Summary of Genesis 15:1-6:
God came to Abram and said, “Do not be afraid.” Abram questioned God since he had no children yet. God tells him he will have a son to inherit the land and that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars. Abram believed the Lord, and God credited it to Abram as righteous.
BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 10, Day 2: Genesis 15:1-6
3) God is our shield and God rewards. Many places in the Bible God is called our shield. When times are tough, God will shield you.
Reward in the Bible.
4) I’m not sure it did. After all, Abram follows up God’s promise with a doubt. Although, Abram was probably afraid of retaliation by the 4 kings, and he did just give up a fair amount of riches (although he’s rich enough). God is our ultimate reward.
5a) He believed the Lord’s promise of an heir.
b) When you believe in God, you are made righteous by grace through faith, so you can then stand before God in His presence. Abram believed God’s promise of an heir and descendants, so he was then credited or made righteous before God. The same holds true for us today.
6) Personal Question. My answer: God comes to us when we need Him the most. He knows our doubts without us speaking. He knows when we need to hear Him. Hu understands we need to hear things more than once to believe. He is gracious. This is comforting, indeed.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 10, Day 2: Genesis 15:1-6
I love how God just appears to Abram for the sole purpose of comforting him and allaying his fears. God does this today for us if we will listen close enough.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 10, Day 2: Genesis 15:1-6
God spoke to people in many different ways in OT times: voice, vision, dreams, angels, the Holy Spirit, and through others. Here, it’s a vision.
Abram was probably afraid of retribution by the four kings. Do not fear, God says. He will protect Abram (be his shield) and He will be his reward (since he just gave up the plunder and reward from the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:21-24)). Interestingly, God did not tell him to do this; yet, Abram may be regretting it here.
Eliezer of Damascus was Abram’s servant.
Abram dismissed God’s promises here because he was concerned about a son. He tells God that he wants to believe him, yet he doubts. It’s okay to doubt God when you want to believe Him. It’s not okay to doubt God because you reject Him.
Abram tells God how he feels honestly. This is a great prayer example for us today.
Abram is still waiting for God’s promise of a son Genesis 12:2 and 13:15-16. Still, God reaffirms this promise, but Abram has another 15 years before the birth of Isaac.
God makes this promise crystal clear; it would be a physical son. We often misunderstand God’s promises.
He would have millions of descendents.
God’s Righteousness
This last sentence can be confusing. Abram believed the Lord; the Lord credited this as righteousness to Abram. This is the righteousness you have when you believe in God and believe God. There is a righteousness on your own accord. This is not that one. This is God granting it.
The Message says this, “6 And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.” Righteousness is right with God.
Here, we see the truth of salvation by grace through faith. We see this verse quoted 4 other times in the Bible:
This fact will be used to discredit the notion that you had to be circumcised to be righteous before God since Abram had not yet been circumcised here (Genesis 17).
Fun Facts: This is the first time believe and righteousness are used in the Bible.