Gen 15:1 - I am your shield (part 1)

When I read Genesis 15:1 it was like taking a step into a river and getting swept away. There was too much in it and along with other demands on my time I never got round to blogging it. However, after 6 months I am going to have another go. I have had three or four coincidences that have encouraged me to do so and now with an hour or so free on my day off I'm going to try to finish it (not the whole bible just this next blog! - One coincidence one was reading Terry Virgo's blog on the shield of faith. http://blog.terryvirgo.org/the-shield-of-faith/, another was a memory verse I was pointed towards - see forth coming series "Project Samurai Sword" in my general blog.) I may only skim the surface of this verse but there is a lot more of the bible to read and I am sure the themes and truths will reappear further along the path. Anyway here goes:

Abram has just won a great victory and rescued his nephew Lot. He had recognised and given glory to God for these things in his encounter with the priest king Melchizedek while another King lurks menacingly in the background. Perhaps it is reading too much into the King of Sodom's terse comments, but I wonder if they planted a seed of fear in Abraham as in this next verse we find him in need of encouragement and reassurance. At any rate, for some reason God suddenly comforts Abram with the command that crops up time and time again in the Bible "fear not."

Fear is an ever present temptation for God's people. Either fear of what will happen if they obey God or fear of what will happen having obeyed God. Gideon and Moses needed a lot of reassurance to get going and Elijah needed a lot of aftercare when he triumphed over the profits of Baal.  

Here is just a sample of the "fear not" passages:

fear not, for I am with you;

    be not dismayed, for I am your God;

  I will strengthen you, I will help you,

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (ESV) Mat 10:31  

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (ESV) 2 Tim 1:7  

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (ESV) 1 John 4:18  

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

    What can man do to me? Psalm 56:11 

(There are loads more great verses and encouragements on fear in Max Lucado's little "fear not promise book".) God does not simply say "fear not". He usually gives good reasons why we should not be afraid. The reason at the root of every encouragement is who God is and where God is. When Jesus came, fully revealing who God was, time and time again he used the phrase "I am…". He was: The way, the truth, the life, the good Shepherd, the vine, the bread of life, the gate. The aspect of God's nature that he reveals to Abraham at this time is that he is to him a shield. He is not just a shield, or everyone's shield, but "your shield". 

It's interesting that he does not say everything is going to be okay ie "no one will attack you or try and hurt you". Rather he says I am your shield. We live in a time of conflict, and we do not need false assurances of peace, rather weapons and armor to engage in the battle.

It occurred to me that with a shield, and even with a fortress, as God later reveals himself to be, to take advantage of these things requires action on our part. You hold a shield and lift it up. You run into a fortress and lock the door. A shield is no good as it lies on the ground and a fortress is no good if you stand outside. As arrows fall on you the shield needs to be used. The benefits of who God is are appropriated in our life as we take hold of them through faith. It's interesting that in Ephesians 6 Paul encourages those in the church to:

"take up the whole armour of God... Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God".

See how active all this is. It's interesting to see how intimately faith is linked to God's shielding and protection of us. I'll let Max Lucado end this long overdue blog entry:

       Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there. MaxLucado

In the next blog I will look briefly at real fear and it's counterfeit.