Day Thirty One On The Biblical Theology of Inheritance By Grace
ok girls .. this is LONG .... but if you are looking for a biblical view on inheritance, grace and meanings that go deeper than numbers and animal sacrifices, then here it is.
The very next chapter in Abram's story we find the most incredible promise. In Genesis 15 begins with ‘after these things’.
‘These things” were:
Abram rescued his family from destruction
Abram responded as a tither
Abram refused to let other people take the glory for his blessing – he wanted all the glory to go to God
15 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great.
If you memorise no other scripture these 40 days then please just remember this one! This is God’s promise to you.
2 And Abram said, Lord God, what can You give me, since I am going on [from this world] childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this [steward] Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram continued, Look, You have given me no child; and [a servant] born in my house is my heir.
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.
5 And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.
This is the stunning promise for Abram, that even though he yet did not have an heir for his inheritance, he would. And this is how he responded..
6 And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
Just believing is all God wants. Honestly if this journey has evoked in you nothing more than a strengthened BELIEF IN THE PROMISES OF GOD, then that is enough!
7 And He said to him, I am the [same] Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land as an inheritance.
8 But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?
I ask that to the Lord often – how will I really know that I will inherit what you have promised? The following few scriptures are why I diverted our journey off the daughters of Z and onto the journey of Abram .. right here..
9 And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.
Ok maybe kind of crazy language (well it is for me as a self confessed, wanna be vegetarian) .. so I did some study and found some incredible insight here on inheritance.
When Abram said ‘how will I know I will possess what you have promised’ God responded by asking Abram to bring him FIVE ANIMALS. Five in the bible is the number that represents man’s weakness but God’s grace and strength. (That is why I love there were FIVE daughters of Z!)
He asked for them to be THREE years old because three is the number of that represents animals at the perfect age. It also represents the Father, Son and Holy Spirit TRINITY (three).
A heifer – was always an animal sacrifice that represented CLEANSING
A goat – was always the animal sacrifice that represented our SIN OFFERING to bear our sin
A ram – was always the animal sacrifice that represented our PEACE OFFERING to provide peace to our hearts
Turtle dove and pigeon- were always the animals sacrificed as a sweet incense offering that represented FELLOWSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP between God and man.
Right here we find the gospel of Jesus Christ. God was showing Abram what the faith journey is all about and pointing to Jesus.
We are CLEANSED because of Jesus becoming our SIN OFFERING and now we have PEACE with God and FRIENDSHIP between God and man.
This showed me AGAIN just how passionately God wants us to know that inheritance will always come directly from His Son Jesus because of what He did on the cross. It can never be forcefully won, the battle has already been won. When we fight we don’t fight FOR our inheritance. We fight against the enemy who wants to restrict and restrain our access to this inheritance.
But the vision I had months ago was that we only need to stretch out our arms and see Jesus placing His inheritance in our hands as a gift of grace. So this is what I wrote in my journal after studying this..
‘I recognize faith is a gift of grace and power even in my own weakness. Our inheritance is a covenant promise and it is not dependant upon my actions to secure it. It has already been secured. There is a position and a stance I can take. It is one of thanking and receiving. The promises received are about the perfect work of Jesus and the incredible relationship of friendship I can have with the Trinity… this is inheritance enough – let alone anything else God wants to bless us with!”
Love you girls – stay BOLDLY RECEIVING WITH OUTSTRETCHED ARMS, OPEN HANDS AND EXPECTANTS HEARTS!