The Promise Of Offspring

REVIEW

The Seed, Christ, was passed down through Abram who had been promised all these things. God had spoken it to him, but nothing had happened yet. In Genesis 13, Abram and Lot had acquired so many possessions that they had to split up and go different directions. In Genesis 14, Abram came to the rescue of Lot, who had been captured. Melchizedek, the “priest to God Most High” (Genesis 14:18), met with Abram. Jesus, on the road to Emmaus, explained to the disciples all that the Scriptures said about Him (Luke 24:27), and this could be one of the things He would have talked about. Melchizedek was a type of Christ––not Christ but a picture of Him. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is there someone who was both a king and a priest. And that is exactly who Jesus Christ is—He is both the Priest and the King.

TEACHING

Genesis 15:1: “After these events . . .…” To understand this phrase, look back at the events in Genesis 14. Abram heard that Lot had been taken prisoner, so Abram assembled 318 trained men. He led them in pursuit to Dan, attacked, and then pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus (v. 15). Abram brought Lot, his goods, and his family back home. After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the three kings (v. 17), Melchizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave Melchizedek “a tenth of everything” (vv. 19–20). This is one of the verses that supports the concept of the tithe—or giving ten percent to God.

The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. “Do not be afraid.” After you go through battles, you usually feel confident. But Abram lived in a state of fear of the kings’ retaliation. Isn’t it amazing how God knows our hearts so much and speaks right to us? God wants us to know, “I’m with you, but you have to walk this out!” God is our shield and our great reward. I think when God said, “Your reward will be very great,” He was turning the corner and would now begin to fulfill the seven promises to Abram.

Genesis 15:2: Abram responded: “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless?” For some reason, Abram responded with doubt. Abram didn’t necessarily believe God’s promise that those seven things would come true. Maybe he was thinking about the possibility of military retaliation and what would happen since he didn’t have an heir, but only had Eliezer his servant. Here, this man of faith still doubted even though he had encountered God. He was like a surging sea (James 1:6). We cannot function in faith and doubt at the same time. Abram had heard the promise, but in the moment, he saw nothing—no heir and no son.

Genesis 15:3: Abram pointed out that since he had no offspring, one of his slaves would be his heir. Practically, if there were no children in the household, the slave became the heir. The Seed would then have come through Eliezer.

Genesis 15:4: But God responded that Abram’s heir would come from his own body. The Seed, Christ, physically came from Abram’s body. God used human beings by faith to continue His Seed. Look back at Genesis 12:7. God promised the land to Abram’s “offspring.” “Offspring” here means “seed” –– Abram’s own children. Abram had allowed fear to get in the way. I believe this, again, is the pre-incarnate Christ (Genesis 13:15–16). Over and over, in Genesis 12, 13, and 15, God’s message was, “Abram, you’re going to have offspring!”

Genesis 15:5: “He took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘Your offspring will be that numerous.’” I love the visual. God is so practical. Sometimes I pray through how I want to leave a legacy in my life here on earth. How do I want my kids to perceive who I am? I don’t want to be just the fun dad. I want to be known as the guy that my kids say, “My dad functioned by faith.” When you walk by faith and believe the things that God has spoken into your life, I believe God will honor that.

Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” Tom Constable, among others, said this “righteousness” means Abram trusted the Lord, established himself in the Lord, or he confirmed himself in the Lord.1 Most commentators say that this righteousness is based on God and not Abram. This righteousness had nothing to do with works.

It was because Abram believed God. How do we know? Scripture confirms it. Hebrews 11:8 states, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance” Abram believed God. Romans 4:11 says Abram was the father of all who believed, not based on what he did, but simply because he believed. The only way our righteousness is credited is because we believe. There was something deposited in Abram, and this seed started to grow a little bit stronger, and he started to believe God.

Genesis 15:7: “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Genesis 15:8: But Abram asked for some proof from God! It was much like Gideon, who asked for the fleece to be wet when the ground was dry, and then dry when the ground was wet. He asked, “Lord, would you confirm this?”

Genesis 15:9–11: God told Abram to bring a three-year-old cow, goat, and ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. God gave Abram the instructions. Abram cut all these animals in half except the birds.

Genesis 15:12–15: This is considered the second component of Abram’s vision. Great terror and darkness descended on Abram. God told Abram, “Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.” In Genesis 12:1–3, God gave a general promise to Abram. In Genesis 15:5–6, it became more specific. God said Abram’s offspring would not get the land for 400 years. Abram, who was promised the Seed, Christ, would be a blessing to so many people, was even told how he was going to die. It went from a general prophecy over his life to a specific word.

Genesis 15:16: “In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Why 400 years? It was all about timing. God gave the Amorites time to continue in their sin. And let’s look at this from another angle. Not only did the Amorites need time, Abram needed time for his offspring to grow, to become as the stars in the sky, to become as many as the sand on the shore. The children of Abram wouldn’t be numerous enough to possess the land. Abram’s offspring needed time to be fruitful and multiply. In our culture, we’re such a microwave society that we want to “take the land” right now. But the bigger picture of the Lord needs time, so the seed doesn’t always have to happen right away. Calling attention to a planting of a seed deposited in the ground, I want to point out that the seed doesn’t just shoot up right away. It has to have time to germinate. And the promise of God over Abram needed time to germinate.

Genesis 15:17: The Lord made a covenant with Abram with no conditions based on Abram. Has God brought this to fruition yet today and given the entire land to the Israelites? Not all of it. In 1948, they were given only some of the land back. I get excited because the Old Testament is not done yet. Israel is not done yet. God’s covenant with Abram is not done and hasn’t been completely fulfilled.

CLOSING

Bob Deffinbaugh, who writes for Bible.org, says, “Faith is seldom strengthened by success but by believing God in the midst of delays and difficulties.”2 Abram didn’t see a whole lot of what God promised him, and yet he still walked by faith. God needed the people of Israel to be strong. It is in delay and difficulties that our faith is strengthened. And all I know is that it started all the way back in Genesis when God set this all in motion with the Seed. Roman 8:31–39 reminds us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”