Counted as Righteousness – Genesis 15:1-6

It is hard to overstate how important the statement of Genesis 15:6 has been in the history of the Christian faith.  It is the statement Paul appeals to in his letter to the Romans to defend his view that salvation comes apart from the Law and only by faith, not by works (Romans 4).  It is the same passage Martin Luther appealed to as he clarified for himself and others the truth of Paul’s teaching that justification (being declared righteous before God) was by faith, not works, a perspective that had been clouded over in the church.  This passage has changed the face of the world with its powerful message.

[1] After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” [2] But Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” [4] And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” [5] And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” [6] And he believed Yahweh, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:1–6, ESV)

After Abram has made a successful night attack on a coalition of five kings and returned to his home, fear begins to grip him.  What if this coalition returns and he has to face them ready and in the daylight?  And besides that, he just gave up a huge bounty from his victory, the spoils the king of Sodom offered him.  Yahweh is aware of Abram’s concerns and appears to him in a vision, “the first time” we have seen “dialogue between the Lord and Abram” (NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible) and the only time “where God’s communication with Abram takes place through the medium of a vision” (Walton).

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the Old Testament

explains that “visions may be either visual or auditory and are not the same as dreams in that one does not have to be asleep to experience a vision…and constitute a more aggressive form of communication than dreams.”  God is barging in on Abram’s worry and declaring to him that he has no need to fear because He, Yahweh is Abram’s shield and reward.  But Abram cannot envision any reward that would matter other than an heir of his own procreation.  He can make a household servant his heir, a not uncommon thing, but God had promised him a child of his own.  So God takes him outside his tent to look at the stars and promises him his seed will be as numerous.

Abram believed Yahweh, believed that what He had promised He would fulfill.  His offspring would be the seed of the woman who struck the head of the serpent, the one who would bring about the restoration of the kingdom, or at least his lineage would contain that person.  Faith in God’s promise has always been the way of receiving God’s salvation, of being reconciled to God, so Yahweh counts Abram’s faith as righteousness.  He considers Abram right before Him, and, as we will see, makes a covenant with him.

Whereas Abram has believed Yahweh and come to this land away from his family, and traveled the land building altars to mark this territory as belonging to Yahweh and promised to him, his faith has also faltered, as when he lied to Pharaoh about Sarai to protect himself and put the chosen seed in danger.  But here Yahweh sees a mature saving faith in His servant and declares him righteous.