If someone made a promise to you back in the year 2000, and you were still waiting for that promise to be kept, it’s possible that you might give up hope that they will ever follow through and keep that promise. Twenty-five years is a long time to wait, yet that is exactly how long the gentleman in our Scripture today, Abraham, had to wait for the fulfillment of a promise made to him. Today’s Scripture passage, though, takes place about half way through that time period, and he’s still waiting. Let’s see what is happening with Abraham, or Abram as he was called then.
Back in Genesis 12:1-4, we read of God’s call of Abram and His initial promise of him having descendants, “make you a great nation”. At this time Abram was 75, and his wife Sarai (later known as Sarah) was 65. The oldest verifiable age where a woman gave birth naturally, without any type of fertility treatments, is 59 back in 1997. Sarai was several years past that age. Now, as we enter Chapter 15, we are possibly ten or so years later, and Abram is still childless.
Just prior to the beginning of Chapter 15, Abram had rescued his nephew Lot, along with his fellow townspeople, from marauding kings and their armies, set on eliminating neighboring cities. Abram returned to his own camp settlement, but was probably fearful that those armies he had routed might return with a vengeance against him. The Lord came and spoke to Abram, though, in his time of fear, and reassured him that He would protect him from all harm. He told Abram that He was his shield and his great reward (vs. 1). A shield protects soldiers from arrows and spears. God promised to be that protection for him. After his rescue of Lot and his neighbors, Abram had refused any share of the spoils of that battle (Genesis 14:22-23). God, though, affirmed that He was Abram’s reward, a reward that was greater than any earthly gain he could get. When we are following the Lord, and obeying His Word, He will be our shield of protection in trials. When we forsake worldly gain to follow His righteousness, God becomes our portion and reward.
Though undoubtedly Abram was very grateful to the Lord for His protection and mercies, he opened up and honestly prayed to God with the disappointment in his heart that after all these years he was still childless. He told God what good would any reward be if he had no children, and his only heir was a servant in his household (vs. 2-3). He was basically telling the Lord that He had yet to fulfill His promises of many years ago. Abram might have felt ignored, or even abandoned. He felt that God’s promise of an heir had gone unheeded. However, he never gave up his faith in Yahweh. Faith doesn’t mean the absence of questions. Abram’s honesty shows that God welcomes our doubts when they come, not with pride or unbelief, but instead with honest humility.
The Lord responded with a renewal of the promise He had originally made with Abram. He stated that Abram’s heir would not be his servant Eliezer, but would be a child of his own (vs. 4). Yahweh proceeded to reaffirm this promise by giving Abram a visual illustration. He brought Abram outside of his tent at night, away from any lights from the lanterns or fire pits, out where it was very dark and pointed out the millions of stars (vs 5). There were way too many to begin counting. God promised Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Astronomers have calculated that there are trillions of stars just in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, let alone the estimated trillions of other galaxies out there. His descendants would be just as numerous, but as yet he didn’t have even one. God’s promises often require patience. He doesn’t share our urgency or our wanting things immediately.
How could God make the statement that Abram’s descendants would be as the stars in the heavens or the dust on the earth? (Genesis 13:16) God was referring not only to the physical descendants he would have, the Jewish people, but also to the countless spiritual descendants Abraham would have. The Bible tells us that everyone who has accepted Jesus as their Savior is now a descendant of Abraham through faith. We read that in Galatians 3:7-9, and also Galatians 3:29.
Our Scripture passage closes with a very important verse. Verse 6 is a foundational verse for the doctrine of justification by faith. Paul quotes this in both Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6, along with James quoting it in James 2:23. Abram was declared righteous, not because of any good works that he did, but by believing God’s promise. Salvation has always been by faith. Abram’s belief in God’s Word was credited as righteousness, just as we are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross for our sins.
In closing, we see that Abram waited for years before he and his wife had their son Isaac. God’s promises are sure, even when there is a delay. Abram believed despite not seeing the fulfilment right then. Faith rests on God’s character, not on the circumstances. Just as Abram was justified by faith, so are we through Jesus Christ alone, not by any good deeds we may do. And like Abram, we can trust that Yahweh is our shield and reward, greater than any earthly possession.
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