Genesis – The Covenant of Provision

Well, you have your bible with you, I

encourage you to go ahead and open up

to Genesis

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

chapter

15.

Then if you don't have a bible, feel

free to grab 1 out of the pew

or even open up an app on your

phone.

But this morning, we're gonna continue our journey

through Genesis,

and I'm not gonna go back and recap

everything we've talked about, but I'm gonna start

with

our our main character today, ab bra.

And how just a couple of chapters ago,

we meet Ab bra for the very first

time is

a member of a family from Her of

the Cal. And God calls this family while

specifically bra to, start heading west to

obey this call to him

and come toward Y way. To head west

toward your way to to trust God enough

to just do

without

anything else given.

He just took god for his word and

began to go out.

But we then kind of learned well, maybe

he didn't completely trust God. Because in chapter

12, we learned that God had promised this

entire land this possession, and it would be

possessed by

ab bro seed by his children, but his

wife was bearing a wife that he chose

in humility

so that his brother could benefit,

but he had the Barren wife where he

would never have offspring where his legacy in

his lineage would die with his family where

he would have no air.

To give an inheritance to.

And so what purpose would it be to

obtain a land

to whom he could give to nobody

but he took his nephew lot along with

him.

In lot was gonna be his, hope of

an air, this air that God had promised

because

Brown wasn't really sure how this was all

gonna happen. How is gonna come together and

so he started scheming in his own mind,

how it was possible he would have a

land for his own possession.

But then we learn is

ab bra and eye end up in Egypt

and...

Ab bra, again, 1... Is trying to take

things into his own hand. He's trying to

control his own outcomes. I think a lot

of us struggle with that. Right? We... We

have this desire in our hearts to

to have our own outcomes to be in

control of our own life, and ab bra,

not really sure of

what God was gonna do was just trying

to do what he could do.

And so trying to escape a famine and

ending up in Egypt and

lying about who his wife was, just simply

a sister and Ph taking his

wife to be his own into his house

and

a bra certainly benefited. I mean, he got

all kinds of servants and wealth and cattle

and all of this accumulated

stuff in his life,

made him a very wealthy,

rich man.

And then Y plagues

ph,

for taking ab bra wife.

And I was like, what have you done

to me?

And we talked about how this echoed the

sentiment

found in the fall.

Then Genesis chomp or 3.

What's going on? Why have you done these

things?

In this case,

Ph was the 1 that was deceived.

And so

Ab bra and sur I ended up leaving

Egypt with

all these

new amounts of wealth and

head back to the place where Ab bra

built

altar to the Lord.

And we talked about this necessity of God's

people to always be on the move to

not settle even when we are settled.

We might be called to be in certain

places. We might be called to live in

Griffin,

but we shouldn't settle in our own little

places of worship, our own structures that we've

designed for God as he calls us out

into the world because just as such God,

Abraham was blessed to be a blessing.

That promised to God was that

he would go out. It's the complete opposite

of the people of Ba who wouldn't wanted

to make a name for themselves.

But ab bra is being called not to

make a name for himself, but a name

for Y.

In this world that so desperately

needs

y way.

But we saw just last week that

my bra not perfect.

God might have called a certain kind of

man to

be the father of God's chosen people.

But he was not a perfect man

as nobody

is. And so we can still find ourselves

maybe

a little bit a part of this story.

And so as we turned to chapter 15,

what's happened up to this point that we

kinda skipped is

a Bra lot separate.

They go there separate ways.

Ab bra trusts

enough in Y way to say, well, maybe

he has a plan and law isn't it,

and it's

okay to let him go.

But then

a whole bunch of kings start making war

with 1 another and

lot is taken by these kings and enslaved

by them and that problem is like, I'll

have no part of this and like, I'm

gonna go rescue

lot, and So with his very meager

assembly of fighters,

which you really can't say as much of

an army because it's his household of...

Servants and

their children and all... It's like not people

that know how to fight well,

And they're the ones that are going to

take on these armies of armies

and ab bra overcomes them.

And rescues

his nephew.

But instead of taking his nephew back into

his household, which would be the safe thing

to do

A problem lets him go once again.

And they separate

And as we turn to our story today,

we see that Ab bra is still

struggling.

To trust

y.

