1 - And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Elasar, Chedarlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,

2 - They made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.  

This chapter kicks off with a showdown between the kings.  You could say it’s the good guys versus the bad guys, provided you wanted to put it in the context of a Western movie.  Except this is a battle that’s not, shall we say, well-proportioned.  This will be pointed out by the text in a few verses.  

Shinar is said to be Babylonia, Elasar the very southern portion of Babylonia, and Elam would be equal to the future Persian kingdom.  The name “Goiim” in verse one is translated in the Authorized Version as “nations.”  This is also reflected in the Septuagint (the Old Testament translated into Greek), as it uses the word ethnos.  This is a word Paul used to refer to the heathen or, more commonly, the Gentiles.  The decision was made to show the transliterated Hebrew word as it refers to a more remote tribe, probably in the very northeastern portion of Babylonia.¹

3 - All these united in the vale of Sidiim; that is, the Salt Sea.  

Notice the editorial comment Moses places on the end of this verse.  This is probably for the benefit of his later readers, who would have come to know it by that name by the time he wrote this.  It has been referred to as the Dead Sea, but most significantly for our purposes it has been known as the Asphalt Sea.  We will find out why in just a little bit.  

4 - Twelve years they served Chedarlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.  

5 - And in the fourteenth year came Chedarlaomer and the kings that [were] with him, and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim,

6 - And the Horites in their mountain Seir, up to El Paran which [is] by the wilderness.  

The names of all of these people groups have one thing in common: they were awesome, physically speaking.  The names mean things like “strong”,  “mighty”,  “powerful”, and so forth.  There is a literal meaning here, as we have just seen, but there is a spiritual one as well.  These special names are given for a special reason.  The reason is that of comparison.  In other words, the “strong” and “mighty” and “powerful” are doing battle with the not-so-strong, powerful, and mighty.  

7 - Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the land of the Amalekite, and also the Amorite dwelling in Hazezon-tamar.  

8 - And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that [is], Zoar, went out; then they lined up for the battle with them in the vale of Sidiim,

9 - With Chedarlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Elasar; four kings against the five.  

This is a battle that would be considered unfair and unbalanced, to play off of one of the cable television channels.  Not only are they strong, mighty, and powerful, but they outnumber the  opposition!  Things couldn’t possibly get much worse for Chedarlaomer and company, could they?  

10 - Now the vale of Sidiim [consisted of] numerous asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there; and those remaining quickly fled to the mountain.  

Literally the Hebrew reads, “Now the vale of Sidiim [was] pits, pits of bitumen.”  The use of repetition in Hebrew is used to express great quantity.  In this case a noun is used in succession.  This same literary device is used to denote quantity of action.  The verb is used followed by another form of the verb known as the infinitive construct (see commentary on Genesis 2:17).  Not only were the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah “in it”, they were in it deep.  I have rendered the word beerot as “asphalt” in order to give today’s people the meaning of the word in the original to which they can best relate.  The hyper-literal rendering of the word would be “bitumen.”  The dictionary says bitumen is the material used to surface roads, as in asphalt.  Yet many of us know from at least second-hand experience that when we drive by a construction site on one of our more major roads or highways and the workers are getting ready to do the actual paving at the site that there is a strong, strong odor emanating from there.  This is because of the materials used in order to surface the road in a somewhat lasting manner.  The smell is the result of asphalt, gravel, and tar mixed together.  In a modern day sense this is the same material the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah had fallen into.  If we believe the smell is objectionable, imagine what it would be like to have your body covered in such material.  If it’s all the same to you I’ll pass on that experience, thank you!  

11 - Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went away.  

This brings us to the famous quote from archaeologist Nelson Glueck that reveals his findings concerning this particular battle we see recorded in the Old Testament.  Hear the utter destruction perpetrated by these kings as they defended themselves against this awesome army.  

