won't take you 59 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:54.949 very long because you'll stop really fast, but it if you look up and 60 00:05:55.110 --> 00:06:00.629 you consider how many they are, especially outside the city lights and a place 61 00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:09.300 in a world without electricity that's blocking out on those stars, it's it's humbling 62 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:15.100 and this is what God points Abraham to and he says if you can number 63 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:20.009 them, which of course you can't, this is how many offspring I will 64 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:24.129 give you. Your offspring will be like this. Now this is all very 65 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:30.290 strange to Abraham, because Abraham has no children. Abraham has been following the 66 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:33.600 Lord for a while now. He has acted on faith. It's not always 67 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:39.759 been perfect. Nevertheless, he's been following Yahweh, this one who had called 68 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:51.189 him, but still no child. No Child. A God comes to Abraham 69 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:55.029 in a vision and says, fear not, I am your shield. Your 70 00:06:55.069 --> 00:06:58.430 reward shall be great. And Abraham doesn't say thank you. He says, 71 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:02.420 what will you give me for? I continue childless. At this is it 72 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:09.180 sounds to me something of a complaint. The air of my house is Eliazar 73 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:12.860 of Damascus, and when he says are of my house, he's not speaking 74 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:16.490 of a house and, like we usually think of it, his household, 75 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:23.850 his family also includes slaves and other people. And this one that is not 76 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:28.769 his child, is going at this point in the way that the everything is 77 00:07:28.850 --> 00:07:30.759 lined up, this is the one who's going to inherit these things, not 78 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:34.040 the one that he was hoping, not the one that would carry on his 79 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:42.399 name. God says to him. This man, Eliazar, shall not be 80 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:48.149 your heir, your very own son shall be your heir. So sometimes it's 81 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:51.870 asked, what is God doing in Genesis Chapter Fifteen, because hasn't he made 82 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:57.189 these promises to Abraham before, and indeed we are going to get them again? 83 00:07:57.589 --> 00:08:03.019 It's a good question, but I think it's answered pretty simply. Does 84 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:11.259 God not repeat his promises to you a lot? And why? Probably for 85 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:16.209 all the same reasons Abraham needed this promises repeated to him. We doubt, 86 00:08:18.009 --> 00:08:22.009 we struggle, we wonder. God has promised things to us. He is 87 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:28.439 given us reasons to have certain expectations, certain hopes, and when we don't 88 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:33.279 see them happening, we wonder what's going on here. This doesn't seem right. 89 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:41.399 So God Confirms His promise. That's what he's doing here in Genesis fifteen. 90 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:46.629 God confirms this promise to Abraham, and such an important thing for US 91 00:08:46.669 --> 00:08:50.429 human beings. We live in a world where people lie to us all the 92 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:56.259 time, where we lie to other people, where we forget the things that 93 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:58.220 we've been promised, even though we know they are a hundred percent true, 94 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:03.299 even though they're really great things. There have been times in my life where 95 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:09.259 people have told me really, really important things and I have forgotten them. 96 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:18.330 Maybe that's happened to you too. Because of these things, God, knowing 97 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:24.519 our weakness, he comes to us and he confirms the promises. He reminds 98 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.399 us. It's not as though God, in confirming his promise, is now 99 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:33.120 extra going to keep his promise. God will do what he says he will 100 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:37.720 do. He doesn't need to pile things up, but for the but it 101 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:43.190 is for us and for Abraham, who are weak. Our knowledge and confidence 102 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:48.190 in anything has a way of slipping away without practice, without reinforcement, and 103 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:54.220 that's because of this. Our knowledge and our trust is not like or I 104 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:58.620 let me put it this way. Our knowledge is not like God's knowledge. 