And so let us read from the text

this morning starting in verse 1

After these things, the word of Y came

to Ab in a vision saying,

do not fear ab bra.

I am a shield to you and your

reward shall be very great.

And a bra said,

Oh, lord Y, what will you give me?

As I go on being childless

in the air of my house house, is

Eli of Damascus,

and problem said,

since you have given no seed to me,

behold, 1 born in my house is my

heir.

Then behold the word of Y came to

him saying,

This 1 will not be your heir, but

1 who will come forth from your own

body, he shall be your heir.

And he brought him outside and said now

look toward the Heavens and number the stars,

if you are able to number them.

And he said to him so shall your

seed be.

That he believed in Y way and counted

it to him is righteousness,

And he said to him, I am Y

who brought you out of

of the Cal

to give you this land to possess it.

And he said, oh, Lord Y, how may

I know that I will possess it.

And so he said to him.

Bring me a 3 year old he and

a 3 year old female goat and a

3 year old ram and a turtle dove

and a young pigeon.

Then he brought all these humans split them

into parts down the middle and laid each

part opposite the other, but he did not

split apart the birds.

Then the birds of prey came down upon

the car,

then Ab drove them away.

Now it happened that when the sun was

going down,

a deep sleep fell upon ab bra and

behold terror and great darkness fell upon him.

Then God said to Ab bra no. For

certain that your seed will be so earners

in a land that is not theirs.

And they will be enslaved and mistreated for

400

years

but I will also judge the nation to

whom they are enslaved. And afterward, they will

come out with many

possessions,

As for you, you shall go to your

father's in peace, you will be buried at

a good old age.

Then in the fourth generation, they will return

here for the ini of the Am is

not yet complete.

And now it happened that the sun hit

set and it was very

dark and behold there appeared a smoking oven

and a flaming torch which passed between these

pieces.

And on that day, Y cut a covenant

with a bra saying,

to your seed I have given this land.

From the river of Egypt as far as

the great river, the river Eu,

the can in the Ken

in the cat,

and the hit tie in the parasite and

the rough fame, and the Am and the

can and the gig ga site in the

J site.

Amen.

And so we open up this passage.

And remember,

those that are hearing this in context are

the Israelites as they wonder in the wilderness

that they had just been freed from

Egypt.

And the whole part of what I want

us to kinda take away from today, and

we're gonna circle back to it is this

single

idea that

God can take

somebody out of Egypt, but it's gonna be

it's a little bit more difficult to get

Egypt out of them.

God can move somebody

to any

location, but

what they acquired in that location might not

be so easy to uproot from their life.

Let me say that a different way.

God might remove you from a sin that

you have,

but you still might hunger to go back

to it. Because it was easier. It was

more comfortable.

Maybe gave you a moment of pleasure and

joy and

Maybe it accomplished something. Maybe it made you

wealthy.

Maybe it was some deception that you like

to live in.

And God might be taking you out of

that place, but

it still

resides within you to wanna return to it.

And so as we open our passage today,

I'm confronted by a phrase to that we've

probably heard

a hundred thousand times in

our church going,

We've heard that it's

recounted 365

times in scripture 1 for at each day

of the year.

And it is this phrase

do

not

fear.

Problem.

Do

not fear all ti in the hebrew, then

this is the very first time that it

actually appears in the scripture, and I'm always

curious when something appears for the first time,

why? The

especially a phrase this is often repeated as

this 1.

Do

not,

fear.

And so as I hear these words. My

question

is

what is god telling

a ab bra, not

to fear.

I think oftentimes my head goes to this

moment with a whole bunch of shepherd in

a field.

And an angel of the Lord appears to

them and says,

do not fear.

I bring

ti

of great joy.

So that's where my head initially goes is

this sphere must be 1 of terror because

an angel probably is a very frightening thing

to see.

Not as you might think of an angel

is something that looks like a human with

wings.

But as the bible describes an angel as

a creature with eyes all around it and

eyes on all sides and like 6 wings

and floating with horns and crowns and you're

kind of, like, if you saw that, you

might be terrified.

If you saw something that looked more like

you with wings,

maybe not so fear some.

And so I first think well God's telling

will do not be afraid because

God has appeared.

But that's not

what the text says.