I found that every village in their path had been plundered and left in ruins, and the countryside was laid waste.  The population had been wiped out or led away into captivity.  For hundreds of years thereafter, the entire area was like an abandoned cemetery, hideously unkempt, with all its monuments shattered and strewn in pieces on the ground.²

12 - And they took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother who [was] dwelling in Sodom, and his goods, and went away.  

Food was not all they took, however.  Lot was seized along with his possessions.  Get the picture: Lot had gone from “pitching his tent toward Sodom” to now being a full-fledged resident.  Was this treatment of Lot deserved on his part?  Well, that depends on with whom we discuss this.  We learned in our last study that Lot had his choice of land in which to dwell.  He looked upon Sodom, thought it would be a great place to settle, took a little extra time before becoming a resident to fully make up his mind on the matter, then jumped in with both feet, as it were.  Does it need repeating that both Sodom and Gomorrah are the epitome of sin and wickedness, even in our day?  With that said suffice it to say that all too late, Lot becomes a victim of his own decision.  

Now let’s turn the coin over, so to speak.  What does this say for Lot?  Because he resided in Sodom, did that make him one of them?  Actually Scripture says the opposite.  Having already established that the best commentary on the Old Testament is the New Testament, we look to the pages of the book of 2 Peter and see how God judges Lot.  

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an [example] unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their ungodly deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the ungodly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished…  2 Peter 2:4-9, emphasis mine

Even though Lot is associated with these Sodom scoundrels, he is declared ‘not guilty’ by God Himself.  When God declares us “just” and “righteous,” we have nothing to fear.  Man can refer to you by any and every name in the book, but when God says, “Not guilty,” consider it so.  The righteousness of Christ has made it so on the behalf of those who have yielded their lives to Him by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone!  

Just the same, there are consequences to be suffered whenever we are out of the will of God.  In fact the writer of Hebrews (who I believe to be the apostle Paul) says each of us knows we have been declared righteous when the chastisement of God comes upon us (Hebrews 12:5-11).  He spanks His children, and I believe Lot is no exception here.  Yet the mercy and grace of God are displayed here also.  

13 - Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew.  Now he was dwelling by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and these [were] covenant partners with Abram.  

An escapee of the opposition’s camp becomes an informant in Abram’s behalf.  I believe Abram wouldn’t have known otherwise that his nephew had been captured were it not for this fugitive.  For this reason the fugitive serves as God’s agent for this day, time, and place so that the just and righteous man named Lot may be ransomed.  

14 - Now when Abram heard his brother had been taken captive, then he armed his trained [servants that] were born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.  

Upon hearing the news, Abram springs into action in no time.  His servants also doubled as trained soldiers who were ready at a moment’s notice to spring into action along with Abram.  Those 318 servants were not only combat-ready, but were led by a man who exhibited great faith and at the same time thought practically.  His heart was set on God but his actions were ready to follow through in an instant, if necessary, to defend what was rightfully his.  He knew the land was his because God had given it to him already.  

When they pursued their enemies they went as far north as they could possibly go in the land.  Dan was at the very northern border of Israel.  

15 - And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and he smote them, and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.  

16 - And he brought back all the possessions, and also Lot his brother, and his goods; and he also brought back the women and the people.  

One of the oldest, most effective military strategies comes into play here.  They attacked at night with a split squad.  It probably happened that one attacked from the front, the other from the rear.  As a matter of fact it wouldn’t surprise me if that strategy had its origin with this passage.  Didn’t we say that Genesis is the book of beginnings?  

Everything originally belonging to Lot now belonged to him again.  The text says this includes the women and the people.  I can’t say for sure who this consists of, but I am suspect the women made up his core servants; his ‘harem’, if you will.  After all, this was Sodom.  Even though he may not have been a willing participant, sexually speaking, I believe he had no problem being waited on hand-and-foot by beautiful women.  I imagine a scene from a movie like, say, Ben-Hur, where he was being fanned with palm leaves and fed grapes by these women.  The best way I know to describe “the people” would be those considered administrators, indentured servants, and family members.  

