#13. Genesis 12-15 | Promises That Don't Depend On Our Performance

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This is the Dwelling Place

from a Trusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Cocks.

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Welcome back to the Book of Genesis.

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We're reading through the Bible

chronologically, and that meant

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we took a little break after

Genesis 11 to read the Book of Job.

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I'd like to give a warning

right from the start.

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This will be an episode that you wouldn't

want to listen to with your kids.

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Today our reading is from Genesis

chapter 12 through 15, God is going

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to issue a promise that has had the

potential to bless every family in

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history including yours and mine.

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I am going to read all of chapter 12 now,

the Lord said to Abram, go from your

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country and your kindred and your father's

house to the land that I will show you

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and I will make of you a great nation

and I will bless you and make your name

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great so that you will be a blessing.

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I will bless those who bless

you and him who dishonors you.

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I will curse and in you all the

families of the Earth shall be blessed.

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So Abram went as the Lord had

told him, and lot went with him.

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Abram was 75 years old when

he departed from Haran.

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And Abram took Sarah, his wife,

and lot his brother's son, and all

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their possessions that they had

gathered and the people that they

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had acquired in Haran, and they set

out to go to the land in Canaan.

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When they came to the land of Canaan,

Abram passed through the land to the

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place of Shaham, to the Oak of Mora.

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At that time, the

Canaanites were in the land.

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Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said

to your offspring, I will give this land.

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So he built there an altar to

the Lord who had appeared to him.

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From there, he moved to the hill

country on the east of Bethel

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and pitched his tent with Bethel

on the west, an AI on the east.

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And there he built an altar to

the Lord and called upon the name

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of the Lord and Abram journeyed

on still going toward the ne.

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Now there was a famine in the land.

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So Abram went down to Egypt

to sojourn there for the

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famine was severe in the land.

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When he was about to enter Egypt,

he said to Sarah, I his wife, I know

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that you are a woman, beautiful in

appearance, and when the Egyptians see

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you, they will say, this is his wife.

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Then they will kill me,

but they will let you live.

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Say you are my sister, that it may go

well with me because of you, and that

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my life may be spared for your sake.

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When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians

saw that the woman was very beautiful,

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and when the princes of Pharaoh saw

her, they praised her to Pharaoh and the

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woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

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And for her sake, he dealt well

with Abram and he had sheep oxen,

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male donkeys, male servants, female

servants, female donkeys, and camels.

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But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh

and his house with great PLAs

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because of Sarah Abram's wife.

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So Pharaoh called Abram and said,

what is this that you have done to me?

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Why did you tell me

that she was your wife?

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Why did you say she is my sister?

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So that I took her for my wife?

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Now then here is your wife.

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Take her and go.

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And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning

him, and they sent him away with

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his wife and all that he had.

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In this chapter, God made a

promise that we will see fulfilled

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throughout the rest of the Bible.

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This is known as the Abrahamic

Covenant, and then in chapter 15,

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he's going to confirm it to Abram.

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He will later renew it to Isaac and to

Jacob, and it is an everlasting covenant.

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There are four key

elements to this promise.

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Number one, there's a seed

that's promised to come.

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Do you remember in the garden

when God promised that Eve's

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seed would crush Satan's head?

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Well, here we have another promise

of that seed, which is Jesus.

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Next, there's a promise of land.

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Third, a promise that the Lord will make

Abraham's descendants into a nation.

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And finally, it's a promise of

divine blessing and protection.

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I think it's difficult for us to grasp

how monumental of a promise this was

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for a man that didn't have a single

child yet saying that all nations

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on Earth will be blessed by him.

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This would be impossible for

anyone except the God of the Bible.

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God had called Abram to leave

everything he had and Abra obeys fully.

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He didn't hedge his bets and leave

things behind in case it didn't work out.

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He took it all.

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And when God appears to

him, he builds an altar.

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He's quick to worship.

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Beest, we think that this promise was

made because of Abram's righteousness.

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God intentionally allowed us to see this

next story right here, so we can see

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that Abram is a sinner just like us.

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This is an unconditional promise and it's

not made because of Abram's righteousness.

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In spite of this incredible

promise, he still thinks he needs

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to protect himself and he puts

his wife in danger because of it.

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But God shows up on her behalf.

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And this is the moment that

I said I wouldn't listen to

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this with children around

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My Moody commentary says that some

translations try to soften this, but

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really in the Hebrew, there's little

debate about what is meant when

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Pharaoh says, I took her as my wife.

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I can remember grieving the first time

I came across this, as I wondered, how

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could the Lord have let this happen?

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And I don't know that we have a hundred

percent clarity about how far the Lord

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allowed it to go before he intervened.

