LORD, How are YOU Going to Fulfill YOUR Promise???

“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:2-6 (KJV).

There is a new name for God which comes into the picture at this point. That name is “Lord GOD” or “Adonai YHWH”. The “YHWH” is where we get the word Yahweh or Jehovah. God introduced Himself as Jehovah previously in chapter two as LORD God or Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah is the personal name of God, and this name, as you will see by reading chapter two was during the time we learn of how God made Adam and Eve and names them. With His giving His personal name He gives personal names to His crown of creation. “Adonai” means = master, lord, or ruler. By using “Adonai Jehovah” Abraham is ascribing to the GOD he knows personally, as also being his Master, Lord, and Ruler.

This question is asked with faith. In other words, Abraham has believed the promises of God, and he is curious as to how the promise of an heir is going to come about. The man even offers God a way out. The “steward of my house is this Eliezer…”. “God, you have given me no heir, but there is a man who was born in my house. You could have him as my heir”. I see in this the element of faith. He knows God’s promise, and has not seen it happen yet, so he is concerned about God’s keeping His attributes in tack. It seems that the man would have kept on beliving the Lord GOD, even if he and Sarah adopted Eliezer as their own son. Abraham still had to learn that God says what He means, and means what He says. God will fulfill His Word just as He has spoken it.

God is not pleased when we try and dance around His promises. There are too many professing Christians today who try and do dances around the teaching of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and His death, burial and resurrection. They do dances around it by saying things such as we believe it, then we must keep it by our good works. They do dances around it by taking the glory, by their good works, that belongs only to our Lord and Savior. Then there are those who trample all over the Lord’s promise of grace. They trample upon it by giving license to sin. They would not dare call it that, though, they use a good Biblical term like “Christian liberty or freedom”. Since when does the Christian have license to sin? Never. Christian liberty is for the purpose of growing in Christ, loving Him, following Him, serving Him. Where we were once the servants of sin we are now the servants of righteousness – His righteousness.

“This shall not be thine heir”, God says to Abraham. Your heir will be your’s and Sarah’s own son. God had said it some time ago, but God’s promises never fail. It matters not for how long you wait. God will come through and just at the time that really counts. You and I cannot see the total picture, or the “Big Picture” which God sees. He sees the beginning and the ending. Think of it this way. You have watched the very end, the winning moment of a NASCAR race at Taledega Speedway. You watched that exciting moment while you were at a friends home, and you happened to come in, turned on the TV, and there it was. You had your own recorder on at home recording the whole event, now you see the end. Now you know the end. You can go home turn on your television and recorder/player tivo or what ever you use, and you see a whole lot different race than the one you saw, but you still know who is going to win. Well, God is even better than that. He not only knows the beginning and the end, but He also directs the events that goes on in between. He is involved, and committed to fulfilling His own Word. He will not allow one word to fail, or neglect to accomplish His purposes.

God took Abraham outside of the tent to behold the stars. This would be one of Abraham’s great events in His life. At least it would be to me; for God to speak to me and say, “Look now toward heaven…” that would really mean much to me. I am always looking at the stars in wonder, knowing that such a wonderful matchless, glorious Creator could place that within my eyesight, to behold its beauty, and to glorify His name. Could Abraham number the stars? Can you? Some Scientists have come up with a computer generated guess. I do not recall what that number is, but it is an enormous number. “…If thou be able to number them… so shall thy seed be”. An innumerable amount of people coming from the lineage of Abraham is the promise of God.

Abraham, then, we are told, “Believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness”. This is a tremendous declaration promise. Abraham has done nothing, but believe God, and God declares Abraham “Righteous”. The only way to the righteousness of God is by God declaring us so. He declares us so through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus paid the sin debt that was ours. His burial carried the guilt, the shame, and filth or sin far away, never to be seen again. The bodily resurrection is the evidence that Jesus was victorious on the cross in defeating sin, death, and the devil and his minions of hell. If you do not believe in the only means of atonement for your sin, there is no salvation.