Genesis 15 – Shield of Abraham
After these things [i.e., after experiencing the furnaces in Chaldee], the Words of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abraham; I am your shield, and your reward will be great.’ The WORD הַדְּבָרִים Ha Di Vaw Reem means ‘The Words’. הַדְּבָרִים Ha Di Vaw Reem is plural. Multiple possibilities are being communicated here. The events do not follow Genesis 14. The events follow Genesis 11.31. The events follow Abraham’s deliverance by the Lord from May Our – Kasdim. In Genesis 15.7, the Lord said to him, ‘ I am the Lord that brought you out of May Our Kasdim [the fiery furnaces] to give you everything from Aleph to Tav of this land to inherit.’
The WORD הַדְּבָרִים Ha Di Vaw Reem refers to past – present – future events in Avraham’s life.
Ten designations express prophecy:
Vision, [Visual Words]
Speech [Spoken Words]
Prophecy / Influx [Spoken / Written Words],
Commands
Sayings
burden
Parable
Metaphor
Enigma
Allegory
See — Beresheit Rabba 44.6
Abram received a Vision of Words and a Vision of Speech. The Vision was so powerful Abraham was frightened.
That was one of those times the Lord made promises to Abraham. See Genesis 12 and 15. The Word of the Lord is so powerful that the promises He makes are secure without banks, without vaults, without guards, et cetera. After Abraham’s Vision in Genesis 15, he believed that he had nothing to fear regarding being childless.
Our Sages state that Avram said to HaShem. ‘Master of the Universe!’ Avram objected. ‘I have seen in the stars that I am unable to have a son!’
The Lord said to Avram, ‘Forget about your astrology!’ The Lord told Avram, ‘Your fate is above the prognosis of the stars. The Jewish nation is not subject to mazel (natural destiny).
One morning Rabbi Yannai and Rabbi Yochanan were standing at the gates of Tiberias. They stood side by side with two [Noachide] astrologers who observed all the workers as they were going to their jobs in the morning. The astrologers commented to the Sages, ‘Do you see those two workers there? They are going to die of a snake bite.’
R. Yannai and R. Yochanah waited until the workers returned. Among them, they saw the two workers of whom the astrologers had spoken. The Sages commented to the astrologers, ‘Didn’t you say that they would not leave work alive, but that a snake would poison them?’
‘Yes!’ confirmed the astrologers.
‘But they came back in peace,’ the Sages commented.
The astrologers summoned the two men and asked them, ‘What did you do today?’
‘The same as every morning,’ they replied. ‘We prayed Shema and Sh’mone Esri and went to work.’
‘You are Jews!’ exclaimed the astrologers. ‘The predictions of astrologers do not apply to Jews.’ Rabbi Moshe Weissman, The Midrash Says (Brooklyn, New York: Benei Yakov Publications 1980), pp 143, 144
Genesis 15.5 – 6
[And the Lord] brought [Abraham] outside, and said, ‘Look now toward Heaven, and count the stars, if you can trust them; and he said to him, So shall your seed be. And [Abraham] believed in the Lord, and [the Lord] counted it to him for righteousness.
Rabbi Joshua said in Rabbi Levi’s name: The Lord showed Abraham the streets of Heaven. He lifted him above the vault of Heaven, directing Abraham to look down from above. (Abraham, you are above the fate of the stars and can ignore it). The Rabbis said that G-d said, to Abraham, ‘you a prophet, not an astrologer,’ He is a prophet (Genesis 20.7). Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman, Midrash Rabba (New York, NY: The Soncino Press 1983)
Later in Genesis 24.7, Abraham says to Eliezer, ‘Who spoke to me’ and Who swore to me.’ Our Sages Teach that these statements are in references to here in Genesis 15 ‘at the Covenant between the pieces’. Rabbi Avrohom Davis, The Mesudah Chumash A New Linear Translation Bereishis (Hoboken New Jersey, KTVA Publishing House, Inc., 1991) p 248 The fulfillment of that promise happened again when Isaac’s sons, Eisov and Yaakov, were born 90 years later in Genesis 25.26. We can look back over history and see the promises the Lord made and the promises the Lord kept.
Unlike humans ‘Every Word of God is proven. He is a shield to those who put trust in Him.’ Proverbs 30.5 People disappoint us. They let us down. Some make promises they do not keep. Others deliberately lie and deceive. Our Creator is not like humankind. The Words of God are tested. We can take refuge behind the shield of The Holy Scriptures. We can receive encouragement and strength from reading a few Scriptures each day. The Lord is waiting for us to take refuge in Him.
So in our study, we Observe Words that appeared in a vision that appeared to Avram. Those Words are [ שְׂכָרְךָ ], Reward, [ תִּירָא ], Fear and [ מָגֵן ] Protection.
How does this apply to us? The first is awareness. It is important to note what our Creator did for Avram, who was a Spiritualist.
Second it essential to know that the Lord is the ‘Shield of our help.’ See Devarim 33.29 Dovid Ha Melech wrote, Lord, You are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I cried to The Lord with my voice, and He heard me out from his holy mountain. Selah. Tehillim 3.4,5 O Yisroel, trust in The Lord; He is [our] help and [our] shield. O house of Aaron, trust in The Lord; He is [our] help and [our] protection. You who fear [The Lord, i.e., Noachides], trust in [The Lord]; He is their help and their shield. Tehillim 115.9-11
Third, all of us are encouraged to ‘Trust in The Lord.’ trust has the power to dispel fear.
The Lord Blesses each of us with the shield of Abraham daily.
Blessings and peace,
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