It says after these things, the word of

Y,

came to Ab bra vision, saying.

So I don't know what he saw in

his vision

but it was a word

that Y was giving.

And he says to ab bra do not

fear.

And in order to

understand what it is that he is calling

him to not fear we have to continue.

For I am a shield to you to

you,

your reward

shall be very great.

And then we hear the words ab bra

in verse 2.

0 Lord Y,

what

will you give me?

And so when we hear the word do

not fear, the context

is 1 of

provision.

Ab bra is afraid that Y will not

provide?

How am I going to receive that which

you promised me?

How am I gonna get that thing that

you said back in chapter 12 verse 7

that

my seed would inherit this land. I don't

have kids.

In fact, right now, I'm so childless that

it's gonna be a servant in my household

that gets all my stuff.

Oh, Lord Y. What will you give me

as I go on being childless.

And the air of my houses

Eli of Damascus.

Not even 1 of my own culture,

but 1 that I acquired when I was

in Iran,

It is a is a do not fear.

Lebron because, I am going to provide for

you.

I'm gonna protect you.

You don't have to be afraid of how

you're gonna get through every situation that you

might face,

especially coming right out of Egypt and what

did Ab bro do is all about his

protection?

How are but protection for what purpose

that he might be provided for,

that he might

receive great amount of wealth because he used

his wife

as he went down into Egypt.

A bra has a sin problem as much

as you and me.

And God is trying to let Ab problem

know. You don't have to fear

about how

you're going to be provided for.

I am going

to provide.

But here's the thing.

Verse 2,

0 lord Y, what will you give me

as I go on being childless in the

air of my house?

Is Eli of damascus.

How does god respond

to ab bra in that moment.

As you look at your text,

what's the very next thing?

What does god say?

Nothing.

Silence.

Have you ever prayed a prayer that you

just like God, I need to know. I

have to have the answer to this. I

need you to show me what's next. I

need you to show me the way. Out

I I wanna trust you, but in order

for me to trust you

you have to tell me what's next. I've

gotta I've gotta see what's going on in

the future. I gotta know exactly how this

childless...

Father and this child, this mother are gonna

have a seed that's gonna inherit the entire

land, tell me because I'm not seeing it.

I don't I don't see the big picture

here. What's what is going on?

How are you gonna do it?

Silence.

No answer.

Nothing.

And then verse 3 shows up.

And

we kinda talked about this a little bit

before in valve, but if there's a break

in the text,

and then it says that the same person

that was just speaking,

and it says and they spoke again.

It means that time has passes a new

conversation.

This isn't something that's happening immediately. It's something

that that there's been some separation a little

bit of time, a little bit of lingering.

And so, Ab bra allowed himself to sit

in the silence for a moment

We don't know how much time it took.

Maybe it was an hour.

Maybe it was a week. Maybe it was

a year. Maybe it was 2 years, but

it some point, a bra has had enough

of the waiting. Enough of the silence from

God, and he's like, okay. I'm coming back.

Verse 3 and Abraham said, and I love

this. It's a little bit more frustrated. The

first time he was kind of respectful to

Y.

But how will you give me?

I have... I'm going on being childless

right now, my only heirs is el?

But now he's like, since you have given

me no seed,

hello,

behold, and born

and 1 born in my house is gonna

be

the air? Like,

no longer is it just a named servant.

It's just somebody born in my house that's

not mine, is going to inherit everything,

you have given me no seed. There is

no answer to the promise.

I have waited, and I have not seen.

Does that sound familiar?

Because it resonates in my heart?

Like, there are so many times. Where I'm

just like, God I am waiting. I know

that you've given a promise, but I don't

see

the answer. I don't see the outcome.

And you are being silent.

You

aren't speaking.

But this is exactly how it's supposed to

be.

This is exactly

how god

works.

Reminds me of David a lot.

Psalm 13 is 1 of my favorites

because I've prayed it a lot.

How long oh y way,

will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from

me? How long shall I take counsel in

my soul having sorrow in my heart all

the day? How long will my enemy be

exalted over me?

Look and answer me, oh, y my God,

give light to my eyes unless I sleep

of death, unless my enemy says I have

overcome him in my adversaries rejoice that I

am shaken.

