Covenant Keeper
"God takes His promises andours very seriously." [Gangel & Bramer]
Genesis(9) (Part of the Origins(9) series)
by Stuart Johns(16) on February 2, 2025 (Sunday Morning(28))
Eternal(1), God's guidance(1), Promises(3), Salvation(4), Transformation(1)
Sermon Video
Sermon Text
Origins
Covenant Keeper
(Genesis 15:7-21)
INTRODUCTION
“Can you imagine what it would be like to lose three generations of your family in one blinding moment? How would you survive? That happened in 1991 to Jerry Sittser, a professor at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
He, his wife, Lynda, their four children, and his mother, Grace, had been to a Native American powwow in Idaho. As they were returning home, a car with a drunk driver going 85 miles an hour swerved and crashed into them head-on. In an instant Sittser lost his mother, his wife, and their youngest daughter.
In A Grace Disguised, Sittser describes with searing honesty what it was like to be a single father, a teacher, a counselor to others while he himself was a man bereft and torn, slipping into a black hole of oblivion and often simply wanting out.
One night he had a kind of ‘waking dream.’ The sun was setting, and he was frantically chasing after it toward the west, hoping to catch it and bring it back. But it was a losing race. Soon the sun was gone, and he ‘felt a vast darkness closing in.’ [#1 – Young people, what was Sittser chasing after in his “waking dream”?]
Shortly after this, his sister Diane told him that the quickest way to reach the sun is not to go west but instead to head east, to move fully ‘into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.’
It was a counterintuitive insight that helped Sittser find a road to recovery: ‘I discovered in that moment that I had the power to choose the direction my life would head….I decided from that point on to walk into the darkness rather than try to outrun it, to let my experience of loss take me on a journey wherever it would lead, and to allow myself to be transformed by my suffering rather than to think I could somehow avoid it.’”
Source: Leighton Ford, The Attentive Life (Multnomah, 2008), p. 162.
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2008/july/3072108.html]
BODY
ME
Covenant
Thirty-three years and seven months ago Judy and I made a covenant between us and the Lord
It was not just a promise to each other, but a covenant of marriage
The covenant included, “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
It has been the greatest journey of our lives and we are looking forward to the future
Vow
Dedication of our children
When we dedicated our three boys to the Lord we vowed by God’s help and in partnership with the church, to provide our children with a Christian home of love and peace, to raise them in the truth of our Lord’s instruction and discipline, and to encourage them to one day trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
WE
Taking a vow
Some of us have taken the marriage vow, while others have taken a vow of celibacy
If you served or are serving in the military, you took the Oath of Enlistment that states, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” [https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html]
Children
“Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye”
“Pinky promise”
Last week we saw the Lord’s promise that Abram and Sarai would have a son who would be their heir. As we continue with the text today, we will see that God promised Abram the land of Canaan. We will learn from this passage of Scripture that . . .
BIG IDEA – “God takes His promises and ours very seriously.” [Gangel & Bramer, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Genesis, 138]
Let’s pray
GOD (Genesis 15:7-21)
Affirmation (v. 7) [Wiersbe, 82]
Review
We ended last week with Abram trusting the Lord with confidence about having an heir and many offspring
The Lord credited it to Abram as righteousness
The Lord continued His conversation with Abram as we see in verse 7
Notice that the word “LORD” is in all capital letters
In Hebrew it is pronounced Jehovah, which means “the existing One”
[#2 – Young people, what does Jehovah mean?]
It is the proper name of the one true God
The Lord reminded Abram of what He had done in the past
He brought Abram out of his homeland (Ur of the Chaldeans), so that He could give him the Promised Land (Canaan)
God guided him through this sojourn
God had faithfully kept His promise to Abram in the past
“God takes His promises and ours very seriously.”
Application
PRINCIPLE #1 – God’s guidance is good.
God’s guidance of Abram from Ur to Canaan was good
His guidance in our lives is good, too
How has He guided you in the past?
What was the result of His guidance in your life?
What do you need His guidance for right now?
#1 – My Next Step Today Is To: Thank the Lord for guiding me through ___________.
#2 – My Next Step Today Is To: Ask the Lord to guide me through __________.
