Genesis 15 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 15. Let’s go!
Genesis 15:1 (NIV)
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
On verse 1: In the previous chapter, Abram refused to take any material goods from the King of Sodom, even after he had rescued the people of Sodom from Kedorlaomer. After Abram refused to receive any reward from the King of Sodom, now the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, saying, “I am your very great reward”. What can we learn from this? The greatest reward, the greatest treasure we can have is to know God personally and have His presence in our lives.
God says another thing to Abram here after Abram’s victory over Kedorlaomer in battle. He says, “I am your shield.” In other words, the reason why Abram was able to go into battle against a more powerful enemy and come out unscathed is because God was protecting Abram. Similarly, you and I face Satan, an enemy more powerful than us, but God is our omnipotent shield against the enemy. Jesus’ blood shed on the cross shields us from all further accusations that Satan would want to hurl at us. Jesus protects us from God’s wrath against our sin. The Lord was Abram’s shield. He is your shield too.
Genesis 15:2-3 (NIV)
2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
On verses 2-3: Abram was not in a good place emotionally here. Worrying about his future and unhappy that he had no children to pass his estate onto, Abram openly shares his frustrations with the Lord. Likewise, when you’re frustrated, disappointed, or upset, don’t run away from God. Run to Him. Go to God with your worries, your frustrations and your disappointment. If you are real with God and also humble before God at the same time, it can actually lead to greater revelation of God’s character, power and presence in your life. We will see this happening with Abram in the verses that follow.
Genesis 15:4-5 (NIV)
4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
On verses 4-5: After Abram pours out his heart to the Lord, the Lord responds with a word in verse 4. Then God leads Abram out of his tent to view the night sky as a way of telling Abram that his offspring will be as many as the stars above.
Notice in how many ways so far God has spoken to Abram: in a vision (v1), with a word (v4), and with an outdoor object lesson (v5). Why was Abram able to hear from God this way? It’s because his heart was open to God, Abram had the habit of worshiping God regularly and drawing near to Him (Genesis 13:18), Abram tried to honour God with his life (Genesis 14:22-24) and Abram was not afraid to go to God with his fears, worries and frustrations (see verses 2-3). Likewise if you want to hear from God, do the same: keep your heart open to God, be in the habit of worshiping and drawing to God, seek to honour God with your decisions, actions and words, and go to God just as you are and pour out your burdens before Him. When you do these things, you’re positioning yourself to hear from God.
Genesis 15:6 (NIV)
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
On verse 6: This is one of the most powerful and important statements in the Old Testament. Because Abram believed the Lord, the Lord honoured Abram’s faith and “credited it to him as righteousness”. Later on in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 Paul will use this same verse to show that righteousness (that is, being right with God, worthy and qualified to stand in God’s holy presence) is not something we can earn with our deeds, but is something that we receive by faith when we simply believe in Him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead (see Romans 4:23-25). That is the power and importance of having the right kind of faith: it can lead to righteousness.
Genesis 15:7-21 (NIV)
7 He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates–
19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
On verses 7-21: What is going on in these verses? Here God tells Abram that He brought Abram out of the land of Ur (Genesis 11:31) so as to give him “this land” (v7), meaning the land from the Nile River (“the river of Egypt” – v18) to the Euphrates River (v18). When Abram asks God for assurance about this promise (v8), God tells Abram to bring a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon (v9). Abram takes those animals, cuts the heifer, the goat and the ram in half, and arranges the halves opposite each other (v10).
What is Abram doing? According to some scholars, people in the ancient Middle East would enter into a contract by cutting an animal into two halves and standing together in the middle of the halves to show that they meant business. It was their way of saying, “We are deadly serious about keeping the promises we are making to one another.” In this case, Abram sets up the animal pieces, but it is God, represented by the smoking firepot and the blazing torch, who passes between the pieces Himself without Abram (v17). It’s as if God is saying to Abram, “I’m not just going to meet you half way, Abram. Instead, I’m going to go the whole way for you so that you don’t need to do a thing. I’m deadly serious about keeping this promise.”
The same goes for us today. God knew that we could not live up to our part of the bargain to obey Him completely and qualify for eternal life. So God went the whole way for us. He sent Jesus Christ to do on our behalf what we could not do ourselves: live a life that fulfills all of God’s requirements. Jesus also died to pay the penalty for our sins. God went the whole way and did everything necessary so that we wouldn’t need to do a thing except believe in Him.
Finally, sandwiched between Abram cutting the animal pieces and God walking through them, a number of things happen. First, birds of prey come to feast on the animal pieces compelling Abram to shoo away the birds of prey (v11). Second, presumably tired from fending off the birds of prey, Abram falls into a deep sleep where Abram senses God telling him what will happen in the future: that Abram’s descendants will be slaves in a country not their own for 400 years (v13) but would finally be rescued out of that country with great possessions (v14); that Abram himself will die in peace (v15); and that when the sins of the Amorites (i.e. those living in the land that God has given to Abram) have reached their full measure, Abram’s descendants will then take over this land (v16).
What can we learn from all this? Before God would completely fulfill His promises to Abram, Abram’s descendants would need to endure a great deal of hardship first (indicated both by the birds of prey that Abram had to shoo away as well as God’s own words to Abram in v13-14). In the end, however, the story will conclude with Abram’s descendants taking possession of the land God has promised. Similarly, between the giving of God’s promise and the fulfillment of God’s promise, we will often need to endure great hardship and fend off unwanted enemies. The key is to persevere and not give up, continue hanging onto God, knowing that in the end a happy and glorious ending awaits.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You didn’t just meet us in the middle, but You went the whole way in doing everything necessary for us to be with You. You only ask that we believe in You who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and You credit our faith as righteousness. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
