Life of Abraham Series : The Word of the Lord Came Unto Abraham

October 2024

“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

In Genesis 14, we find Abraham going to war against several mighty pagan kings. Though Abraham defeats them, still there was the threat of reprisal that weighed heavy upon his heart. We know this because of what the Lord said to him, which we will discuss shortly.

I want you to pay careful attention to the words of the Lord spoken to Abraham because these words are for you as well.

The first thing I want you to notice is the opening phrase, “The word of the Lord came unto Abram.” As the Lord had a word for the great Patriarch, so, too, does the Lord have a word for all of His children. And when He speaks, His words bring life, hope, joy, peace—everything we need to hear to carry on.

This word came to Abraham in a vision, which is one of the ways the Lord conveys messages to His children. According to the Word of God, the Lord spoke in the following manner:

·      Visions (Gen. 15:1, Acts 10:9-16)

·      Dreams (Gen. 37:5)

·      Mouth to mouth (Dan. 12:4-13)

·      Through His Word (Matt. 4:4)

·      Through the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2)

·      Through angels (Dan. 8:15-16)

I want you to understand that the Lord still speaks today. He will talk with you as the Spirit speaks to your heart. Never forget Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty tings, which thou knowest not.”

Now let’s look at what was said to Abraham by the Lord.

The first words spoken were, “Fear not.” By the Lord saying this, we know that fear was present in Abraham’s life. No doubt the fear that he felt was due to his recent victory over the four kings of Genesis 14. By defeating them, Abraham had now made powerful enemies from four different kingdoms. Understand, their defeat was made even worse by the fact that they were defeated by a much smaller group of soldiers—herdsmen. It was a galling defeat, with Abraham possibly knowing that these kings were capable of hiring assassins to render revenge upon him.

So the Lord begins His message with the comforting words, “Fear not.” Satan uses fear against the child of God in every way imaginable. He constantly bombards our minds with words of failure and condemnation with fear being the end result. But saint of God, the Lord is speaking to His church today, and He is saying, “Fear not.” Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Isaiah 43:1 says, “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”

So don’t let Satan bind you up in fear. The Lord has spoken and said, “Fear not.”

The next thing I want you to notice is the Lord said, “I am.” (See Ex. 3:14, John 8:58, 14:6, 11:25, 15:5, 8:12, 10:9, 10:11; Matt. 28:20, Rev. 1:8.)

These two words—I Am—sum up perfectly everything that God is. In Exodus 3:14, God gave to Moses a revelation of Himself that Israel had yet to know, the revelation of “I Am.”

Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost translated, “I AM THAT I AM” as “I was, I am, and I shall always continue to be.” Bible scholar Arthur Pink said, “The principle contained in this word of Jehovah to Moses contains timely instruction for us. We are to go forth declaring the name and nature of God as He has been revealed. No attempts are to be made to prove His existence; no time should be wasted with men in efforts to reason about God. Our business is to proclaim the Being of God as He has revealed Himself in and through Jesus Christ. The ‘I am’ of the burning bush now stands fully declared in the blessed Person of our Saviour who said, ‘I am the bread of life,’ ‘I am the good Shepherd,’ ‘I am the door,’ ‘I am the light of the world,’ ‘I am the way, the truth and the life,’ ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ ‘I am the true vine.’ He is the eternal ‘I am’—‘the Same, yesterday, and today, and forever.’”1

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “I am thy shield.” The word shield means “protector.” The Lord is our protection in every single aspect of life. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be battles, but it definitely means that the Lord is our shield—our protection, our refuge in time of trouble. And one final note on this, the Lord didn’t say that He would provide a shield, but rather, “I am your shield.” There is no higher power than such a word spoken by El-Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth.

His last statement in this verse was “And thy exceeding great reward.” He was telling Abraham that the reward was not houses, land, gold, silver, or even the birth of Issac, but God Himself. As well, He is an “exceeding great reward.” The reward is never greater than the rewarder.

So take these words to heart: “Fear not...I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

Source:

1Pink, Arthur, A. W. Pink's Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2—1924-25. North Carolina: Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2001.