Covenant and Reality

• Genesis 15:17 (ASV)

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My staff team had the pleasure of studying the life of Abraham for our regional staff conference. A few notes:
-As I've read through Scripture, I've been counting the number of times the Lord appears and says "Do not fear." For some reason, I am really holding onto that phrase, and what the Lord spoke was as relevant as it was for Abram as it was for Mary...and as it is for me/us.
-I love the covenant-making. I learned in college that the rulers / ambassadors of the day would make covenant by splitting animals in half and passing through the carcasses to say "you can do the same to me if I break this covenant." The Lord Himself passes through... amazing how he seals his word with Abram. A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch...
- Genesis 15 is very dream-like -- here we see the reality of God's covenant as revealed while Abram was in a deep sleep... and then as he wakes, 'reality' sets in and he & Sarai, as human as they are, realize they are barren. They take action themselves...
- God cares for Hagar... amazing.

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