Genesis 15:1-21 – The Promises of God

This sermon is from Genesis chapter 15, verses 1 through 21, and is entitled, The Promises

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

of God. It was delivered to Ekklesia Churches on Sunday, July 26, 2026.

The value of someone's word is directly related to their character. There are dozens of proverbs

and sayings around this idea, phrases like talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.

Even children figure out pretty quickly whether to respond a certain way to the promises that we

make. You can only make an empty threat so many times before it stops carrying any threat of

action at all. And you can only go back on a promise to be present so many times before your

absence becomes expected. It's easy to speak and make promises, but whether those mean anything at

all depend on the integrity of the person making the promise. And that's really what Genesis 15

is about. It's about how we believe the promises of God because of the one standing behind those

promises. Abram has received this promise from God to give him children and to give this land to them,

but so far he possesses neither of those things. Neither the promise of children nor the promise

of land has been fulfilled. And in fact, Abram has traveled over 1,000 miles and is living childless

with his aging wife as a sojourner or a traveler in the land of Canaan. He has much in the way of

possessions. He's wealthy. His household is enormous and consists of many servants and

fighting men and their families. And he's essentially a small nation of people, but

he has not a single biological child in that family. Which means that when he dies,

All that he owns will pass to the most prominent member of his household.

In this case, it's a man named Eliezer.

And he has some questions for God about the fulfillment of these promises.

And I have to say, I'm really grateful that God included these exchanges with Abram in

scripture because he shows us what it looks like to wrestle or struggle with faith.

Abram asks God questions, and he has doubts, and he struggles to remain faithful during trials,

and yet God is faithful through all of it. God is patient with Abram and really with Lot,

and even with these wicked people who are opposed to God in the surrounding lands.

So if there's anything that should start to become clear in Genesis, it's that this is not a story

of man's righteousness. These heroes of the faith, as they're sometimes called,

aren't really very good heroes. And we saw Abram fail in chapter 12, and he's going to fail again

in chapter 16. And through it all, God remains faithful to Abram. So today, we're going to look

at the promises of God that were made to Abram, and by extension, the promises made to us in Christ.

I want us to be captured here by the faithfulness of this God who stands behind and fulfills

his promises.

Because God is perfectly faithful, his promises are perfectly trustworthy.

So let's begin by reading Genesis 15 verses 1 through 6 and talk about how God's promises

Genesis 15:1–6

are greater than and are able to handle our questions.

This is Genesis chapter 15, verses 1 through 6.

Genesis 15:1–6

And a member of my household will be my heir.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him.

This man shall not be your heir.

Your very own son shall be your heir.

And he brought him outside and said,

Look toward the heaven and number the stars if you are able to number them.

Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.

And he believed the Lord.

and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Verse 6, that Abram's faith in God is what gets counted or credited to him by God as righteousness

becomes central to our understanding of faith throughout scripture.

But isn't it interesting that this conversation between God and Abram

springs out of some questions that Abram has.

Remember what came before this?

Abram was at a kind of spiritual high point after the military victory that God has given to him.

He's saved his nephew.

He's remained humble and generous and even been blessed by God through the priest Melchizedek.

But after resettling in Canaan, the dust has died down and some questions have come up.

So far, unspoken questions like, now that I have a reputation as a military power,

will other kings of the area come to challenge me? Or after giving away all the spoils of war,

will I ever see this reward that God has promised? Can you identify with these kind of like unspoken

questions that Abram has? Those questions that come the day after you've done the right thing

and you start to consider the repercussions of doing that. I remember the day after telling my

I was putting in my notice because I was going into full-time ministry.

I had a really good job at the time at a bank with great benefits and great hours and vacation and pay.

And my thought that morning after was, what in the world have I done?

But I was reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 6, that we should seek first the kingdom of God

and that he was able to take care of all of our other concerns.

Look at how God addresses these unspoken questions that Abram obviously had.

I imagine it was a little surprising to Abram to have all these questions rolling around in his head about his safety and provision.

And then God speaks to him in this vision and says,

Fear not, Abram. I am your shield, and your reward shall be very great.

It must have also encouraged Abram because he brings this question to the Lord.

Lord, I have all these people in my household, but I have no child of my own.

He asks, will my head servant, Eliezer, inherit everything?

