God’s Sure All-Trustworthy Promise: A Sermon on Genesis 15:17

Let’s pray…

“Father in heaven; we now come to Genesis 15:17, which is eternally profound.  We ask that you open our minds; awaken our senses to the truth of the sacred text.  Give us minds that grasp Your truth.  For we know it is eternally true, preserved and things we must learn if we are to worship You with our minds.  So, then, let us worship You with our minds.  Let us think through this sacred text, and apply it to our lives by how we live, how we think and what we do.  May we learn that God has made a certain promise, and we can rest assured that He will never break His own oath that He swears to Himself.  Thank You for this verse, and for the reality that it carries.  Bless Your Word as You work through Your feeble servant.  Amen.”

Genesis 15:17 declares,

17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.  KJV

I am sure that there could be a plethora of sermons on this one verse.  It is indeed a wonderful verse.  It is a verse that should be the verse we turn to, for comfort and hope.  But I fear that many people are unaware of this, and we pass over this heavenly text and give little thought to it.  If you are one of these people, ask God to rekindle your heart aflame with devotion to this sacred truth.  Hear and listen to what this heavenly verse means:  First, if we are to value the inspired text, we should turn to it with all confidence and the ambition that is pleasing to God: Namely, that we give Him the most glory possible.  We should mediate on this verse, and pray unto God, saying, “Thank you Dear Lord for Your promise.”  When I accomplish my routine for Christ, I read this verse everyday.  It is a blessed verse indeed.  Like Dr. Sproul, it is certainly my favorite verse in all of Scripture.  Our spiritual future rests on the promise of God.  I suggest to you that trust in the promise of God is the very essence of our faith. 

In this verse God shows Himself to be Abraham’s shield, defender and protector. 

Psalm 3:3, “But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.”  Psalm 18:30, “As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”

God defends His people from the world, Satan, the flesh, sin and demons.  He is our sure defender.  He is our protector.  He protects His people from utter uncertainty.  He gives us reason to have faith and hope.  He gives us a reason to go on.   Meaning is found in God and meaning comes from God.  He protects us from the enemies of God who would desire to undo us.  His promise is in spite of God’s enemies and in the midst of them.  He makes His altogether trustworthy promise, and our enemies come like the birds of prey seeking to undo, and change God’s promise.  But nothing in all creation can undo God’s promise.   

It would seem at first glance that it is a verse of little importance to my life, and little value in terms of eternality.  We would think it is a verse that is obscure, and when we read it for the first time, we probably pasted over it, thinking it has little worth in light of eternality.  We should value every verse of the Bible no matter how small or of little weight it may seem to carry.  We should treasure the Bible as a divine artifact of God.  I suggest to you that it deals with the very promise of God Himself.  It is of enormous importance.  It is eternally significant.  God puts His very deity on the line.  He says if my promise does not happen let Me be destroyed.  The promises of God are surer the life itself.  It is irrevocable.  What God swears to Himself, it cannot be altered, changed or thwarted.  He can swear no greater then Himself.  The Valley of Vision prayer speaks the words of eloquence due to our Lord,

“Bless me with Abraham’s faith that staggers not at promises through unbelief.  May I not instruct thee in my troubles, but glorify thee in my trails; Grant me a distinct advance in the divine life; may I reach a higher platform, leave the mists of doubt and fear in the valley, and climb to hill-tops of eternal security in Christ by simply believing he cannot lie, or turn from his purpose.  Give me the confidence I ought to have in him who is worthy to be praised, and who is blessed for evermore.” (VV, pg. 241).

We know that God cannot lie.  Here are two verses from the New Testament that speak to the reality of saying God cannot lie.