105 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:01.940 What he knows, he knows. He knows it from a beginning to the 106 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:07.139 end. It's not developing, it's not growing, it's not changing. We're 107 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:13.809 not like this. We are learning creatures. We are creatures that require confirmation 108 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:18.529 and proof and and and growth. In these ways. Our knowledge growth is 109 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:22.039 it develops through practice. We learn it. It's how God made us, 110 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:28.639 and so it's because of that that he lovingly comes to Abraham and confirms these 111 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:33.480 things and does it in a very amazing way, as we'll see. I 112 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.429 think this is similar to the way, Peter says, to husband's love your 113 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:41.870 wives in an in an understanding way, live with them UN accord with who 114 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:48.789 they are. God does this for us as well. He comes to Abraham 115 00:10:48.830 --> 00:10:54.539 essentially to say, I love you, I will be faithful to you, 116 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:58.460 you can trust me, and you know what, he's going to say this 117 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:01.220 and do this for Abraham over and over and over and over again, and 118 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:07.850 he does it for you to over and over and over again, and for 119 00:11:07.970 --> 00:11:11.370 that we ought to be very grateful. The God reminds us of things. 120 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:20.720 So what is it that Abraham is concerned about? He's concerned about not having 121 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.679 the sun that has been promised. And it's in this situation that God says 122 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.879 to him, this man shall not be your air, your very own son 123 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:37.909 shall be your heir. Now let's continue to read on. He says he 124 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:41.429 brings him outside. He says, look to the heaven and number the stars. 125 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:43.470 If you're able to number them, and he says, so shall your 126 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:48.299 offspring be. And then we have this very important verse, in Verse Six. 127 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:54.980 And he believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness. 128 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:01.409 So what is it that Abraham believed? He believed not only that God would 129 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:05.889 promise would give this offspring, but that this would result in this massive blessing, 130 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:13.169 this massive blessed family. Now, typically in our lives, when we 131 00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:18.639 are going to receive a blessing, or let's a good thing, a thing 132 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.360 that really benefits an other people, it's a result of a lot of hard 133 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:28.399 work. Right, if you want your yard to look Nice, especially this 134 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:31.029 time of year, you probably should be doing a lot of weeding. For 135 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:33.190 those of you are at the men's bile study, you know I am not. 136 00:12:33.950 --> 00:12:37.990 It takes a lot of work if you want your yard to look this 137 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:41.029 way, if you want to succeed in your job right, you have to 138 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:46.139 put in the hour, show up on time do good work. This is 139 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:52.580 how life constantly works all around us, and here Abraham is being promised the 140 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:58.090 blessing of blessings, this massive blessed family that will bless all the families on 141 00:12:58.210 --> 00:13:03.409 the earth. We know some families like this in the world. They usually 142 00:13:03.450 --> 00:13:11.649 get their names printed on university buildings, they have announcements made before programming on 143 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:18.080 your local stations. Supporters, philanthropists, families that are wealthy and have resources 144 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:24.120 and are known. They have big effects on on society and in politics and 145 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:30.789 govern our business and lots of ways. It's kind of this that God is 146 00:13:30.870 --> 00:13:37.389 promising Abraham this massively blessed enormous family. Well, how do you get that 147 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:43.659 kind of thing? Well, in this case, God says he will simply 148 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:48.860 give it to him. How would he receive this? It would not become 149 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:54.970 be be because he was a young, fertile, powerful man with big plans 150 00:13:56.090 --> 00:14:00.769 who knew how to get things done. It would because he would simply receive 151 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:07.610 them with the empty arms of faith. He would receive this blessing only because 152 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:13.960 he was accepting it, trusting God that he would take that he would receive 153 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:16.679 what was given. And, as I say, this is not how things 154 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:22.440 usually work in the world. Usually you work and then you get the reward. 