Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Genesis 15:4-5 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
COUNT THEM IF YOU CAN
At the LORD's invitation Abram has poured out his heart to God. He's confessed that he has serious doubts as to whether the LORD will actually, physically give him and Sarah a son. The LORD's response is not to reprimand Abram for his lack of faith, but to encourage him. The Lord does this with the means He has always used to strengthen faith: His word of promise. But, this time, to the spoken word He adds a visual.
The brilliant night sky is not only one of the most striking things about living in or near a desert of the Middle East, but this is a visual aid that will repeat itself night after night before the upraised eyes of the Patriarch. The Lord who made the stars drafts them into His service and presents them to Abram as a special constant reminder that He can and will keep His every promise.
When the LORD told Abram to "look up at the heavens and count the stars," He not only gave the Patriarch a recurrent reminder that He would truly keep His word -- though that word fly in the face of what was humanly possible -- He also urged Abram to look away from himself to the One who made the stars and to remember that from His Creator came all his blessings, including that redemption from sin and death that would be brought about by the Seed of the woman, the world's Redeemer, the One in whom all nations would be blessed.
In faith Abram looked forward to the day of Christ (we have Jesus' word on that in John 8), for God fixed Abram's faith not just on His promises, but on THE PROMISE, the one central to them all: the promise of the Savior from sin.
Let us follow Father Abraham.