We will read Titus 1:1-4, and verse 2 is the verse that is related to this subject…

1Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Verse 2 speaks to the reality of the inability of God lying…

2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

3But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

4To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Verse 2 speaks of something God cannot do.  Namely, He cannot lie.  According to His nature, He is unable to lie.   God does not have the capacity to sin.  It would go against His nature.  When God makes a promise you can take it to the bank.  It is more sure then anything at all.  We have a sure promise of God that is altogether right, altogether trustworthy, altogether true, and altogether pure and lovely.  We can trust the promise of God.  He has promised He will keep His word.  Man makes a promise, and, the Psalmist says, all men are lairs.  There is truth to that since man is totally depraved.  There is no one who is good; there is no one who is righteous; there is no one who seeks God, and there is nothing in the flesh that pleases God.  Man’s heart is desperately wicked and corrupt; who can understand it?  Man is not basically good, nor does he have an island of righteousness in himself.  But God promised eternal life before the world was for His people.  We do not know the identity of the elect.  Only God knows their identity.  God manifested His word through preaching.  Preaching is God speaking to man.  Preaching encompasses the whole man: mind, will and emotion.  God committed the gospel unto Paul as the commandment of God.  It was not the command of men.  Rather it was the command of God.  God is our Savior.  He rescues His people from the curse of the law, eternal torment in hell (that is, suffering God’s punitive wrath), sin, the world, the flesh and from Satan.  The common faith is what Jude spoke of.  It is the faith of Christ.  His gospel is about grace, mercy and peace.  It is the gospel, not of man, but of God the Father and of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.  We have learned that God cannot lie, and when He says something, and promises and swears, we can be sure that it will occur.  His word is thoroughly and extensively pure and reliable. 

Hebrews 6:18 speaks to the fact that God cannot lie…

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.

God’s salvation is without repentance.  It is impossible for God to lie and sin.  When God “repents” for making mankind, it does not mean He repented like man does.  Scripture says God is not a man that He should lie!  When God says He “repents” it means He is using anthropomorphic language.  He does this to condescend to our minds.  He says it in a way man will understand.  Jesus said He spoke of earthly things, and they did not understand, and how would they understand if He spoke of heavenly things?  We must learn that He is holy and just.  Psalm 99:3, “Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy.”  Isaiah 6:3, “Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”  God commands His people in the Ten Commandments; in particular the ninth commandment is “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”  In its broad understanding of the commandment of God, lying is certainly included in what is forbidden in this commandment that is revealed in the Westminster Catechism Q145.  Leviticus 19:11: “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” Colossians 3:9: “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”  I think it is safe to say that the Old and New Testament speaks on one voice on this issue:  “Thou shalt not lie.”  God the Spirit speaks through John; no lie is of the truth…

1 John 2:21, I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

Genesis 15 shows that the word of the Lord came to Abram.  The Lord says to Abram that he is his shield and exceedingly great reward.   Abram asked what God would give him since he was childless.  Abram said God gave him no offspring.  God told him that Eliezer of Damascus will not be his heir.  The Lord asked Abram to count the stars, and God said that is what his descendants will be.  Abram believed the Lord, and He accounted to him as righteousness.  We read in Romans 4…

1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?

2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.

3What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
 7"Blessed are they
      whose transgressions are forgiven,
      whose sins are covered.
 8Blessed is the man
      whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

We see that Paul speaks of Abraham who believed God, and God counted it as righteousness to him.  If a man works, his wages are not a gift, but as an obligation.  It is to the man who does not work but who trusts in God who justifies the wicked; his faith is credited as righteousness.  God credits righteousness apart from works.  It is the work of Christ alone that is properly the believers’ when someone believes.  A person believes not because of something of the world, but because of monergistic regeneration.  Blessed is the man who transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.  God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west, and He has propitiated the Father’s wrath for His people in the place of His people.   May we sing…

My song forever shall record the tender mercies of the Lord; Thy faithfulness will proclaim, and every age shall know thy Name.

I sing of mercies that endure, for ever builded firm and sure, of faithfulness that never dies, established changeless in the skies. 

Behold God’s truth and grace displayed, for he has faithful covenant made, and he has sworn that David’s Son shall ever sit upon his throne.

For him my mercy shall endure, My covenant made him is sure; His throne and race I will maintain for ever, while the heavens remain.

Blessed be the Lord forevermore, whose promise stands from days of yore.  His word is faithful now as then; blessed be his name, Amen, Amen.

