Genesis 15 (Listen)
15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Devotional:
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. (Genesis 15:17 CSB)
In Old Testament times, a covenant was sealed by cutting animals in half and having both parties walk between the animals; this implied that what was done to these animals would be done to anyone who broke this covenant. Notice that God walks through the cut animal path in the midst of smoke and fire by Himself. He is letting Abram know that God’s promise will be fulfilled — no matter what. Abram didn’t walk through the path with God because God knows how we fall short. God secures the covenant. God establishes a covenant of grace with us as well through the broken body of His Son. Faith alone in Jesus secures the covenant, not our efforts. We know this, yet often we feel our lack of effort would make God love us less. Do you know that God loves you with immeasurable love and nothing will change that?
Pray it: Father, thank you for entering into a covenant with me that is not dependent on my works or ability to obey perfectly, but on your promises and my faith in them. May I recognize your amazing love seen in this and respond with humble and grateful obedience. Amen.
Share it: Who is someone you can share a verse or thought from this passage with?