Genesis 15:1
1 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.
Did Abram seem afraid?
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Genesis 15:2
2 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?
Is Abram dying that he is thinking of a child?
Does it sound like he is thinking of an heir?
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Genesis 15:3
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
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Genesis 15:4
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.
How do you think the word of the LORD came to him?
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Genesis 15:5
5 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.
Do you think the stars were easier to see back then?
Do you think there were more stars than there are today?
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Genesis 15:6
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
What does it mean to believe in the LORD?
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Genesis 15:7
7 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.
Does Abram ever get the land?
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Genesis 15:8
8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
What does it mean to believe in the LORD?
Does Abram believe?
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Genesis 15:9
9 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.
If Abram believed, do you think God would be having him use his cattle this way?
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Genesis 15:10
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.
Why do you think the birds weren't divided?
What happens when the animals are divided?
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Genesis 15:11
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
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Genesis 15:12
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Why do you think there was "an horror of great darkness"?
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Genesis 15:13
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;
Why do you think God has Abrams seed serving strangers for four hundred years?
Was it because of something Abram did?
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Genesis 15:14
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
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Genesis 15:15
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
When God says a "good old age", what do you think might be going through Abrams mind?
Do you think he might be alive to see his descendants leaving Egypt?
Shem lived a long time and saw several of his great grandchildren die.
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Genesis 15:16
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
What does it mean, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full"?
What is full iniquity?
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Genesis 15:17
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.
What was the "smoking furnace and burning lamp"?
Is God trying to put emphesis on the fact that it was dark and the sun went down?
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Genesis 15:18
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:
Does the river of Egypt have a name?
Why does it say in the same day, when it is dark?
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Genesis 15:19
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
Is it significant that all these start with a "K"?
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Genesis 15:20
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
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Genesis 15:21
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Are all these descendants of Canaan?
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