                                                Amen (Hymn 101)

        The Lord said, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”  Abram wants certainty, and asks a question about it to the Sovereign King.  We read from verse 9 to 18…

9So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

10Then he brought all these to Him and ^(M)cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not cut the birds.

11The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12Now when the sun was going down, ^(O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

 13God said to Abram, "Know for certain that ^(P)your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where ^(Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed ^(R)four hundred years.

 14"But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with many possessions.

15"As for you, ^(T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

16"Then in ^(U)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which ^(W)passed between these pieces.

18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
         "^(X)To your descendants I have given this land,
         From ^(Y)the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

God wanted heifer, female goat, three year old ram, turtledove and young pigeon.  They were cut in two, laid each half opposite the other and he did not cut the birds.  The birds of prey came.  Isn’t that interesting?  The birds are like the vultures that come around the place where God’s presence and promise is.  They seek to destroy God’s people.  Abram sent them away.  And the sun went down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and terror and great darkness came upon him.  This indeed is a terrifying experience.  Abram was told by God that his descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.  But God judges the nation whom they serve, and afterward they come out of it with many possessions.  God says he will go to your fathers in peace, and Abram will be buried at a good old age.  And in the fourth generation they will return, and the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. 

Verse 17 speaks of t he Lord said that if what He has promised does not come to pass that He would be destroyed.  The smoking oven and the burning torch are symbols of God’s presence with Israel.  This was so, so that He would demonstrate the way to the Promised Land.  The slain animals showed the due punishment for covenant breakers.  God invokes a serious oath.  If He should fail to keep it, He would have a curse upon Himself.  God can swear by no greater or higher authority then Himself.  He does this to keep the covenantal terms. 

Calvin in his commentary on Genesis wrote,

17. Behold, a smoking furnace. Again a new vision was added, to confirm his faith in the oracle. At first, Abram was horror-struck with the thick darkness; now, in the midst of a smoking furnace, he sees a burning lamp. Many suppose that a sacrifice was consumed with this fire; but I rather interpret it as a symbol of future deliverance, which would well agree with the fact itself. For there are two things contrary to each other in appearance; the obscurity of smoke, and the shining of a lamp. Hence Abram knew that light would, at length, emerge out of darkness. An analogy is always to be sought for between signs, and the things signified, that there may be a mutual correspondence between them. Then, since the symbol, in itself, is but a lifeless carcass, reference ought always to be made to the word which is annexed to it. But here, by the word, liberty was promised to Abram's seed, in the midst of servitude. Now the condition of the Church could not be painted more to the life, than when God causes a burning torch to proceed out of the smoke, in order that the darkness of afflictions may not overwhelm us, but that we may cherish a good hope of life even in death; because the Lord will, at length, shine upon us, if only we offer up ourselves in sacrifice to Him.

The Lord made a covenant with Abram:

18. In the same day the Lord made a covenant. I willingly admit what I have alluded to above, that the covenant was ratified by a solemn rite, when the animals were divided into parts. For there seems to be a repetition, in which he teaches what was the intent of the sacrifice which he has mentioned. Here, also, we may observe, what I have said, that the word is always to be joined with the symbols, lest our eyes be fed with empty and fruitless ceremonies. God has commanded animals to be offered to him; but he has shown their end and use, by a covenant appended to them. If, then, the Lord feeds us by sacraments, we infer, that they are the evidences of his grace, and the tokens of those spiritual blessings which flow from it.

He then enumerates the nations, whose land God was about to give to the sons of Abram, in order that he may confirm what he before said concerning a numerous offspring. For that was not to be a small band of men, but an immense multitude, for which the Lord assigns a habitation of such vast extent. God had before spoken only of the Amorites, among whom Abram then dwelt; but now, for the sake of amplifying his grace, he recounts all the others by name.

