After Abram rescued Lot and other captives from an invading northeastern army, and after Abram affirmed his trust in God, God came to him in a vision, saying,
"Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" (Gen 15:1).
In a Seder 13 sermon, Kyle Kettering reflected on what Abram might have feared (besides the initial fright of receiving this vision). His response in verses 2-3 suggests that he was anxious about the future---as we all tend to be. We all experience fear, which can be a great motivator but also can be debilitating. We need to bring our fears under control.
In Psalm 27:1, David declared,
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
He came to this conclusion after fervent prayer about his fears (27:8-12).
God told Abram in the vision that he would receive a great reward (Hebrew sakar). One part of that reward would be the many descendants he had been promised. As it says in Ps 127:3, "Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."
Jesus taught, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), that there would be great reward in the world to come for those who followed him and lived selflessly.
Kyle explained that Gen 15:1 also can be rendered, "I am your shield, your very great reward." In this rendering, walking with God is a great reward in itself. He is the reward!
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