QT 8/29/2025 Gen 15:12-21, A glimpse into Israel's future

Genesis 15:12–21 (ESV) —

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 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 four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 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, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

 

NOTE: A number of pieces of information are given in this passage. One, Abram's descendants will be slaves in a land that is not theirs (that will be Egypt). They will stay there 400 years, the time allotted by God to give the current inhabitants of their future land to repent. They will leave the land that they lived as slaves with many possessions and riches. God promises the land from the Nile to the Euphrates as theirs. They never did take possession of the land, but it is still theirs by divine right. People may chant "from the river to the sea" but God "SAID" overrides their feeble chants. The ancient covenant ritual means, so be it to me (split down the middle) if I do not fulfill my side of the bargain. Both parties would walk between the halves of animals in the agreement. But Abram sleeps and God passes between the halves. In other words, this is an unconditional covenant. It does not depend on Abram any longer. Because of his faith, God creates an unconditional covenant with Abram regarding the promise of the land.

 

The point is that Israel did not deserve the land. They were nobody special, but God in his grace gives them the land. That is his promise. He can take it away at times, as specified later in the Mosaic covenant, but as long as the land exists, it will be theirs again. Most conservative commentators believe the promise will be completely fulfilled in the millennial kingdom, when the Messiah rules on earth. I believe those days are nearing, of course, so has everyone else who ever believed. And as days pass, it must naturally get closer. Something in my mind, maybe it is just hope, seems to suggest that the 2000 years of church age is coming to a close. I can't prove it, and my scientific arguments are weak (2000 years for pre-Abram, 2000 years of Abram and Mosaic covenant, and 2000 years of the new covenant, with a remaining 1000 years for the millennial kingdom -- seven millennial periods). Whatever the truth, we need to be about the kingdom work!

 

PONDER:

1. What am I doing to further the work of the kingdom?
2. What could I be doing to further the work of the kingdom?

 

PRAYER: Father, give me grace to use my days wisely. Help me to see where you can use me and how I can further your work. Thank you that I can see what most people will unfortunately never see. I see life and peace and hope. Thank you!