You can trust that the Lord’s guidance will be good
PRINCIPLE #2 – God keeps His promises.
We highlighted this principle last week, so we will not expand on it today
It is a principle we need to understand and embrace as followers of Jesus Christ – it is who God is
The Lord affirmed what He had done in the past by bringing Abram out of Ur to Canaan
Abram needed a little assurance, though
Assurance (vv. 8-12) [Wiersbe, 82]
Abram’s question
Abram addressed the Lord
In English it is “Lord God” or “Sovereign Lord”
In Hebrew it is Adonai Jehovah
We already know that Jehovah means “the existing One”
Adonai means “my lord” (a sovereign is someone who rules over others)
When we talk about the sovereignty of God, we are saying that God has the right to rule and He rules rightly
Abram addressed God as his Lord, the existing One – he recognized God’s right to rule over his life
Abram wanted to know how he could be sure that he would possess the land that the Lord had promised him
Abram was not doubting that it would happen, rather, he just wanted confirmation of when it would happen
“Abram was looking for confirmation and assurance that he was doing God’s will. We also want assurance when we ask for guidance. But we can know for sure that what we are doing is right if we do what the Bible says. Abram didn’t have the Bible – we do.” [NIV Life Application Bible, footnote for Genesis 15:8, pg. 31]
PRINCIPLE #3 – God’s Word guides us concerning His will.
I don’t know about you, but I am grateful for His Word and the guidance I find there
Romans 12:1-2, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Paul was writing to the believers in Rome, who were familiar with animal and sometimes human sacrifice as part of their worship
“We offer ourselves not ignorantly, like animals brought to slaughter, but intelligently and willingly. This is the worship that pleases God.” [Moo, NIVApp, 395]
“. . . worship doesn’t start or end in church.” [Stedman, 2]
“Worship is the way we live, not what we do on Sunday morning.” [Moo, NIVApp, 397]
So many times you and I try to justify what we put into our bodies whether through our eyes or through our mouths
We don’t really want to be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God
We just want to say a prayer and only read certain parts of Scripture and avoid the parts that would convict us of a need to live holy or to do something different than what we are currently doing
Paul gave two practical steps in offering our bodies as living sacrifices (both steps are in the present tense, which means a continual, ongoing process – every day we need to do these two things
Don’t be conformed (negative)
“The problem with many Christians is they live based on feeling, or they are only concerned about doing. The life based on feelings says, ‘How do I feel today? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about my wife? How do I feel about worship? How do I feel about the preacher?’ This life by feeling will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. The first questions cannot be ‘How do I feel?’ or ‘What do I do?’ Rather, it must be ‘What is true here? What does God’s Word say?’” [Guzik, 3]
Be transformed (positive)
The word translated “transformed” is the word for “metamorphosis”
“If you read the Scriptures just to get insights into theology, or practical tips about parenting or relationships, metamorphosis will not take place because transformation occurs only when we study the Word not for the sake of the Word, but in order to touch the Lord.” [Courson, 971]
#3 – My Next Step Today Is To: Each day, not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by God’s Word, so I can know His will for me.
Abram wanted confirmation and assurance that he was doing God’s will, so he asked the Lord how he would know that he would possess the land
The Lord gave Abram a task
The Lord’s request
The Lord asked Abram to gather some animals
God asked Abram to round up a heifer, a goat, and a ram (all 3 years old) along with a dove and a young pigeon
[#3 – Young people, which two birds did the Lord ask Abram to get?]
The age of the heifer, goat, and ram represented an animal in the prime of life, which was full grown and weaned, ready for service [Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary, 243]
The age of the dove and pigeon are not given, other than the fact that the pigeon was young
Later in Scripture we see that all these animals would be acceptable for sacrifice before the Lord
Perhaps this was foreshadowing things to come
Abram obeyed the Lord
Abram’s obedience and protection
Obedience
He gathered all the animals and cut the heifer, goat, and ram in half and then arranged the halves opposite to each other
He did not cut the birds in half, but placed the dove and pigeon opposite of each other
Protection
There is probably some symbolism represented in verses 10 & 11
The heifer, goat, ram, dove, and pigeon probably represented Abram’s descendants
Often in Scripture, birds of prey represent evil
The tense of the noun may mean that the birds of prey represented either Pharaoh or the Egyptians [Waltke, 243]
They would try to stunt or stop the emergence of the Israelites
Abram is protecting his descendants
Abram drove off the birds of prey as the sun was setting
During this time we see that Abram’s physical and emotional state changed
Abram’s physical and emotional state
He went from being a defender to a dreamer
The Lord probably allowed him to fall into a deep sleep
Think back to Genesis 2, when no suitable helper was found for Adam
Genesis 2:21-22, So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The same Hebrew word is used in both Gen. 2 & 15
His emotional state
A thick and dreadful darkness came over Abram
Abram is frightened/terrified
[#4 – Young people, circle the emoji that shows how Abram felt.]
