Day 11 of 21
Abraham and the Covenant: Believing God's Impossible Promise
Counted righteous by faith alone
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Genesis 15:1-21 and Romans 4:3. God appears to Abraham in a vision, promises him an heir and descendants as numerous as the stars, and then confirms the promise through a dramatic covenant ceremony. And at the center of the chapter stands one of the most important verses in the Bible.
Reflection
Abraham has a problem. God has promised him a great nation, but he has no children. He is old. Sarah is barren. The promise looks dead. So Abraham voices his frustration: "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless?" (Genesis 15:2).
God's response is not an argument but a demonstration. He brings Abraham outside and says, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. ... So shall your offspring be" (15:5). Under a canopy of innumerable stars, God asks Abraham to believe the impossible.
"And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (15:6). This verse is the foundation stone of the doctrine of justification by faith. Abraham did not earn righteousness through obedience. He received it through trust. Paul would later build his entire theology of grace on this verse (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6).
Francis Schaeffer underscored the significance: "Genesis 15 is the great chapter of faith. Abraham believed God — and that belief, that trust, was counted to him as righteousness. This is the foundation of the biblical doctrine of justification." The pattern is set here in Genesis: right standing before God comes not through works but through faith in God's word.
Then God seals the promise with a covenant ceremony of extraordinary power. Animals are cut in two, and a "smoking fire pot and a flaming torch" — symbols of God's presence — pass between the pieces (15:17). In the ancient world, both parties of a covenant would walk between the halves, as if to say, "May this be done to me if I break the covenant." But here, only God passes through. Abraham sleeps. The covenant rests entirely on God's faithfulness.
Wright draws out the implication: "When Abraham believed God's promise about the stars, he was doing what Adam had failed to do — trusting the Creator's word against all visible evidence." Abraham reversed Adam's failure. Where Adam doubted God's goodness and reached for control, Abraham trusted God's word and waited.
Going Deeper
The covenant ceremony of Genesis 15 is entirely one-sided — God alone takes the oath. What does this tell you about the nature of God's promises? How does it change your confidence to know that the covenant rests on God's faithfulness, not yours?
Key Quotes
“Genesis 15 is the great chapter of faith. Abraham believed God — and that belief, that trust, was counted to him as righteousness. This is the foundation of the biblical doctrine of justification.”
“When Abraham believed God's promise about the stars, he was doing what Adam had failed to do — trusting the Creator's word against all visible evidence.”
Prayer Focus
Ask God to strengthen your faith in his promises, especially the ones that seem impossible. Thank him that righteousness comes through trust, not performance.
Meditation
Abraham looked at the stars and believed. What 'stars' has God shown you — promises that seem too numerous or too grand to believe?
Question for Discussion
In the covenant ceremony of Genesis 15, only God passes between the animal pieces -- Abraham sleeps. Do you think this one-sided oath is comforting or unsettling? What does it mean for a community of faith to rest entirely on God's faithfulness rather than its own commitment?