Genesis chapter 15. Last Wednesday
evening, we looked at the first six verses and I pointed out
to us four things that we read for the first time in the Word
of God. For the first time, we have God's
helpful words of comfort, fear not. This is a first time and
it's certainly not the last time that we read these words. was
reading just a little while ago that when the angels appeared
unto the shepherds the night the Lord Jesus Christ was born,
the angels said unto them, fear not. And our Lord said unto his
disciples, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good
pleasure to give unto you the kingdom. And then God's providing
words of protection. I am thy shield. Then God's blessed words of reward,
I am the exceeding great reward. And lastly, God's gracious words
of justification. He believed in the Lord and he
counted it to him for righteousness. That's what justification is.
It's being declared just or righteous because of the imputed righteousness
of our Savior. the Apostle Paul writing on the
subject of justification in Romans. Remember, he chooses to use Abram
as an example in Romans 4 and verse 5, but to him that worketh
not. And what Paul is doing there,
he is showing how that men were justified years before circumcision
was given, and men were justified years before the law of Moses
was given, that there's only an been one way of justification,
it's always been the same way. Paul said, but to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. And our text here says, he believed
in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. Before we move on to these next
verses, I have two other things from these six verses that I
want to mention. First, it's only in this world,
let me remind us of this, that it's only in this world that
we as God's children need a shield, because it's only in this world
that we have enemies who would harm us. And it's only in this
world that we need his comforting words, fear not. We will not
need a shield and we will not need those words in heaven because
in heaven there will be nothing to fear. There will be no more
sin, no more sorrow, no more death, no more crying, no more
sickness, no more separation, no more loneliness. Someone said
that's a good way to describe heaven by those words, no more,
no more. And while we will not need him
in heaven as a shield, or we will not need to hear those words,
fear not, but Even in heaven, He will be our exceeding great
reward. Exceeding great reward. He will always, throughout all
eternity, be our reward, and He is a reward that shall never
be exhausted. You know, sometimes you see a
$5,000 reward or $10,000 reward for information leading to this
or that. You might have the information,
you might collect the reward, but it would soon run out, wouldn't
it? Even a big reward, $100,000,
like I heard recently, but whoever receive that reward, you can
spend that pretty fast, $100,000. But Christ, the Lord God Almighty,
our reward, exceeding great reward, it'll never be exhausted. As
eternity goes on, and of course time will be no more, but we
will enjoy him more and more and more and more throughout
all eternity. And then there's a second thing
I wanted to mention before we move on, and that is this word
believed. Notice that in verse six, and
he believed in the Lord. This is the first time that we
have this word in the Bible. First time that we have the word
believe or believed or trust or trusted is in this verse of
scripture. And it literally means to steady
oneself by leaning on something. I think it was especially used
when a person with a staff would steady himself by leaning upon
the staff. Abram leaned on the Lord. And this is so important to see
this. He leaned on the Lord. Not on
the promise, not on a doctrine, not on a plan, but he leaned
upon the Lord. That is, upon God as revealed
in his son. And again, I would say there's
never been but one way to God. There's never been two ways.
This is the way that Abram went to God. He believed in the Lord
and he counted it unto him for righteousness, And that's the
way you and I are accepted with God, by faith, believed on the
Lord. Leaning, I like that word, leaning,
don't you? Just like you would lean on something. I was in a situation a week ago
today, in fact, and I was unsteady on my feet. I look for something to lean
on. I finally saw something close by that I could lean on. Lean, that's what faith is, leaning
upon Christ. Resting your weight, the weight
of your soul, the weight of your salvation upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, as we go on through the
rest of the chapter, there's three things that I want to point
out to us. First, Abram asked for a sign. Verses seven and eight. And he
said unto him, I'm the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, that
is Abram, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Abram asked for a sign. Now a casual reader, a person
who's just reading through here might think that Abram's question
amounted to unbelief or to doubting. But that would be a mistake.