155 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:26.950 And this perhaps is a specially true of the work of holy living. 156 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:31.429 Since this reward is coming from God, you would expect Abraham would need to 157 00:14:31.509 --> 00:14:37.990 be a specially holy person, somebody who had lived his life perhaps in constant 158 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:41.299 obedience, constant service to the Lord, and and now finally had kind of 159 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:46.779 risen to the pinnacle of holiness, and God would shower down these blessings on 160 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.059 him, his reward. But that's not what it says. Instead, it 161 00:14:52.179 --> 00:15:01.529 says that his faith would be counted as righteousness. It would be as if 162 00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:07.720 he had done all of those things, even though he hadn't, that his 163 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:13.399 simply believing and accepting the things of the Lord, that that would be counted 164 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:20.360 as the way righteousness is usually counted. An amazing thing, amazing thing that 165 00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:26.429 God is doing here. And in this way God points us to a way 166 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:31.750 that he has already opened and is opening now up in a big way for 167 00:15:31.990 --> 00:15:37.100 blessing to come into the world and many people, even beyond Abraham, to 168 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:41.740 join him, away not of works but of grace, a way not of 169 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:46.820 earning but of receiving. And so when Abraham is feeling perhaps frustrated that he's 170 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:52.529 not he does not yet have the child that he was hoping for, it 171 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:58.850 is a good reminder to him that his way is a way of receiving. 172 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:06.440 That's what his new life is all about, a way that is promised and 173 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:15.639 finally finds its fulfillment in the offspring that Abraham eventually produces, a long line 174 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.110 which is, of course, Jesus turn with me, if you can, 175 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:22.590 at least to your attention, if not in your bibles, to glacians chapter 176 00:16:22.750 --> 00:16:41.779 three. Let's consider what God has to say here, glacians chapter three versus 177 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:49.330 ten through fourteen. For All who rely on the works of the law are 178 00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:55.409 under a curse. For it is written, cursed be everyone who does not 179 00:16:55.649 --> 00:16:59.490 abide by all the things written in the book of the Law and do them. 180 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:04.160 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law. 181 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:10.720 For, quote, the righteous shall live by faith, but the law 182 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:15.160 is not of faith. Rather, the one who does them shall live by 183 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.829 them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse 184 00:17:19.990 --> 00:17:25.829 for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on 185 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:30.700 a tree, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come 186 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:34.940 to the gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith, 187 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:45.490 so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith, the blessing of who 188 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:51.930 of Abraham? You see what Paul is saying here. We receive the blessing 189 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:57.490 of Abraham, this great family, this blessed presence with God, of God's 190 00:17:57.569 --> 00:18:04.599 presence. Why? Because we receive the same promise in the same way, 191 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:12.029 by faith, not by works. This link we have here between the old 192 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:19.430 and two testament helps us to understand so, so much. What Paul says 193 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:26.109 here is that the reason righteousness doesn't work when it comes to receiving the blessings 194 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:32.500 of God, the final heavenly ascatological blessings of God, is because no one 195 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:37.980 is justified by them. Why is nobody justified by them? Because everybody is 196 00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:42.369 cursed by them. And why is everybody cursed by them? Because no one 197 00:18:42.529 --> 00:18:48.009 obeys it's not that the law is sort of falling over itself and is unable 198 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:55.369 to is unable to speak perfectly into our lives the righteous requirement, it's that 199 