A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Israel, consistently tried to destroy Israel. Second, it is noted that when extreme darkness came
on them, the glory of God passed through their midst.
Notice the time element involved in making this covenant. When God first spoke with
Abram, it must have been very early in the morning as most of the stars were still visible (Gen.
15:5). Before God appeared to confirm His covenant with Abram, however, the sun had begun
to set in the west (v. 12). As Bible commentator Matthew Henry observes, “God often keeps His
people long in expectation of the comforts he designs them, for the confirmation of their faith;
but though the answers of prayer, and the performance of promise comes slowly, yet they come
surely”.
When the covenant was confirmed, God alone passed through the animals in the form of
a “smoking oven and a burning torch” (v. 1). Because only God passed through, the covenant
becomes an unconditional covenant of God. If Abram had passed through with the Lord it
would have meant Abram would have had to keep his half of the covenant, hence it would have
been a conditional covenant.
PERSPECTIVE: THE PROMISE OF FAITH
In confirming of this covenant, God promised Abram the largest possession ever
promised in a covenant to Israel. The Hebrew word nakar meaning “river” (i.e., the Nile) is used
rather than the term nachal which is used in Numbers 34:5 and means “brook.” There is the
“Brook of Egypt,” probably referred to in the Numbers reference, at the southern boundary of
Palestine, but the “River of Egypt” can mean none other than the Nile. The territory included in
this covenant includes everything from the Nile River to the Euphrates River. Historically, Israel
has never possessed all of that territory. This area is further described as the homeland of ten
Gentile tribes of peoples then inhabiting Palestine. Various lists of these heathen tribes occur in
the life of Abram identifying eleven different groups. It is interesting to note that this territory
takes in all of the area in which Abram had lived and traveled.
ELEVEN
HAGAR:
Source of Contention
(Genesis 16:1-16)
One of the most difficult lessons to learn in the life of faith is waiting on God. Someone
has defined success in ministry as being God’s person, in God’s place, doing God’s work, in
God’s timing. Perhaps the hardest part of that equation is discerning and acting in accordance
with God’s timing. Particularly in Western society which is plagued with the tyranny of the
urgent, waiting on God for His timing can be an agonizing experience in the life of faith.
But waiting on God is a necessary part of the life of faith. As the hymn writer noted, it
takes time to be holy. A calm assurance comes when a believer’s faith has had time to mature.
The events of Genesis 16 record another lapse in the faith of Abram, a lapse which
occurred as a result of his failure to continue waiting on God for the promised seed. After
waiting for ten years he gives up and listens to his wife. From a human perspective, we might