Genesis 15:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.”

NIV: He also said to him, 'I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.'

NASB: And He said to him, 'I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.'

CSB: He also said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

NLT: Then the Lord told him, 'I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.'

KJV: And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

NKJV: Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

This verse continues the coming of the word of the Lord to Abram in a vision. Previously, Abram has questioned God about not yet having a son, yet continued to believe God's renewed promise to give him an uncountable number of descendants. Prior verses have shown that God's promise is that of a literal, natural, biological son (Genesis 15:4). The Hebrew terms used also make it clear that the faith expressed in this encounter is not new—this is a continuation of the faith Abram has already placed in God (Genesis 15:6).

Now the Lord returns to His other great promise to Abram, to give Abram—and his descendants—the land of Canaan as their own possession. As the Lord puts it, He brought Abram out of his old life, his former home, for this very purpose (Genesis 12:1–3). As we'll see in the next verse, Abram would like reassurance about this seemingly impossible promise, as well.

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 5/4/2024 4:11:20 PM