Genesis 15 · Abraham and Sarah
After the rescue, Abram voices the unresolved problem beneath every promise: he still has no child. God addresses both offspring and land, using the stars and a solemn covenant ceremony to assure him.
The biblical text
1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
King James Version. Text from eBible.org. Edition and rights.
Original study notes
Abram asks how the promise can continue without an heir from his own body. God rejects the proposed household heir and points him to the stars. Abram believes the Lord, and this is counted to him for righteousness. Faith here responds to a particular divine promise.
Abram asks how he will know he will inherit the land. The answer includes a ritual preparation and a forecast of oppression, deliverance and delayed return. The promise reaches beyond his lifetime, and the present inhabitants are not portrayed as subject to arbitrary immediate removal.
After darkness falls, a smoking furnace and burning lamp pass between the divided pieces. The Lord makes a covenant with Abram and names the land's extent. Abram's deep sleep and God's action emphasize the divine commitment that carries the promise forward.
Faith does not mean Abram never asks questions. Verses 2 and 8 show questions within a relationship of trust. Do not detach verse 6 from its promise-centered context.
Explore difficult questions →God's promise of an heir and innumerable descendants despite his present childlessness.
The covenant is larger than one lifetime and includes suffering before deliverance.
Read these passages in context. Notice what they repeat, develop or clarify.
