Gen 15:7-21 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Gen 15:7-21: 15:7-21 With a solemn ceremony, God made a binding covenant with Abram that guaranteed the fulfillment of God’s promises to him.

Summary for Gen 15:7-21: 15:7-21 ^a With a solemn ceremony, God made a binding covenant with Abram that guaranteed the fulfillment of God’s promises to him.
15:10 ^b Obeying God’s instructions, Abram gathered three herd animals for the ceremony and cut them in half. Cutting the animals symbolized the oath, indicating that the covenant maker staked his own life on his word (Jer 34:18 ^c).
15:11 ^d Vultures are unclean birds of prey that symbolize those who unjustly attack Abraham’s heirs (15:13-14 ^e).
Summary for Gen 15:13-16: 15:13-16 ^f Not even 400 years of bondage could interfere with God’s plan to fulfill the covenant. 15:13 ^g oppressed: The same word is used in Exod 1:11-12 ^h. Egypt, like predatory birds (Gen 15:11 ⁱ), would try to destroy Israel and hinder the covenant’s fulfillment.

• Apparently 400 years is a round number (also Acts 7:6 ^j; cp. Exod 12:40 ^k; Gal 3:17 ^l). Using the chronology in the Hebrew text, the family moved to Egypt around 1876 BC, and the Exodus occurred around 1446 BC (though many scholars date the Exodus later, around 1270 BC; see Exodus Book Introduction, “The Date of the Exodus”).
15:16 ^m The reasons for Israel’s bondage included God’s justice. God would tolerate the sins of the Amorites until they fully deserved judgment.

• do not yet warrant their destruction (literally are not yet full): To give the Promised Land to Israel, the Lord would dispossess the land’s inhabitants in a way that satisfied his justice. The fulfillment of promises to Israel also brought retributive judgment on people of the land (though individuals were saved by faith; see Josh 2:1-15 ⁿ; 6:23-25 ^o; Heb 11:31 ^p; Jas 2:25 ^q). Until then, God would send the family to Egypt where Israel could become a great nation. Seeing all this in advance was terrifying (Gen 15:12 ^r), but it was comforting to know that nothing could interfere with God’s plan.
Summary for Gen 15:17-18: 15:17-18 ^s smoking firepot ... flaming torch: Fire represented the Lord’s cleansing, consuming zeal and unapproachable holiness (cp. Isa 6:3-7 ^t). The holy God made (literally cut) a unilateral covenant with Abram; its promises were absolutely sure because they did not depend on what Abram or his descendants might do.
Summary for Gen 15:18-19: 15:18-19 ^u God specified the boundaries of the Promised Land. His clear message to Abram was that despite prospects of death and suffering (enslavement), he and his descendants would eventually receive the promises, for God had sworn an oath (see Heb 6:13-14 ^v). Nothing can separate God’s people from his love or the fulfillment of his plans (see Rom 8:18-39 ^w; 2 Pet 1:3-4 ^x).