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GENESIS CHAPTER 15
OBSERVATION STAGE
The observation stage is to teach an individual to focus on the text at hand which, by and large, has all the information necessary to understand what it is saying without going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
(v. 15:1 NIV) "After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, [making] your very great reward'
(v. 15:2 NKJV) But Abram said, 'LORD GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?
(v. 15:3 NKJV) Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!' "
A) BY THE GRACE OF THE LORD, ABRAM HAD:
WON THE BATTLE AGAINST CHEDALAOMER AND HIS ALLIES,
RESCUED HIS NEPHEW LOT FROM CAPTIVITY,
RECEIVED THE BLESSING AND REVELATION OF KING / PRIEST MELCHIZADEK AN INCARNATE APPEARANCE OF THE LORD,
GIVEN A TENTH OF ALL HE HAD TO MELCHIZADEK AND
TAKEN AN OATH TO THE LORD TO REFUSE ANY SPOILS OF WAR FROM THE KING OF SODOM;
WHEREUPON THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ABRAM IN A VISION SAYING, 'DO NOT FEAR, ABRAM, I AM A SHIELD TO YOU MAKING VERY GREAT YOUR REWARD'
(v. 12:2 NAS) "[The LORD said to Abram] And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing. (v. 15:1 NIV) After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, [making] your very great reward' (v. 15:2 NKJV) But Abram said, 'LORD GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? (v. 15:3 NKJV) Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!' "
Note that the Hebrew word "harbEh" literally rendered "making great" is in the hiphil stem conveying causative action on the part of the subject, "Yahweh". So the LORD by being Protector to Abram will cause Abram to receive an exceedingly great reward.
By the grace of the LORD, Abram had:
won the battle against Chedalaomer and his allies,
rescued his nephew Lot from captivity,
received the blessing and revelation of the LORD's hand in it all by King / Priest Melchizadek an incarnate appearance of the LORD,
given a tenth of all he had to Melchizadek, and
taken an oath
to the LORD to refuse any spoils of war from the king of Sodom
;
whereupon the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision saying, 'Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you making very great your reward."
The LORD emphasized that Abram should not fear what will happen to him by way of encouraging Abram that He is his Protector, a Shield to Abram; and out of the LORD's persistence, reliability and capacity to fulfill what He has promised, Abram will receive an exceedingly great reward - beginning with possession of the promised land, which the LORD had been promising Abram since he left Ur.
The continued references to the LORD from Gen 12:1 on, corroborate that the phrase "God Most High" spoken of by Melchizadek in Gen 14:19 refers to the LORD, the God of Abram and not to a Canaanite god as some maintain.
(v. 15:1 NIV) "After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward' (v. 15:2 NKJV) But Abram said, 'LORD GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? (v. 15:3 NKJV) Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!' " =
Heretofore the LORD had repeatedly communicated His promises to Abram accompanied with protection and supernatural intervention to secure those promises and thus assure Abram of fulfillment. In Gen 15:1, once again, the LORD referred to what He had promised and His capacity and intent to fulfull that promise unilaterally. This time the LORD conveyed his message to Abram in a vision. But in spite of repeated experiences with the LORD's supernatural enablement and protection, the altars Abram built at which he worshipped the LORD, Abram's oath of allegiance to the LORD, the tithe Abram paid to Melchizadek - Priest of God Most High, and now a vision of encouragement from the LORD; Abram continued to lack faith in the LORD. This time Abram posed an agitated question to the LORD, he asked, "LORD GOD, what will You give me seeing I go childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus." On the one hand, Abram began acknowledging the LORD GOD and displayed an understanding that the promises of the LORD were dependent upon a physical descendant and upon having many descendants, (cf. Gen 13:15). Since Abram had no descendants at the time, Abram remarked that the closest thing to a descendant he had was not a son but a member of his household, a servant named Eliezer from Damascus. After this, Abram repeated himself with agitation bordering upon disrespect: "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" as if the LORD had not taken notice. The Hebrew words "hEn" and "wehinnEh" rendered "Look" and "indeed" respectively in the NKJV emphasize Abram's agitation.
(v. 4 NKJV) "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.'
(v. 5 NKJV) Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants [lit., seed] be.'
(v. 6 NKJV) And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
(v. 7 NAS) And He said to him, 'I am the LORD Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.'
(v. 8 NAS) He said, 'O LORD GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?'
(v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.'