No doubt there was some unbelief, but we were just told in the
verses before this that Abram believed in the Lord. He believed
in the Lord. And he asked now for a sign,
and as John Gill said, for his further confirmation of his faith
in the promise. Asking the Lord for a sign in
this Old Testament dispensation was not always a sign of unbelief. In fact, we're going to look
at one place when God rebuked a man. because he wouldn't ask
for a sign. In other words, the fact that
he would not ask for a sign was a sign of his unbelief. Now, the best example, of course,
we are all familiar with Gideon. Let's look here in Judges just
a moment. Gideon. He asked for a sign. In fact, he asked that the sign
be repeated, only a little different. In Judges chapter 6, verse 36, Gideon said unto God, If thou
wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I
will put a fleece of wool in the floor. And if the dew be
on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside,
Then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as
thou hast said. So he asked for a sign, and scripture
says, and it was so, for he rose up early on the morrow, thrust
the fleece together, wringed the dew out of the fleece, a
bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, let
not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this
once. Let me prove, I pray thee, But this once with the fleece,
let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground
let there be dew. And God did so that night, for
it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the
ground. So we must not think the fact
that Abram asked for a sign was out of unbelief. Not at all. And as I said, in the Old Testament
dispensation, God allowed men to ask for signs and gave signs. Look at this example in Isaiah.
This is the one where the man would not ask for a sign, and
it was because of his unbelief. In Isaiah chapter 7, and this
is concerning King Ahaz, king of Judah. Isaiah chapter 7 and beginning
in verse 10. Moreover the Lord spake unto
Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign. God told him to ask a sign. Ask thee a sign of the Lord. Ask it either in the depth or
in the height above. Ask for a sign. Ahaz wouldn't
do it. You know why he wouldn't do it?
He didn't believe God. He didn't believe the prophet
of God, Isaiah. And so when God commanded him
to ask for a sign, he said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt
the Lord. How can you be tempting the Lord
when you obey the Lord? Well, God gave a sign anyway,
didn't he? And it's a wonderful, beautiful
sign. And he said, hear you now, house of Israel, is it a small
thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, which
as the New Testament tells us means God with us. If you turn back here to Genesis
15, Abram asked for a sign. I also think we should recognize
that this sign, this sign that he asked for, is going to serve
Abram's posterity over the next 400 years. It's going to serve
His posterity over the next 400 years, reminding them, yea, God
had promised them, had given them the land of Canaan. And
you remember when Joseph, down in Egypt, he believed this promise. He believed God. And of all the
things in the life of Joseph that the apostle who wrote Hebrews
could have chosen to mention, what does he mention? He mentions
that Joseph's faith was demonstrated because he spoke about his bones. This is what it says in Hebrews
chapter 11 and verse 22. By faith, Joseph When he died,
made mention of the deporting of the children of Israel and
gave commandment concerning his bones. So this sign that Abram
asked, it would serve his posterity over the next 400 years because
they're not going to be in this land, remember, for some time. But it was given unto them. God gave it unto them. Now, the
second thing that I want us to think of is God made a covenant
with Abram concerning the land of Canaan in verses 9 through
18. And he said unto him, take me
an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a
young pigeon. Someone asked the question, why?
Why did God command these animals to be three years old when all
the animals sacrificed under the law were one year? Well,
we do not read this was a sacrifice. Now, I'm not saying it wasn't,
but we don't read. We're not told that these animals
were going to serve as a sacrifice. They were going to serve God
in making a covenant. So, take three animals, three
years old, and heifer, a goat, and a ram, and also a turtle
dove and a young pigeon, two birds. And he took unto him all
these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one
against another. He divided the animals and separated
them one against the other, and the birds he doesn't divide,
but he lays them one over against the other. And when the fowls came down
upon the carcasses, here comes the vultures. Years ago, I remember
reading a message by Charles Spurgeon about driving away the
vultures. Of course, he saw this as a sacrifice. And his point was that the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ always has to contend with these vultures
who will take away the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
will not preach and teach the truth concerning that without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission. So his point
was, let's drive away the vultures, these preachers who will not
tell the truth. But Abram, he drove away the
vultures when they came down upon the
carcasses. And when the sun was going down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and lo and horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict
them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out
with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good
old age. And in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites
is not yet full. And it came to pass, that when
the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp that passed between these pieces. In the
same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, under thy
seed have I given this land. And I make a point of that. God made a covenant with Abram. It's not God and Abram making
a covenant. God made a covenant with Abram. If you keep your places here
but turn, you see the significance of this in the book of Jeremiah,
Jeremiah chapter 34. One of the ways that men, according
to historians, one of the ways that men would make a covenant,
two men, they would cut themselves and then they would take their
blood and mix it together, showing that they were united. There
was a covenant. Now, as far as the scripture
is concerned, the way a covenant was made here in Jeremiah 34
in verse 18, It says, and I will give the
men that have transgressed my covenant which have not performed
the words of the covenant which they had made before me. Here
it is, when they cut the calf in twain and pass between the
parts. This is the way men were making
a covenant. They would cut the animal in
two parts, divide it, and then both men who made the covenant
They both would pass between the two parts, and that was a
covenant made between them. But we see here that Abram, in
our text, all he was to do, what God commanded him to do, was
to prepare that which was used in making the covenant. The three
animals he divided, and the two pieces of each animal he laid
one against the other, leaving room. for a passageway. And the same, the two birds,
they were not divided, but he laid them one against the other.
