John Calvin Commentary Genesis 15:1

"After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward." — Genesis 15:1 (ASV)

The word of the Lord came. When Abram’s affairs were prosperous and were proceeding according to his wish, this vision might seem to be superfluous, especially since the Lord commands His servant, as one sorrowful and afflicted with fear, to be of good courage. Therefore, certain writers conjecture that Abram, having returned after the deliverance of his nephew, was subjected to some annoyance of which no mention is made by Moses, just as the Lord often humbles His people, lest they should exult in their prosperity. They further suppose that when Abram had been dejected, he was again revived by a new oracle.

But since there is no warrant for such conjecture in the words of Moses, I think the cause was different. First, although he was applauded on all sides, it is not to be doubted that various surmises entered into his own mind. For, notwithstanding Chedorlaomer and his allies had been overcome in battle, Abram had so provoked them that they might, with fresh troops and renewed strength, attack the land of Canaan again.

Nor were the inhabitants of the land free from the fear of this danger. Secondly, as signal success commonly draws its companion, envy, along with it, Abram began to be exposed to many disadvantageous remarks after he had dared to enter into conflict with an army that had conquered four kings.

An unfavourable suspicion might also arise that perhaps, eventually, he would turn the strength he had tried against foreign kings upon his neighbors and upon those who had hospitably received him. Therefore, as the victory was an honor to him, so it cannot be doubted that it rendered him formidable and an object of suspicion to many, while it inflamed the hatred of others, since everyone would imagine some danger to himself from his bravery and good success.

It is therefore not strange that he should have been troubled and should have anxiously pondered many things, until God animated him anew with the confident expectation of His assistance. There might also be another purpose to be served by the oracle: namely, that God would address and correct an opposite fault in His servant.

For it was possible that Abram might be so elated with victory as to forget his own calling and to seek the acquisition of dominion for himself, as one who, wearied with a wandering course of life and with perpetual vexations, desired a better fortune and a quiet state of existence.

And we know how liable men are to be ensnared by the blandishments of prosperous and smiling fortune. Therefore, God anticipates the danger; and before this vanity takes possession of the mind of the holy man, He recalls to his memory the spiritual grace granted to him, so that he, entirely acquiescing in it, may despise all other things.

Yet, because this expression, Fear not, sounds as if God would soothe His sorrowing and anxious servant with some consolation, it is probable that he had need of such confirmation, because he perceived that many malignantly stormed against his victory and that his old age would be exposed to severe annoyances.

It might, however, be that God did not forbid him to fear because he was already afraid, but so that he might learn courageously to despise and to count as nothing all the favor of the world and all earthly wealth. It is as if He had said, ‘If only I am favorable to you, there is no reason why you should fear. Contented with Me alone in the world, pursue, as you have begun, your pilgrimage, and rather depend on heaven than attach yourself to earth.’ However this might be, God recalls His servant to Himself, showing that far greater blessings were treasured up for him in God, so that Abram might not rest satisfied with his victory.

Moses says that God spoke to him in a vision, by which he intimates that some visible symbol of God’s glory was added to the word, so that greater authority might be given to the oracle. And this was one of two ordinary methods by which the Lord was formerly accustomed to manifest Himself to His prophets, as it is stated in the book of Numbers (Genesis 12:6).

Fear not, Abram. Although the promise comes last in the text, it yet has precedence in order, because on it depends the confirmation by which God frees the heart of Abram from fear. God exhorts Abram to be of a tranquil mind; but what foundation is there for such security, unless by faith we understand that God cares for us and learn to rest in His providence?

The promise, therefore, that God will be Abram’s shield and His exceeding great reward, holds the first place; to which is added the exhortation that, relying upon such a guardian of his safety and such an author of his felicity, he should not fear. Therefore, to make the sense of the words clearer, the causal particle is to be inserted.

‘Fear not, Abram, because I am thy shield.’ Moreover, by the use of the word “shield,” He signifies that Abram would always be safe under His protection. In calling Himself Abram’s “reward,” He teaches Abram to be satisfied with Himself alone. And as this was, with respect to Abram, a general instruction given for the purpose of showing him that victory was not the chief and ultimate good which God had designed him to pursue, so let us know that the same blessing is promised to us all in the person of this one man.

For, by this voice, God daily speaks to His faithful ones; inasmuch as having once undertaken to defend us, He will take care to preserve us in safety under His hand and to protect us by His power. Now, since God ascribes to Himself the office and property of a shield for the purpose of rendering Himself the protector of our salvation, we ought to regard this promise as a brazen wall, so that we should not be excessively fearful in any dangers.

And since men, surrounded with various and innumerable desires of the flesh, are at times unstable and are then too much addicted to the love of the present life, the other member of the sentence follows, in which God declares that He alone is sufficient for the perfection of a happy life to the faithful.

For the word “reward” has the force of inheritance or felicity. Were it deeply engraved on our minds that in God alone we have the highest and complete perfection of all good things; we should easily fix bounds to those wicked desires by which we are miserably tormented. The meaning then of the passage is this: that we shall be truly happy when God is favorable to us, for He not only pours upon us the abundance of His kindness but offers Himself to us, that we may enjoy Him.

Now what more is there that men can desire when they really enjoy God? David knew the force of this promise when he boasted that he had obtained a goodly lot because the Lord was his inheritance (Psalms 16:6). But since nothing is more difficult than to curb the depraved appetites of the flesh, and since the ingratitude of man is so vile and impious that God scarcely ever satisfies them; the Lord calls Himself not simply “a reward,” but an exceeding great reward, with which we ought to be more than sufficiently contented.

This truly furnishes most abundant material and most solid support for confidence. For whoever is fully persuaded that his life is protected by the hand of God and that he never can be miserable while God is gracious to him; and who consequently resorts to this haven in all his cares and troubles, will find the best remedy for all evils.

Not that the faithful can be entirely free from fear and care as long as they are tossed by the tempests of contentions and miseries; but because the storm is hushed in their own breast; and since the defense of God is greater than all dangers, faith triumphs over fear.