And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Genesis 15:21 closes God's covenant promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land, naming the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites then occupying Canaan within the promised bounds from Egypt to the Euphrates as those to be dispossessed by his descendants. The promise was given when Abraham asked for a sign that he would possess the land and was told to offer a sacrifice, which he prepared and guarded through the day until God gave the token at sunset, and he believed God and was counted righteous. Entry was delayed while Abraham's seed would be pilgrims and strangers for four hundred years in bondage in Egypt, until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and Israel had grown numerous enough to occupy the land, when God would judge the oppressors and bring them out. What was promised drew near at the Exodus and was fulfilled in Israel's victories and in Solomon's time, yet as an everlasting possession it remains to be fulfilled when the faithful, who are Christ's and Abraham's seed by righteousness of faith, inherit the redeemed earth and the world. True faith does its part as Abraham drove away the fowls and then waits for God's time in the dark, for the horror of darkness that followed the promise was no sign of forfeited favor since God was in the darkness and repeated the promise there.
Covenant Setting and Peoples
Genesis 15:21 stands at the close of God's covenant promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land, within the call of Abram and his sojourn and trials of faith recorded in Genesis 12-26 and Genesis 15-17, set within the 375-year span from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872. It belongs to the account of God's providential dealings with the family of Abraham as chosen progenitor of the promised Seed, showing God's dealing with the Seed against the enemy's attempts to thwart His plan, and Abraham made a blessing. It belongs also to the account of God revealing to Abraham matters concerning his posterity, the verse itself naming peoples in the land connected with that promise. Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but learned the lesson over and over amid constant and remarkable evidences of overruling providence, pressing whether readers are children of Abraham.
The covenant was made when Abraham asked for a sign that he would actually possess the land and was directed to offer a sacrifice, which he prepared, guarded, and watched through the day until God gave the promised token at sunset. He did his part by killing the sacrifice and dividing the pieces and driving away the fowls that came to devour the sacrifice, then waited until God came when it was dark. In this same making of covenant Abram believed God and was counted righteous.
The verse names the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites among the peoples whose land God promised to Abraham's descendants, then occupying and inhabiting Canaan within the promised boundaries from Egypt to the Euphrates, to be dispossessed by them. They were among the nations they would dispossess, some of them stronger than the Hebrews, the whole summed up as the Amorites. The promise of the land recorded as extending from the Euphrates to Egypt was fulfilled in Solomon's time, and drew near to fulfillment at the Exodus from Egypt.
The covenant illustrates the Hebrew method of making a covenant, ratified through the death of victims. The divided sacrifice was crossed between, so that covenant unfaithfulness was subject to a corresponding fate.
The promise in Genesis 15:13-21 sets out a separate promise to Abraham from the broader promise of inheriting the world, fixing both place and time for earthly Canaan by its boundaries and by making clear the time of its possession in the fourth generation. It shows the close of God's promise that his seed would be pilgrims and wanderers for four hundred years in the promised land as in a strange country and in Egyptian bondage and slavery. They were to return after that period of bondage and possess the land in peace after its enemies had been driven out.
Entry was delayed until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and Israel had grown numerous enough to occupy the land, so that they would be thrust out before Israel. The delay meant Abraham's family must first go down into Egypt, where brief prosperity would be followed by long and terrible oppression, affliction, trials, and sorrow. God would judge the merciless slave-owners and bring Abraham's seed out into the promised land.
The horror of great darkness and the smoking furnace seen by Abraham in vision in the same chapter foreshadowed the iron furnace and bitter servitude of Egypt. At evening he suffered in vision the agonies of the Egyptian bondage.
Promised Land and Fulfillment
The four names close a covenant promise of territory stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates to Abraham's descendants, and that promise drew near to fulfillment at the Exodus from Egypt and was fulfilled in Solomon's time. Israel's victories over those peoples regained a lawful inheritance promised to Israel. Those same victories punished Canaanite idolatry and established the worship of the one true God.
The promise was not fulfilled during Abraham's lifetime, nor was it exhausted by temporary possession by his descendants. As an everlasting possession it will be fulfilled when the faithful receive the redeemed earth after the resurrection. The land named belongs to a promise that includes the world restored to its Eden beauty by the power of God, after Abraham's seed would be pilgrims and wanderers for four hundred years in the promised land as in a strange country and in Egyptian bondage and slavery, with God to judge the merciless slave-owners and bring the seed into the promised land.