And there was enough room left between the two pieces so that
one might pass between them. But notice, Abram did not pass
between these two pieces. All he did was watch and drive
off the vultures. It was the Lord who passed between
them in the form of a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. If you think about this, a smoking
furnace and a burning lamp. Now, that may picture a number
of things. But the emblem, this emblem here,
is much like that which went before the children of Israel
when they left Egypt. The Lord went before them by
day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night
in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. Now in this way, this way that
we see here, the Lord gave the land of Canaan to Abram and his
descendants by covenant. Now, in looking at the time elements
here in verse 13 and verse 16, we must be cautious. In verse 13, he is not saying
that Abram's seed would be afflicted for 400 years. Notice what it says, know of
a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them
400 years. You might read that and think,
well, they're going to be afflicted for 400 years. No, that's not
what he's saying. The 400 years begins with Isaac. The 400 years is going to begin
with Abram and Sarah's promised son, Isaac. Because even though
the land was given to Abram, to Isaac, to Jacob, and they
lived in the land, but they were strangers in the land. They're
included in this 400 years. The 400 years begins with the
birth of Isaac, and it ends when Israel is delivered from Egypt. And even in Exodus chapter 12,
where we read how long they were in Egypt, it says 430 years. And most people believe that
that extra was the time that Abram, he was in this land. It was his. It was his. by gift
and by covenant, but yet he was a stranger in the land. He came
into the land at 75, and we know his child Isaac was born when
he was 100, and he lived on, I assume, five more years at
least. But anyway, the time element,
if you don't study this, you can get confused. They were all
this time strangers in the land, not theirs. It was theirs by
gift, but there were enemies in the land. They lived as a
small group of people among these other nations. There were six
nations in the land of Canaan. You know, the Amorites are mentioned
here. Their iniquity is not quite full. Some of the men who went with
Abram, when he went to rescue Lot, maybe they were not as bad
as their descendants were going to be, or going to become. One thing is certain, that God
has a cup, and the iniquity of men and of nations, and this
is alarming when I think of our nation. There's a cup. And God puts the iniquity of
individuals and nations in that cup, and when it reaches the
top, judgment, judgment's going to fall. And their iniquity,
God told Abraham here, is not quite full. I'm not going to
dispossess them now of this land, but in 400 years, Their iniquity was full, and
God commanded them to be destroyed. And then if you notice in verse
16, here's another thing that you have to notice. It says, in the fourth generation,
they shall come hither again. Now, the fourth generation. of those who descended into Egypt. In other words, the 12 sons of
Jacob who descended into Egypt in the fourth generation from
them. And we know that Moses and Aaron
were the great, great grandchildren of Levi. And the same is true
of Caleb and Judah. So in the fourth generation,
Those who descended into Egypt, their fourth generation will
come. And that's what happened, of
course, when God brought them up out of Egypt. And what a prophecy here. Look
at this verse 14. What a prophecy here. 400 years before God tells Abram
exactly what took place. You read about it in Exodus chapter
12, don't you? When the Israelites came out
of Egypt, they spoiled the Egyptians. Just what the scripture here
says. And God judged Egypt. God judged Egypt. Remember one
plague after the other plague. God judged Egypt, just like it
says here. Also that nation whom they shall
serve. Now, they were not afflicted.
Remember this, they were not afflicted in Egypt all the time
they were there. But eventually, the scripture
says there came along a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. And
that's when he began to put them into slavery and cause them to
be miserable in that land, to serve them. But when they come
out, afterward they shall come out. There's no question about
it. They're going to come out. You know, when God says something,
it's going to happen. It's going to take place. We can't help but wonder, you
know, of so many people that talk about God in such a way
as though there's something impossible for Him. What God has purposed
is going to take place. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And whatever He purposed in eternity,
He has predestinated, and it's going to take place. And He had
purposed that he would judge Egypt, and when he brought them
out, they would come out with great substance. You see the power of God? Can
you imagine these Israelites, they were slaves at the end there,
and they go to their neighbor and said, would you loan me some
gold? You got some silver back there you want to let me have?
