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†. Gen 15:1a . . Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram
in a vision.
This is the very first record of a vision in the Bible. The Hebrew word is
machazeh (makh-az-eh') and it appears in only four places in the entire Old
Testament; which is pretty amazing considering the volume of prophecy the
Old Testament contains.
Visions aren't always visible scenes, but sometimes contain only audible
words; and this is one of those instances. It wasn't the Lord who came to
Abram in a vision: it was His word; viz: this vision was something heard
rather than seen i.e. a message.
†. Gen 15:1b . . Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you;
The voice informed Abram that the Lord intended to protect him; which was
a good thing because quite possibly Abram at this time was feeling a bit
anxious that a counterattack might be organized up in Shinar and return to
Canaan for revenge with a much larger force than the one recently defeated.
†. Gen 15:1c . .Your reward shall be very great.
In other words; his reward would be much greater than the one he just
recently forfeited. In those days, it was winner takes all; but Abram had not
exercised that option.
Below is an ancient take on the event.
T. Thereupon was the word of the Lord with Abram in a vision, saying: Fear
not; for if these men should gather together in legions and come against
thee, My Word will be thy shield: and also if these fall before thee in this
world, the reward of thy good works shall be kept, and be prepared before
Me in the world to come, great exceedingly. (Targum Jonathan)
†. Gen 15:2a . . But Abram said: O Lord God, what can You give me,
seeing that I shall die childless,
Apparently Abram misunderstood God back in Gen 12:2 when He promised
to make of Abram a great nation; even though God restated the promise at
Gen 12:7 and Gen 13:15 and clearly meant Abram would engender
biological progeny. However, I think the man had grown so accustomed to
Sarah's sterility that it just never occurred to him that God's promise might
actually be literal.
†. Gen 15:2b . . and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Damascus?
Eliezer wasn't Abram's blood kin; however, by common law in Canaan, he
was Abram's default heir apparent in the absence of natural progeny.
†. Gen 15:3 . . Abram said further: Since You have granted me no
offspring, my steward will be my heir.
When a man without children died in that day, common law stipulated that
his chief steward got it all and had a legal right to pass it all on to his own
son. Abram had no real estate, but if he did, then Eliezer would get that too
in the event Abram died with no blood heir. Sarai? Well, she'd probably stay
on as Eliezer's concubine.
But the real danger at this point wasn't to Abram's gold, silver, slaves,
herds, and women; but to the promises that God made to Abram concerning
his heir. Those would pass to Eliezer too.
†. Gen 15:4-5 . .The word of The Lord came to him in reply: That one
shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your
heir. He took him outside and said: Look toward heaven and count
the stars, if you are able to count them. And He added : So shall your
offspring be.
On a good clear night, it's possible to see roughly 6,000 stars with the naked
eye; but don't bother to try and count them because you will certainly lose
track before you're done; especially if the Milky Way is overhead. Well . . it
finally sank in that God's promise was literal and that's when one of the
most significant events in history took place.
†. Gen 15:6 . . And he believed in Yhvh; and He counted it to him for
righteousness.
That is the very first time anything "righteous" was said about Abram in
Genesis; and it resulted not from piety, but rather, from belief.
The Hebrew word for "belief" is horribly ambiguous. 'Aman can mean,
among other things: (1) to build up or support, (2) to foster as a parent or
nurse, (3) figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, (4) to trust or
believe, (5) to be permanent or quiet, (6) to be morally true or certain, and
(7) to rely upon.
Any choice I make from that list would be entirely arbitrary; but my money
is upon trust and reliance because at that moment, Abram began seriously
pinning his hopes on God to do something about his childless situation.
The thing to note is that Abram's hope in God wasn't simply the power of
positive thinking or an act of desperation. No; he had a promise from God to
justify his confidence. Basing one's hopes upon wishful thinking is not the
kind of belief in God that gained Abram a degree of righteousness.
According to the first chapter of Genesis; the cosmos— all of its forms of life,
matter, and energy —is the result of intelligent design. Do people gain a
degree of righteousness when they believe that chapter is true? No; I mean,
even demons believe that chapter is true; and fat lot of good it does them
because there are no personal guarantees in that chapter; it's entirely
academic.
But how about this?
†. John 6:39-40 . . This is the will of Him who sent me: that I shall lose none
of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my
Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall
have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Whether people believe in that statement or not will have no effect upon its
outcome; viz: it is going to happen. However, their doubt will cost them a
degree of righteousness because John 3:39-40 isn't academic; no, it's a
personal guarantee.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 15:1a . . Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram
in a vision.