You ever feel like you're just in that

moment of darkness. You ever feel that Y

has just completely forgotten that you exist. Have

you ever felt that he's just not answering

any of your prayers that and that nothing

is going as you thought. That God would

do it. And and as you have heard,

he promised he would in his word.

And he's just silent.

And fear sets in, and you're wondering where

is my provision going to come from?

But here's the thing,

God lets us sit in our silence.

For the purpose of

building

our faith and trust in him.

David finishes that song by saying, but.

Even in the midst of the darkness, even

in the midst of

Wondering where you are, but

I have trusted in your loving kindness. Even

when I don't feel it,

Even when I don't see it, I have

trusted

in your loving kindness.

In my heart shall rejoice in your

salvation, I will sing to Y because he

is dealt

bo flee

with me.

Remember he's...

These stories are being

listened to in the wilderness.

To a people that thought it would be

easier to go back into Egypt and slavery

than to push forward in the wilderness

toward the promised land.

Toward obtaining that that vary the land that

it was promised to ab bra the the

people of Israel wanna go back to slavery

because they're wandering

around in a place that they think is

filled with darkness,

they can't see 5 feet in front of

them, even when Y is appearing

by a cloud of smoke in the day

and fire by night.

They wonder where they're gonna get their next

meal even as mana is just coming up

from the ground.

In exodus is 16, it talks about how

God's gonna provide food for them, but don't

take more than a day's worth.

And what do they do?

Take more than a day's worth,

because they're afraid that it's not gonna be

provided for the next day,

as if God is just gonna stop being

their provider.

And then he's like, but take a double

portion,

the day before the sabbath because on Sabbath,

you should not work.

And then what do they do? They don't

take enough and so on. This sabbath that

go out into the field so look for

this man and it's not there.

And they're blaming god.

When God told them that it wasn't gonna

be there.

Or so

easy

to just

go faith list for a moment because we

don't see the way that God's providing

in the midst of our waiting for provision.

We've got not Egypt, but Egypt hasn't gotten

out of us.

And so this increased

frustration

of Ab bra is like,

you haven't fulfilled your promises to me.

And I have been waiting. And God's like,

fine. I'll tell you.

I'll just tell you. Look, alright. You wanna

know behold,

He's not gonna be... That one's not gonna

be your air. The air is going to

come from your own body, and he shall

be your air.

I'm not gonna get into the graphic of

that, but I'll let you assume what that

text means.

If it's coming from

Abraham own body,

then we know that it's his seed and

his child.

But if we looked a little bit of

ahead in the text,

who gets ahead of themselves again.

Sometimes God will tell us how it's gonna

happen,

and we still get start con contracting in

our brain,

what our role in making it happen is

going to be instead of just god letting

it happen.

This is probably why God wants you to

sit in your silence because if he told

you, you would get ahead of him.

I can't tell you how many times I've

gotten ahead of God.

I think about it all the time about

like, these things that I'm, like, so excited

about, like, in church ministry, like, I'm like,

oh, my goodness, God's gonna do some really

great things. I'm really excited about it.

What am I gonna do?

Oh, we're gonna create this program and in

this program in this program, and I'm I'm

gonna be in charge of that 1 and

that 1 and that 1 and before I

know it, I'm pulled in 16 different directions.

And I'm exhausted and I'm like, why isn't

anything happening the way that you said it

would God? I'm doing it.

And God's like,

No.

I told you I was going to do

it?

What makes you think that that's the many

different directions that you just went were the

way that I was gonna do it, that's

not how I was gonna do it.

But you got ahead of yourself because you

heard 1 thing and thought I meant different

thing.

Because I was so afraid that once I

knew where God wanted to take us different

I was like, well, I've gotta be the

provider.

I'm the pastor. It's my job.

And God's like, no. I'm the provider.

It's my job.

Not yours.

And so what ends up happening is a

ab bra and Sur get ahead of themselves,

and they're like, well, I'm Barren. So I

can't have a child, but guess what? I

have this Egyptian slave that we got when

we came out of Egypt,

you know,

maybe she can have your child.

That might be a great idea.

So

here's H.

And

what happens?

Ishmael is born

and

time passes

13 years.

And it rob's like, I've solved the problem.

And then y way shows up and it

says no. You haven't.