In Scripture, fear is one of the emotions humans experience when the presence of the Lord comes down or is near – so this is perhaps part of the dreadful darkness that Abram experienced
He is also terrified by what he hears concerning his descendants – they will be enslaved and mistreated in Egypt
My guess is that all of us would experience a similar emotional state if the Lord came down to meet us and shared gloomy or difficult news about our descendants
Abram asked how he could be sure his descendants would possess the land and the Lord gave him instructions to set the stage for the “cutting of the covenant”
“God takes His promises and ours very seriously.”
The Lord shared the future with Abram concerning himself and his descendants
Anticipation (vv. 13-21) [Wiersbe, 82]
Foretelling the future
Abram himself (v. 15)
The Lord explained that Abram would experience peace in his lifetime
He would not experience the hardships that his descendants would go through
He would also not participate personally in inhabiting the land God had promised him [Gangel & Bramer, 137]
He would live to a good old age
How many of us would welcome this kind of news from the Lord? (we would live to a good old age and experience peace the rest of our lives)
That would not be the case for Abram’s descendants, though
Abram’s descendants (vv. 13-14, 16a)
The Lord’s prophecy about Abram’s descendants was grim, but hopeful
Grim
They would be strangers in a foreign country (Egypt)
Genesis 46:5-6, Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt.
They would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years
Read Exodus 1:6-14
While Abram’s descendants would be foreigners in another country and enslaved and mistreated, the Lord would not forget them – He would rescue them
Hopeful
The Lord would punish the nation where Abram’s descendants served as slaves (Egypt)
Exodus 7:14-12:33 outline the ten plagues that the Lord inflicted on the Egyptians (blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of Egyptian livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, & death of the firstborn)
They will leave the country (Egypt) with great possessions
In Exodus 3:21-22, the Lord told Moses at the burning bush that the Israelites would plunder the Egyptians
Exodus 12:35-36, The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
They would return to the Promised Land/Canaan (Joshua 3:17-4:1)
We’ve learned about Abram and his descendant’s future and now we will learn about the future of the inhabitants of Canaan
Inhabitants of Canaan (16b, 19-21)
The Lord told Abram that the reason he would not immediately take possession of the land is because the sin of Amorites (em-o-ree’) had not yet reached its full measure
The Amorites
The title, “Amorites” in this passage would be a general term for all the inhabitants of the land
The Amorites were considered “the most powerful tribe of the Canaanites” [Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 1, The Pentateuch, 138]
In verses 19-21 the narrator listed ten nations, which included the Amorites
“Since the number ten often symbolizes completeness, the ten nations named may be representative of the entire occupants.” [Mathews, The New American Commentary, Vol. 1B, Genesis 11:27-50:26, 177]
[Show the Greater Israel map]
Kenites (kay-nee’), “smiths” [this is the tribe that Moses father-in-law was a member of; they lived in the area between southern Palestine and the mountains of Sinai]
Kenizzites (ken-iz-zee’), “descendant of Kenaz”
Kadmonites (kad-mo-nee’), “easterners”
Hittites (khit-tee’), “descendant of Heth” [Heth was the 2nd son of Canaan; once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey), later in north Lebanon]
Perizzites (per-iz-zee’), “belonging to a village” [inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest]
Rephaites (raw-faw’/raf-i-ee’), [old tribe of giants]
Amorites (em-o-ree’), “a sayer” [lived in east Canaan and beyond the Jordan]
Canaanites (ken-ah-an-ee’), “zealous”
Girgashites (ghir-gaw-shee’), “dwelling on a clayey soil” [descendants of Canaan; one of the nations living east of the sea of Galilee when the Israelites entered the promised land]
Jebusites (yeb-oo-see’/yev-oo-see’), “descendants of Jebus” [descendants of the 3rd son of Canaan; live in or around the site of Jebus, the early name for Jerusalem]
These ten nations were probably a representation of the all the nations that lived in the land at the time
The most powerful tribe, the Amorites, represented the sins of all the nations that lived there
The sin of the Amorites
What were the sins of the people living in the land?