This, by the way, is the last mention of Lot for a while.  You’ll notice there’s no mention of gratitude on his part.  This is one of the reasons I gave earlier for Lot being a spoiled brat.  He may have thought he deserved to be rescued.  We don’t know about that, but we do know he went back to Sodom following this incident.  This is the decision that would lead to his losing all those possession he gained back in this verse when God ultimately judged Sodom.  There’ll be plenty more on that when we get to chapter nineteen.  

17 - And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from slaughtering Chedarlaomer and the kings that [were] with him at the vale of Shaveh, the king’s vale.  

18 - Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; now he was priest of the Most High God.  

Here we see Abram approached by two different kings.  These two will be representative of choices Abram will have to make as they concern his relationship with Yahweh.  This King Bera of Sodom approached Abram, then Melchizedek of Salem made his appearance before Abram at the same time.  It is important to note that Bera means ‘gift’, while Sodom means ‘burning’.  On the other hand Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’ while Salem means ‘peace’.  The ‘gift’ implies that which only the world can offer.  That’s exactly what Bera offers him.  Melchizedek offers the righteousness only God can provide.  

This brings us to Melchizedek.  Who is he and where is he from?  Many scholars over the years have sought to provide the identity of this peaceful king.  I don’t know that many of them have done well in this endeavor, but on the other hand I may not either.  These things must be carefully weighed in the balance and I will seek to do that just as much as possible.  In the end it’ll be up to you to determine if I’m spot-on in my assessment or just plain full of baloney!  But that should be the criteria as it pertains to everything concerning this study.  

Seemingly all that could possibly be said concerning Melchizedek has already been said.  This may come as a shock and surprise to someone reading, but I don’t have anything new to add to that.  But as is the case in my particular teaching style, I desire to strike a middle ground somewhere in the midst of all the ‘Melchizedek madness’.  It doesn’t mean I don’t know what I believe, but it does mean I believe that when it comes to stating certain beliefs as they pertain to the non-essentials of the Christian faith, as is the case here, the extremes are almost always wrong (i.e., bad).  

19 - And he blessed him and said, “May Abram [be] blessed of the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth,

20 - “And may the Most High God [be] blessed, Who has delivered up your enemies into your hand.”  Then he gave to him a tenth part of all.  

We have here the first use of the term El Elyon, or Almighty God.  It’s rendered here as “Most High God.”  Also appropriate is “God Almighty” or any other rendering that denotes God as the Highest of all deities.  He first blesses Abram, then blesses El Elyon.  Then Melchizedek does something that is typical of those in right relationship and fellowship with God: He gives credit where credit is due.  He professes that the Lord was the One responsible for Abram’s victory in battle.  The last sentence shows the first act of tithing in the Bible.  The “tenth part” is from the Hebrew word maaser, which can also be rendered “tithe.”  What I believe to be the more literal rendering is seen in our text.  

Much could be made here concerning the giving of the tithe by today’s believer.  The act of tithing seen here predates the giving of the Law in which God said one is to give the “tenth part” in accordance with how God has blessed.  Over in chapter twenty-eight we’ll see where Jacob tithed prior to the Law also.  This serves as a terrific introduction to Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s thoughts on tithing:

A godly deacon said to me once, “If the Old Testament Jew under Law could tithe, how much more ought New Testament Christians under grace!”  The New Testament plan for giving is outlined in 2 Corinthians 8-9, but tithing is a good place to start.³

The “bread and wine” that was brought by Melchizedek in verse eighteen is indicative of what became known as the thank-offering to God.  Whether Melchizedek brought enough for all of Abram’s men or just for Abram himself is immaterial.  This was done strictly for ceremonial purposes.  

Some believe Melchizedek had been simply one of the local chieftains.  Think about it, though: how could one whose name was “peace” reign over a land as full of corruption as Canaan.  One might say something like, “Well, maybe it was a peaceful kind of corruption.”  There is absolutely no such of a thing!  Corruption brings forth wickedness of every sort.  The more people that are gathered together in a city, the more prevalent graft and greed become.  It was true then, and it’s possibly even more true today.  

