Genesis 15

God’s Covenant with Abram// Romans 4:1–12; Hebrews 11:8–19

¹After these events, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward.”

²But Abram replied, “O Lord Yahweh, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴Then the word of Yahweh came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵And Yahweh took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

• GEN 15:5[PROPHECY]Abraham's offspring would be as many as the stars → DT 1:10; HEB 11:12
• GEN 15:5[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 4:18

⁶Abram believed Yahweh, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

• GEN 15:6[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 4:3
• GEN 15:6[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 4:9
• GEN 15:6[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 4:22
• GEN 15:6[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → GAL 3:6
• GEN 15:6[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → JAS 2:23

⁷Yahweh also told him, “I am Yahweh, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

God Confirms His Promise// Numbers 34:1–15; Romans 4:13–25

⁸But Abram replied, “Lord Yahweh, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹And Yahweh said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

¹³Then Yahweh said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. ¹⁴But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions. ¹⁵You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

• GEN 15:13[PROPHECY]God told Abraham his descendants would be enslaved 400 years in a foreign land then leave with great wealth → EX 12:35-41
• GEN 15:13[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ACTS 7:6-7
• GEN 15:15[PROPHECY]Abraham would die in peace at a good old age → GEN 25:8
• GEN 15:16[PROPHECY]The fourth generation would return → JOSH 10:40-42; 11:23

¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. ¹⁸On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates— ¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

• GEN 15:17[MIRACLE]A smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the pieces
• GEN 15:18[PROPHECY]The land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates would belong to Abraham's descendants → 1KI 4:21; 2CH 9:26
• GEN 15:20[DEMONIC]The Rephaim listed among the peoples of Canaan