“From Canaanite literature, we have learned that the worshipers of many of the Canaanite deities participated in such degraded practices as atrocities in warfare and promiscuity in sexual matters—all in the name of religion.” [Gangel & Bramer, 137]
They were involved in violence against their enemies and sleeping around, freely
Full measure
The Lord told Abram that the “Amorites” were sinning, but their sin would not reach its full measure for 400 years
The nations would not be totally saturated with sin until 400 years had passed
“. . . the Canaanites were not yet ripe for the sentence of extermination.” [Keil & Delitzsch, 138]
We see this same principle in the book of Revelation (Read Revelation 6:9-11)
PRINCIPLE #4 – God is forbearing, long-suffering, and merciful.
Because God is all-knowing (omniscient), He knew that eventually the “Amorites” would reach the point of no return, regarding their sin, but 400 years!
Other examples of God’s forbearance
It took Noah a maximum of 75 years to build the ark before the Lord destroyed the earth by flood waters
The Lord waited to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until he was satisfied that there were not even ten righteous people there (Genesis 18:32)
God waited to drive the Israelites out of the promised land until their iniquities had become full (Deut. 28:36-37; 2 Kings 24:14; 25:7)
God is forbearing, long-suffering and merciful with us too
Read 2 Peter 3:3-15
The Lord wants everyone of us to come to repentance, so we will not experience the destruction of ungodly people
I want to encourage you to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ
He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and was obedient to His Father’s plan and purpose for Him by dying on the cross and being raised on the third day
Jesus became sin for us, so that God the Father would see us as righteous through Jesus’ blood (2 Cor. 5:21)
We are all born sinners and deserve to be separated from God for all of eternity in a place called hell (Rom. 3:23; 6:23)
We can be saved from eternal separation by confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart
Romans 10:9-10, That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
#4 – My Next Step Today Is To: Thank the Lord for His forbearance and accept His salvation by believing in Jesus.
God is not only perfectly forbearing, long-suffering, and merciful, but He is also perfectly just
PRINCIPLE #5 – God is just.
God used the Israelites to punish and dispossess the nations from the Promised Land, because of their failure to repent
“Retribution against their sins, only at “its full measure” attests that judgment is neither capricious nor unwarranted (cf. 18:20-25).” [Mathews, 175]
“When stubborn disobedience passes the point of no return, God punishes the sinner.” [Gangel & Bramer, 137]
The Lord did not make a decision to destroy these nations, flippantly
“God is his mercy was giving the Amorites plenty of time to repent, but he already knew they would not. At the right time, they would have to be punished. Everything God does is true to his character. He is merciful, knows all, and acts justly – and his timing is perfect.” [NIV Life Application Bible, footnote for Genesis 15:16]
Application
Over the past generation(s), the church has allowed the pendulum to swing so far toward God’s attribute of love and mercy, to the point that we have forgotten about His justice
We only want to view sinners and sin through the lens of love – we need to love everyone, no matter their sin
We hear people say that they could never believe or become a follower of a God who allows bad things to happen to people
It is arrogant for us to believe that we know better than a omnipotent, omniscient, eternal God
That belief strips God of His proper place in humanity – it strips God of His holiness and sovereignty
Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
He is infinite and we are finite
My concern is that we are “loving” sinners right into hell
The most loving thing we can do is share the truths of God’s Word with them in a loving way
We would call a scientist/doctor unloving and not caring if they had the cure for cancer, but refused to share it with the rest of the world
We have the cure for sin, and the most loving thing we can do with family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers, is to share the Gospel with them, to share the truths of God’s Word with them
It is up to them whether to accept the cure or reject it
I am grateful that we serve a God who is forbearing, long-suffering, merciful, and just
Abram learned about his future, his descendants future, and the future of the nations in Canaan
Through all of this we see that God is eternal
PRINCIPLE #6 – God is eternal.
