God Is Our Protection, Provision, Salvation, And Preservation
Feb 24th 2023 | Written by Tommy Waltz
Audio of the article here:
I hope everyone is doing well as you begin this year with me and our journey together. In the first three months, we will look at the point of origin of how any human being is made righteous (February). We will see God’s working through scripture to remind us of similarities in an Old Testament, historical narrative and His coming messiah (March). Finally, we will see the four big pictures of redemption that allows us to be truly human (April).
Let’s start with a dramatic battle. Lot and Abram had decided to separate over a skirmish that their shepherds were having over grazing land for the animals. Lot chooses to head down toward the lush green valley of Gomorrah, and Sodom, while Abram goes in the opposite direction. Over time, a company of Kings led by Chedorlaomer sweeps down and captures all the possessions and people of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding area. Lot, and everything he had, was included.
Abram gets word that his relative Lot was taken captive; he springs into action with three hundred and eighteen trained warriors, defeats the kings, and brings Lot back with all his possessions and the people of Sodom. The king of Sodom wants to give Abram all the possessions, and the King of Sodom wants the people back. However, Abram has sworn to the highest God, the possessor of heaven and earth that he would not even take a thread of sandal. He does not want the King of Sodom to be able to say that He made Abram rich.
This is setting up to be an amazing part of the redemption narrative throughout scripture. Here we have Protection (Abram getting Lot), Provision (It is through Abram’s hands these provisions are coming. We will see why later.), Salvation (Abram delivering Lot from Chadorlaomer), and Preservation (protecting and providing so His people can flourish)—all in one Biblically story.
Now let’s take a quick look and Biblically understand why all this comes from Abram.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Genesis 15:1
We can understand two of our four points that come from this vision. God is the protector of Abram, and He is the provider of Abram. He is telling Abram not to fear, that God himself will be Abram’s shield. If we read before Genesis 15, we will see Abram (soon to be Abraham) struggle with fear when facing king Pharoah, and in Genesis 20, with king Abimelech, both times, he lies about Sarai being his sister instead of his wife; however, God proves himself to be Abram’s shield and protects the inheritance to His people by preserving Sarai’s purity even though Abram fears.
Why is God choosing to do this through Abram? He is doing this because He wants to show the world that everyone and everything depends completely on Him. God choses Abram (Genesis 12:1). Abram did not choose God.
“And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6
Abram comes through this time with strong faith to believe God that his descendants will be as numerous as stars in the sky. It is during this belief encounter with God that Abram is given righteousness because of belief in God. However, during this encounter, God shares about the years of slavery of Abram’s people of four hundred years. After these four hundred years, God is going to bring deliverance (salvation) for His people, and He is going to provide for them many possessions as they leave out of slavery. It is in Israel, coming out of Egypt, that God protects, provides, saves, and preserves. (More in March’s article). Now back to Abram in Genesis 15.
God is the protector of Abram from all the potential invading countries around. God is going to give the land as an inheritance to pass down to all his descendants after him.
And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” Genesis 15:7-8
Abram asks God, how will know I will possess it? At this time God makes a covenant with Abram and tells about the slavery of His people and their coming out with many possessions. As Abram moves on from this encounter, it is not external armies that invade but the internal lack of faith that creeps up again in Abram’s heart.
It is seen within his family with Sarai, Abram, and God. Abram is caught in a moment of a lack of faith that he will have a descendant from his—as of now—barren wife Sarai. She gives her maidservant Hagar to him so he will have a descendent. This is not God’s plan but man’s plan. Hagar conceives, but the child is not from Sarai.
The whole picture of God protecting, providing, saving, and preserving is constantly facing resistance from mankind, whether passively (Sarai) or aggressively (nations fighting Israel as they come back into the promised land), as evident throughout scripture. However, God proves Himself to be true to His word and remains faithful to His people. God gives another covenant that preps us for the blood that will have to be spilled on Calvary—the covenant of circumcision.