I'm not giving any of this to Ishmael.

I'll provide for him now,

but you weren't listening to me.

Sa Was always part of the plan.

But your vision

is so

small,

and my vision is so big.

God has plans that go far beyond what

we can even ask or imagine

Ephesians chapter 3. And so God is still

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

at work at providing even in the silence,

and maybe just allow yourself to sit in

that silence because the moment you might hear

from him might be the moment that you

take control back from God.

Let him take Egypt out of you by

waiting.

These had to wait 40 years in the

wilderness to get Egypt brought out of them.

I hope it doesn't take 40 years for

us.

I really do.

And so what ends up happening in versus

5 and 6?

As we continue on,

he always says, he brought him outside and

said now look toward the heavens

and number the stars.

If you are able to number them.

So shall be your seed.

And Ab believed in Y and it and

Y counted it to him as righteousness.

I love this passage, but

What I want to point out is that

the stars are not a sign.

Jesus was clear that

only the wicked seeks signs in wonders.

The stars are a visible word.

A metaphor

for what God is going to do for

Ab bra.

God wants to put

the word in front of you

in front of us,

that we would read it as it is

and believe in those promises

that he has put in front of us,

and I can guarantee you there's a lot

of promises

in his word.

He's given it to us. These are our

stars

can you count them?

Do you see them? Are you reading them?

Are they in front of you as the

stars were in front of Ab bra in

that moment where God

counted it to him

as righteousness.

Paul talks about it extensively.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews

talks about it extensively about how

ab bra faith was counted to him,

as

righteousness.

Romans 03:22, even the righteousness

Romans 3:22

of god through faith in Jesus Christ for

all those who leave

for there is no distinction. Let us not

forget that ab bra faith was counted to

him is righteousness,

and our faith

becomes counted us to as righteousness

because it is in Jesus.

Jesus is our righteousness.

We aren't trying to obtain any sort of

level of h on our own. We aren't

trying to create art... Create our own provision

in our lives

we are simply

seeking looking at and relying on the person

of Jesus Christ.

And then we go forward in 7 and

8.

And what happens?

And mask again.

Well, how you gonna do it? How are

you gonna give it to me?

It was just my faith was just counted

to me as righteousness, but god, I I

need some more.

I'm not really sure.

What's going on here. And so I wanna

just give you a little bit of encouragement.

If you've ever had a little bit of

disbelief in your belief,

So did Bra, and his faith was counted

to him his righteousness. And it's okay. And

it reminds me and I think I've said

this many times recently

of the story in

Mark right in this centurion and he's like,

Jesus, I believe, help my un belief.

I do I believe Jesus. I believe you

you can do anything, but

help me.

And I think this is a help me

moment for ab bra in the text. He's

like,

I do believe I really do

god help me help me believe more. This

God give me more faith

for this. Show show me what is it...

What is gonna happen

so that I can believe you.

What's the guarantee?

And Y in his goodness

guarantees it?

But in a very maybe

unexpected way.

And so this is where I wanna leave

us as we finish the text today.

Is

this covenant. This cutting of the covenant, and

we've talked a lot about covenants here

we had

entire disciples series where we talked about the

covenant

in the epic of Eden and the importance

of covenant cutting, and how covenants are often

between, a,

higher

power and a, weaker power, a stronger power

and a weaker power, and they can be

between

nations and little city states and they can

be between

kings and lords and they can be between,

They can be between equals, but they're not

as common, but there's always something involved and

we talked a lot about the covenant when

we talked about Noah.

And the rainbow being set in the sky

as a sign of this covenant and how

I had mentioned that the ones that are

normally supposed to keep the receipts of the

covenant is the weaker power, but god's like,

no. I'm I'm God. I'm I'm holding on

to this receipt for you. So not only

will you remember, but I will always remember.

I will never forget the covenant that I

made with you.

Because at the end of the day, in

covenant cutting back then, I you know, the

higher power didn't really care whether or not

they kept covenant.

They were stronger. It didn't matter to them.

So you as the weaker party had to

come and be like, no. I've got the

proof. Here it is.

Like, we agreed to this.

Keep it.

Right?

And then we started talking about how in

making covenants,

you cut an animal in half and

Essentially, what you're declaring is,

let this be to me if I fail

to keep my end of the bargain.

