Genesis Chapter 15, Part II

(Gen 15:7-21)

Recap: In the first part of Chapter 15, we found Abram fearful and full of doubt about his future and
God’s promise of a “great nation” through him, despite the great victory and rescue of Lot in Chapter
14. We saw Abram’s humanity and God’s sovereign assurance of his promise. In perhaps one of the
best-known verses about Abram, we saw how God’s assurance led Abram to believe and God credits
this belief to Abram as righteousness.

Setting: Abram is still outside, after God’s illustration of comparing Abram’s offspring to the stars.

I. Promise of Possession (v. 7-8)

a. God had given him possession of this land, at least in the verbal sense (Gen. 13:15)
b. Yet, the land was still inhabited by others, so perhaps it didn’t feel like his.
c. So, Abram is essentially asking for a sign or some assurance of this promise.
i. Read separately, this seems like more doubt and fear, which might be true.
ii. However, God has just assured him of the promise of descendants, so perhaps
Abram was looking for assurance of God’s promise of possession in a similar
way.
II. Covenant of Possession (v. 9-21)
a. Offering / Sacrifice
i. Not sure why these specific animals are chosen; God instructed and Abram
obeyed.
ii. Dividing in halves
1. Significance: “May the same be done to the one who breaks this
covenant” (Charles Ryrie, from The Ryrie Study Bible)
b. Vision and God’s Prophecy
i. Regarding Abram’s descendants:
1. They would be strangers in a country not their own (Egypt), enslaved
and mistreated for 400 years.
2. God will punish the nation that enslaved them
3. Deliverance: They would come out of slavery with great possessions
ii. Regarding Abram himself:
1. He would not see this in his lifetime, but would die at a good old age.
c. Sealing the Covenant
i. God, embodied as a smoking firepot and blazing torch, passes between the
halves of the sacrifice.
1. Significance: this indicated God’s acknowledgement of his
responsibility to keep the covenant, that he honored this sacrifice and
sealed the covenant.
d. Promise of Possession, defined
i. This is the first place that the boundaries of the Promised Land are laid out in
scripture. The territory this covers is very, very large! (see map on back)

Application:
• God understands that we don’t always see the big picture.
• God takes promises very seriously, both the ones he makes and the ones we make to him.