The Heart of Abram

"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. 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. 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: and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:1-6)

"After these things" indicates that period of time right after Abram's conquest of the kings. Abram, momentary warrior, but normally a man of peace, has most likely begun to worry about what possible revenge might come against him now that he has conquered those kings. That he has become fearful is shown by God's first words in a vision (not a dream) He has provided to Abram: "Fear not, Abram." Then God tells him that He is Abram's "shield" (protector)…in other words, with God on your side, you have nothing to fear. This must have done much to calm Abram's fears, knowing that God was not going to allow him to be slaughtered in his sleep by a vengeful enemy.

But aside from calming his fears, the Lord also begins to tell Abram about the "exceeding great reward" (blessing) that God was going to provide to Abram. In fact, God had already made certain promises to Abram. In Genesis 12:2, He promises that He would make of Abram "a great nation." In Genesis 13:16, He tells Abram that he would make his "seed as the dust of the earth." Surely Abram knew this meant he would have an heir, but with an attitude of "self-provision" that we will see Abram falling into again further down the road, Abram has apparently determined that the seed that God is talking about must be that which would come through Abram's "legal adoption" of a valued servant of his own household, Eliezer of Damascus. And it is obvious that Abram is not satisfied or content with this method of getting an heir.

Abram reveals his despondency and hopelessness over the lack of a natural heir, when he responds to God's promise of reward by saying basically (and I paraphrase) "What kind of reward could you provide that would take the place of the fact that I am childless; for the one thing I want, I cannot have…because YOU haven't given it to me." What boldness that was to lay the blame at God's door!

But God's patience is demonstrated by His contradiction of Abram's choosing Eliezer as his heir, and His assurance that Abram will indeed have an heir of his own loins. In fact, the descendants Abram would have from this seed, would be more numerous than the stars in the sky.

Yet, in spite of Abram's bold complaints against the LORD, when he hears that he is to have a natural heir, he simply "believed in the LORD." He didn't question God. He just trusted the Word of God.

And it is that heart that is simple and trusting (as simple and trusting as that of a child) that causes Abram to be pronounced "righteous" in the eyes of God.

This heart of Abram's is what caused him to leave all behind and follow the Lord; this heart of Abram's is what caused him to peaceably provide the best of lands to his nephew Lot rather than have disharmony between them; this heart of Abram's is what caused him to become a warrior and go after the kings to rescue Lot; and it is this heart of Abram that not only counts him to be "righteous" but we will see it is what makes him the Father of a people called to be separate from the pagan nations by their trusting in and obedience to the Most High God.