After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” (Genesis 15:1, NKJV).
Rewards
Abram had not yet become 'Abraham', the "father of many nations". He was still merely "exalted father". He had just been victorious against 5 kings in battle, and then been blessed by the mysterious Melchizedek ("King of Salem", "Priest of the Most High God"), and Abram was afraid.
I find that interesting. Abram's victory and blessing was followed by fear. When I first became Christian I didn't understand that, but I do now. It is the proverbial mountaintop experience. Unless you can camp out on the summit, the only direction to go is down. It happened to Elijah after he and the LORD humiliated Jezebel's 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, and destroyed the 450 prophets of Baal. After victory, fear.
I think it's caused in part by vision problems. We lose sight of the fact that the battle is the Lord's. We start to give ourselves credit and then subtle overconfidence leads to the realization that we just can't sustain the effort.
In this particular instance, the LORD graciously provides Abram with a corrective prescription - a merciful divine vision to replace his faulty human viewpoint. Not only does He literally 'en-courage' Abram by promising to be his protection ("I AM your shield"), but He reveals something unexpected, that He Himself is Abram's reward, his "exceedingly great reward". Think about that for a second and be astonished. The LORD is offering Himself to a human being, a mere creature. He is giving Himself to a man. And a sinful man at that.
Condescension has become a word with negative connotations in our day, but in its purest form it really means simply something greater voluntarily providing access to something less. In this case, far less. In gracious condescension fueled by unconditional love, the LORD, the greatest of all, condescended to give Abram, the least, access to Himself.
Jesus did the same,
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:15, 16, NKJV).
And the greatest condescension of all is this:
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV).
