"Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward." What a statement! Whatever the intended meaning
was, clearly Abraham took it to mean that God was THE source... the ONLY source
of supply that Abraham would ever need.
It becomes immediately obvious what was important
to Abraham; what he wanted God to give him. He wanted someone to carry on his
name, his line and his land when he was gone. He wanted a son.
It can be reasonably postulated that men hunger
naturally and inexplicably for immortality. Some men sense that they will find
it in fame, others in infamy... and some (apparently) in procreation. Abraham
is our current example of that. The problem: Abraham was too old to have a son
(or so he thought), so he mused that maybe somehow God could bless one of his
closest and most trusted servants (Eliezer) as if he were actually a son. God
had other ideas.
In verse six we read one of the most succinct
doctrinal statements in the Bible. This is the only way that any of us can be
reckoned righteous before God... God must impute it to us. On the basis of
belief - God decrees innocence! Why? Because God values faith! Never lose sight
of that. He only grants justification, innocence, holiness, salvation and
heaven to those who learn to trust Him in this life.
As God commonly does, He immediately gave Abraham a
job to do. God told Abraham to offer a sacrifice of five animals; a heifer, a
female goat, a ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. Abraham cleaved each of the
three larger beasts into two sections (evidently something like a chef would
butterfly a steak). Then he laid them
out along with the two birds... and he waited.
That evening God put Abraham to sleep and made a
one sided covenant with him. Why did God put Abraham to sleep? So he wouldn't
mess anything up? Because he had nothing
to contribute? Because God doesn't need our help in order for Him to do the
things that He is doing? One thing is for sure; as God passed between those
pieces (in the form of a smoking furnace and a burning lamp) He was obligating
Himself to bring His promises to pass. Regardless of Abraham's future and
regardless of the future of his children... ultimately, everything that would
be necessary in producing the SEED of Abraham (which was also the SEED of Eve)
was sure to come to pass. God said so!
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