Ok, I know there was no post yesterday. That is because I spent most of my time researching about marriage in the Bible to share with friends on Facebook. I hate to see how people want to twist what marriage means to make it suitable for everyone. Marriage for the Christian is so important because it represents Christ's relationship with the church and if marriages work correctly, it can be a beautiful thing to hint at what it will be like when we, the church, are with Christ forever. Anywho, on to chapter 15.
Genesis 15:1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
God has just promised Abram that he would be a biological father to a son, who would be his heir. Abram believed the Lord and what he said. We too should believe the promises that the Lord has given to us!
Genesis 15:7 He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds. 11 Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. 15 But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Your offspring will be foreigners in a land, that is Egypt. They will be enslaved and oppressed, which happened in the book of Exodus. Though he will judge that nation with the 12 plagues. Notice he also mentioned the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. The Amorites as a whole were not followers of God. Perhaps there were a few there who did, and God wanted to delay the destruction of the Amorites until there were no Godly left? We do not know, of course, just a thought.
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River: 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim,21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
And the Lord kept his promise to Abram.
Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. 45 None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.
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