The Sunday of Abram (OTA)

Genesis 15:1-21

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

⁷ And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” ⁸ But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

St Paul tells us faith comes by hearing.  At the beginning of this text Abram believes Eliezer of Damascus will be his only heir.  But the LORD God comes Abram and tells him he will Father his own son.  God tells Abram that he will multiply his descendants to the number of stars in the sky.  Abram is going to become a great nation.  When Abram hears these words he believes.

God credits righteousness to Abram on account of this faith.  God further establishes his covenant with Abram through a formal ceremony.  God tells Abram to halve several animals as a sacrifice of his promise.  God then has Abram fall into a deep sleep.  When Abram is in a deep sleep, he sees a smoking fire pot move between these pieces of flesh.  God establishes his promise for the children of Abram.

God did not require Abram to make a confession of his faith or outline what he believed.  God did not require Abram to walk through the dead animals.  God did not require Abram to promise anything.  God likewise does not require this of us.  God speaks and in our hearing he establishes faith in us.  He helps us to live obedient to his commands.  God even provides the sacrifice for our righteousness.

Note: There are people that talk about the 7 Gentile nations.  But here there is a list of 10 Gentile nations to which the children of the promise will receive land.