Listen to the insights of Matthew Henry.  He wrote in his commentary on Genesis,

3. The passing of these between the pieces was the confirming of the covenant God now made with him, that he might have strong consolation, being fully persuaded that what God promised he would certainly perform. It is probable that the furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burnt and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it, as of Gideon's (Judg. vi. 21), Manoah's (Judg. xiii. 19, 20), and Solomon's, 2 Chron. vii. 1. So it intimates, (1.) That God's covenants with man are made by sacrifice (Ps. l. 5), by Christ, the great sacrifice: no agreement without atonement. (2.) God's acceptance of our spiritual sacrifices is a token for good and an earnest of further favours. See Judg. xiii. 23. And by this we may know that he accepts our sacrifices if he kindle in our souls a holy fire of pious and devout affections in them.

Abraham desires certainty.  Oh, how we are like Abraham!  God gives us certainty in His Word.  God gave Abraham certainty.  Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote,

Do not think of the boundaries of your problem; try to think of the boundaries of God!  Moses and Israel, fleeing from Egypt, were bounded on the north by the desert, on the south by the desert, on the west by Pharaoh’s army and on the east by the Red Sea; enough to chill any heart with despair.

But Moses looked up.  God was there, bounded by all-power, all-wisdom, all-holiness and all-grace.  Forget your north, east, south and west.  Look up (Ex. 14:13).

Do you trust God?  Have you looked up to God and trust Him that He will do what He says in His Word?  God’s promise is firm and true.  Believe Him and He will surely make His word come to pass in your life.  He has promised to be faithful and true and He shows Himself to be that.  Let’s look at the promises of God.  In the Old Testament we have see God’s covenant with Abraham, in circumcise, with Noah and the New Covenant Sign that is baptizism. 

We see God’s covenant He made in terms of circumcise in Genesis 17:9-11:

9God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, ^(A)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

 10"^(B)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

 11"And ^(C)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

God made a covenant with Noah.  Listen to the sacred words of Genesis 9:

 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

 4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
       by man shall his blood be shed;
       for in the image of God
       has God made man.

 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

 17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

        We see in the Puritan Catechism which teaches immersion, as a Reformed Baptist Catechism in Question 75, What is Baptism, says:

A. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19), to be to the person baptised a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, and burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:12), of his being ingrafted into him (Gal. 3:27), of remission of sins (Mk. 1:4; Acts 22:16), and of his giving up himself to God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4-5).

We must remember that God never lies.  When He makes a promise, His promise is assured and altogether trustworthy.  God is not like the gods of men’s religions.  When He makes a promise, it is surer then life, and it is purer then gold, and it is truth that cannot be extinguished.  God is a burning fire; He is the blazing fire who is truth itself.  He brings light to a dark world.  He shines, and soon His glory will shine through, and lightens the new heavens and the earth, where there will be no sun.  He is purity itself, and His word is true and trustworthy.  I ask today: do you trust God’s promise?  Do you trust His word?  The essence of faith is to trust the promises of God.  Have you?  Have relied your hope on Him who saves unto the uttermost?  Have you fixed your eyes on the Savior and Deliverer? 

        The Word of God is altogether true, altogether pure, altogether good, altogether lovely, altogether God-breathed, altogether holy, and altogether preserved and trustworthy.  Do you treasure His word?  What stands in your way?  Have the birds of prey come when God was at His work in your life as they did with Abram?  Trust God that He will fulfill His promise and He shall surely do it.  His promises of salvation is surer then life itself.  This truth must not be forgotten or thought lightly or overlooked.  His promises of redemption through His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ are established and firm.  Your response to the promise of God should be honoring it, submitting to it, accepting it on God’s own timetable, and praying for His word to come to pass.  Praying that it will come to pass is praying His Word back to Him.  We know His Word is true and sure.  But we pray by submitting to Him.  We want to pray because He tells us to, because we enjoy to do it, and because we love Him.  That should be our chief reason.  You honor it by saying, “Lord, at Your own time.”  And you accept it when it happens, and say with confidence, “The Lord is surely faithful.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Let’s pray…

“Father, we thank You that You have been faithful and true.  We thank You for Your word of truth.  We thank You Jesus for perfectly obeying God’s law, and freely dying for us.  We thank You for the covenants You have made, and we thank You for Your truth.  Give us hearts to stand on Your promise.  Amen.”