You got some precious material you want to give unto me? Oh,
yes! Be my pleasure. Be my pleasure! How God controls the hearts of
men. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord, and so is every other man's. As the water brooks,
he turneth it whithersoever he wills. Now the third thing I
wanted to bring out from this, these verses, a spiritual lesson
for us all. In verse 12, a spiritual lesson
for us all. We read that this happened to
Abram and horror of great darkness fell upon him. Now the thought of this lesson
I want to give to us, I owe to William Mason. William Mason
was not a pastor. He was a notary public, I believe,
notary public. Am I saying that right? But anyway, He wrote what we would call today
devotionals, morning and evening. And they're just at the best. I mean, you don't find anything
better. You may find something to equal.
But anyway, this lesson I got from him. But he brought this
lesson out. And I think it's needful, and
I know it's useful that we receive it. Here we see, here we have
Brother Abraham. Remember, he's called the father
of all them that believe. He's called our father if we
believe. He's called the friend of God. God said, my friend.
But notice what the scripture here says about him. Lo, a horror
of great darkness fell on him. The children of God in all ages,
in all dispensations, have experienced darkness of soul. Darkness of
soul. And none should think it is peculiar
to them, as though some strange thing happened. Notice, God appeared
to Abram. God spoke to Abram these wonderful
words, fear not. I am thy shield, I am thy exceeding
great reward." What benefit, what blessing did he experience? And now we read, and horror of
great darkness fell upon him. This happened almost immediately
after we are told that he believed in the Lord and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. But how soon? How soon did darkness
and horror fall upon him? How changeable are our frames? You know what frames, the old
writers called frames, we would call feelings, right? How changeable
are our frames, our feelings? And many times it's after a great
spiritual blessing. After you've experienced a great
blessing and great joy, that you will experience something
akin to what we read here, a great horror of darkness. Almost immediately. Think about Paul. He was caught
up to the third heaven and he heard words that are unutterable.
What a blessing, right? To be taken into heaven. But
you know, when he came back, immediately, what happened? A
thorn in the flesh, a thorn. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
was baptized, remember, a voice from heaven, the Father's voice.
This is my beloved son. Hear ye him. The Spirit of God
descending upon him. in the form of a dove and immediately
the scriptures, immediately the spirit drove him into the wilderness
where he was tempted, remember, of Satan. When darkness comes
upon a child of God, we must remind ourselves of these truths. God's love hasn't changed. God's
love hasn't changed and it never will change. And we should remind
ourselves that we are in His hands. You know, when a child
is being carried by their father or their mother, if they're in
the light, they feel safe. If they go out and it's dark,
they're still just as safe as they were when they were being
carried through the light. I attended a funeral recently
and they played this song about the footprints in the sand. You
know that poem, I'm sure most of you've heard it. I don't like
that poem. I don't like it. Not at all. Because it insinuates that a
person is walking along with the Lord and then there comes
a point that he's being carried. God is carrying us all the time. Every day. Every day. There's only one set of footprints
in the sand and those are His. He's carrying us. Look with me in closing to Isaiah
50 in verse 10. This matter of walking in darkness.
Isaiah 50. You say, well, I don't understand
that. Well, we don't have to understand
it. But I believe if you are a child
of God, you know by experience what I'm talking about. You know
that you've experienced joy. You've been up on the mountain,
and you've been down in the valley. Sometimes you don't have a clue. What changed? What did I do? You don't have a clue. I've had this experience. You
can go to bed tonight rejoicing in the Lord and get up in the
morning and be depressed. What changed? No, that's just our lot. That's
the lot of a child of God in this world. In Isaiah chapter
50 and verse 10, The scripture says, who is among
you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant,
that walketh in darkness and hath no light? What are you to
do? Give up? Turn back? Say, I guess it was all a big
hoax. Oh, no. Oh, no. Let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. Right? Amen. What does God accomplish
by times of darkness? I'll tell you one thing. He teaches
us his sovereignty. He does. And he shows us our
nothingness, just how weak we are. Our Lord said, without me,
you can do nothing. We don't believe that. But we
do when darkness comes. And he teaches us this, that
all of the promises, and we've got a book full of them, a Bible
full of wonderful, precious promises, but they all center in the Lord
Jesus Christ. They're all yea and amen in him. And they each and every one shall
be fulfilled to the believer in God's time. God's time. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless these thoughts to us here this evening. Let's sing a verse
or two of a hymn, Bill, if you will. What a blessing. I tell you,
people that