00:18:55.450 --> 00:19:03.000 we're unable to meet it and so being cursed. We have no access into 200 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.200 these things. The only way that we can receive the blessing of Abraham, 201 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:17.029 as it's for filled in Christ is through faith. And so we'll come back 202 00:19:17.029 --> 00:19:21.589 to glacians in a moment, but let's go back to genesis now and consider 203 00:19:22.150 --> 00:19:25.819 what we began with, because remember, this is not merely a promise to 204 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:30.579 believe be believed. It is that, but it is the confirmation of a 205 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:33.700 promise that is believed. And so in the rest of the verses here we 206 00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:41.609 have God bringing this point home that righteousness is by faith alone. In very 207 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:49.329 vivid details, it begins by God establishing his authority in Verse Seven. I 208 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:53.720 am the Lord who brought you out of her of the Chaldeans to give you 209 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.920 this land to possess. You can imagine why Abraham might be feeling a little 210 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:03.079 proud of himself at this moment. Right he had just gone into these battles, 211 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:06.519 he had just rescued lot, he'd just defeated all these kings. He 212 00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:11.390 might be feeling like he's sitting pretty at this point. Look at this land 213 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:15.109 that I'm possessing, look how powerful and wealthy I am. And God starts 214 00:20:15.150 --> 00:20:19.869 out by reminding him right away that I am the one who called you out, 215 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:25.099 and of course, he is the one that received all the great possessions 216 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:30.420 out of Egypt, a parallel to the promises that are coming to future generations. 217 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:34.259 Continuing on, Abraham says in Verse Eight. But he said, Oh, 218 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:38.009 Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? 219 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:41.809 You see what he's asking for. He's asking for help. This is hard. 220 00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:47.609 Can you confirm this promise? And he says to him, bring me 221 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:52.279 a half for three years old and some other animals as well. Five animals, 222 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.480 cow, a go, a Ram, a turtle, dove, a 223 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.880 pigeon. Abraham seems to know what to do without instruction, because he knows 224 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.269 that in God calling him to do these things, he's calling him to a 225 00:21:07.430 --> 00:21:11.150 covenant is going to be made. We find parallels with this and other places 226 00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:21.940 in scripture and throughout the ancient world. In Abraham's time, similar ceremonies which 227 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:26.460 similar things are done. But here are something very different. As we'll see, 228 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:36.450 Abraham cuts these animals in such a way that in scripture sometimes to cut 229 00:21:36.650 --> 00:21:41.009 a covenant is that means the same as making a covenant, and what we 230 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:51.480 see here is these animals are cut and then the Lord, figured as a 231 00:21:51.599 --> 00:22:00.319 smoking pot and a flaming torch, passes between them. Now this is very 232 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:06.630 odd. For this reason, listen to Jeremiah thirty four, eighteen through twenty, 233 00:22:06.670 --> 00:22:12.950 Jeremi eighteen through twenty, and the men who transgressed my covenant and did 234 00:22:14.069 --> 00:22:18.619 not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will 235 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:23.740 make them like the calf that they cut into and passed between its parts. 236 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:29.539 So I know we're jumping into the middle of something here, but hear what 237 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:33.769 he says? He says the men who transgressed the covenant. Right, so 238 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:37.329 a covenant was made. These men who transgressed it, he says, the 239 00:22:37.769 --> 00:22:45.640 I will make them like the calf that they cut into and passed between its 240 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:49.920 parts, the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the Eunuchs, 241 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:53.279 the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of 242 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:56.400 the calf, and I will give them into the hands of their enemies and 243 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:00.950 into the hands of those who seek their lives. They're dead body shall be 244 00:23:02.470 --> 00:23:08.630 food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. What's 245 00:23:08.670 --> 00:23:15.700 going on here? What's going on is an ancient ceremony, a covenantal ceremony. 246 00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:19.579 A covenant is a Solemn Promise, a ceremony that depicts that promise. 