This is Connect with Skip Heitzig, and we're so glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig is all about connecting you to the never-changing truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching. Before we get started, we want to invite you to check out connectwithskip.com to find resources like full message series, sermon outlines, and more. While you're at it, be sure to sign up to receive Skip's weekly devotional emails right in your inbox. When you do, we'll send you Skip's booklet, Hell No, Don't Go. This insightful resource will help you gain a deeper understanding of what awaits believers in heaven and unbelievers in hell. It's an encouragement for those who have said yes to Jesus and a sobering picture for those who have not.
Get your copy when you sign up today at connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Well, every single thing and every single person has a beginning, save one person, and that is God Himself, who has no beginning and no end, who is eternal. But everything has a beginning, an origin, and the book of Genesis is the book of origins. We have seen the origin, the beginning of the creation of the universe. We've seen the beginning, the origin of mankind, the origin of marriage, the origin of sin in the Garden of Eden.
We've then seen God's origin of salvation, how He immediately went to work with His plan, known to Him from the beginning of the world, to bring a Savior into the world, who would, in the words of Genesis, crush the head of the serpent. Now to do that, it was in God's plan to begin a nation, and we have the origin of the nation of Israel. That's really in the scope of our consideration in Genesis chapter 15, really in the life of Abram. Abram, a pagan worshiper who lived in Iraq, Ur of the Chaldees, called by God to leave his hometown and go to a land, the land of Canaan, inhabited by Canaanites, chiefly the Amorites.
He was called to go there when he obeyed God's command and invitation to come and be blessed in that land. It began what we call the patriarchal era, or the patriarchal stage of history. From around 2165 B.C.
to 1804 B.C. is this patriarchal stage where we look at Abram, who became Abraham, his son Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes. As they began, that's the patriarchal era. So we are finding the beginning of the nation of Israel, that's important to God's plan, because they will become the receptacle for the Messiah, the Jewish Messiah who fulfills Scripture to come and be the Savior of the world. All of that is found in Genesis, and that's what we're uncovering as we do it chapter by chapter. Tonight we're in chapter 15 of the book of Genesis.
Now in chapter 14, we saw that Abram began a very heroic rescue operation. You see, there were these four kings who went to war with five kings. Four kings in the north, they formed a coalition. Now when I say kings from the patriarchal era, they were really like mayors, mayors of a city. They controlled a town, they were the king of the town, but they would form coalitions and become nations. Four kings from the lineage of Ham against five kings from the lineage of Shem.
So we have the Hamites versus the Shemites, and it's different than the Hatfields versus the McCoy's. This was an area the four kings dominated and had for 12 years these five kings, Semitic kings, paying money, tax money, tribute money to these four kings, under the headship of one guy named Kedor Leomer. In the 13th year of that taxation agreement, the five kings revolted against the four, which caused the four, under the leadership of Kedor Leomer, to come and take siege of those five.
And boy did they clean house. They took spoils of war with them, they rounded up people, hostages, and they took them captive. Caught in the crossfire of this international conflict was the nephew of Abram named Lot. He gets taken as part of the captives. He's a refugee, a POW.
So what does Abram do? In an unprecedented and tremendously courageous effort, he takes 318 army men, they're really servants in his household, he gives them weapons and he says, we're going to war boys. And he raids the coalition of the four kings at nighttime and in an unprecedented victory, is able to win the battle, take back the spoils, including Lot, and let the captives go free. When returning from that battle, he meets with an unusual king, the king of Salem, called Melchizedek.
Remember him? He's the monarch of Salem, the mysterious monarch named Melchizedek, if you want to remember him that way. He's the king of Salem. When Abram meets Melchizedek, Melchizedek gives him bread and wine, and Abram pays tithes to Melchizedek, gives him money, honoring him, if you will, worshipping him. In the very least, Melchizedek is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some believe it is actually the Lord Jesus Christ as a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in the Old Testament.
I'll let you argue that and debate that, or take whatever position you want. So he meets Melchizedek, the magnificent monarch of Salem, but he also meets another king, and this is where we left off, and this is all important to chapter 15, verse 1. The second monarch is King Berah of Sodom. Now I'm really thrilled to be going through this, because just yesterday I was on the phone to one of our fellow church members who is right now excavating biblical Sodom, Dr. Stephen Collins. And he's now in his fifth season uncovering that city, the city of Sodom, where King Berah was. So Abram meets the king of righteousness, that's what Melchizedek means, and let's call Berah the king of rottenness.
He's the king of Sodom, so the king of Salem and the king of Sodom are met. The king of Sodom, that corrupt city, corrupted says before the Lord, King Berah offered to give to Abram a sum of money, sort of as a reward, a thanksgiving reward for fighting the battle, letting his people come back to Sodom, and bringing back the spoils of war. Abram declines the reward. I don't want it.