There are those who believe that Melchizedek was more than a shadow or type of Christ.  These believe he was Jesus Christ Himself.  Those who believe this is a Christophany are at least real close to who he actually was, in my view.  Hebrews 7:4 tells us, though, that he was a man.  “Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”  

Even though he is referred to as a man, and more than a fair number of scholars debate the identity of Melchizedek even today, we know for sure that at least he was a visible representation of the glory of God in human form who served as a test to the faith of Abram following a very decisive battle.  

21 - And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give to me the people and take the goods for yourself.”  

This king was just defeated in battle and he believes he’s in a position to bargain with the man who just defeated him.  I don’t know about you, but I’d say King Bera has his nerve approaching Abram in this manner.  The king tells Abram he wants the people and that Abram can have the spoil (treasure) from the battle.  

22 - And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

23 - “I will not [take] from a thread up to a sandal thong, and I will not take anything that [is] belonging to you, unless you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich’;

24 - “Except only that [which] the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men that went with me - Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre - [let] these take their portion.”  

The rest can have whatever they want from whatever was captured.  Abram extends his generosity to the heroes of his household, but says he wants nothing for himself.  Again, Abram not only greatly displays his generosity but passes the test of determining that Yahweh’s provision is truly all he needs or desires.  May that be our prayer as well.  This is an early lesson in terms of the biblical perspective as to how one can walk consistently with the Lord, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  



1 - After these things the Word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram.  I am your Shield; your abundantly great Reward.”  

Wow…talk about positive reinforcement!  Who could possibly fear after an encounter such as this?  Yet the time is coming where he will, and we will see how that fear manifests before long.  For now, though, Abram’s recent encounter with the kings showed he passed the test of faith.  Yahweh affirms Abram by giving his Word that He is all Abram needs.  Yet to him it doesn’t seem to be enough.  Observe…  

2 - And Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what [will] You give to me, since I am going childless, and the one born in my own house [is] this Elizer of Damascus?”  

3 - Then Abram said, “Behold, to me you have not given offspring, and behold, one born in my house is my heir!”  

Abram in essence is saying, “I know You are all I need, but I have this dilemma.  You told me I’d have all this offspring, yet You haven’t made good on Your promise, therefore I don’t have anyone to whom I may hand down my inheritance when I pass from this life.  Lord Yahweh, I don‘t want to sound like a whiner, but the only possible inheritor in my house is a servant of mine.  That just doesn‘t seem right to me, nor does it sound like something You would allow, given Your promise You made to me a while back.  So now what happens?”  Another way of saying it might be that Abram suffered from lack of assurance more than unbelief.  

4 - And behold, the Word of Yahweh to him, saying, “This man shall not [be] your heir; rather he that shall come forth from your body, he himself shall be your heir.”  

If that isn’t a guarantee, I don’t know what is or could be.  Yahweh leaves nothing to the imagination.  When He communicates a truth, He does so in the most clear, concise, and compelling manner.  Does He leave it at this?  What more could possibly be added to it?  We’re about to find out.  Why is that?  Because Abram, like the rest of us, needs assurance.  

5 - Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now in the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”  Then He said to him, “Thus shall be your offspring.”  

Elsewhere God tells Abram that his descendants will be more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashore.  Have you tried counting up all the grains of sand on the beach lately?  Yet that’s exactly what has come to pass…right on up to today!  How do we know the Bible is true?  Because of passages such as this, where God demonstrates that He is Who He says He is and does what He says He will do.  

About 30,000 stars are listed in the General Catalog used by astronomers, but it is estimated that there are 100 billion more!  God did not say that Abraham would have that many descendants but that, like the stars, there would be too many to count.  Whether Abraham looked down at the dust (Genesis 13:14) or up at the stars (15:5), he would recall God’s promise and have confidence.  This promise was repeated to Abraham (22:17) and reaffirmed to Isaac (26:4).⁴

6 - And he believed in Yahweh, and He imputed it to him according to righteousness.  

