Genesis 15:1-7 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
After Abrahm’s resounding victory, eating the bread and wine from the priest Mechizedek, offering a tithe and refusing the gifts of Sodom, God spoke to him in a vision instructing him not to be afraid because God would be his shield and also adding that Abram’s reward would be great.
Obviously Abram was afraid because he was worried about retribution from the kings he defeated and he knew he had no children of his own to protect him and his household and continue the lineage in this new land God had promised him.
Also, Abram’s support in battle was his neighbors and friends and they might not always stand with him as they were not of him and therefore outside of God’s protection, Abram could see no hope. That is the reason he responds to God saying that he is forced to make his servant his heir.
It is obvious God blessed Abram because we know it from history but the question that played on my mind was why did God delay in providing Abram a son? This vision was about a quarter century before Sarai bore Abram a son when he was 100 years old! (more…)
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