247 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:27.130 We have a covenant ceremony when we two people get married, and we have 248 00:23:27.369 --> 00:23:32.970 signs in that ceremony, typically a wedding ring, when we say with this, 249 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:37.650 using old words, I the WED right, this is a sign and 250 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:41.599 a pre seal of my promise, a to you, and the husband and 251 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:47.279 wife exchange that sign. Something similar to that is going on here, and 252 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.799 it works like this. You cut the animals in half and you walk through 253 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:57.509 the animals and you say, may what happened to these animals happen to me 254 00:23:59.230 --> 00:24:03.910 if I do not keep my promise. That's how this particular ceremony works, 255 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:07.109 and that's why, in Jeremiah, God is saying, let it be so. 256 00:24:08.589 --> 00:24:14.140 You made a promise, you cut the animals in half, you took 257 00:24:14.299 --> 00:24:18.500 this oath curse upon yourself. You have not fulfilled the promise, and now 258 00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:23.529 let it be to you. You will die, as you promised you would. 259 00:24:25.089 --> 00:24:29.930 For Your lack of obedience. The birds of the air and the beasts 260 00:24:30.329 --> 00:24:37.009 will feast on your bodies. We'll see something similar happening here. Is the 261 00:24:37.170 --> 00:24:41.119 birds of the air come down and grab start grabbing on these animals, on 262 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:47.839 these carcasses. Abraham's shoes them away, but death is all around. This 263 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:53.349 strange moment in which God is promising His grace and love that is going to 264 00:24:53.390 --> 00:24:59.869 be poured out on the world, is strounded in blood and death, and 265 00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:07.900 darkness too. As the Sun Descends and Abraham is put into a sleep, 266 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:15.339 we have what is really if you had a vision like this, you'd probably 267 00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:27.369 call it a nightmare, but in this scenario it is the Lord, God 268 00:25:27.569 --> 00:25:37.519 himself, who walks through those animals and makes this promised Abraham. God himself 269 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:45.440 says, let this curse fall on me if I do not keep this covenant. 270 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:53.910 That is what he is saying when he does this thing. There is 271 00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:57.589 darkness, as I say, all around there is death, there is curse, 272 00:25:57.869 --> 00:26:06.819 there is there are these birds feasting on the carcasses. There is darkness, 273 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:11.339 there is the mention of the wrath of the Amorites, not yet filled, 274 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:18.890 completely filled. And yet who is in the midst of all of that 275 00:26:19.049 --> 00:26:32.329 darkness? It is God. It is the Lord in these smoke and fire, 276 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.480 foreshadowing the pillars that would lead Israel through the desert as he brings them 277 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:44.519 out of Egypt. As he says here, God will keep his people. 278 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:51.109 As I said, what Abraham experience would be fairly called a nightmare if we 279 00:26:51.190 --> 00:26:57.390 were to include the point that this was not his, if this was just 280 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:03.099 his imagination. But it is in fact a vision from the Lord and in 281 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:10.700 that ultimately is a very blessed one, because though it is dark and scary 282 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:18.009 and serious, ultimately God is in control of the whole thing and he is 283 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:26.650 promising that he will bring Abraham to this place of blessing. One of the 284 00:27:26.730 --> 00:27:30.680 things this reminds us of is that our salvation is no light thing. God 285 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:37.079 makes it very clear that, unlike our fickle hearts, which doubt, he 286 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:45.190 is deadly serious about his love for us. He will do the miraculous, 287 00:27:45.509 --> 00:27:53.230 the amazing. He will even send the offspring of Abraham and his offspring as 288 00:27:53.309 --> 00:27:59.819 well, the only begotten Son, our Savior, to die on a cross, 289 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:06.259 to take on the curses, not for a failure to fulfill the promise 290 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:12.569 on God's part, but because of our failures to keep the prom the requirements 291 00:28:12.609 --> 00:28:18.569 of righteousness, and doing this, Jesus is able to atone for our sins, 292 00:28:18.650 --> 00:28:25.690 to become this sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world and 293 00:28:25.849 --> 00:28:33.480 ultimately find for us a perfect salvation. With Genesis fifteen, reminds us of, 294 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:40.400 brothers and sisters, is that God will keep his promises. That's why 295 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:42.349 he gives this to Abraham. That's what Abraham's question is, that's