God’s Promise to Abram

02Jul09

Today’s Reading: Genesis 12-15

This military standard is from the ruins of the royal tombs at Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesopotamia. The standard is about 4500 years old and one of the earliest representations of an ancient Sumerian army. It has two sides, one depicting war and the other depicting peace. The ‘War’ panel shows chariots, each pulled by donkeys, which would trample enemies; infantry with cloaks carrying spears; enemy soldiers being killed with axes, while others are paraded naked and presented to the king who holds a spear. The ‘Peace’ panel depicts animals, fish and other goods brought in procession to a banquet. Seated figures, wearing woolen fleeces or fringed skirts, drink to the accompaniment of a musician playing a lyre.

Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
~ Gen. 12:1-3

God wanted Abram to demonstrate his faith and his obedience by leaving the polytheistic environment at Ur.  He reminded Abram of his intention to bless those who follow Him, and to empower those believers to be a blessing to others.

Abraham's Journey

And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD. ~ Gen. 13:14-18

God’s promise is sure, but it’s a very futuristic promise. Abram won’t see this come true in his lifetime!

Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ~ Gen. 14:14

Interesting how quickly we went from all people being descended from Noah’s sons to nations with different languages, and now we see master and servant relationships. Didn’t these people realize they were all distant cousins?  Hey — doesn’t this mean that WE are all distant cousins?  Hmmmm.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said,

“ Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all. ~ Gen. 14:18-20

In the passage preceding this one we find that things have escalated to the point that the different kings are battling one another, so Abram goes out and whoops ‘em all. Afterward, he has a little celebration with Melchizedek, the king of Salem (now called Jerusalem) and priest of God Most High. Interesting titles — who was this guy, really?  I wonder if the bread and wine were significant?  Also, notice how Abram gave a tithe (tenth) of all he had to the Lord by giving that offering to his representative on Earth.  

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “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.”

And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. ~ Gen. 15:1-6

Abram was so confident in his fellowship with the Lord that when God told him, I am your “exceedingly great reward” (and what more could you ask for), Abram expressed his personal concerns!  He wanted to know where the child of promise was. Who would be the “appointed seed” in this generation? With God’s reassurance, Abram believed in what he could not see, and this gave him a righteous standing before God. Bible scholars call this “imputation” and it is found ONLY in Christianity. In no other religion is “grace… through faith” (Ephesians 2:8) the only way to attain righteousness before a holy God.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.

Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” ~ Gen. 15:12-16, 18-19

Abram had a dream that filled his spirit with “horror and great darkness”. How terrifying to learn that your descendants will become slaves for 400 years! 

But God has His reasons for this painful interval in Hebrew history — He intends for His people to know firsthand what it is like to be humble and rejected, so that they will have learn to have compassion on those who are oppressed and weak. Furthermore, He assures Abram that the story will end well, both for his descendants and for him personally, and he seals it with a covenant, giving the Hebrews possession of all the land from the the modern Wady el`Avish (60 miles south of Beersheba) to the Euphrates River!

I did some research to try to find out something I’ve never really understood — who the Palestinians are, and what is the basis for their claim on this area of land. Essentially, they claim to be descendants from the original Canaanites that inhabited the land before the Jews returned from slavery in Egypt.

Associated Press: Palestinian children from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank pose for a photo after playing for Holocaust survivors in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, March 25, 2009.

The “promised land” has been conquered over the years by a wide range of peoples, including the Israelites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, the Greeks under Alexander the Great, Romans and Byzantines, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and the British.

After WW2, Israel held out against Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, becoming a nation in 1948; however, the Gaza Strip was left under Egyptian control, and the west bank remained in Jordan’s possession.

Fighting continued between Egypt, refugee Arabs in the countries surrounding Israel, and the Jews until 1967 when Israel took hold of the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, Arab East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Golan Heights.

The Palestinian Liberation Army had been established by refugee Arab Muslims in 1965, and following Israel’s victory, they continued to attack Jewish territory in attempts to “redeem Palestine”. In spite of a series of peace summits, unrest and violence continue in Israel to this day.

But according to God’s promise, all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates belongs to Israel.  And more important still, Jesus loves and died for the redemption of both the Israelites and the Palestinians. 

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