Genesis 15:1-6

Genesis 15:1-6
The Lord appeared to Abram in a vision saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." v. 1 We're not told why Abram might have been afraid--perhaps because of the enemies whom he had just defeated. Or perhaps he might be afraid because of the vision itself which is certainly understandable. The main point is that God comforts him and promises to be his shield and his reward. Remember that we have the same God who loves us just as much as He loved Abram. We should not be afraid either!

In v. 2, Abram questions God. In chapter 12 we first saw God's promise to Abram that his descendants would receive the promised land. Time has gone by, and Abram has no descendants. The custom of the day was that a man with no heirs would adopt a servant born in his house as his heir. Abram asks God if this is His plan. But no, it is not. "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." vv. 4-5 Of course, he could not count the stars, and so God's promise was that his descendants would be too numerous to count.

"And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." v. 6 This is a very important principle. It teaches us that salvation has always come through faith and never through works. This truth is repeated throughout the scripture especially in the New Testament. Paul in Romans 4:3 actually quoted this very verse, "For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" He repeats it in Romans 4:9, "...For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness." And once again in v. 22 of the same chapter, "And therefore  'it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" But there's more! Paul says in Galatians 3:6, "just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" And finally, we hear from James in James 2:23, "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'"

"Abraham believed God," and this is exactly what God expects of us. We will see later in this chapter more about the Covenant God makes with Abraham. God does it all! Abraham just believes and receives it.