(v. 4 NKJV) "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' (v. 5 NKJV) Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants [lit. seed] be.' =
Note that the Hebrew word "zera' " rendered "seed" is masculine, singular. It is one of a peculiarly unique group of words which can refer to a single or multiple numbers, in this case, physical offspring, depending upon the context.
The LORD's gracious response to Abram's agitated question, (v. 15:3 NKJV) "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!", absolutely clarifies that Eliezer would not be Abram's heir - the heir through whom via physical descendancy, the Seed, the Heir of the promises of the LORD would be fulfilled. This is speaking of the one Heir to Whom the LORD promised to give the land - through Whom all of the promises would be enabled, (cf Gen 12:7, 13:15). Notice that an immediate single physical descendant is in view here, previously referred to as Abram's seed in Gen 12:7 with a foreshadowing of the future Heir of the Promise. Furthermore, the LORD established that the heir was to come from Abram's seed, i.e., his body - a physical descendant. Note that a singular heir is in view here which is evidently key to the fulfillment of the promises of the Lord, which points not only to an immediate physical heir but one in the future to receive possession of the land and in some manner make it possible for Abram to receive a righteousness unto eternal life, God's Righteousness.
So the LORD brought Abram outside into the night to view the countless number of stars to illustrate and expand upon this promise, and declared, 'So shall [the number] of your physical descendants be.' This clearly implies that Abram had been promised through his seed, singular, eternal life unto innumerable descendants. For having innumerable descendants as a reward to be enjoyed in his experience, it must be an eternal experience - otherwise it would not be much of a reward. This illustration in the sky by the LORD of innumerable descendants for Abram is an illustration of what the LORD had been promising to Abram since he was in Ur of the Chaldees: To make Abram a great name, a great nation with many nations coming from him, i.e., descendants as the countless stars wherein all the families of the world would be blessed through His Seed implying One through Whom would be provided eternal life. So connected with this promise of eternal life is the LORD's promise of a declaration of His righteousness to Abram through the provision of such through Abram's seed, singular - a particular individual Savior supernaturally provided for by the LORD considering Sarai's barrenness and Abram's impotence, in order for Abram to legitmately have eternal life as a free gift as the LORD has presented to Abram through His promises.
So God presented a picture to Abraham to affirm His promise of an actual physical heir who was to come through the loins of Abraham, (Gen 15:4). This picture was 'painted' by God across the star studded night time heavens. An uncountable number of stars were visible to Abraham. God promised that just as the universe contained such an innumerable number of stars, so would be numbered the descendants of Abraham. This picture gave to Abraham the concept of him seeing countless numbers of descendants - a picture of his having eternal life in order for this to be possible. And so, Abraham was promised by God to have an innumerable number of descendants evidently over an indefinitely long lifetime, i.e., eternal life.
*** EXCERPT FROM GEN 12 AND 3 ***
(v. 12:1 NKJV) "Now the LORD had said to Abram: 'Get out of [lit. go from] your country, from your family [lit. relatives], and from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. (v. 12:2 NAS) And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you will be a blessing. (v. 12:3 NAS) And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. ' " =
By virtue of the imperfect tense Hebrew verb "wayyO'mer" rendered "had said" (NKJV) which tense portrays repeated action in the past, verse 12:1 stipulates that the LORD had repeatedly said from the time when Abram was in Ur that Abram was to go from his native land Ur, (cf. Gen 15:7), to a land He will show Abram; whereupon, beginning in verse 12:2, the LORD promised Abram to make him a great nation. Notice that the phrase is not 'I will make you ruler of a great nation.' but "I [the LORD] will make you a great nation," i.e., Abram himself will become a great nation. Since a nation is an entity of a great number of individuals, and since Abram will become a great nation, then Abram, in spite of being childless for decades, is to have and live to see a great number of physical descendants over whom he will rule. Verse 12:2 goes on to say, "And I [the LORD] will bless you [Abram] and make your name great; And so you will be a blessing." So Abram is to effect a great number of the people of the earth in some great manner, affording to them great blessing over a great length of time, for it takes time for one to live to have a nation of descendants and by that become a great name throughout all the earth for all history.
Verse 12:3 continues the LORD’s declarations of Abram’s future by stating a number of astounding predictions which indicate that the LORD specifically selected Abram out of the sea of humanity in human history for His special and eternal purpose: "And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Unlike the word ‘world’ which might be limited in time and geography in the context of Gen 12:3, the Hebrew word rendered "earth" in the NKJV in the context of Gen 12:3 encompasses the entire globe of the earth for all time. So the phrase "all the families of the earth" encompasses all mankind throughout history from all points of the earth.