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But we know that even when

Abram failed Sarah, that God

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showed up mightily on her behalf

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I've always found one Peter three, six

as an incredible challenge because it

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tells us that Sarah obeyed Abraham calling

him Lord, and you are her children.

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If you do good and do not fear

anything that is frightening.

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This is a verse I've prayed for

myself many times thinking, God, it's

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really hard to submit in this area.

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But help me to not fear because

I trust in you, that phrase,

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do not fear anything that is

frightening has really stuck with me.

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Isn't it interesting how Pharaoh

has more respect and honor for

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their marriage than Abram did.

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this story is given to us, to clearly

communicate that God's promises are not

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dependent upon our perfection just this

week, another story was brought to light

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of a man who served in public ministry

for decades speaking and writing to

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the church, but he completely failed

when it came to serving his wife.

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These stories can be so disillusioning,

but they serve as continual reminders

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that we look to Jesus alone only Jesus

Christ and his righteousness will stand.

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Fill your life with Godly people

that you respect and look up to,

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but make sure that your hope is only

in the perfection of our savior.

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It can be confusing to see these stories

where someone acts so righteously at

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the beginning and by the end you're in

shock at the sin they're capable of.

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But sometimes I feel that way in my

own heart too, as I'm reading my Bible

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one moment, so captivated by the Lord's

goodness, willing to do anything for

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him, and then I can close it and walk

away and be completely irritated that

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somehow I'm the only one that can

put the shoes on the rack or close

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the pantry door or wipe the counters.

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I'm thankful that we serve a God that's

patient with us in our sanctification.

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Perhaps it's this moral failing that leads

Abram to act honorably in the next chapter

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by allowing lot to select the land first.

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And lot selects the more fertile land.

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but spiritually it's going to

be a stumbling block to him.

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and in chapter 14, we see the

conquest of five Canaanite kings

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by the four kings of the East.

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And if you have time to dig deeper,

the topic of melek is fascinating.

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you'll find a lot in the book of

Hebrews, His name means priest of

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righteousness, and he's the king of

Salem, which means king of peace.

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He was the priest of God most high, which

certainly refers to the God of the Bible.

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And finally, we come to chapter

15 where God ratifies his covenant

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with Abram, and that means he

makes it absolutely official.

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He always knew he was gonna follow

through with his word, but he's

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making sure that Abram knows this

is exactly what he's going to do.

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I love the opening verses.

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The word of the Lord came to

Abram in a vision, fear not Abram.

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I am your shield.

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Your reward shall be very great.

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Those opening words, fear not tell me

that perhaps this was an ongoing struggle

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for Abram, and I can relate to that.

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And then Abram asks him,

what are you gonna give me?

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I don't even have a child.

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One of my servants is gonna be the

heir to everything that I have.

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And God tells him, this

man shall not be your heir.

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Your very own son shall be your heir.

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And then God brought him outside and

said, look toward heaven and number the

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stars if you are able to number them.

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Then he said to him, so

shall your offspring be.

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And scripture tells us, Abram

believed the Lord and it was

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counted to him as righteousness.

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Then God asked him to

bring several animals

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as the sun was going down, a

deep sleep fell upon Abram.

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You might think it's a completely

miserable process to sign the

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amount of paperwork required

to buy a home or a vehicle.

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And if you've done that with

children running around one of

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those tiny offices, it is, but this

is a much more gruesome process.

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This is how an ancient covenant was made.

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It was a promise between the two

parties that they would've cut these

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animals in half so that the pledging

parties could walk between them.

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And what they're saying

is, let this happen to me.

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If I break my word.

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It's a pretty vivid image.

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And it would certainly impress

upon them the seriousness of

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the promise they're making.

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What's so significant here is that

God has Abraham fall asleep while God

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himself walks between the animals.

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This Abrahamic covenant is

completely unconditional.

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God himself will bring it to

fulfillment, and he wasn't going

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to require anything from Abraham.

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The same thing is true for us when

we look to the sacrifice of Jesus.

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All we have to do is acknowledge

that the sacrifice that Jesus made

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on the cross for us is sufficient.

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The Lord doesn't require us to do

anything to earn our salvation.

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And when we hear that, I hope that just

like Abram, we are quick to worship

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Lord, as we look at the life.

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Of Abram, we see such incredible faith

at times and also such fear and failure.

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We thank you that many of your

promises to us are unconditional

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but we're also convicted.

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At our capability to act in

righteousness one moment, and then

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turn around and be impatient or

to be envious of another situation

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or to covet things we don't have.

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I pray that we would do good and

not fear because we trust in you.

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I pray that our children would be

people that would walk in integrity,

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we pray that they would be wholehearted

worshipers of you, that they would

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recognize that you're the God of the

promise and that you long to bless all the

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peoples of the earth and that they would

choose to make you their dwelling place.

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And Jesus mighty name we pray.

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Amen.