“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteous.”
~ Genesis 15:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Has your dad ever promised you something? What would you like your dad to promise you when you get big? Suppose this dad who your grandpaa is talking about is not your earthly dad but your Heavenly Father, what would you like to have your Heavenly Father promise you when you get big? Your Heavenly Father is God. God through His Word has made promises to His specially elected guys, gals and kids which He will keep. God made promises directly to His specially chosen people group – the Israelites, which He kept. God not only made promises to His specially chosen people group; God made a covenant with His specially chosen people group. A promise is to tell a guy, gal or kid that you will do something for him or for her. A covenant is showing a guy or gal what you will do for him or for her. A covenant can be a written agreement. It is something which is to absolutely happen. God made a covenant with you about 2,000 years ago. God made this covenant through His Son – Jesus Christ. A covenant will always involve two people. A promise can be something that a guy or gal or kid can make to himself or to herself. When your grandmaa and grandpaa were staying at your Aunt Lynn’s house, your grandpaa would spend a lot of time on the computer. Your grandpaa needed to write letters, answer e-mails and do reports. Your grandpaa would sometimes promise himself a cappuccino from Wawa if he answered an e-mail or did a report that he really did not feel like doing. A promise can be something which your ma and dad want you to make. Your ma and dad may have you promise to pick up your toys every day or to eat all the food that is on your plates or to put away your clothes that your ma has just washed. Your ma and dad may promise to let you play a game on the computer or watch a video or let you play outside if you do what they had you promise to them that you would do. The covenant that God made with you about 2,000 years ago is that if you heartfully believe in His Son – Jesus Christ, that He will save you from going to Hell. How did God make that covenant with you? God had His only Son – Jesus Christ, suffer and die on a cross. As Jesus Christ died on a cross, God had the body of His Son – Jesus Christ, suffer in your place and had the blood of His Son – Jesus Christ, be poured out to cover all of your sins.
Your grandpaa will tell you a lot about Jesus, what Jesus has done for your grandpaa and for you and the hope that your grandpaa has and which you will have when you invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. Your grandpaa wants to tell you today about another covenant God made. This covenant was made about 4,000 years ago. God made this covenant with a guy named Abram. Moses wrote about this covenant which God made with Abram when he wrote Genesis. You will find this covenant that God made with Abram in Genesis 15. Do you know who Abram was? There is every reason to believe that Abram had a lot of wealth. There is every reason to believe that Abram was getting old. Abram had already made some plans as to what he was going to do with all his money, his animals, his land and all his possessions when he died. Abram was going to give everything to Eliezer. Eliezer may have been one of Abram’s servants. Why would Abram not have wanted to give all his money, his animals, his land and all his possessions to one of his kids? Abram did not have any kids. Did Abram want a kid? Abram really did want a kid. Abram got a visit from God one night. How do you think God visited Abram? God visited Abram in a vision. A vision is like a dream. Abram would remember having talked with God in the vision. God talked to Abram in the vision about what Abram’s future will be like through Abram’s extended family. How would you like to know what your future will be like for you? How would you like to know where you will live when you get old, what you will do and . . . it would be nice to know what one’s life is going to be like in the future. God told Abram what the future was going to be like for him and for his family. What do you think Abram was thinking when he heard God talking about his family when Abram knew that he did not have even one kid? Abram believed what God said to him in the vision. God told Abram in the vision to go outside and to count the stars – and that number of stars would be how guys, gals and kids would be in his extended family. Have you ever tried counting the stars? Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been in places at night where there is nothing to keep them from clearly seeing the stars. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were able to plainly see the path of stars called the Milky Way. There is no way to count all the stars which are in the sky. Abram’s extended family would become a very large family. Abram’s family became God’s specially chosen people – the Israelite people group.
God promised Abram in the vision that He was having Abram have that Abram’s family would become an uber large family. Abram unreservedly believed God. Verse 6 says “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteous.” When God told Abram that He was going to give him a territory of land, did Abram believe God? Abram wanted to know how he would end up with all the land. God asked Abram to bring to Him some animals and birds. Abram was to kill these animals and birds. Abram was then to cut each animal in half but to leave the birds whole. Abram fell asleep when it began to get dark. When it got really dark, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared. This smoking firepot and blazing torch passed between the animals that Abram had cut in half. God – as the blazing torch, showed Abram by walking between the cut animals that what He says He is going to do, He will do. God may never talk to you in a vision but . . . God will talk to you through the Bible. What is He saying to you?
Genesis 15 (45)