He expressly took Yahweh at His Word and, in the words of James 2:23, “(Abram) was called the Friend of God.”  The word for “imputed” has to do with crediting something to another’s account.  One of the key passages of the epistle of James in the New Testament, and especially verse 23, revolves around  the Greek word logizomai.  In fact that same word is used here in verse six as seen in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.  The word in the Hebrew is usually translated as “counted” or “accounted” or “reckoned.”  But they all have the same basic meaning behind them.  What ordinarily would not be credited to someone’s account now is.  In Abram’s case it is due directly to receiving the Word of God and making it a part of his life.  

The word “imputed” is used here in this translation because it’s the word used in the book of James as seen in the Authorized Version.  This is done mainly to show the relation between what God did for Abram in the Old Testament and how that relates directly to what Christ did for each of us according to the New Testament.  He asks each of us to trust and believe in the finished work of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sin condition.  As we believe and receive the message of the Gospel, we become justified in His sight.  One day each of us will be able to stand before Him and hear the words, “Not guilty,” as it pertains to our sins.  We know we have sinned, even after we have placed faith and trust in Him, and yet God proves faithful to His Word in that He has removed our transgressions as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12).  Have you thanked Him and given Him praise for that today?  

7 - And He said to him, “I [am] Yahweh, who brought you out of Ur of Chasediim/Chaldea, to give to you this land to inherit it.”  

In other words, “Remember Who this is that is promising you these things and what I have done for you up to this point in time.”  Keep in mind, as pointed out earlier, Abram is in need of assurance in a big way due to the supposed safekeeping of his family and entourage.  Those blood-thirsty savages, as it were, could come back and ruin everything for everybody.  Plus, perish the thought, Abram could actually be killed by them.  Then what would happen to the promise?  

8 - And he said, “Lord Yahweh, by what shall I know that I shall possess it?" 

“Inquiring minds want to know,” or so said the old tabloid advertising campaign of years gone by.  But isn’t that just good ol’ human nature, to want to know the future?  Yet Yahweh has given Abram the future.  But somehow that just isn’t enough, is it?  Poor Abram wants to know as much as he can know but, wouldn’t you know it, the Lord has other plans!  He wants Abram to know that His Word (covenant) is enough.  How He demonstrates that to His servant Abram is actually quite compelling once we examine it.  

9 - So He said to him, “Bring to me a heifer being three years old, and a female goat being three years old, and a ram being three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  

10 - So he brought to Him all these, and cut them in two in the midst, and set one piece opposite to another piece; but the birds he did not cut in two.  

This is what’s known as ‘cutting a covenant’, which was actually a common thing in Abram’s day.  

11 - When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, then Abram frightened them away.  

Abram fully expected God to come to him and appear before him as He had done prior.  It was going to happen, but not according to Abram’s expectations or timetable.  Nor, by the way, does the Lord act on our expectations or timetable.  Abram’s lesson, and ours, is that it’s all a matter of trust.  

12 - Now it came to be at the going down of the sun that deep sleep fell greatly upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness was falling upon him.  

No longer is Abram consciously aware of what is going on around him.  He has entered into what one author has referred to as “The Dark Night of the Soul.”  When the chapter opened, Abram was fully aware of Who was speaking to him as well as what was being said.  He will know what is being said, yet the fear and terror that was falling upon him was so great that Moses included it in the narrative.  Whether or not that terror was enhanced by what he was being told is open to debate.  There are no doubt many on both sides of that issue.  I’ll not enter into that here, but leave that for all the seminarians and academia in general to mull over.  

13 - Then He said to Abram, “You should certainly know that your offspring shall be a sojourner in a land not belonging to them, and they shall serve them, and they shall be oppressed by them four hundred years.  

14 - “And also the nation that they serve I will be judging; and afterwards they shall come out with great possessions.  

15 - “And you shall go to your forefathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.  

