An Antidote For Doubt

An Antidote For Doubt

Genesis 15:7-21

One of the things I love about the Bible is its honesty. Rather than airbrush the men and women in scripture to make them appear perfect - perfectly faithful, full of faith, perfectly obedient, the Bible instead reveals the complex and often contradictory struggles that even godly men and women have. Struggles with sin, fear, selfishness, and struggles with doubt.

And we see this in Abram. Abram is a man with a strong faith, many refer to him as the Father of Faith, but that doesn’t mean his faith never wavered – we see over and over again that it did. In chapter 12 God calls Abram and promises to give him land and make him a nation. And Abram believes and obeys God. But then Abram faces the real possibility of being killed by someone who wants to marry his wife and he resorts to a deceptive plan to protect himself, putting both his wife and God’s promise in jeopardy. Abram’s faith wavers and he forgets God.

In chapter 13 Abram has enough faith to give Lot first choice of the land when they separate and in chapter 14 he has the faith to strap on his sword and fight for Lot when Lot and his family are taken captive, as well as to refuse any material blessing from his victory. But in chapter 15 Abram’s faith wavers again.

• Vv. 1-6 the issue is that Abram had no offspring which meant that all he had would pass on to a servant in his house and his line would die with him. To Abram, that gutted God’s promises of real value – if it wouldn’t outlive him, what good was it?

• God meets his fears with a promise: not his servant Eliezer but a son from his own body that would inherit his legacy. God promises again to make a great nation of Abram – his offspring would be as numerous as the stars.

• Abram believes God at His word and God credits Abram with righteousness because of his belief. Matt did an outstanding job teaching us about justification last week – God’s imputation of righteousness to us through faith in Christ.

Abram believed, but in verse 7 the issue shifts to land as God repeats His promise to give Abram all the land surrounding him, and Abram struggles with doubt yet again and asks, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” This doesn’t deny the belief he just had; Abram’s heart is submitted to God, he’s not questioning God, but the question reveals his very real struggle with doubt when God’s promises are bigger than his ability to see how they will come to pass. He’s like the father who cried out to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief!”

Our struggle with doubt

At some point in our lives we all struggle with doubt. Although left to itself doubt will eventually morph into unbelief, doubt is different than unbelief. The word doubt comes from a Latin word which means “two” and means to be of two minds about something.

In his book In Two Minds Os Guinness writes, To believe is to be in one mind about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be in one mind about rejecting it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at once and so to be “in two minds.”

We see this two minds at once in Peter when he sees Jesus walking on the water and at Jesus’ bidding steps out on the water. That is a step of faith – a step none of the other disciples took. And at first he was doing well, then he got his eyes on the wind and waves, became afraid and began to sink. Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

We all struggle at times with doubt. Years ago there was a song that my step-mother and step-sister used to sing around the house: God said it, and I believe it, and that settles it for me. I wish it were that easy all the time, but for fallen people, it’s not. There are times when all of us will struggle with doubt.

• You lose your job and at first you’re confident that God is Jehovah Jireh, your provider, but when months and months go by and you still don’t have work, you find your faith wavering. Doubt creeps in.

• You go to the doctor to have a lump examined. While you wait for the results, you find yourself trusting God, but at the same time dealing with fears and what if’s too. Sometimes the louder voice is trust. Sometimes the louder voice is fear. You are in two minds.

• You became a Christian some time ago – but sometimes doubt creeps in: am I really saved? You see the activity and grace of God in your life, but it’s not as much as you want – is it enough to evidence a genuine saving faith in Christ?

• Someday, if the Lord tarries, we will all face death. Some Christians on their death beds are full of peace and joy as they exit this world and enter the next. But some of us may very well struggle with doubt, as life on this earth – all we’ve ever known, comes to an end, and eternity draws so near that it’s reality becomes more real than this reality – and wonder, what really will happen to me? Where will I go? Like Abram, we might ask, how am I to know for sure I will enter the kingdom of Christ? Years ago I befriended an elderly neighbor who had some real health issues and over time he prayed to receive Christ as his Savior. I remember one day just months before he passed away, he shared with me his fear about dying. We prayed and I assured him as best I could that he was trusting in Christ and Christ is enough. His doubts were eased – but I don’t think they were erased.

Abram believed, and Abram doubted. Let’s read on to see God’s response.

God’s response to Abram’s doubt – Genesis 15:9-21

God is patient with Abram’s doubt. He doesn’t condemn him, He reassures him. Jesus was also very patient with his disciples when they struggled with doubt. He rebukes them for their lack of faith evidenced by their constant doubting, but he doesn’t reject them. He works with them to strengthen their faith.

