My Bible Blog: Genesis 15

In this chapter, Abram had a vision in which God told him to fear not, that he would receive a great reward. Abram questioned God about the fact that he was still childless, and God assured him he would have his own biological child who would be his heir, that his descendants would be like the stars, innumerable. Abram believed Him, but then turned around and questioned Him, asking for a sign. 

A deep sleep fell onto Abram in a horror of great darkness. The Lord told him with surety his seed would be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. They would be servants afflicted for four-hundred years, but the nation in which they serve would be judged by God. Afterward, his descendants would come out with great substance, Abram would live to a very old age, and in the fourth generation, his descendants would come again to the land God promised Abram. This prophecy was about the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt for four-hundred years until Moses led them to the promised land.

During those four-hundred years, the Amorite (meaning all the Canaanite tribes) would continue in their iniquity in that promised land until the Israelites returned to destroy them. God made a covenant with Abram that unto his seed He designated for them the land from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates, (though other tribes will occupy it until it is returned to God’ chosen people).

Before Abram had any children, God continued to promise him that his descendants would be many, but years would go by before God finally gave him a child. It can be difficult to keep the faith when it sometimes takes years for our prayers to be answered, but we are told to pray without ceasing and to rely on God’s timing, not our own. I know in my own life, in more than one situation, it did take years for my prayers to be answered, but answered they were! Even though Abram was impatient like the rest of us, he believed God, and boy did God deliver! So, don’t give up on your prayers. Remember that God has a plan, and like Abram, we are told to fear not, there is a great reward waiting for us.