A picture is presented of the LORD sovereignly selecting Abram from Ur of the Chaldees out of the sea of humanity to go to the promised land to be His vessel, (cf. 12:1). The LORD will then supernaturally enable Abram, whose wife has been barren and childless for decades, (cf. Gen 11:30) - both of whom are very old and unable to have children to have such a great name, i.e., have such a worldwide reputation of doing great and godly things and be such a great nation of many physical descendants that in Abram will all the families of the earth throughout history and eternity be blessed through the seed of Abram. This is evidently a fulfillment of the promise of God to provide for the eternal reconciliation of man to God relative to sin and the restoration of mankind's sovereignty over the earth through the miraculous Seed of the woman - a Messiah-Savior, evidently through the seed of Abram, (cf. Gen 3:14-15). That fact alone - that the Messiah-Savior of the world will be a descendant of Abram, will make Abram a great nation and a great name, for in him through that Messiah-Savior will be an opportunity for eternal life and blessing for all the families of the earth throughout history.
Hence an eternal time frame is in view. All of this is with an emphasis on the LORD's sovereign enablement in moving Abram to a faithful position in the land He will show Abram so as to fulfill His promises unilaterally and supernaturally. This was to begin with Abram getting out of his country, going from his family and his father's house to a land He will show Abram, (v. 12:1).
(v. 3:14 NKJV) "So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.' (v. 3:15 NKJV) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel... (v. 12:2 NAS) And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you will be a blessing." =
Genesis chapter 3 declares God's plan for the eternal reconciliation of man to God and the restoration of mankind's sovereignty over the earth which chapter 12 implies will be fulfilled through the LORD's making Abram a great nation and a great name and in Abram through his seed will be an opportunity for eternal life and blessing for all mankind throughout the ages and eternity. The context of previous chapters in Genesis has indicated that mankind is sinful and estranged from God for which He has a plan for reconciling mankind to Himself through the Seed of Eve which will evidently be through the seed of Abram wherein all individuals have the opportunity to be blessed throughout history with spiritual reconciliation with God and eternal life with Him resulting in the restoration of mankind's authority over the earth.
(v. 3:14 NKJV) "So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.' "
(v. 3:14 NKJV) "So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.' " =
God spoke to
the particular serpent in the garden of Eden in a manner consistent with
one who had demonstrated highly intelligent, subtle and evil qualities but
wholly inconsistent with such an earthly creature as God had created it.
For of all the earthly creatures, only man was created to have a soul
which reflected the image of God thereby providing such high intelligence
and capacity to exercise rulership over all the other created beings on
the earth. Hence we may conclude that the serpent in view in Genesis 3 was
possessed / influenced by another highly superior created being other than
the two humans God had created; which leaves an angelic being. So for
deceiving Eve and causing her and Adam to sin, (Gen 3:1-7), the LORD GOD
cursed the serpent who was possessed by a rebellious angelic creature
named in other passages as Satan, God's adversary. God cursed the serpent
more than any other creature, relegating serpents now to crawl on their
bellies, eating dust as a sign of judgment upon Satan's rebellion.
Previous text in Genesis does not describe such an intelligent and evil
being, but other passages in Scripture corroborate this and provide more
details:
(v. 3:15 NKJV) "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
TWO SPIRITUAL (NOT BIOLOGICAL) SEEDS ARE IN VIEW:
(v. 3:15 NKJV) "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." =
The Hebrew words "zar’akhA" and "zar’Ahh' " rendered "your seed" and "her Seed" respectively in 3:15 in the NKJV usually has a biological connotation; but in Genesis 3:15, the Hebrew words "zar’akhA" and "zar’Ahh' " refer to:
1) Those individuals - angelic and human - who deliberately follow, i.e., are given 'birth' as seed of the Agent (Satan) who possessed the serpent and caused Eve to sin. Note that that Agent is a spiritual being, not a physical one, hence seed has a spiritual connotation, not a physical one. Furthermore, all of the seed of Satan were declared by God to be at enmity with the woman and her Seed.
