Monday, April 2, 2012

Tues.’s Devo - Abram’s Vision


Read Gen. 15:1-17

After this great victory over the forces of darkness and his meeting with Melchizedec the Lord comes to Abram in a vision which is like a dream while you are awake. God promises Abram to be his protector and his reward. Abram wonders why God would do this for one generation since he had no children of his own. Just as he is wondering if God was going to give his future to his steward, Eliezer, God speaks. His heir is not Eliezer, but his heir would come from his loins. Then he told him to look at the stars because his dependents would be like them. There would be so many they would be uncountable. Abram believed what God told him and his belief became his right standing with God. It is still that way. Our belief determines our standing with God. It has always and will always be “by faith”. God also tells him that all this land will be his also. When Abram asks for a sign God willingly gives it. He tells Abram to take a 3-year old heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and pigeon as a sacrifice. He was to divide the heifer, goat, and ram in half. He did this a waited. He had to keep the vultures away all day. When the sun was going down he went into a deep sleep and felt a darkness around him. God spoke out of this darkness and told him that his seed will be a stranger in a foreign land and be afflicted for 400 years. God will judge that nation and they will come out of it with great wealth. Abram himself, will die in peace after a long life. His 4th generation will come back to this land and conquer the Amorites once and for all. Then, when the sun had completely gone down, God lit the sacrifice. A smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

Lord, thank you that you are true to your promises even when we forget.


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