Genesis 15:1-21 “God’s Covenant With Abram”

Genesis 14:22-23 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the L ORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’

Genesis 15:1 (lit. “After these things”) Some time later (lit. “After these things”), the L ORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” for he is a prophet Gen. 20:7 NAS95 “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live.

Genesis 15:2-3 (Lit. “Lord (Adonai ) G OD ”) 2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign L ORD (Lit. “Lord (Adonai ) G OD ”), what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Genesis 15:4-5 4 Then the L ORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the L ORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” b

Genesis 1:14 (NASB95) Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS and for seasons and for days and years;

Matthew 2:1–2 (NASB95) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

6 And Abram believed the L ORD, and the L ORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

The term “accounted” means “attribute,” “reckon,” or “regard as,” and is almost parallel to a bookkeeping transfer of an eligible item from one column or category to another. The faith of Abram became the equivalent of righteousness. Dr. W. A. Criswell “To justify someone means to declare that person righteous, not to make him or her righteous. Justification expresses a legal verdict.” Tom Constable

Galatians 3:6–9 (ESV) Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Romans 10:8–10 (NLT) In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Genesis 15:7-9 7 Then the L ORD told him, “I am the L ORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” 8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign L ORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” 9 The L ORD told him, “Bring me a three-year- old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Genesis 15:10 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half.

What is described was known in that day as “cutting a covenant.” This solemn ritual involved the death of animals and the binding of people to a promise. The persons making the covenant would sacrifice several animals and divide the bodies, placing the halves opposite each other on the ground. Then the parties would walk between the pieces of the sacrifices in declaration that, if they failed to keep their word, they deserved the same fate as the animals. Warren Wiersbe

Jeremiah 34:18–19 (NASB95) ‘I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf…”

Genesis 15:11 Abram fell into a deep 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. 12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. The significance of Abram’s sleep is that he did not participate in the covenant ceremony. The focus of the covenant, therefore, was upon the promises of God. WA Criswell

Genesis 15: Then the L ORD said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth… 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

Genesis 10:15–18 (NASB95) 15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth 16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite 17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite 18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.

Genesis 15: After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.

Genesis 15: So the L ORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River… 19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Land Promised to Abraham

Genesis 15: After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. Hebrews 6:13–14 (NASB95) For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.”

Psalm 85:10–11 (NASB95) Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven.

Isaiah 53:5–6 (NASB95) But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the L ORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Romans 3:23 (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Psalm 14:2–3 (NLT) The L ORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. 3 But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” “ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”