2) The second word rendered seed in Genesis 3:15 which is rendered with a capital "S" in the NKJV, is portrayed as resulting in a male physical descendant of the woman, Eve, in 3:15c: "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." The word seed when it is used to portray a physical descendant, normally refers to a seed which biologically comes from the male; but in the case of Gen 3:15, the phrase "the seed of the woman" is stipulated as opposed to the normal phrase 'the seed of the man.' Hence the word "Seed" in this case refers to a Seed which must be produced supernaturally and spiritually by God into a female physical descendant of the woman, Eve, in order to result in an individual male descendant of that woman. The Seed of the woman, Eve, is futher portrayed as representing the whole human race - a Messiah-Savior, hence the capital "Seed" - in doing battle with Satan and his seed to regain the lost sovereignty of the human race, usurped by Satan; and to provide an opportunity for every individual human being to be eternally reconciled with God relative to sin.
(v. 3:15 NKJV) "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." =
The word "shuph," [Str. # 7779], rendered "shall bruise" twice in 3:15 connotes a striking blow which is purposed to cause destruction.
The LORD GOD spoke to Satan who possessed the serpent in the garden and caused Adam and Eve to sin, usurping their position of authority over the world. He said, "And I [the LORD GOD] will put enmity, [i.e., decree mutual hostility] between you [Satan] and the woman [Eve, who is the mother of all humanity, (cf. 3:20)].
Notice from Gen 3:1 on, it was not Satan's intent to have hostility, but to gain sovereignty over Eve, humanity and the world. He successfully deceived and hence manipulated her and Adam so as to usurp their position and God's authority given to them by God over the earth.
... and [enmity] between your seed and her Seed =
[And there was also decreed by God to be enmity between the seed of Satan, i.e., those who chose to rebel against the LORD GOD, to be spiritually like Satan: unbelieving and rebellious angelic and human beings. They are 'birthed' by Satan in the sense of choosing to rebel against God after Satan's example. Satan evidently makes a constant effort to tempt others to follow him in rebellion against God]
and her Seed =
[= a single individual is portrayed in 3:15b considering the next phrase in 3:15c, ("He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel"), which has a single individual in view. This Individual is stipulated as the Seed of the woman, Eve, portraying a supernatural birth via a spiritually provided Seed to impregnate a female descendant of Eve to give birth to a male descendant Who will represent all of humanity in battle with Satan and his seed to regain the lost sovereignty of the human race over the world and provide an opportunity for every individual human being to be eternally reconciled with God relative to sin.
The LORD GOD then said, 'He [the single individual Messiah Savior] shall bruise [strike] your head, [ i.e., deliver a mortal blow via an act which destroys Satan and the evil he did and restores humanity to its original sinless state]
and you [Satan] will bruise [strike] his heel, [i.e., deliver a non-mortal blow, i.e., cause him injury but not mortal to His existence and purpose, giving Him the victory over sin for all humanity over Satan and his evil work which caused Adam and Eve to sin, destroy their relationship with God and lose control of their rulership over the world to Satan]
****** END OF EXCERPT ******
(v. 4 NKJV) "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' (v. 5 NKJV) Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants [lit. seed] be.' (v. 6 NKJV) And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The Hebrew word "wehe'ëmin" rendered "and he [Abram] believed" in verse 15:6 in the NKJV is in the Hiphil stem in the perfect tense portraying a simple completed action by Abram as an immediate response to the LORD's words in the previous verse: "Then He [the LORD] brought him [Abram] outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He [the LORD] said to him [Abram], 'So shall your descendants [lit. seed] be."
Although the perfect tense of the Hebrew verb "wehe'ëmin" can depict a past perfect action which points to a completed action begun in the 'past past' which would then portray action begun before the present action of Gen 15:6 so as to portray Abram believing beginning at the time when the LORD first began presenting His promises to Abram in Gen 12:2; the context of Gen 15:6 does not include any connected 'past past' activity. It is limited to the moment when God presented a view of countless stars and declaring "so shall your descendants be," whereupon Abram responded at that time by believing. Heretofore, Abram was not depicted as having believed in the promise of the LORD to inherit the Promised Land and have innumerable physical descendants through Abrams seed supernaturally provided for by the LORD to the extent that he would have been declared righteous by the LORD unto eternal life.