16 - “But in the fourth generation, they shall return there again, because the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet complete.”  

Yahweh gives him a prophecy of what is to come in pretty graphic detail.  This is a prophecy basically of the last five chapters of Genesis, on through to the first third of the book of Exodus, which follows this one in our study.  He is told that things will not go well concerning his offspring and, without calling them by name, he is told they will serve the Egyptians for four centuries.  (This, by the way, is a round figure.  According to Exodus 12:40, the actual span the Israelites were in the land totaled 430 years.)  They will no longer be in the land they now know, but will be elsewhere, serving those whom God will later judge.  Prior to their departure, Abram’s offspring will plunder the Egyptians.  He doesn’t elaborate on how He will lead them into the Promised Land, but assures Abram that he will live a long life that will end in being buried with his forefathers.  

There is also this matter of verse seventeen, where the Amorites will once again be judged in the land of Egypt.  We get the story in Numbers 21:21 and following, where Israel led by Moses asks to pass through the land governed by Heshbon, king of the Amorites.  After he refuses entry to the Israelites, the Lord uses the Israelite army to wipe out the Amorites.  After so doing, verse 31 tells us, “Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.”  Truly God has the last word, does He not?  

17 - And it came to be when the sun went down, then thick darkness came about; and behold, a smoking furnace, and a fiery torch that passed between those pieces.  

This is part of the ceremony instituted by God in the sealing of His covenant with Abram.  This portion has God saying to Abram that if He doesn’t do His part in the keeping of this covenant with him, may He become as these pieces.  This was the crux of the ceremony of that day, since the parties were to walk through the pieces together.  This symbolized the responsibility held by both parties involved to do their part in keeping the covenant with each other.  But notice that only One of the parties in this case was passing through the severed pieces.  The “fiery torch” passing between the pieces was the presence of God Himself.  In other words, He set it all into motion and He was the One responsible not only for the installation of the covenant, but its upkeep as well.  In the New Testament sense, it is all His idea; His plan; what we speak of so often as the Plan of Salvation.  There is nothing any of us could or couldn’t do in order to set it in motion or keep it in motion, for that matter.  That’s what make salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone so unique!  That’s what enables Christianity to stand out among all the world’s religions.  So if someone questions you or I as to the exclusivity of the Christian faith, that’s when we have God’s permission to take those people straight to passages such as:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Abram (soon to be Abraham at this point) had nothing of which he could boast.  He was just a bystander who availed himself to what God desired to do in and through him.  In the same manner, all any of us can do under the New Covenant is to fall at the Lord’s feet, as it were, and thank Him for giving each of us the opportunity to give our lives to Him so that He may make us a new creature in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:9-10).  

Yes, it was quite the solemn occasion, especially considering the particular portion of salvation history that is on the verge of being fulfilled as a result.  But there’s still this business of the land.  What about the land?  It’s one thing for Abram to own it; to possess it.  But how can he be assured of its being handed down to his offspring for them to live off of and enjoy?  God comes through once again with the solution.  

18 - In the same day, Yahweh Himself made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates;

19 - “The Kenites, and the Kennizites, and the Kadmonites,

20 - “And the Hittites, and the Perrizites, and the Rephaim,

21 - “And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”  

With God, it’s never an issue of will He or won’t He do this or that?  If we seek, He says we will find (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9).  As did Abram, we find out it has already been given to us.  Just as the land had already been given to the descendants of Abram/Abraham, we find under the New Covenant we have already obtained our salvation, our inheritance, and our eternal glory (Hebrews 5:9, 9:12, 9:15; 1 Peter 5:10).  What is stopping any or all of us from claiming that today?  Could it be due to unbelief?  Our unwillingness to trust God; to take Him at His Word?  To reiterate James 2:23,  “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: And he was called the Friend of God.”  Can you be called “the Friend of God” today?  You can if you believe, then receive, the righteousness He has for you.  Go ahead!  Claim your salvation, inheritance, and eternal glory today, if you haven‘t already.  He’s waiting!