why he 296 00:28:42.549 --> 00:28:48.029 says these things. God called Abraham out of the earth of Chaldees, made 297 00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:56.460 all of these promises and he's going to keep Abraham in them. I want 298 00:28:56.460 --> 00:29:03.740 to end with this. What are the implications of this? There are hundreds 299 00:29:03.380 --> 00:29:11.089 millions. Maybe we could think of classic thoughts like let's not boast in ourselves, 300 00:29:11.130 --> 00:29:17.289 but boast of the Lord. Let's be filled with thankfulness for all that 301 00:29:17.490 --> 00:29:25.440 God has done for us. I'd like to conclude with this. This evening, 302 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.880 the God called Abraham out of the her of Chaldee's to bring him not 303 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:36.119 just momentarily there, but really into a new way of life that, from 304 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:41.869 beginning to end, would be a life of faith, a life totally depending 305 00:29:41.829 --> 00:29:48.750 on God. And to impress that point upon you, I want to read 306 00:29:48.789 --> 00:29:53.900 again from glacians, now from the beginning of glacians, glacians three through nine. 307 00:29:56.460 --> 00:30:00.299 Paul says, Oh foolish glacians, who bewitched you, or who has 308 00:30:00.339 --> 00:30:06.900 bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as 309 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:12.410 crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the spirit by 310 00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:18.049 works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? 311 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:23.240 Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 312 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:29.839 Did you suffer so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain, 313 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:36.750 does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you, 314 00:30:36.829 --> 00:30:41.670 do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith, just 315 00:30:42.029 --> 00:30:48.269 as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know, 316 00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:53.980 then, that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 317 00:30:55.099 --> 00:31:00.619 Him and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith, 318 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:08.009 preach the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying in you shall all the nations be 319 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:14.930 blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, 320 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:22.680 the man of faith. You see what God is saying here. He's 321 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:27.799 saying here that just as Abraham received these promises by faith and God continued in 322 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:32.319 him this work. He didn't just call him into the earth, out from 323 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.309 the Earth Keldies, into Cana and say, all right, best of luck, 324 00:31:34.349 --> 00:31:38.430 to do your best to obey my law. I'll check you at the 325 00:31:38.470 --> 00:31:42.670 end and we'll see how you did right. This is not what he said. 326 00:31:42.990 --> 00:31:49.420 He continued him in that same grace in which he began. He Confirms 327 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:53.740 His promise in Genesis Fifteen in this amazing way, and he will continue to 328 00:31:53.859 --> 00:32:01.690 do it again and again for us. And so we, like Abraham, 329 00:32:01.849 --> 00:32:06.170 if we are to receive the blessings of Abraham, if we are to receive 330 00:32:06.369 --> 00:32:12.049 the promises of God, then we two must live by faith, not pursuing 331 00:32:12.089 --> 00:32:16.039 our own ways and not pursuing our own paths, and the righteousness that comes 332 00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:22.319 through works, but the righteousness that comes through faith, a right of a 333 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:30.150 faith that is counted as righteousness because of Christ's righteousness for us. And when 334 00:32:30.190 --> 00:32:37.589 we do that, when we work simply by receiving the things that God has 335 00:32:37.670 --> 00:32:43.390 given to us, then we are blessed along with Abraham, the man of 336 00:32:43.509 --> 00:32:49.019 faith. My encouragement to you is that when you doubt this, when you 337 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:54.299 struggle with this, remember God's covenant with Abraham, Remember this vision that he 338 00:32:54.339 --> 00:33:00.529 has recorded here, preached beforehand for Abraham and for us that our faith might 339 00:33:00.609 --> 00:33:06.529 be confirmed. And look also to the other promises that God gives to us, 340 00:33:07.450 --> 00:33:10.970 in the sacraments that he gives to us and baptism and the Lord's supper, 341 00:33:12.130 --> 00:33:16.039 more signs and confirmations that God gives to us that these things are true, 342 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:22.799 that his word is true, that he keeps his promises. And finally, 343 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.990 remember the thing to which all of these things point, the one to 344 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:34.789 whom all of these things point Jesus Christ, your savior, taking on the 345 00:33:34.910 --> 00:33:38.230 wrath of God for you on the Cross so that you would not have to 346 00:33:38.509 --> 00:33:46.140 be cursed by your works, but blessed by his. May God grant us 347 00:33:46.220 --> 00:33:50.859 to live by faith and faith alone. Let's pray