Verse1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
This is the first recorded vision in Scripture. After the events of the war recorded in the previous chapter, God communicated to Abram the promise of His presence and used a military term to describe that presence. God would be a shield which was held in front of a soldier for protection and which always separated the holder of the shield from the enemy. He would also be His financial provider. Abram would not need the spoils of war.
The above verse contains the first use in Scripture by God of His title or name, I AM. This will be seen very prominently in the book of Exodus when God is talking to Moses at the burning bush.
Verses 2-3 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
In Abram’s earthly logic, God had promised him to be the father of a great nation, and yet he did not have any children through which this promise could be realized. He thought he would have to leave all that God had given to him to the manager of his affairs.
Verse 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
God answered Abram’s question by once again giving Him the promise of an heir. The Hebrew word translated as “bowels” is “meah”, pronounced may aw. The first use of this word in Scripture is in the verse above. It means the inward parts or internal organs in the abdomen. It does not refer exclusively to the intestines. So it includes the reproductive organs, which is what is meant in the verse above. It can also be used to describe the place of emotions. In Genesis 43:30 the word “bowels” is used to describe Joseph’s emotions towards his brother. “And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.”
Verses 5-6 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
In Genesis 13 God promised Abram seed that was compared to the dust of the Earth that could not be numbered. Here Abram is once again promised descendants, but here they are described as being more numerous than the stars because God was using this visual picture that Abram was seeing as he looked upward to the sky to assure Abram that he would have an heir and many descendants. Abram believed. God saw Abram as righteous or in right standing with Him. James 2:23 states, “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”
Application: By comparing Abram’s descendants to dust and to stars, God was using metaphor to show that the number of descendants could not be counted. Because God is not bound by time, He can see the past, present, and future all at the same time, and He knew that the first Covenant recorded in the Old Testament would need to be replaced and He had already planned for the New Covenant of the New Testament. So Abram’s earthly descendants under the Old Covenant were compared to dust which cannot be counted, and Abram’s spiritual descendants (believers in Jesus Christ) under the New Covenant were compared to heavenly stars that also cannot be counted. Why are believers in Jesus Christ related to Abram? “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:7,9, and 29 It is not race that counts, but faith in the LORD.
Verses 7-8 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
God was revealing Himself a little more to Abram by the use of the Hebrew word “Adonay” which means LORD. Yahovah is the Hebrew word for LORD that has been used throughout Scripture, but Adonay also means LORD. There is an emphasis on who God is.
Abram was not testing God or doubting Him when he asked the question in verse 8. He was asking for more information about this coming son that had been promised.
Verses 9-12 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
The animals sacrificed above foreshadowed the temple sacrificial system that came into being with Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel. Notice the ages of these animals had to be three years old, three being the number of perfection in Scripture.
The Hebrew word translated as “fowls” is “ayit” and the reference is to birds of prey, not to chickens or other types of birds. Since these birds eat meat, in the natural world dead animals laying in the sun during the heat of the day would attract these types of birds. But in the spiritual world, fowls can refer to evil spirits or devils. Regardless, Abram stood guard over the animals and kept their bodies safe from the birds.
The “deep sleep that fell upon Abram” can also be translated as a trance. The Hebrew word for “horror” is “eymah” and it means terror, fear or dread. Whatever Abram was seeing in his dream or in his trance was frightening him. Based on the following verses, Abram may have been seeing the Hebrew captivity in Egypt before it occurred. God may have been giving Abram more information about his descendants than he wanted to know!
Verses 13-14 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; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Go to the book of Exodus and see how this prophecy by God came to pass exactly as it was told to Abram. Abram must have wondered at this piece of information as he was wandering about on land that was promised to his descendants and then God told him these descendants would be elsewhere, in a land that was not theirs for four hundred years.
Verse 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
If Abram was horrified or terrorized by seeing the future of his descendants and their captivity, he was assured by the LORD that he would not be a part of this and that he would die of old age and be in peace. God comforted his fears.
Verse 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
God transcends time as we know it. He invented time. He knows what the future holds. Here God was revealing that the descendants of Abram would remain in captivity for four generations so that the Amorites that lived in the land they were to possess would have time to become totally wicked, and then judgement from God would come upon them in the form of the army of the children of Israel. Wow!
Verse 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.
Deuteronomy 4:24 states, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” There are many instances in the Bible of fire coming down from Heaven and here, Abram saw a portable oven and a lamp or torch pass between the bodies of the dead animals. Heat and light were displaying the power of God.
Verses 18-21 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: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
God made a lot of covenants throughout the Bible with different people or nations. Remember that covenants are agreements. Unfortunately, many believers have been taught that the only covenant that remains is the covenant regarding the promised land. This is not true. The first covenant was in Genesis 6:18 when God agreed to save Noah and his family from judgement and death if they would be obedient and come into the ark. Spiritually, this covenant is still in effect today as the believer can be obedient and enter the safety of the ark through the LORD Jesus Christ. He is our ark. The second covenant was between God and all men and with all animals in Genesis 9 in which He promised to never again destroy the whole Earth with flood waters. The third covenant was that He would place a rainbow in the sky for all to see as a visual guarantee of the ‘no more flood’ covenant. These covenants are in place today. The fourth covenant is the one listed above made with Abram. As you go through the Bible, look for the covenants and see if they are still in effect today.