God reassures Abram by making a covenant with him. The imagery here of animals being cut in half and laid out is not familiar to us today but it would have been to the people of Israel. God is about to cut covenant with Abram - establish His promises. But as Abram waits for God to come and cut covenant, birds of prey try to eat the carcasses and Abram has to shoo them away.

Some people see the enemies of God symbolized here. Others think this represents the long years when Israel will be oppressed. It is ominous. But it also speaks of delay and the need to guard our faith in times of delay. God said, cut the animals and prepare for cutting covenant but then He didn’t come right away and birds tried to steal the emblems of God’s promise. Brothers and sisters, faith is often tried in times of delay and things will often try to cast doubt on God’s promises and steal our faith away. We need to be ready to chase away the enemies of our faith.

Then a deep sleep comes over Abram – a sleep induced by God that when Abram comes to covers him with dread and darkness. God is drawing near and it is a dreadful, frightening moment. In this dreadful darkness God foretells four hundred years of sojourning and slavery for Abram’s offspring. God’s promise for Abram to possess the land won’t happen in his lifetime, won’t even happen shortly after his lifetime, but God promises that Abram will die in peace and the time will come when his children will leave Egypt to possess the land. His offspring will be ready, and the sinful inhabitants of the Canaan land will be ready for judgment. God is longsuffering and puts up with a lot – in four hundred years they will be ready to be judged through war and conquest.

The smoking fire pot and flaming torch are symbols of God coming down. They are reminiscent of when God appeared to Moses and Israel on Mount Sinai.

On the morning of the third day here were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God…Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. Ex. 19:16-18

Abram still can’t move – he’s in a God-induced state of semi-consciousness. Normally to cut a covenant the two parties would walk through the entrails of the cut up animals lying on the ground. Jeremiah 34 gives a graphic description of what it signifies:

[God speaking:] And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 34:18-20

God makes a covenant with Abram, but Abram is rendered unable to participate in covenant. God makes a covenant with Abram but God Himself represents both parties. God knows that sinful man can never keep his end of the covenant and so he would have to die, so God makes the covenant with Himself on Abram’s behalf and in essence says, if I don’t keep My end of the covenant, may I be cut up and die like these animals. Of course, God can’t die, but neither can He lie or fail to keep His promises.

God would cut covenant with Himself again on behalf of man many years later on a hill called Golgotha where Jesus died. Jesus came as fully man and fully God so He could fully represent both man and God and on the cross as God poured out His wrath for our sin on Christ, He made a new covenant with man.

• The new covenant God made with man is God’s initiative toward sinful man, and it is based completely on what God has done, with no part added by sinful man, only the Perfect Man. Jesus cried out “it is finished” on the cross, not, “I did my part”!

Abram asked, how can I know that I will possess this land and God promises Abram based on His character and covenant. If it doesn’t happen, may God be cut up and die. Antidote for doubt and unbelief - see God for who He is and know He cannot lie and He cannot break His promise

Our faith is entirely in what God has done and His faithfulness to fulfill His promises. God cannot die, and He cannot break His word. Which means when we find promises in the Bible that were made to God’s people, we can stand on them, rely on them, trust in them.

• All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose – Rom. 8:28

• Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV)

Or, at end of our lives,

• Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

• I am with you even to the end of the age – Matt. 28:20

Faith focuses our eyes on God. Do you see God as sovereign over your life? Do you see God as great and glorious or do you see God as small and insufficient? Do you believe that God is faithful and true to His promises? Or are you believing something as more reliable than God and His word? Is there something in this sinful, broken world that you find more worthy of your trust than the God who never breaks His promise?

It’s time to take God at His word. Time to chase away the birds of doubt and repent of unbelief. If you are a Christian you live by faith – don’t let that faith grow weak and dead.

• Believe that God has saved you by His work alone, believe that you will live forever in the presence of God because Christ died for you. And believe that God has saved you for more than barely getting by, barely following, and barely seeing His powerful Holy Spirit at work in you!

• Chase away birds by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In the parable of the four soils, Jesus said that birds of the air come to steal the seed of God’s word. Yet sadly many who profess to be Christians put little seed into their hearts for the birds to snatch away. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. If you want to live a strong life as a Christian disciple, you need to live by God’s word.

• Chase away birds by praying – with faith and with fervency. Prayer calls on God to do great things – if we don’t pray, how can we see God do great things? Birds of the air will find it easy to steal away our faith cause there won’t be much faith to steal away. Prayer evidences faith far more truly than what we say we believe.

This isn’t about us – it’s about God. It’s about His faithfulness and truthfulness. His power and glory. His kingdom being expanded in our lives and church. God promises and we need to believe His promises. And repent of unbelief. Cry out, Lord I believe, help my unbelief!

Let’s pray.