Genesis 14:21

The Bible says in Genesis 14:21-24, “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.” When we see the king of Sodom next to Abram, we see the difference between an unsaved person and a person of faith. The people of the world think only in the terms of the physical and the material. That is why they so easily indulge in extremes of materialism and sexual looseness. But people who believe and who walk in fellowship with Christ have a different mindset. It says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A great change takes place in the person who comes to know Jesus. Having the spiritual birth through faith in Christ gives a person the capability to study the Bible and to grow in faith. When a believer becomes spiritually minded, he begins to think differently than the people of the world. It says in First Corinthians 2:12-14, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

The king of Sodom was typical of the people of the world and their ways, but Abram turned away from the ways of the world and turned unto the Lord. Sadly, most people turn away from the Lord and turn to the world and its humanistic and selfish ways. Abram lived in a dangerous and unstable world, just like we do. He had already been involved in a war in order to rescue his unwise nephew. The great difference between Abram and the other people in Canaan must have been very clear to Abram. Would Abram be able to endure other conflicts in the future? How would Abram survive? What would happen if he were forced into an even greater battle? Those are questions that Abram would have likely asked himself. Abram needed encouragement: spiritual encouragement. The Bible says in Genesis 15:1, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

Genesis 15:1 is a great Bible verse. It is the first time in the Bible that “the word of the LORD” is mentioned. Jesus Himself is called “the Word” in John chapter one when it says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” There is a very good chance that it was Jesus who appeared to Abram. Jesus is the manifestation of God in all of His forms. In Jesus “dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily.” Jesus referred to Himself as Jehovah in John 8:58, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” When Jesus called Himself the “I am,” Jesus was equating Himself to Jehovah because Jehovah said to Moses, “I am that I am.” The Jews who heard Jesus speak knew that He was asserting Himself to be God, and that is why they were going to kill Him. It says in John 8:59, “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

Jesus (Jehovah) said to Abram, “Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Everyone has many things that could cause fear. There is a potential fear for almost everything on the earth. Man can fear death, fear financial ruin, fear war, fear evil, fear heights, fear failure, or fear depths, etc. But Jesus said to Abram, “Fear not.” This is an important phrase that has been said many times in the Bible by angels and by the Lord to believers. The angel said to Zacharias in Luke 1:13, “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard;” and to Mary in Luke 1:30, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” The angel said to the shepherds when Jesus was born, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Jesus said the same thing to His disciples in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus said to Simon in Luke 5:10, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

Jesus said to Abram in Genesis 15:1, “I am thy shield.” Abram had just come from a battle. In warfare a shield is used to keep safe from attacks. On such a battlefield there is no substitute for a good shield. There is also a spiritual shield needed in the spiritual battles of life. According to the statement made to Abram, God is the shield for the believer. You have to get past God in order to get to a believer, and that is not going to happen. The fiery darts of the wicked will be quenched when a believer trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus also said to Abram in Genesis 15:1, “I am thy exceeding great reward.” Abram had just given up the reward that the king of Sodom would have given him. Abram had given up the reward because of his spiritual principles. Every person has priorities. For the believer God must be the number one priority. Jesus said in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Every person makes the choice of either putting Jesus first in their life or putting something or someone else first. Abram chose the Lord, and because of it Abram gained something of utmost importance. Abram gained the Lord. The Lord said to Abram, “I am thy exceeding great reward.” Those who have had a close spiritual contact with Jesus understand that this is truly a great reward. Bernard of Clairveau wrote, “The love of Jesus, what it is, only His loved ones know.” Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

Abram thought about what he wanted the most, and what God had already promised him: a son. Time was passing, and a son had not yet been given. The Bible says in Genesis 15:2-3, “And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.” There is a lot to learn from Abram’s life. God made a great promise to Abram that changed the world. But God fulfills His promises on His own timetable. Abram had to learn the lesson that everyone must learn who lives by faith: to wait upon God’s time. God has a will, and He also has a time to fulfill His will.

Abram was not quite ready to wait, so he thought he would make a few suggestions to God. Since a son had not been given, Abram thought that maybe his servant could become his heir. That is why Abram said to God, “one born in my house is mine heir.” But God is patient with His children. The Lord made His promise clear one more time. The Bible says in Genesis 15:4-5, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

The Bible says concerning Abram in Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Once again we come across a very important verse in the Bible. This verse tells us how to be saved: how to be made righteous before God. Was Abram justified because of his good works? No: Abram was justified because of his faith. The Holy Spirit revealed to the Apostle Paul the significance of Genesis 15:6. Paul wrote in Romans 4:1-5, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

God speaks to Abram in Genesis 15:7-15, “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.”

In Genesis 15:6 we were told that Abram was justified by faith. But God’s righteous demands for justice must still be satisfied. He is a just judge and sin must be punished. Abram was told to make animal sacrifices. We know that the animal sacrifices were symbolic of the Savior who would come and die for the sins of the world. God is loving and forgiving, but He can only forgive because Jesus paid the price for sin. God’s demands for justice must be satisfied.

In Genesis 15:7-15 the Lord is reminding Abram of the great promise that a new nation would be built from Abram’s seed. That nation would be given the land of Canaan. God also tells Abram that a difficult time will come to the children of Israel when they are servants in the land of Egypt. God said to Abram, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” Four hundred years is a very long delay. Sometimes God seems to move slowly in the fulfillment of His plans, but our God is always marching forward according to His great eternal plan. The Lord forewarned the people about the four hundred years of captivity and suffering. We also have been forewarned about something that is going to happen before the return of the Lord. That is why the book of Revelation was written. It is a blessing to know that this world is on God’s plan. That is the reason that God has given prophesies about the future: so that believers will have a good idea of what is going to happen. We can be reassured that the future is in God’s hands. That is why it says in Revelation 1:3 about the book of Revelation, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophesy.”

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