I don't even want a token. I don't want anybody to say that Abram was made rich by somebody else. So he refuses the reward, and that's all important to the first verse of chapter 15, after these things. Oh, and by the way, if you were wondering, we're not going to make it through chapter 16, because if I don't say that, you might get worried around the end of chapter 15 thinking, I know Skip, and he might just plow through 16, but I won't do that. This is too important a chapter to go fast in. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.
And notice what he said. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.
Isn't that beautiful? I refuse the reward of man. I don't want anybody to say that you made Abram rich. God says, don't be afraid. I am your protection.
I am your exceedingly great reward. Why did God begin by the phrase, don't be afraid? Well, I think it's pretty easy to answer that. It's probably because Abram was afraid. So you don't walk up to somebody and go, don't be afraid, unless you sense that they are fearful. Now, so far in Genesis, I have told you every time we come to a first mention of something, I tell you the first time it's mentioned. Here is the very first mention of a familiar biblical phrase, do not be afraid or fear not. You'll find it about 70 plus times in the Bible.
This is the very first time we find it. Do not be afraid or fear not. Well, it begs the question, what would Abram have to be afraid of?
Let me give you a few suggestions. Number one, you notice that it says God spoke to him in a vision. Have you noticed that so often in the Bible when an angel appears or the angel of the Lord appears or the Lord appears himself or there's some kind of a vision that people get fearful? They see an angel and they freak out and so the angel has to immediately say, now don't be afraid because they're scared stiff.
Don't be afraid. When Daniel had the vision in chapter 10 of that book of the angel giving him messages of the future, he said, I grew weak and my face took on a deathly pale. He just became so fearful. When John in Revelation chapter 1 gets a vision of the glorified Lord, that beautiful picture of the risen, the resurrected, the resplendent Christ, it says, when I saw him, I fell on my feet as a dead man. It was just too much. And I suppose that to get a vision from God where you're hearing his voice and seeing something would be a fearful experience.
So number one, it could be that. That he saw the vision and he was afraid at seeing that. It was unusual. It was noteworthy. And so God just begins by saying, hang loose, buddy.
Don't be afraid. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, in his book Is God Real?, Lee Strobel, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Case for Christ, provides a rational exploration of the proof of God's existence and the basis of our eternal hope. Writing to skeptics and believers alike, Strobel turns his critical mind and expert interviewing skills to perennial questions like, how do we know which God is real? And if God is real, why does he seem so hidden? Is God Real?, along with two messages preached by Lee Strobel at Calvary Church, are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. There's a second reason that he could have been afraid at this point. Number two, he had just been victorious in a battle. He had been very courageous. And I have talked to lots of people who have been in battle who have been able to muster up a certain amount of courage even when against the worst kinds of odds, only after the victory to be afraid and in deep depression. It's interesting, it seems like at the needed time, the courage and strength is there, but afterwards when there's a moment to let down and rest, the person becomes fearful, depressed.
Psychologists call it post-traumatic stress. And it's even found in the Bible sometimes. Elijah, who was able to draw sides in a contest against the prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth, you remember in 1 Kings 18. Afterwards, when Jezebel chases him down into the desert, he is depressed and he just sort of hangs out under a broom tree and says, okay, I just want to die now.
Boy, how different from the Elijah we saw on Mount Carmel, the warrior of God. But afterwards, depressed. It could be that the battle just took a tremendous toll on Abram and now he's in the doldrums, he's depressed. So the Lord is comforting him.
Don't be afraid. Here's a third possibility and I lean toward this. Abram, at this point, exhibited the fear of man.
The Bible says the fear of man brings a snare. He just victoriously fought a coalition of four powerful kings who had been able to subdue five cities for 12 years. And when those five cities rebelled, the four kings were able to completely wipe out in terms of power, strength, and battle, five kings. Now Abram, with 318 men, was victorious. But perhaps he's thinking, what if Kedorlaomer decides to retaliate like he did when those five kings refused to pay tribute to him? What if he comes back?
I only have 318. I know the Lord was with me. I know I was victorious. But I may not be the next time.
It could be all over. Also, he had just been with Berah, the king of Sodom, who wanted to give him some spoils of war. He refused the spoils of war, refused to take the money. And in so doing, was refusing a possible future alliance that he could have, a shield, the old writers used to call it, the shield of that city to protect Abram in case he was ever attacked again. He just basically said, I don't need your protection. Thus, the Lord said, I am your shield. I'm your protection.
And I am your exceedingly great reward. So that is probably what is going on. He's just afraid of retaliation at what might happen because of the things that have already happened. Now you should know something about fear.