So that's just a quick rundown of what

it means to cut a covenant.

But as we read this text, this passage,

it's...

It's interesting.

And I say it's interesting because as we

read, we reread this past and says,

and so God further said to Abraham now

asked for you, you shall keep

My covenant,

you... Oh, whoops. That's the wrong passage.

Here we go.

Verse 9,

So he said to him, bring me, so

this is Y speaking Bra. Bring me a

3 year old he, a 3 year old

female goat and a 3 year old ram,

a turtle dove a young pigeon.

And so what does Bra do? He goes

out and he finds those things, and he

brings them

to him

and he immediately

splits them into parts down the middle and

laid each part opposite the other, but he

did not split apart the birds.

Ab bra knew what was about to happen.

God said, go get these things, but he

didn't say cut them, but ab bra knew

that he was

initiating a covenant, a contract with Y, Y

had given him the

necessary ingredients for that covenant pack to be

made. And so a bra went and got

them and went ahead and split them.

And what's interesting is actually as you look

at it, into, like, the history of this

specific covenant, it's a patrol covenant.

A patrol a patrol covenant that's supposed to

be made between

the father of the bride

and the groom.

And what's happening is the weaker party, the

groom

will walk first

And then

the stronger party, right, the father of the

bride will walk through second.

And

essentially, what's happening is this the groom walks

through, it's to say, I will do

all things in my power to protect to

love to care for

and to provide

for your daughter.

I will do those things. I will keep

it as such.

I will keep it so.

And then the father's promises,

and I am providing for you a virtuous

woman

who has, you know, by all rights is

pure and will provide children

and will allow you to flourish in your

household,

who And if either of us shall fail

in this covenant, let us be as all

of these animals, 1 of us is dead.

And what happens in this covenant is as

the animals are cut, all their blood essentially

is poured into the center.

And there is essentially a path of blood,

and that's what's happening. That's what they're saying

is not only am I being cut, but

as I walk through it in the blood

splashes upon me.

May my blood splash upon you if I

fail to keep the covenant.

So all that,

in graphic detail. You're welcome.

To say,

as we read this text, it gets really

interesting. So we brought them, he split them

And then verse 11, and then the birds

of prey came down upon the car and

ab bra drove them away.

Do you know how long

like a car kinda has to sit there

before all the birds of prey start swoop

down, trying to peck peck at it and

eat it. Like, it's not immediate.

Like time has

passed, like, they're

decaying.

It's probably hot,

like,

it's gross. It's sticky,

and all these birds of prey are starting

to come down

and

Ab lebron is just trying to drive them

away. Trying to get all these birds of

prey away and maybe we can read something

really spiritual into that. Like, Man, isn't the

enemy just gonna come against you when, like,

god is in the middle of making his

promises to you and he's just gonna... Try

to just,

drive it home and steal your joy. I

mean, he's such a thief that came to

steel killing and destroy and that is true.

Like that is a hundred percent true, but

what I find interesting is here's the thing.

Remember, this is a covenant between a weaker

party and a stronger party, and Ab problem

was so excited that this covenant was about

to be made between him and Y, he

went and got all the pieces he need

and he. Caught them in half and laid

them in the blood pouring out. And he's

like, yeah. And then he looked at and

he's like,

oh, no.

I have to walk first.

And I know what it means if I

have to keep my end of the covenant.

And so he's like,

I'm not walking. And so time is passing

and the bird start coming and Y hasn't

showed up yet because

Bra hasn't fulfilled his part of the covenant

of walking through

all the blood and

saying, yes, I'm the weaker party and you're

the stronger party.

And Bra is realizing,

I can't keep covenant with Y.

There's no way I could keep all the

things that are that I am supposed to

keep if I walk through

this blood path.

And so he waits.

And he waits,

and he waits

and god is silent.

Already talked about it. God is silent, not

showing up yet.

Just kinda seeing

what's he gonna do?

I don't know. Maybe maybe eventually he decides

to walk through. I don't know.

Any waits.

And this might be the best

moment

of a bra life.

As he finally allows himself to wait before

being hasty

and just saying, well, I'm gonna do it

myself.

I'm gonna go ahead and I'm just gonna

walk through and make it happen for myself.