So when Abram began believing in God's promise of innumerable descendants relative to the promises he had been making to Abram since Ur - it was in the time frame of Gen 15:4-6, whereupon God acounted it at that time to Abraham for righteousness unto eternal life, i.e., the perfect righteousness of God. Note that if Abram had believed in God's promise of eternal life beforehand then he would have been accounted for righteousness by God earlier than Gen 15:6, and it would have been so noted in Scripture. So Abraham was credited with God's perfect righteousness in conjunction with God's promise to Abraham and innumerable descendants of receiving the promised land forever which God's righteousness is evidently required in order to have eternal life in order to inherit the promised land forever. Note that it was received by a moment of faith alone in the LORD's promise alone. So it cannot be misconstrued that Abraham was expected to do anything in order to be perfectly righteous in his lifestyle in order to receive eternal life from God. There is no stipulation to that effect in the passage.
Gen 15:5-6 is not just a picture of Abram's countless descendants living long after he died with him having gone into the Lake of Fire. There would be no purpose if Abraham would never see them in person, i.e., have eternal life and instead be eternally confined and condemned to the Lake of Fire? This demonstration by the LORD was a picture of His promise to Abraham of eternal life - eternal life with countless descendants over an eternity of time through an individual seed - descendant supernaturally provided for in order to make all of this possible - for Abram was still childless, impotent and Sarai barren.
(v. 4 NKJV) "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' (v. 5 NKJV) Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants [lit. seed] be.' (v. 6 NKJV) And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. (v. 7 NAS) And He said to him, 'I am the LORD Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.' (v. 8 NAS) He said, 'O LORD GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?' (v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' "
After Abram had expressed a moment of faith in the LORD's promise of innumerable descendants unto a righteousness from God, i.e., justification unto eternal life; the LORD continued to assure Abram to trust in Him re: fulfilling this promise of innumerable descendants by relating this promise to His first promise of Abram and his descendants owning the promised land forever which was first made to him when he was in Ur: "I am the LORD Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to posses it," (v. 15:7); whereupon having believed in the Lord unto righteousness and eternal life, Abram was still not evidencing total trust in the LORD. He asked the LORD how he could know = believe that he would actually possess the land which is connected with the LORD'S promise of innumerable descendants and eternal life. Notice that Abram believed in God's promise of innumerable descendants and was thereby declared righteous by the LORD, hence qualified for receiving eternal life; yet he still questioned how he would know that that was going to happen. He asked, "O LORD GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?" Note that the verb 'to know' can mean the same thing as believe does depending and as it does upon the context here. Hence in Gen 15:8, the verb "may I know" in the phrase "How may I knew that I will possess it?" implies a lack of complete trust in the LORD to fulfill His promise of providing Abram with possession of the land. Yet as gracious as ever, the LORD's answer as recorded in vv. 15:10-21 was to request sacrificial animals in order to perform a supernatural and unilateral covenant with Abram via a formal sacrificial ritual with full and complete details of every aspect of that covenant so that Abram may know that the LORD is absolutely serious and capable of fulfilling His promise. So in answer to Abram's lack of faith in the promises of the LORD, the LORD requested that Abram bring to Him a 3 year old heifer, a 3 hear old she-goat, a 3 yr old Ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon - animals which were traditionally sacrificed in Abram's day to ratify agreements.
(v. 18) "The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.
(v. 19) The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf,
(v. 20) I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."
Notice that the parties involved in participating toward the outcome of the covenant were to pass between the parts of the sacrificed animal. Recall that God was the only One Who did this relative to His covenant with Abram, hence He is the only participant and Abram is the recipient.
(v. 15:10 NKJV) "Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
(v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
(v. 15:12 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
(v. 15:13 NKJV) Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
(v. 15:14 NKJV) And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
(v. 15:15 NAS) As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
(v. 15:16 NKJV) But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
(v. 15:17 ASV) And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace [lit. fire pot], and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.
(v. 15:18 NKJV) In that day Jehovah 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:
(v. 15:19 NKJV) the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
(v. 15:20 NKJV) and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
(v. 15:21 NKJV) and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite."
(v. 7 NAS) "And He said to him, 'I am the LORD Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.' (v. 8 NAS) He said, 'O LORD GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?' (v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (v. 15:10 NKJV) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away." =
The language of the text in verses 15:9 & 10 reports that Abram actually went out and gathered a heifer, she-goat, ram, turtle dove and pigeon which the LORD had requested, (v. 15:9), bringing them to a particular location where Abram was having a conversation with the LORD. Since animal sacrifices were common in ancient societies for worshipping the LORD and pagan gods, affirming covenants, etc., ((Adam and Eve, (ref. Gen 3:21), Cain and Abel, (ref., Gen 4:1-7)); then we may conclude that Abram was familiar with the ritual of convenant that the LORD intended to perform. Consequently, Abram, without any instruction present in the text, immediately cut the larger animals in half, separated the halves opposite each other, and left the birds whole and then drove birds of prey away from the carcasses while he waited for the sun to go down when the ritual would be performed.
