PROMISE DEFERRED IS NOT PROMISE DENIED
‘Justice deferred is justice denied’, is a commonly understood fact implying the necessity of timely justice. When it comes to the fulfilment of God’s promises though, deferred is the norm and not necessarily equivalent to denial. God’s promise to Abraham recorded in Genesis 15 is interesting.
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”…………. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, …….Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there……….You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age……….When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land.
When Abraham set out from his ancestral land in obedience to God, he exhibited an understanding of and a trust in the living God. Through multiple experiences along the way, Abraham had come to know that the Lord is his shield and great reward. A person who has the conviction that God will protect him and that knowing God is in itself the greatest treasure in life is already blessed. Yet, here God proceeds to promise more to Abraham. God tells him that he would have countless offspring, though he had no son of his own and that the land he was brought to as a stranger, would one day belong to him.
A twofold response was required of Abraham- first he needed to believe the promise of God. He did and this was credited to him as righteousness. It is no different today as people are called upon to believe that Jesus will save them from the darkness of sin and bring them to the light of God. Simply believing brings a person to the state of being declared righteous before God. An no matter what God’s ongoing promise for one’s life is, a disciple is called to believe that God can and will accomplish it. Secondly, Abraham was required to sacrifice before the Lord. Specific instructions were given and he had to work to keep the birds of prey from taking away the sacrifice. A life of discipleship is a life of sacrifice, and of persistent sacrifice, working hard to prevent predators from taking away that which belongs to God. There are numerous distractions that tempt a disciple to be lax regarding his sacrificial life. Yet when faith and sacrifice combine, the deep darkness of the presence of God engulfs and the blazing torch of God brings revelation of the events to unfold.
Abraham is told that he would indeed have a son, yet it would take another four hundred years for God’s promise to be brought to fulfilment in the nation of Israel which he would father. It is a promise significantly deferred, yet that was God’s perfect plan and Abraham willingly accepts it and embraces it as his own. He would not live to see it, but in a mysterious way, it was still his promise, made real by the fact that his spirit, still alive after his death would be able to partake of it and rejoice in its fulfilment.
