Count The Stars (Genesis 15)

What did the Lord promise Abram? Did he trust God? How many descendants would Abram have? Did God intend to bless the whole world through a descendant of Abram, Jesus?

Did God visit Abram in a vision? What was his request of God?

After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” (Genesis 15:1-3 WEB)

What was the Lord’s answer? Did Abram trust God? Did he have a high moral character?

The Lord’s word came immediately to him, “This man will not be your heir. Your heir will definitely be your very own biological child.” Then he brought Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you think you can count them.” He continued, “This is how many children you will have.” Abram trusted the Lord, and the Lord recognized Abram’s high moral character. (Genesis 15:4-6 CEB)

How did God ask Abram to prepare before giving him an answer? Should we also spend time in worship while waiting on an answer?

The Lord said to Abram, “I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land.” Abram asked, “Lord God, how can I know the land will be mine?” Then the Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon.” Abram obeyed the Lord. Then he cut the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half. And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away. (Genesis 15:7-11 CEV)

How did God reveal His answer to Abram? Did He speak to Abram in his sleep?

As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Avram; horror and great darkness came over him. Adonai [the Lord, YHWH] said to Avram, “Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. Only in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here, because only then will the Emori [Amorites] be ripe for punishment.” (Genesis 15:12-16 CJB)

How far did the promised land extend? Is that from the Nile to the Euphrates, perhaps the extent of David and Solomon’s reigns? Will that again be Israel’s land when Christ returns?

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:17-21 ESV)

Did Abraham also become our father, to those who have the same faith that he had?

This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all in God’s sight. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. (Romans 4:16-17 HCSB)

Are we who are of that same faith then spiritual children of Abraham, his real descendants?

You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham’s real descendants. (Galatians 3:7 ISV)

What did the Lord promise Abram? Did he trust God? How many descendants would Abram have? Did God intend to bless the whole world through a descendant of Abram, Jesus? You decide!