Genesis 15:13-21

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Events That Must Occur Before God Gives the Land to Abraham's Offspring

• God tells Abraham that his offspring will spend 400 years in Egypt, before he gives them the land of Canaan. This is because some of the inhabitants of the land aren't yet wicked enough to be destroyed!

Details

• Abraham's offspring will be in Egypt for 400 years, and will be slaves.

• God will punish Egypt; and Abraham's offspring will leave there with great wealth.

• They will return to Canaan, and God will give the land to them.

• But they must wait for 400 years, because the people of the land aren't yet wicked enough to deserve being destroyed.

Scripture

Genesis 15:13-21

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Gen 15:13 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. Gen 15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,	A warning that they'll go to Egypt (though the name "Egypt" is not mentioned).
Gen 15:15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.	Abraham was 175 years old when he died.
Gen 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."	Note God's grace: Judgment is withheld until the people are so wicked that it is no longer possible to hold it back. There would be 400 more years of increasing wickedness, before they reached the "point of no return." God's Grace Expressed in Judgment Canaanites and Related Groups
Gen 15:17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Gen 15:18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, ...	This fire was God passing between the pieces of the sacrifice (see previous verses). It signified that God was binding himself to the promise. This was a "unilateral" (one-sided) promise, because Abraham did not participate! Abraham would have to do nothing in order for God to keep his promise.
... "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: Gen 15:19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, Gen 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, Gen 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."	The extent of the land is given here. Land Given to Abraham Ten peoples are included in this list. This total number of "ten" seems to symbolize "completeness," and is characteristic of several of the lists in Genesis.

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.