Genesis 15:12-21
Ge 15:12
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Then Abram falls into a deep sleep and in a vision he saw
a great darkness. The word “horror”
carries with it the meaning of “terror or dread.”
Abram was about to get an answer from the LORD to his question concerning
how would he know he would inherit the land?
Then spake Solomon, The LORD said
that he would dwell in the thick darkness. (1 Kings 8:12)
Ge 15:13
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Then the LORD proceeds to tell Abram what is going to
happen to his physical descendants in the future.
They will enter the land through Joseph who would bring Jacob and the
rest of the family to Egypt. They
would reside in Goshen and there they would multiply until the time they would
be placed under bondage because Pharaoh feared that Israel would side with the
enemies of Egypt if there was ever an invasion.
They would be there a total of four hundred years.
And God spake on this wise, That
his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into
bondage, and entreat them evil
four hundred years. (Acts 7:6)
They would remain in bondage until the time the LORD would lead them out with a
mighty hand.
Ge 15:14
And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I
judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Then after Israel served its time in Egypt, God would
judge that nation by means of the ten plagues and also never allowing them to
become a world power again. The
people will also leave Egypt with great wealth.
35 And the children of
Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians
jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the LORD
gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto
them such things as they required.
And they spoiled the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36)
Ge 15:15
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be
buried in a good old age.
Abram would not live to see the promise fulfilled as here
he is told that he will go to those godly fathers in the Messianic line like
Noah or Shem who died before him and went to glory.
Abram will have a peaceful transition to Heaven.
He will live to be 175 years old.
And these
are the days of the years of
Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. (Genesis
25:7)
Ge 15:16
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither
again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
In this instance a generation is 100 years and God
further reiterates the fact that they will be in Egypt for 400 years.
The Amorites were the main people in the central hill country of Canaan.
God was allowing them a full measure of their sin before they would be
judged under the hand of Joshua.
Canaanite religion promoted child sacrifice, prostitution, and idolatry along
with all kinds of occultic and sinful practices.
The same principle could be applied to the time we live in.
We ask “how much worse can it get?” Yet the iniquity of the modern world
is not yet full but when it is, then the hammer falls.
Ge 15:17
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it
was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those
pieces.
We are now back at the scene of the sacrifice Abram had
set up. The burning lamp is representative of the divine presence of God.
The furnace or firepot was a portable stove for cooking and for light.
Notice that these things happened without the aid of Abram.
The furnace and the lamp passed through the pieces of the sacrifice which
means God was making a covenant with Abram.
Since Abram could not have partaken in this ceremony, it was God telling
him that he alone would perform the covenant and the covenant in view was the
covenant of grace whereby people would become saved.
They normally performed a covenant by both parties standing at opposite
ends and they would walk around the sacrifice stating that if any of them broke
the covenant, then they would be cut in pieces like the sacrifice.
Each would make a solemn promise that they would not break the covenant.
The Son of God himself would die and that would seal the covenant
forever.
Ge 15:18
In the same day the LORD 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:
Then God gives the details of the irreversible covenant
with Abram. Then God points out the
fact that he is giving the land to Abram’s descendants.
The land would stretch from the Nile river in its delta which is the
great river of Egypt unto the Euphrates River.
The Nile would be the south boundary and the Euphrates would be the
northern boundary.
Ge 15:19
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
The Kenites are thought to be the Midianites which were
south and west of Canaan and had mixed with the Amalekites.
The Kenizzites are believed to be the Idumeans and the Kadmonites are
believed to be the eastern people otherwise called Hivites.
Ge 15:20
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
The Hittites had occupied the area west of the lake of
Tiberius to the Mediterranean. The
Perrizzites lived in unwalled towns and were living in various parts of Canaan
and were considered an uncivilized people.
The Rephaims were the giants in the land and lived east of the Jordan
River and considered a powerful race.
Ge 15:21
And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the
Girgashites, and the Jebusites.