Friday, December 14, 2007

God's Covenant with Abraham



COVENANT with ABRAHAM
Genesis 15:5, 16, 17
Genesis 15:5: “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.’”


God gave Abram a covenant. (Who’s name God later changed to Abraham.) The covenant between God and Abraham was to multiply Abraham exceedingly. That means he’d have scads of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. More numerous than the stars in the sky. Problem was, Abraham’s wife, Sarah was barren. How would God keep His promise to Abraham when his wife couldn’t conceive even one child?

This covenant, (or agreement, promise, bond, pact, or contract) made Sarah and Abraham uneasy. WHEN, God? HOW, God? Sarah was not able to conceive. They had no idea how this promise would be fulfilled.

We see things through human eyes. God sees things through Eternal eyes. He has infinite, uncompromising, all-knowing eyes that we cannot fathom. Often God gives us a promise that we don’t understand how it’s going to happen. We can’t see the how or the when.

But God is our omnipresent Father. He is everywhere at once. He is omniscient, knowing all things. He is omnipotent, that’s all powerful. When He gives us a promise, it WILL come to pass. Sometimes it takes all our faith to embrace the promise and believe its truth.

That’s what life is all about: faith and belief in what’s unseen. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

So when you read in the Bible about God’s promise, you can believe it. Often people break their word, but when God says something, it is absolutely true. God cannot lie. He never says things to tease. He doesn’t treat us like kids; we’re all His children. He gives us promises so that we can have hope in our future.

Take Home Nugget
Abraham was promised more descendants than the number of stars in the sky. But he and Sarah were past child bearing age. That was their problem. God provided Isaac in answer to their problem. Isaac was Abraham’s link to spawning the Jewish nation. Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, became father of many nations. Abraham was indeed the father of more people than the number of stars in the sky!

God’s promises are true.
Sometime we haven’t a clue
How He makes things flow
Better than we’ll ever know.
J.D. Griffith
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