It means that God has no beginning or ending. He is not affected by time. He has already lived your tomorrows
That is why He was able to tell Abram about the future
He knows all about our future, because He has already been there
We can worship the Lord for being eternal
The final thing we see in this passage is the Lord “cutting the covenant”
Cutting the covenant (v. 17-18)
The Lord’s presence
The Lord manifested Himself in the image of the smoking firepot with a blazing torch
[#5 – Young people, what form did God take when He appeared to Abram?]
In Scripture, fire often represents God’s presence
Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:2)
The Lord leading the Israelites after leaving Egypt with a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud during the day (Exodus 13:20-22)
Moses & the Israelites at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:16-19)
What seemed to be tongues of fire resting on the Apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2:3)
The Lord passed between the pieces of the animals
“. . . Ephraem Syrus (1, 161) observes, that God condescended to follow the custom of the Chaldeans, that He might in the most solemn manner confirm His oath to Abram the Chaldean.” [Keil & Delitzsch, 137
The covenant was unilateral (God passing between) instead of bilateral (both God and Abram passing between), meaning that God would be accountable for the covenant [Hamilton, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, 437]
Passing between the animal pieces meant that the Lord was the One making the covenant with Abram
The Lord’s promise/covenant
The Hebrew word for “made” literally means “cut”
The Lord was “cutting the covenant”
The covenant was confirmed that the Lord would give the land from the river Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates
Scholars are torn about which river represents the river of Egypt
Some believe it is the Nile River in Egypt [show the Greater Israel map]
Others believe it is the Wadi el-Arish [show the Border of Promised Land map]
The location is not imperative to the narrative
The boundaries listed here do not correspond to Israel’s history
“Solomon exercised dominion over a vast area (1 Kings 4:21; Ps. 72:8), but Israel did not possess all that land. . . . When Jesus Christ reigns from the throne of David (Matt. 19:28; Luke 1:32), the land of Israel will reach the full dimensions promised by God.” [Wiersbe, 82]
I am looking forward to that day!
PRINCIPLE #7 – God’s covenant stands regardless of humanity’s acceptance.
This is true of the covenant between God and Abram
It is also true of the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ between God and humanity
“Those who put their faith in Jesus Christ enter into that covenant and receive eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9; 9:12), an eternal inheritance (9:15), and eternal glory (1 Peter 5:10).” [Wiersbe, 83]
God always keeps His promises
“God takes His promises and ours very seriously.”
YOU
What do you need to thank the Lord for guiding you through?
What do you need to ask the Lord to guide you through?
Are you ready to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by God’s Word, so you can know His will?
Today can be the day that you thank the Lord for His forbearance and accept His salvation by believing in Jesus.
WE
What do we need to thank the Lord for guiding us through?
What do we need to ask the Lord to guide us through?
CONCLUSION
“Ian Leitch writes in Life Before Death! A Restored, Regenerated, and Renewed Life:
A businessman asked me if I would speak to his staff, and I readily accepted. One of his staff asked me if we could talk privately. She said, ‘Ian, when I was 22, I was in a serious car accident, and my boyfriend was killed. I have gone through a lot of surgery and am now doing well. When that happened, I lost my faith.’
What do you say to someone like that? Well, I prayed and I said, as kindly as I could, ‘You know, when they built the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the QE2, they did not test them in dry dock. They didn't leave them in dry dock and get big hoses on them to see if they would leak. They got those ships out into the open ocean to put them through sea trials. These trials were not intended to sink the ship. These trials were to prove that the ship was seaworthy. The only way you can know whether your faith is real or not is when the pressures of life come, when you go through trials. Then you know if you are seaworthy or not. Can I ask you honestly, did you lose your faith or did you find you had none?’
She said, ‘Ian, I guess you are right, I had none.’”
Source: Ian Leitch, Life Before Death! A Restored, Regenerated, and Renewed Life (Green Acres Press, 2007).
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2008/december/5120808.html]
