The Lord Will

Genesis

Genesis 15

KJV

1

After 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.

2

And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4

And, 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.

5

And 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.

6

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7

And 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.

8

And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9

And 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.

10

And 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.

11

And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13

And 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;

14

And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15

And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16

But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17

And 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.

18

In 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:

19

The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20

And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

21

And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

God answers Abram's fear and childlessness

Verses 1-6 move from reassurance to the central problem of an heir. God rejects the idea that a household servant will carry the promise, points Abram to the stars, and the narrative says Abram believes the LORD and that this is counted to him as righteousness.

Abram asks for assurance concerning the land

Verses 7-11 restate God's role in bringing Abram from Ur and the promise of the land. Abram asks how he will know, and the required animals are prepared for an ancient covenant ceremony rather than a magical technique.

The promise includes a long period of waiting and oppression

Verses 12-16 disclose that Abram's descendants will live as strangers, suffer oppression, and later return. The four hundred years and the statement about Amorite iniquity should be read within the chapter and alongside related biblical chronology, not turned into racial or modern political claims.

God ratifies the covenant and describes the land grant

Verses 17-21 portray the smoking firepot and flaming torch passing between the pieces before the covenant grant is stated. The boundaries and ancient peoples belong to the patriarchal narrative and should not be transferred directly into modern geopolitical entitlement.