11th.: A Sign for Inheriting the Land
God promised Abram two things.
1. Abram would have many children.
2. Abram's descendants would inherit the land of Palestine (Gen. 15:7).
Abram wanted reassurance for these promises,
“Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (Gen 15:8).
God did not reprove Abram.
Rather, God used the ceremony described in Gen. 15:9-10&17 to confirm his promise.
Preachers tell me that this was a custom of Abram’s day to confirm a business deal.
God also told Abram that it would be four hundred years before God actually gave the Promised Land to Abram’s descendants. During this four hundred year hiatus, God allowed the sinful attitude of the people group called the Amorites to become full (Gen. 15:14-16). Plus, it allowed the promised lineage of Abram to grow into a nation size people group.
Getting back to Abram’s prayer, we too are not limited to just ‘believing on the Lord’.
From this example, we can infer that we can ask God for symbols, or signs, of reassurance for individual promises.
“And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has spoken.” (Isa. 38:7)