Notice that the context, details and language work together to depict an actual event as opposed to a vision or symbolic account.
(v. 9 NAS) So He [the LORD] said to him [Abram], 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (v. 15:10 NKJV) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. (v. 15:12 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him." =
An actual chronological, not a figurative, account is depicted in vv. 15:9-12 wherein Abram spent real time driving away birds of prey from the sacrificial animals' carcasses, (v. 15:11). As the Sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and "behold" a dreadful fear accompanied by an internal great darkness fell upon him. Note that since Abram already had fallen asleep as the Sun was still going down, the dreadful fear accompanied by an internal great darkness which fell upon him personally were occurrences within his mind, a part of his dreaming which reflected fear within his mind and not reflective of an actual night time darkness since the Sun was still going down. Nothing further is mentioned of dreadful fear and great darkness until verse 17. The next verse, (Gen 15:13), after the mention of Abram's dreadful fear and internal great darkness, immediately begins the LORD's detailed account of what was in store for Abram and his descendants and their enemies as if Abram was to receive this information with good understanding. Evidently the dreadful fear and great darkness within Abram's mind did not hamper his reception of what the LORD communicated to him while he slept. Recall that it has been Abram's pattern heretofore to experience the LORD as his Protector and Rescuer in the face of tribulation - oft times caused by himself; albeit Abram continually responded with a notable lack of faith since he left Ur of the Chaldees months ago. Hence, it can be concluded that the dreadful fear and internal great darkness served to focus Abram on the LORD especially relative to His reliability and veracity engendering Abram's greater trust in Him - especially in light of Abram's last response to the LORD, "O LORD GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?" which considering all the LORD had done and expressed all these months reflected an exasperating lack of faith on the part of Abram. So the dreadful fear and internal great darkness in Abram's dream served the purposes of the LORD: Since the LORD is sovereign, then Abram's experience of dreadful fear and great darkness as he slept, while the Sun was going down, was under the sovereign control and serving the purpose of the LORD as He proceeded to confirm His covenant with Abram in a manner that Abram would be better assured and exercise greater trust in Him.
(v. 5 NKJV) Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants [lit. seed] be.' (v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (v. 15:10 NKJV) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. (v. 15:12 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. (v. 15:13 NKJV) Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. (v. 15:14 NKJV) And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (v. 15:15 NAS) As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. (v. 15:16 NKJV) But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. =
While Abram was experiencing horror and great darkness during his sleep, the LORD intervened into Abram's mind and gave him some details of the future concerning himself, his descendants and their enemies. The LORD indicates that Abram's descendants, evidently many in number, (cf. v. 15:5), will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, hence not in possession or living in the promised land. Furthermore, they will be servants, i.e., enslaved to the people of that land for four hundred years! But then the LORD follows with good news that after the four hundred years, Abram's descendants will come out of that estrangement and enslavement with freedom and great possessions into the promised land. Recall that Abram was in that very situation in Egypt and came out with great possessions, (Gen 12:10ff), and this parallel would certainly not have escaped Abram's recollection. The LORD then told Abram he would live to "a good old age," which in those days was well over a hundred years. Then the LORD goes back in His account to Abram's many descendants saying to him that their fourth generation, (wherein a generation was at that time 100 years = 400), "shall return here" meaning the promised land which Abram was currently residing in with a view to the iniquity of the Amorites which the LORD evidently had intended for Abram's descendants to go to war against as His Agent of Justice. This implies that the Amorite people were so ungodly over the 400 years evidently against the descendants of Abram without any sign of repentance that God decided to destroy them.
