As we look at Abram’s conversation with God, let’s remind ourselves that this is our privilege. An amazing aspect of God’s character is His willingness and desire to live in a personal, conversational relationship with us.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”
But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”
He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:1-5)
God Communicates with Us
There are many ways that God communicates with humans. In this instance, God meets Abram in a vision.
One of the most common ways God speaks to us is through the Bible. Have you ever been reading the Bible and the text seemed to jump off the page with importance? This is possibly God speaking to you.
Another way God connects with humans is an intuitive sense that we should do something. To “hear” God this way requires a very sensitive relationship to the inner voice of the Spirit.
There are times when God speaks to humans through another person. The prophets in the Bible fulfilled this function. Listeners to the prophets must test the prophets’ words to make sure they are from God.
They also must test their own motives to be certain they are willing to obey a directive that may contradict their self-interest.
Fear of the Lord
One of my friends was asked if God had ever spoken to him with an audible voice. My friend replied, “No, God hasn’t. He knows that my heart isn’t strong enough for that.”
Abram was called “a friend of God.” However, in this encounter, God prefaced His words with “Do not be afraid, Abram.”
The patriarch was apparently not afraid to engage in the War of the Kings. It was an entirely different experience to meet with God in a vision.
The fear of the Lord is a good thing. It involves a deep appreciation for God’s majesty and power. The proverb is right:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
I think the best way to cultivate the fear of the Lord involves following these admonitions:
- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).
- Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (James 4:10).
- But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves (James 1:22).
A loving, humble, and obedient relationship reflects what is meant by the “fear of the Lord.”
Real Talk
Abram’s conversation with the Lord didn’t sound like a rehearsed prayer from a Sunday morning pulpit. Abram’s prayer was an honest and frank conversation about how God would fulfill His promise.
He asks, will Eliezer, his servant and steward, be his heir? God had delivered his enemies into his hand, but he’s wondering if he’s able to deliver a son into Abram’s household.
Living in the fear of the Lord did not prevent Abram from asking for clarification from God. Neither should it prevent us from asking God to make clear His communication with us.
Look at the dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. They express all sorts of emotions and questions to the Lord. They show us the nature of honest communication.
If the Holy Spirit saw fit to include numerous conversations of all varieties in the Bible, should we not feel free to express genuine emotion and questions to the Lord?
Abram’s Faith
In response to these promises, Abram put his faith in Yahweh. This is the first time that this word appears in the Bible.
And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
Of course, this is not the first time that Abram has put his faith in God’s word. The action of faith preceded the vocabulary of faith.
Let’s not miss the fact that Abram’s faith was not a mere mental assent to propositions about God. His faith was a willingness to leave Haran, follow God wherever He led, and obey His directives.
We are saved by faith, as Paul notes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
In the next verses, Paul made it clear that the kind of faith that God “reckons as righteousness” involves action.
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 