Genesis 15:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir."

NIV: And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

NASB: Abram also said, 'Since You have given me no son, one who has been born in my house is my heir.'

CSB: Abram continued, "Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir."

NLT: You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.'

KJV: And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

NKJV: Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

The word of the Lord has come to Abram in a vision, offering reassurance that He would continue to protect Abram and reward Him. Beginning in the previous verse and continuing here, Abram responds with his heartfelt concern: God has given him no children. If Abram died at that very moment, all that he owned would be passed on to one of his servants. Being well over seventy-five years old, this is not an unreasonable fear on Abram's part (Genesis 12:4). So far, Abram has responded in faith to the promises of God. All the same, he cannot help but wonder what they could mean to a man who is aging and childless.

Even in this, Abram manages to express faith in God. Those who ask hard questions of God are, in fact, acting in faith. Abram had not ceased to believe. If so, why speak to God, at all? He is not accusing God or rejecting God. Instead, Abram is taking his questions to the source of his hope and waiting, in faith, for God's answer. That response will come in the following verses.

Genesis 15:1–21 falls between Abram's heroic rescue of Lot in Genesis 14 and his less-than-heroic choice to have a child with his wife's servant in chapter 16. Chapter 15 features Abram's hard questions to the Lord about how the lofty promises of uncountable descendants and possession of the land will be kept. God responds, in part, by formalizing His covenant promises to Abram with an elaborate ritual. He also reveals to Abram details about the difficult circumstances his descendants will face before they come back to take possession of the land ''in the fourth generation.''

Genesis 15 consists entirely of a long encounter between the Lord and Abram. When the ''word of the Lord'' comes to Abram in a vision to bring reassurance of God's support for him, Abram takes the opportunity to press God with questions. Abram asks both about his childlessness and how he can know he will one day possess the land of Canaan. God responds, and Abram believes. God's response includes leading Abram through a covenant ritual involving slaughtered animals, as well as a prophecy about the future of Abram's descendants before the time will come to occupy the Promised Land.

Where Genesis 14 was an action-packed story of war and rescue, Genesis 15 consists of a single conversational encounter between the Lord and Abram. This concludes with the formalizing of God's covenant promises to Abram in a dramatic covenant ritual. Abram respectfully asks the Lord some hard questions about how the seemingly impossible promises might be kept. God responds and Abram believes. In addition, God reveals to Abram a prophecy about the difficult future his descendants will face as servants in another country before returning to take possession of the land of Canaan.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 11/21/2024 5:00:41 PM