(v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (v. 15:10 NKJV) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. (v. 15:12 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. (v. 15:13 NKJV) Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. (v. 15:14 NKJV) And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (v. 15:15 NAS) As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. (v. 15:16 NKJV) But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. (v. 15:17 ASV) And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace [lit. fire pot], and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces." =
After providing details of future events in the lives of Abram and his descendants, (vv. 13-16), sufficient real world time had elapsed whereupon the Sun had completely gone down revealing a pervading darkness in the world in Abram's reality yet as he slept, (v. 17a). The second part of verse 17 begins with the word literally rendered "and behold" from the Hebrew "wehinnEh" is an emphatic term pointing to something remarkable by saying, "Look at this" or "behold!" This implies that Abram was awake in order to see what the LORD was doing. No one else was present and so Abram was needed to witness God's formal ritual covenant with him in order to make it official and to assure Abram all the more with a supernatural demonstration of God's power and capacity to fulfill what He has promised as evidenced by the smoking pot and flaming torch appearing and moving through the carcasses of the sacrificed animals.
Following "wehinnEh," rendered "and behold" in verse 17b, comes the phrase "a smoking furnace [= "thannûr, lit., a fire pot] and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.", (NKJV).
[TWOT, R. Laird Harris, Ed., Moody Press, Chicago, 1980, Vol. 2, p. 975]:'
"The word [rendered smoking furnace in the ASV] denotes basically the relatively small and sometimes portable stove or oven rather than the larger furnace. Constructed of clay and often sunk into the ground, they had a cylindrical or beehive shape and were two to three feet in diameter... The fires of divine judgment are represented by a blazing oven in Isa 31:9 and Mal 4:1."
[TWOT, op. cit., p. 481]:
"The flaming torch, like the pillar of fire, the lamp in the Tabernacle, and the glory of God, signified the holy, awesome presence of the LORD moving among His people."
So Abram, a necessary eye witness to the LORD's unilateral covenant with him in order to make it official actually saw finite representation of the LORD in the form of a smoking furnace, (ASV), literally a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passing through the sacrificial animal pieces in order to ratify His covenant promises to Abram. The smoke from the fire pot evidently reflected the supernatural omniscience of God to pervade and be present everywhere. The fire pot was a figure of association by which the emanations from it could be identified as smoke as well as a representation of the eternal power and wrath of God. The flaming torch provided a picture of what flaming torches do: they illuminate and lead the way, lighten up the darkness and by their presence, emphatically present power of heat and visible flame. So the flame of fire of the torch signifies the infinitely great power and presence of the LORD.
[The Bible Knowledge Commentary, NT, Walvoord and Zuck Eds., Victor Books, USA, 1988, p. 55-56]:
"After sunset God revealed Himself in connection with the image of an oven (smoking fire pot) and a torch, two elements that were connected with sacrificial ritual in the ancient world. These images are part of the 'burning' motif that describes God's zeal and judgment in the world. Fire represents the consuming, cleansing zeal of Yahweh (the LORD) as well as His unapproachable holiness, which are interrelated... In the darkness (Gen 15:17) Abram saw nothing else... except these fiery elements that passed between the pieces of the slaughtered animals. Thus the holy God was zealous to judge the nations and to fulfill His covenantal promises... He came down and made (lit., 'cut') a formal treaty (a covenant) with Abram... Since God could 'swear' (confirm by covenant) by none greater... In other words this was a unilateral covenant. So its promises are absolutely sure."
(v. 9 NAS) So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (v. 15:10 NKJV) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (v. 15:11 ASV) And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. (v. 15:12 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. (v. 15:13 NKJV) Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. (v. 15:14 NKJV) And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (v. 15:15 NAS) As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. (v. 15:16 NKJV) But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. (v. 15:17 ASV) And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace [lit. fire pot], and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. (v. 15:18 NKJV) In that day Jehovah 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: (v. 15:19 NKJV) the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, (v. 15:20 NKJV) and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, (v. 15:21 NKJV) and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite" =
Verses 18-21 corroborate that Abram was awake and a real time witness to the LORD's unilateral ratification of His covenant promises to Abram especially since ratification of an agreement requires a real time witness. The words of verse 18 which stipulate that the LORD was having a conversation with Abram: "In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram saying, 'Unto thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates.." corroborates that Abram was a real time witness. Note the phrase "the river of Egypt" refers to the Wadi el-Arish River not the Nile River. There is mentioned of ten peoples who are indicated as occupying part of the Promised Land who it is implied will be removed from their territory in the future. Notice that Jehovah was saying these things to Abram as in a real time conversation, hence the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch that were stipulated as passing through the sacrificial animal pieces are portrayed in Gen 15:17 are a real smoking fire pot and a real flaming torch to which Abram was a real time reality witness.
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