And I love the way that God responds because keep in mind, God has clearly said that he's

giving Abram children of his own three times now.

So this is not new.

When I have to tell my kids something three times and then they ask me again, I do not

respond kindly the way that God does to Abram here, which shows that God is a better father,

and it shows that I'm still in process. But God reassures Abram here that he will be a father

to his own son with Sarai. And what he does next is important. He gives Abram a visual. He takes

him outside. Look at the stars, he says. Go ahead and count them if you can. That's how many your

offspring will be. Imagine the sight of that sky with no light pollution at that point, just a sea

of brilliant stars that God put in place with a single spoken word. God is not only reassuring

Abram that he will keep his word, he's also showing Abram that he is able to keep his word.

And Abram believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness. So after God answered

spoken and unspoken, Abram decides to simply believe the God behind the promises that are

made to him. And this righteousness that Abram received was not through doing righteous works.

It obviously didn't come through his moral perfection. We've already seen that in the Egypt

episode. It was counted to him or given to him, credited to him by God, just because Abram chose

to believe or trust in God. And really, these verses show us how that faith came to be. It began

with Abram depending on God by coming out into this unknown land that was not his own in the first

place. It continued with Abram desiring God's provision over his own provision when he gave

away all of those riches from his military campaign and he said, no, I'd rather have the wealth that

God is going to give me. And then in this moment with God, as he's looking up at the stars,

he chooses to trust God for what is to come. Based on what he's seen, he trusts God with what he

cannot see. And he puts his faith in God. God is able to handle your questions. And in fact,

he invites us to bring those questions to him. So James chapter one, verse five says,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.

God is not coming after you to punish you because you have questions about him or his promises

or the way that he calls us to in Christ.

So I want us to reject the lie right now that asking questions as a Christian somehow shows

a lack of faith because that is not the case.

There are plenty of religions and cults especially that will discourage you from asking questions

because they know that those questions will begin to unravel the system that they have

built.

But Christianity is not one of those.

Like Abram, we can come to God with reverence and with hope, knowing that he is a good father

who listens and reassures us through his word.

Now, that does not mean that he will answer every question with the answers that we want

to hear.

Notice that he doesn't tell Abram when he will have a son, which is obviously a question

that Abram had and wanted to know.

It was important for Abram to trust God enough to wait on his timing so the answers that

God gives him were enough to allow him to take the next step of faith.

Sometimes I think we try to wield questions like a weapon against God, as if God is somehow

obligated to give us the answers that we want to hear.

You know, I can't understand how God created the heavens and the earth, so I'll just choose

to believe that he didn't.

Or I don't understand why God allowed this bad thing to happen, so I'm just going to

choose to reject him altogether.

These types of questions are different in character.

Because they attempt to bend God to our understanding instead of desiring to know and trust God

through our questions.

2 Timothy 3.17 would say it this way, that this word of God that today we have in Scripture

provides everything that we need to be complete and equipped for every good work.

Notice that it doesn't say to satisfy our curiosity or to allow us to tell the future

or even to see every future consequence of our choices.

It's enough to give us what we need to trust and follow and know God.

Aren't you glad that God isn't just a cosmic librarian, no offense to the librarians among

us, who answers our questions and then sends us on our way?

He's more than that.

He's a father who wants us to know him and trust him and whose promises are the absolute best thing

for us. So let's read the next four verses and let's see how God moves from Abram's questions

into some of Abram's doubts. This is verses 7 through 11. And he said to him, I am the Lord who

brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess. But he said,

Oh Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?

He said to him,

Bring me a heifer three years old, that's a female calf,

a female goat three years old, a ram three years old,

a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

And he brought him all of these, cut them in half,

and laid each half over against the other,

but he did not cut the birds in half.

And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

So Abram has been reassured by God.

And God has answered some of his questions up until this point.

But clearly doubts remain because he asks again,

how am I to know that I shall possess it?

This is not just a question.

This is a doubt.

These doubts have come up about how this will come about.

But again, what does he do with these doubts?

He comes to God with them.

And the first way that God deals with these doubts makes a lot of sense because he reminds

Abram of all that he's accomplished so far.

He says, remember who I am.

Remember what I've already done.

I'm the same one, the same God who brought you out of earth, out of pagan religion.

