Genesis 15

Cutting animals in two and then walking between the pieces symbolized an oath that was sworn, in effect, by the parties to the covenant: “May it be done to me as has been done to these animals if I do not keep my part in the covenant.”

11–16 During Abram’s sleep God showed him in a vision that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign country (Egypt) for four hundred years,⁶⁷ after which they would gain their freedom and come out with great possessions (verses 13–14). All this was fulfilled; it is described in the book of Exodus.

Thus the fourth generation⁶⁸ of Abram’s descendants would finally take possession of the land of Canaan (verse 16). God’s promise of the land would take almost six hundred years to fulfill. Let us remember Abram when we get impatient over other promises that aren’t fulfilled as quickly as we’d like (see 2 Peter 3:8–9).

In verse 16, God gives the reason for the delay of six hundred years: “. . . the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Here the Amorites represent all the Canaanite tribes (verses 19–21). The Canaanites (descendants of Canaan, Noah’s grandson) were becoming more and more evil as the generations passed. They worshiped idols, they were sexually immoral, and they even offered their own children as sacrifices to their gods. In this way their sin finally reached its “full measure,” and God brought judgment upon them by giving their land to Abram’s descendants. In doing this, God was completely just: the Canaanites, by their sin, had brought this judgment on themselves.

17–21 Verse 17 records one of the most significant actions in the Old Testament. God passed between the pieces—by Himself. Usually both parties to a covenant walked between the halves of the animals, but in this case God alone walked between them; Abram was sleeping. God alone was the author of the covenant; the covenant was made totally by His grace. Abram did nothing to deserve it.

This type of covenant using sacrificial animals was the most binding covenant of all; it was a covenant of blood. The covenant partners pledged their very lives to uphold the covenant. Here we see God “pledging His life” to uphold His covenant—no matter what the sleeping Abram did. Centuries later God would establish a new covenant with mankind and again He would pledge a life—the life of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus too would walk alone “between the pieces” on the way to His death.

Abram had asked God, “. . . how can I know?” (verse 8). Now he had his answer. When God passed between the pieces alone, Abram knew the covenant would stand and that his descendants would Indeed gain possession of the land. In the darkness God passed between the halves of the animals in the form of a smoking firepot with a blazing torch (verse 17). This visitation of God signified not only the pledge of God’s life but also His ongoing presence with Abram and with his descendants. The firepot and torch were symbolic of the pillars of smoke and fire that would be proof of God’s presence with the Israelites later in their history (Exodus 13:21–22).

Finally, God described the land that He had now promised by covenant to give to Abram’s descendants: it extended from the river of Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula to the Euphrates in present-day Iraq (verse 18). Its inhabitants included the tribes mentioned in verses 19–21, most of whom we shall encounter again in our study of the Old Testament.