Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.” He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.””
(Genesis 15:4-7)

God clarifies the way the promise will be fulfilled, but He does it without details. He simply confirms the type of miracle that will fulfill the promise. Abram does not need to look elsewhere for the fulfillment. It will come about naturally in that it will be an heir produced by him through his wife Sarai – or at least it can be presumed that it will be from Sarai since not a word is spoken (ever) about Abram taking another wife. Remember, Abram wasn’t doubting, he was asking for something to hold onto while he believed.

God took Abram outside and gave him a picture that he could refer to every night. There was something he could look to and remind himself of God’s promise. A promise that wasn’t small. A promise that was HUGE. A promise that was almost beyond imagining. Remember that this was before widespread light pollution. A MASSIVE amount of stars could be seen by Abram in the night sky. Abram had already been given the illustration of descendants as numerous as the dust of the Earth (Genesis 13:16). Now he had a visible illustration to look toward day and night. God had made sure that the promise would ALWAYS be before Abram’s eyes no matter where or when he found time to think about them.

Abram chose to believe God. Without evidence. Without details. Without deep explanation. Abram would have a biological child and through that child he would have so many offspring that they would not be able to be accurately counted. They would fill the entire world. This trust in God’s words is what justified Abram in God’s eyes (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 4:1-5). This same trust, but placed in Jesus and His finished work, is what brings us into salvation and a place were we are righteous in God’s eyes (2 Corinthians 5:21). By trusting God’s word – like Abram did – we are enabled to be grafted into the promises of God to Abram, members of the family, his descendants – spiritually, not physically (Romans 11:17-32). It is by trusting God that ALL can become part of God’s family (Jew first, and then Gentile). Note that Abram fully believed the promise at this time and THAT is the trust that justified him. Not actions. Not obedience. Full belief in God’s word. Period.

God does more than promise us things. God identifies Himself as THE giver of promises. THE provider of BLESSING. It is part and parcel of who God IS. It is part of His moral character. You cannot separate the promise from God or God from the promise. They are one and the same. He always speaks truth and He always brings the promise to pass (Isaiah 14:27; Proverbs 19:21; Psalm 33:11).

Abram was so blessed by the answer of the Lord that he was content. He stopped asking. Considering the age of Abram (about 85 years old), it wouldn’t have been disbelief to clarify a little more. His wife was only a few years younger than he was. Would she be the mother? Would he find another wife? These are reasonable questions to ask without in any way nearing unbelief. Abram stopping before he got a sense of the whole picture (not even needing all the details and reasons) opened the door for problems down the road – which could have been avoided by asking before acting, but we’ll get there soon enough.

This verse shows that God started speaking to Abram when he was in Ur, not when he was in Haran. Abram was SLOW to obey the Lord. But he DID obey and continued to obey until he was full of belief in the Lord that was so strong not even potential death could shake him.

The sage Radak writes: ‘ויאמר אליו, G’d continued speaking to him, in order to reinforce his faith that the promises would be fulfilled. ‘אני ה, He had not previously mentioned His name Hashem, the Essence, to Avram. When G’d mentioned this name of His now, it was not to inform Avram that this was His true name, His Essence. Avram had been familiar with that name from the time he had first gotten to know G’d. He only mentioned it now to tell Avram that He would keep His promise in His capacity of Hashem. It is as if G’d had said: “I swear by My name Hashem.” אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים, it was not for nothing that I have taken you out of that environment, but in order to give you this land to inherit it. G’d meant that Avram’s descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. The relationship between this land and Avram would become comparable to the inheritance a father leaves to his sons.’

The sage Rabbeinu Bahya writes: ‘אני ה’ אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים, “I am the Lord Who has taken you out of Ur Casdim, etc.” According to Nachmanides G’d referred to the time commencing with His saving Avram miraculously from the furnace of Nimrod. Ever since Avram had enjoyed G’d’s goodwill and He had intended to give the land of Canaan to him. What G’d said here did not mean that He was now going to give the land to Avram but that the reason He had saved Avram from Ur Casdim was in order to eventually give it to him. In view of all this, Avram was concerned that the promise of inheriting the land should not be subject to conditions which his descendants might not be able to meet. Although G’d had repeatedly referred to Avram’s descendants as receiving the land, he was afraid that some sin might prevent realisation of this promise and this is why he asked: “how will I know that I will indeed inherit it?” He had not meant to ask for a miracle or a physical sign. G’d did not respond to him as He had done when He showed him other signs. Avram was only interested in receiving an ironclad assurance that neither sins by his descendants nor repentance of their evil deeds by the Canaanites would invalidate G’d’s promise. G’d therefore concluded a covenant with him to confirm what He had said and that he or his descendants would definitely inherit the land of Canaan.’