Look how far you've come.

When we are in doubt about the promises of God for the future, we can be encouraged by remembering what God has already done.

Unlike Abram, God's track record is 100% faithfulness, and it proves his ability and willingness to fulfill his promises.

Now, the second part of these verses, of God's response to Abram, needs a little bit of explanation for the modern reader.

Because to our ears, it's kind of weird, right?

This whole bit about taking these animals and cutting them in half seems bizarre and hard

to understand.

But actually, it's a really good example of God communicating with Abram in a way that

Abram understands.

So in the ancient Mesopotamian area, there was a specific ceremony that would take place

between men who were making an agreement that was particularly binding or serious.

And in this ceremony, they would take a sacrificial animal and they would cut it in half.

And they would separate the halves so that there was a space to walk between the halves

of the animal.

And then they would both walk between these sacrificed halves and they would make their

oath or this binding agreement with one another.

And the meaning of this was partially that there was a cost involved, and it was a cost

paid in blood.

But also it was a kind of declaration, meaning that if either party should break this agreement,

they would also be torn apart like the animal on the ground.

It was a kind of blood oath.

So when God tells Abram to take not one but five animals and prepare for this agreement

or this covenant ceremony, Abram actually knows what's about to take place. It's not a mystery to

him. So far, God has promised these things to Abram. He's given Abram his word, which we already know

is absolute. But now Abram understands that God is about to make a covenant with him

in the most serious terms that Abram could understand. God is about to raise the stakes

here, if that's possible. And if I were Abram, I would actually be nervous because this kind of

agreement generally requires the same kind of faithfulness by both parties. And thus far,

neither humanity nor Abram has proven perfectly faithful. But Abram, to his credit, completes the

preparations, and then he waits. And these birds of prey, these animals come down to try to eat

what looks like roadkill to them, but Abram drives them off and he waits. Because sometimes all we

can do with our doubts is to wait on God, to wait and see what he will do, to wait and remember

what he has done in the past, to wait and have faith that God will continue to be faithful.

So let's read verses 12 through 16 and see what happens as the evening or the end of the day starts to approach.

This is verses 12 through 16.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

Then the Lord said to Abram,

Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.

and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.

But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve,

and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace.

You shall be buried in a good old age,

and they shall come back here in the fourth generation,

for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

Our first key here that something significant is about to happen is the arrival of this great

darkness. It's so deep that it is terrifying to Abram. This is more than just falling asleep and

taking a nap as the sun begins to go down. This is a vision that Abram is having that is deep and

dark and terrifying. And we don't have to reach back very far in our memory of Genesis to remember

the last time that it was this dark. It was just before God began to create. And then if we move

forward a little bit, Adam falls into a deep sleep in order for God to create Eve. And if we peek

forward into the New Testament, we will see this time that darkness fell prematurely just before

the temple curtain is torn in half. God is about to do something significant here. And while Abram

is in this deep sleep. God is speaking to him. But I can't say what God says here is really a

great comfort, at first glance anyway. Let's look at the bad news first. He says, Abram,

you are going to die before the land is given to your family. And your family will be enslaved for

400 years before they receive the land. And they're going to have to obtain it through a war

with the inhabitants, which are the Amorites. But these trials will not be for no reason.

Not only will God be with them through all of it, but he is working it all together for a purpose.

So Egypt will be judged for thinking that they are superior to God. A bunch of plagues are going

to be involved in that. Israel is going to come out of Egypt with great wealth, and that will

testify to the blessing of God on his people. And then there's the Amorites. Don't miss this little

detail in verse 16. One of the reasons for this 400 years of waiting is not for the sake of Israel.

It's because God is being patient with the wicked current inhabitants of Canaan.

It says the iniquity or the sin of the Amorites is not yet complete, meaning there's still hope for

them to choose to repent. And we don't know a ton about the Amorites, but what we do know is that

their religion becomes completely centered on sex and violence and even horrors like child sacrifice.

