Lesson 9 - Conflict and Covenant:
 Tests of Faith
 Read Genesis 14-15 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.14

If you want your faith to increase, don't be surprised or disheartened over difficulties which demand faith. Just as an athlete grows stronger through long and sometimes difficult and painful training, the muscles of faith grow strong through training and testing that is sometimes painful.

That’s what happened to Abram in these chapters we’ve read today. God placed a situation before him that was more than Abram could do on his own. Abram’s servants were not trained warriors who could battle against an army. They probably knew how to use different weapons to protect the flocks and herds Abram owned against animals who wanted to kill for food. But to stand against trained men in battle was not something they could do, nor could they learn this skill while chasing after such an army.

Two kings, from Sodom and from Salem, met to bless and thank Abram for what he had done. The king of Sodom tried to reward Abram, but Abram would not accept anything for himself because he didn’t want it said his wealth had come from this king. The king of Salem came to bless Abram. We discover in other scripture passages (Psalm 110 and Hebrews 5-7) how this king was a picture of Jesus (who would come more than a thousand years later), because he was both a king and a priest of the Most High God.


After this, God came to Abram and made some great promises to him. Chapter 15 is a pivotal point in Abram’s life. God promised to be a shield for him just as Abram had just been for Lot and the other people of Sodom he had rescued. In verse 5 God promised Abram descendants numbering as many as the stars of the sky. Then in verses 7-17 God seals this promise to Abram in blood. Essentially, the contract between God and Abram, illustrated here by the animals cut in half and God passing between the cut pieces, was that God gave Abram the legal right to kill Him as the animals were killed if He did not keep His promise.

God sealed His promise to you in blood too, His promise that all who would come to Him would never be cast aside (John 6:37) – that promise was sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ. The key to coming to God is found in verse 6 of this chapter – Abram believed God’s promises.

Just knowing God’s promises is never enough, we must believe them to be true. It is never God’s fault if someone cannot be saved, for God has offered His gift to all (John 3:16).

*According to Romans 10:9-10, what are the two things we are responsible for to be saved?
*Have you done these two things?