Reflections on Genesis 15

Genesis 15 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Later the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision, "Abram, don't be afraid! I will protect you and reward you greatly."
   
2. But Abram answered, "LORD All-Powerful, you have given me everything I could ask for, except children. And when I die, Eliezer of Damascus will get all I own.
   
3. You have not given me any children, and this servant of mine will inherit everything."
   
4. The LORD replied, "No, he won't! You will have a son of your own, and everything you have will be his."
   
5. Then the LORD took Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have."
   
6. Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD was pleased with him.
   
7. The LORD said to Abram, "I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land."
   
8. Abram asked, "LORD God, how can I know the land will be mine?"
   
9. Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon."
   
10. Abram obeyed the LORD. Then he cut the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half.
    
11. And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away.
    
12. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening.
    
13. Then the LORD said: Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.
    
14. (SEE 15:13)
    
15. (SEE 15:13)
    
16. Four generations later, your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live here be so sinful that they deserve to be punished.
    
17. Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal.
    
18. At that time the LORD made an agreement with Abram and told him: I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor River on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River.
    
19. They will possess the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
    
20. the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites,
    
21. the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
    
    

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    As Abram continued to respond to God in faith, God gave more details of His plan for Abram and greater assurance of His care for him. With each encounter of faith God speaks to Abram as in this chapter. In the previous chapter Abram returned from military victory and worshipped the Lord by tithing from his spoils of victory. He further demonstrated his faith in the Lord by refusing the deal offered by the king of Sodom to keep his possessions that Abram had recovered. Abram would receive his wealth only through God's provision.
    
    Now in chapter 15 God came again to Abram to make a treaty with him as a precursor of a covenant He would later establish with Abram. In this encounter with God, God began with an assurance to Abram of His protection. "I am your shield," God said. After promising that Abram's offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, God then identified Himself as "the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." (15:7) A further assurance that God would do what He promised.
    
    God's promise of numberless offspring was rather astounding considering Abram was 80 years old and childless. That being the case, Abram thought maybe his heir would be a slave born in his house rather than an actual son, but God assured him the heir would be "one who comes from your own body." (15:4) To one who is not a stranger to scripture, the incredibleness of God's promise to Abram should be no surprise. God does not normally give promises that can be fulfilled through normal human accomplishment. Their fulfillment can only be explained through God's supernatural powers. Therefore, it is no coincidence that God's promise of numberless offspring was made to a man who had no offspring and did not seem liking to ever have any.
    
    Verse 6 tells us that "Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness." It is important to recognize here that it is our faith, and not anything we do, that God counts toward our salvation. It is further important to note the timing of the assurance God gave Abram concerning the fulfillment of these promises. Abram asked for assurance that he could "know that I will possess" the land of Canaan. (15:8) The following verses tell of the signs God gave him. It should be noted that these signs were given, not so Abram would have faith, but to confirm the faith he already had. God does not tend to prove Himself to unbelievers but to confirm Himself to those who already believe.