Genesis 15:1 “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
What was Abram’s consuming fear that the Lord had to tell him “Fear not.”
Let us see what Abram and his consuming fear was all about in the call of Abram. For (Click on) Genesis 12:1-4 says:
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”
You notice Abram was 75 years old when God spoke to him to depart out of Haran. See, the Lord has big plans for Abram because the Lord will make him a great nation and much more. It is written in such a way that this was the first time God ever spoke to Abram, but you have to remember that Abram didn’t grow up in a God-fearing home. Quite the opposite. “Terah, Abraham’s father, was the chief officer or minister of the first king mentioned in the Torah, the mighty King Nimrod of Babylon (also known by its former name, Shinear, and the land of the Chaldees). Terah was an idol worshipper, like his king, and their chief god was the Sun” according to (click on) chabad.com. Yet, being 75 years old, Abram (or Abraham) was sensitive enough to hear the call. For, Abram could have lived like one of satan’s children in his younger years, for all we know because it doesn’t mention it in the Bible. And we know that the Bible is the source of ultimate truth.
How would you like to get that news at 75. And, how would you like to wait 75 years until the Lord spoke with you, and it’s the first time you have ever heard from Him? Recall that instance of the time Jesus healed a blind man. Let us turn in the Holy Word of God to (click on) John 9:1-7:
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”
You mean that the man was blind for years just so that the work of God can be displayed in him? That seems unfair. But who says God is fair as He divides up the trials each one of us faces according to the potential measure of faith we have (1 Corinthians 10:13 — “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”)
Now back to Abram. Abram was 75 years old which means his wife, Sarai, was 65 years old, long past the age of “normal” child birth. In fact, he has to wait another twenty-five years until the promised child of Isaac would be born which would make Abram or Abraham one hundred years of age and 90 for Sarai or Sarah.
Now, only women who got pregnant late in life can understand what Sarai was going through, and even more crucial, that this child of Isaac was the only one when Abraham was promised so many. It seems like God has failed us again, in our own eyes where Abraham was promised so many children.
From Bibleref.com, “Even in this, Abram manages to express faith in God. Those who ask hard questions of God are, in fact, acting in faith. Abram had not ceased to believe. If so, why speak to God, at all? He is not accusing God or rejecting God. Instead, Abram is taking his questions to the source of his hope and waiting, in faith, for God’s answer. . . .”
This comes from Christianity.com, as it says concerning 15:2-6 that “Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram’s complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppose that Abram looked no further than outward comfort, this complaint was to be blamed. But if we suppose that Abram herein had reference to the promised Seed, his desire was very commendable. Till we have evidence of our interest in Christ, we should not rest satisfied; what will all avail me, if I go Christless? If we continue instant in prayer, yet pray with humble submission to the Divine will, we shall not seek in vain. God gave Abram an express promise of a son. Christians may believe in God with respect to the common concerns of this life; but the faith by which they are justified, always has respect to the person and work of Christ. Abram believed in God as promising Christ; they believe in him as having raised him from the dead, (click on) Romans 4:24. Through faith in his blood they obtain forgiveness of sins.”
(Click on) Genesis 15:4-6 gives the promise from the Lord that promises Abram to “Look up at the sky and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’
Now, concern must have gone through Abram’s (now Abraham’s) mind since it turns out that Sarai (now Sarah) and him only had one child, that of Isaac born to them both at the age of 90 for Sarah and 100 for Abraham. And Abraham and Sarah waited a good long time in waiting for that promise to be fulfilled before he slept with Hagar with his wife’s permission to produce the son, Ishmael. That was some 11 years + 9 months before he had slept with Hagar, and some 24 years plus 9 months since Abraham and Sarah had Isaac.
That is a good long time according to us humans; however, not for God as Abraham and Sarah’s prayer was finally heard— “a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir”— after 25 years of waiting and some impossible odds, (for God does impossible things [*click on* Matthew 19:26]) God answers. And answers He does in an impossible way.
Time is cyclical as (click on) Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 states. We need to pray for revival. No matter how long it takes, God the Father will grant our request for revival if it is within His will. In southern Honduras, Hondurans are experiencing revival, as missionaries (click on) Missionaries Barry and Lisa Ritchie which are one of the leaders of the revival in southern Honduras. There are other parts in this world that experience revival too; some places that have outlawed the Bible, such as China. Let’s not be “Johnny come lately” to this one here in America, and remember to “FEAR NOT.”
~ Darren L Beattie, The Soul Blogger of TrueLifeChristianity.com ~
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