And God is patient with them for 400 years before sending Joshua and the army in to pass his

judgment on their wicked culture. This God that we know is exceedingly patient, even with the wicked,

desiring that they should repent instead of face destruction. You know, it's one thing to have

questions and to wrestle with doubts over the promises of God when things are going well,

and even when it seems like things are taking too long, but going through trials are a different

matter. When things get hard, when we experience loss and grief and injustice at the hands of

others, it can be really hard to hold on to the promises of God. But we can be confident that not

only are his promises still true in the midst of trials, but that God is working through those

difficult situations. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know that for those who love God, all things,

work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. God is able to use even

the most painful experience and use it for your good and for his glory. There is a reason that

scripture often uses the image of being refined like gold in the fire as a spiritual kind of

process. The prophets Isaiah and Zechariah and Malachi, and even in the New Testament,

the apostle Peter, talk about how God uses fire or difficulties to refine his people.

I shared earlier about my experience of leaving my bank job for a full-time ministry job many years

ago, but there's more to that story. Several years after that, my time at that particular church came

to a very painful and abrupt end. And I was left with a lot of questions and doubts in the middle

of what was probably the hardest experience of my life so far. And my questions honestly sounded a

lot like, Lord, I sought you first. I was faithful to your word and I was cast out. Are you still

taking care of me? And I remember being reminded in that season of Isaiah 40 verse 8 that says,

Isaiah 40:8

the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever,

which means that was something worth standing on. I could not see it at the time, but God was doing

something. He was refining me. He was inviting me to step out in faith, to really put my feet

where I said my faith was, and to trust his word. And in the midst of that, God was not afraid

of my questions. He didn't always answer every question to my satisfaction, but then I had to

learn to find my satisfaction in knowing and trusting the Lord instead of in getting the

answers that I wanted. Sometimes that meant trusting him and waiting and persevering in the

absence of understanding. But I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that God was faithful

to me and he is faithful today. And as we read the last few verses of our passage today,

something unexpected happens. See if you can pick out what it is. This is verse 17 through 21.

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch

passed through between these pieces.

On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

and the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites

and the Raphaim and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God is often represented by fire and smoke.

These are things that represent the nature of God being completely holy,

and we'll see it again and again several times throughout the opening books of the Bible.

So the fire and smoke passing down this path between the sacrificial animals is God himself

doing so.

God himself making this agreement, but notice who is not required to make this walk, Abram.

What that means is that this promise, this covenant is not dependent on the faithfulness

of men like Abram.

It's dependent on the faithfulness of God.

What good news that is, right?

Especially to less than faithful people like Abram and like you and like me.

This is a unilateral promise, a one-sided covenant in which God is completely responsible

for upholding his end of the deal.

Abram's descendants are going to inherit this enormous swath of land between these two rivers,

the Nile and the Euphrates.

This land is many times the size of the modern state of Israel, and it was achieved during

the time of King David.

And then within one generation, it began to erode under his son, King Solomon.

So what happened?

God fulfilled his promise to Abram under the reign of King David.

And if the reign of earthly kings was the end of the story, it would be kind of a sad story.

It would be a story of God fulfilling his promises and men walking away from that promise.

If earthly kingdoms and their sinful earthly kings were all we had to look forward to,

it would be a hopeless future indeed.

But we know that that's not the end of the story, don't we?

Even these promises made to Abram were only a partial fulfillment of the promise that God

made to save his people from the greater problem, which was their own sin.

And the final fulfillment of this promise of God was completed by Jesus, the Son of God,

who came and lived the life of perfect faithfulness that we could not.

It was Jesus who finally got to say, it is finished in his final moments on the cross,

where he died for our sin.

And it was Jesus who confirmed that this was true when he rose from the dead, when he proved

his victory over sin and death in the grave. Remember where we started today? We started

talking about how a promise is only as good as the one who stands behind it. Well, in the same way,

God made a covenant promise with Abram. Jesus made a covenant promise that offered salvation to all

who would receive it, and he paid for it completely with his own blood.

Because of his sacrifice, because of his resurrection, I believe the promises of this

Jesus who is the eternal Son of God. I believe him when he says, I am the way and the truth and

the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me. I believe him when he says,

my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness.

And I believe him when he says, surely I am coming soon.

And because I know him and I love him and I trust him, I am able to say, amen.

Come Lord Jesus.

Ekklesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa and in homes

throughout the week.

We are a Bible-centered church focused on preaching from scripture and making disciples

of Jesus.

You can learn more about what we believe and contact a pastor at ekklesiachurches.org.