Little bit later in scripture, we know somebody

that did it.

Saul, what happened to him, King saul, not

Paul saul.

That was his fall from Grace, and he

had to be cha eyes before David was

put over him.

Said the spirit of the Lord left him

because he was dis.

And so here in this passage,

Abraham is waiting and all of a sudden,

as he's been waiting,

Verse 12, and it happened when the sun

was going down a deep sleep fell upon

ab bra and the whole terror and great

darkness fell upon him, and then God said

Ab bra no for certain.

I love that because what was Ab bra

question, How am I gonna know? And God's

like, oh, you're gonna know. And you're now

gonna know for certain,

we're putting an end to these questions. No

more questions. Sometimes,

You do have to stop asking the question.

Like, I have learned that there are some

things. It's just like,

I have to stop asking God the question

because it's not helping me

grow in faith.

If you just stop asking the... Question, see

what God can do. But if you're always

allowing that question to reside on your heart,

you're never growing from it.

It reminds me of when Paul said, when

are you gonna let this thorn pass from

me 3 times I have asked?

And God said, my grace is sufficient,

stop asking.

Grow.

So what happens is

you will know for certain now.

That your seat will be so earners in

the land that is not yours, and they

will be enslaved then and mistreated for 400

years.

Egypt. Right?

Okay? And I will also be the judge

of that nation to whom they are enslaved.

And afterward, they will come out with many

possessions, they're gonna be enslaved, but I'm gonna

provide.

Trust, and I'm the judge not them. I'm

gonna do the work, not them.

Ab bra, listen to the story, trust who

I am. I am Y, You're gone.

And as for you're gonna go out to

your father's and peace and you will be

buried at a good old age. And in

the fourth generation, they will return here for

the ini of the am is not yet

complete.

And then it... Happened that the sun headset

and it was very

dark and behold there appeared a smoking oven

and a flaming torch which passed between these

pieces. Remember, a covenant is between 2 parties,

And what do we have?

2 parties, a smoking oven

and a fiery torch

Doesn't that sound familiar.

Who led the people in Egypt as a

pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire

a smoking oven

and a fiery torch passes

through the cut pieces takes the blood path

of the covenant.

Saying once again, I'm guaranteeing it on me.

Bra you have no responsibility here.

I've got you.

I'm the provider. You have to trust in

my provision. You have to trust that I'm

at work that I will do what I

said I will do and it's gonna take

time,

and you're gonna have to trust the process.

I'm gonna be silent at moments, and you're

gonna have to trust the process,

I'm not gonna tell you how I'm doing

all things, but you have to trust that

we're gonna get there and we're gonna get

there together, and I'm gonna hold you up

along the entire.

Way,

you let Egypt come out with you.

You've gotta let it go.

You've gotta let Egypt go.

You've gotta let the pass go. You've gotta

let the things that you're holding on to

go. You gotta let all the things that

are keeping you from God go. All the

idol that you take with you, all the

sin that you carry, your heart, all the

things that you wanna return to because it's

comfortable and good and easy.

You gotta let it go for god to

do the work that he wants to do.

You gotta let Egypt

out.

Let Y in in trust that he's gonna

provide when you don't see the path of

provision.

As much as this is a covenant of

promise,

it is a covenant

of

provision.

For Ab brown,

and for his people

and for us

God hasn't stopped

providing

And what I love about this

is I want us to notice.

This is a

covenant cut in darkness.

What happened when Jesus gave up his last

breath?

Darkness,

and the whole of shook,

and the veil was torn,

another

covenant of ultimate

provision was provided in darkness that we might

have light.

Jesus is the only way

in which we get to this place

of knowing and guaranteeing

all at the father their has.

But we got it turn to him.

We gotta turn to him and trust him

and believe in him.

Let's pray.

Good and gracious God as we hear about

the covenant that

Ab

cut,

but you walked through.

God, let us remember that you are

provider

God that you will let us sit in

silence

for our good lest we get ahead of

ourselves and try to take it back into

our own hands.

Because sometimes we get a piece of the

vision

and we run hard after it, but forget

who provided the vision,

and who is the provision to the vision

is you.

Let us

follow you and trust you wherever

you go.

It's in christ's name we pray.

Amen.