This is the very first record of a vision in the Bible. The Hebrew word is
machazeh (makh-az-eh') and it appears in only four places in the entire Old
Testament; which is pretty amazing considering the volume of prophecy the
Old Testament contains.
Visions aren't always visible scenes, but sometimes contain only audible
words; and this is one of those instances. It wasn't the Lord who came to
Abram in a vision: it was His word; viz: this vision was something heard
rather than seen i.e. a message.
†. Gen 15:1b . . Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you;
The voice informed Abram that the Lord intended to protect him; which was
a good thing because quite possibly Abram at this time was feeling a bit
anxious that a counterattack might be organized up in Shinar and return to
Canaan for revenge with a much larger force than the one recently defeated.
†. Gen 15:1c . .Your reward shall be very great.
In other words; his reward would be much greater than the one he just
recently forfeited. In those days, it was winner takes all; but Abram had not
exercised that option.
Below is an ancient take on the event.
T. Thereupon was the word of the Lord with Abram in a vision, saying: Fear
not; for if these men should gather together in legions and come against
thee, My Word will be thy shield: and also if these fall before thee in this
world, the reward of thy good works shall be kept, and be prepared before
Me in the world to come, great exceedingly. (Targum Jonathan)
†. Gen 15:2a . . But Abram said: O Lord God, what can You give me,
seeing that I shall die childless,
Apparently Abram misunderstood God back in Gen 12:2 when He promised
to make of Abram a great nation; even though God restated the promise at
Gen 12:7 and Gen 13:15 and clearly meant Abram would engender
biological progeny. However, I think the man had grown so accustomed to
Sarah's sterility that it just never occurred to him that God's promise might
actually be literal.
†. Gen 15:2b . . and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Damascus?
Eliezer wasn't Abram's blood kin; however, by common law in Canaan, he
was Abram's default heir apparent in the absence of natural progeny.
†. Gen 15:3 . . Abram said further: Since You have granted me no
offspring, my steward will be my heir.
When a man without children died in that day, common law stipulated that
his chief steward got it all and had a legal right to pass it all on to his own
son. Abram had no real estate, but if he did, then Eliezer would get that too
in the event Abram died with no blood heir. Sarai? Well, she'd probably stay
on as Eliezer's concubine.
But the real danger at this point wasn't to Abram's gold, silver, slaves,
herds, and women; but to the promises that God made to Abram concerning
his heir. Those would pass to Eliezer too.
†. Gen 15:4-5 . .The word of The Lord came to him in reply: That one
shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your
heir. He took him outside and said: Look toward heaven and count
the stars, if you are able to count them. And He added : So shall your
offspring be.
On a good clear night, it's possible to see roughly 6,000 stars with the naked
eye; but don't bother to try and count them because you will certainly lose
track before you're done; especially if the Milky Way is overhead. Well . . it
finally sank in that God's promise was literal and that's when one of the
most significant events in history took place.
†. Gen 15:6 . . And he believed in Yhvh; and He counted it to him for
righteousness.
That is the very first time anything "righteous" was said about Abram in
Genesis; and it resulted not from piety, but rather, from belief.
The Hebrew word for "belief" is horribly ambiguous. 'Aman can mean,
among other things: (1) to build up or support, (2) to foster as a parent or
nurse, (3) figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, (4) to trust or
believe, (5) to be permanent or quiet, (6) to be morally true or certain, and
(7) to rely upon.
Any choice I make from that list would be entirely arbitrary; but my money
is upon trust and reliance because at that moment, Abram began seriously
pinning his hopes on God to do something about his childless situation.
The thing to note is that Abram's hope in God wasn't simply the power of
positive thinking or an act of desperation. No; he had a promise from God to
justify his confidence. Basing one's hopes upon wishful thinking is not the
kind of belief in God that gained Abram a degree of righteousness.
According to the first chapter of Genesis; the cosmos— all of its forms of life,
matter, and energy —is the result of intelligent design. Do people gain a
degree of righteousness when they believe that chapter is true? No; I mean,
even demons believe that chapter is true; and fat lot of good it does them
because there are no personal guarantees in that chapter; it's entirely
academic.
But how about this?
†. John 6:39-40 . . This is the will of Him who sent me: that I shall lose none
of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my
Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall
have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Whether people believe in that statement or not will have no effect upon its
outcome; viz: it is going to happen. However, their doubt will cost them a
degree of righteousness because John 3:39-40 isn't academic; no, it's a
personal guarantee.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=