And you probably already do. It is one of the most destructive emotions that you can ever manifest. Destructive.
It can paralyze you. Something else about fear, it's irrational, isn't it? It defies your logic and your reason. You look at a situation, you go, OK, wait a minute. I can look at this logically.
And you work your way through it and reason your way through it. But sometimes the emotion can eclipse the logic and you're just afraid. It's irrational. University of Wisconsin put out an interesting study some years back saying that 40% of the things we are afraid of will never happen. That we live a portion of our lives as servants to the emotion of fear over things that will never, ever happen.
It's irrational. So for whatever reason, he's afraid. The Lord gives him a beautiful promise. Do not be afraid.
That's the commandment. I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me?
I just want you to follow and notice this conversation. Abram, don't be afraid. Man, I'm your protection. I'm your reward.
What are you going to give me? Seeing that I go childless in the air of my house as Eliezer of Damascus. Look, you have given me no offspring.
Indeed, one born in my house is not my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one will come from your own body shall be your heir. The chapter begins with Abram in fear. He's in panic mode. How does God deal with his panic?
Follow it carefully. God gives him a promise. He's panicked, so God gives him a promise.
Don't be afraid. I'm your shield, your exceedingly great reward. How does Abram respond to God's promise? With a perplexity. So we go from panic to promise to now perplexity. What are you going to give me?
I don't have any children. And he mentions this guy Eliezer. I'll get to that in a minute. Now this is very important. And this is understandable. Because if you'll just follow me, go back with me to chapter 12.
Most of us just have to turn one page. Chapter 12, verse 2. God says to Abram, I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. Well to be a nation you have to have what? Kids. This guy has no kids.
He didn't even have a kid, a child. And God makes this beautiful promise. You know, you're going to have, a nation will come out of you. We follow that further down to verse 7. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your descendants, plural, I give this land.
And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. Again, descendants are mentioned. Children, offspring, many of them. Go to chapter 13, verse 14.
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes now and look at the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, westward, for all the land which you see, I give to you and to your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be numbered. All of these are wonderful, glorious, gracious promises. But so far that's all they are, promises. There's no children. God, where's the kids? These are really cool promises. Thanks for being my shield and my reward.
I don't have any kids yet. And, by the way, the clock is ticking. Put yourself in Abram's sandals. When God called him in chapter 12, when he left Haran, he was 75 years young. In chapter 16, we're told he is 86 years old.
So in chapter 15, the chapter we're presently at, he's probably around 85 years old. It's been 10 years. I was old then. I'm still old.
In fact, I'm older. Where's the kids? These are beautiful promises, but there's no children. And then he points. He goes, the only heir that I have is Eliezer of Damascus.
Now, this is interesting. Who did Abram take with him because his brother had died? Lot. So in effect, Abram adopted Lot as his own, raising him.
Now, he's raised by now, and he's out on his own. But according to the law of that era and that geography, Lot would have become the heir of Abram. He doesn't mention Lot. He mentions a guy named Eliezer of Damascus.
Now, here's a thought that you might find interesting that some of the commentators bring up. Damascus was known as the commerce capital of the world at the time of Abram. And it is thought that Eliezer of Damascus was a man in charge of one of those houses of commerce or banking house. So that to say the phrase Eliezer of Damascus is like saying in our vernacular, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Bank of the West.
So he might be simply saying this. Look, Lord, these are great promises. And I love your words.
And the vision is really cool. And I'm really appreciative for all of the wealth that I have and all this land you promised. But what good does it do to have the wealth and the land and the promise without the kids? And when I die, the bank's going to get it anyway. Eliezer of Damascus.
It might all go to them because of the tie-in. It could refer to that possibly. What will you give me, he asks. And verse 3, I love this. I love, love, love how this flows. Then Abram said, look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.
Behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. Okay, so the chapter begins in panic, fear, right? He's fearful. Abram's fearful. The fear, the panic is met with a promise of God. Abram hears the promise of God and offers a perplexity to God.
Okay, cool, but I don't have any children. Now how does God deal with his perplexity? With a promise, not an explanation.
This is beautiful. God doesn't say, okay, look, dude, this is why it's taken so long. Okay, this is why I'm waiting.
Now I'm going to explain to you what I'm doing and why this is just taking years and years and years. And here's the explanation. Here's the reason. God gives no reasons. God gives no explanation. God gives another promise.
You know why? When we're really down and out, you can't live on explanations. What you really need are promises.
That's what gives you hope. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been encouraged in your walk with Christ by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently respond to questions and challenges to God's existence.
It's Lee Strobel's book, Is God Real? and two messages he preached on the topic at Calvary Church. Request your resources when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast your burdens on His Word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