The land of Canaan marked out by the lands of the nations named, including the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites, and later possessed by the children of Israel, typifies the earth, the dominion or kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. The promised rest was peaceable possession of that land after its enemies had been driven out, as sworn to Abraham and his descendants. That promised possession is a type of the future rest which the faithful will enjoy when delivered from their enemies and able to serve God without fear.
The promise is fulfilled only by possession of the earth, which is the rest, possession and kingdom yet remaining to the people of God. The promise that Abraham should be heir of the world comes through the righteousness of faith, those who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, and as the meek they shall inherit the earth. That Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15 is one of the covenants included in the everlasting new covenant in Christ, whose associated promise is life, salvation and a kingdom through Jesus Christ.
The passage shows the everlasting covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the fathers, made and confirmed at definite times and places and under definite circumstances, with Scripture reason why they were called pilgrims and strangers in a strange land. Deliverance from Egypt was the only possible opportunity for Israel to enter into and receive its benefits, for deliverance means salvation, redemption and recreation, with Christ the Creator as Deliverer. The covenant established with Israel rested on the then-new historical fact of deliverance from Egypt, though its underlying principles were old. Some features belonged peculiarly to that people and dispensation, not because Israelites were preferred above Jebusites or Ammonites, but because through Israel the Lord was bringing in the promised Seed, the Redeemer, with a special work of education and revelation in the unfolding of the plan of redemption.
Faith Waiting and Hope
The covenant in Genesis 15 shows true faith doing its part and then waiting for God's time. Abraham did his part by killing the sacrifice and dividing the pieces, and he drove away the fowls that came to devour the sacrifice. At evening he suffered in advance the agonies of the Egyptian bondage, and he waited until God came when it was dark. Blessed are those who, having done their part, can wait upon God, laying hold not on appearance but on the Word of God.
Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but learned the lesson over and over. His call and sojourn and trials of faith were attended by constant and remarkable evidences of God's overruling providence. The account stands in Genesis 15-17, set within the 375-year span from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872, and within chapters 12 to 26, which give God's providential dealings with the family of Abraham as the chosen progenitor of the promised Seed. It continues the history of the beginning of things and the story of God's dealing with the Seed against the enemy's attempts to thwart His plan, pressing the question whether readers are children of Abraham.
The list of peoples closes the most blessed and comprehensive promise God ever made. That promise was given to Abraham in communion and was meant to strengthen him for trial. Immediately after the promise a horror of great darkness fell upon him, which was not evidence that he had forfeited God's favor. God was in the darkness with Abraham and repeated the promise in the midst of it, because darkness does not hide from Him but night shines even as day and darkness and light are both alike to Him.
Genesis 15:21 closes God's covenant promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land, naming the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites then occupying Canaan within the promised bounds from Egypt to the Euphrates as those to be dispossessed by his descendants. The promise was given when Abraham asked for a sign that he would possess the land and was told to offer a sacrifice, which he prepared and guarded through the day until God gave the token at sunset, and he believed God and was counted righteous. Entry was delayed while Abraham's seed would be pilgrims and strangers for four hundred years in bondage in Egypt, until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and Israel had grown numerous enough to occupy the land, when God would judge the oppressors and bring them out. What was promised drew near at the Exodus and was fulfilled in Israel's victories and in Solomon's time, yet as an everlasting possession it remains to be fulfilled when the faithful, who are Christ's and Abraham's seed by righteousness of faith, inherit the redeemed earth and the world. True faith does its part as Abraham drove away the fowls and then waits for God's time in the dark, for the horror of darkness that followed the promise was no sign of forfeited favor since God was in the darkness and repeated the promise there.
Covenant Setting and Peoples
Genesis 15:21 stands at the close of God's covenant promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land, within the call of Abram and his sojourn and trials of faith recorded in Genesis 12-26 and Genesis 15-17, set within the 375-year span from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872. It belongs to the account of God's providential dealings with the family of Abraham as chosen progenitor of the promised Seed, showing God's dealing with the Seed against the enemy's attempts to thwart His plan, and Abraham made a blessing. It belongs also to the account of God revealing to Abraham matters concerning his posterity, the verse itself naming peoples in the land connected with that promise. Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but learned the lesson over and over amid constant and remarkable evidences of overruling providence, pressing whether readers are children of Abraham.
The covenant was made when Abraham asked for a sign that he would actually possess the land and was directed to offer a sacrifice, which he prepared, guarded, and watched through the day until God gave the promised token at sunset. He did his part by killing the sacrifice and dividing the pieces and driving away the fowls that came to devour the sacrifice, then waited until God came when it was dark. In this same making of covenant Abram believed God and was counted righteous.
The verse names the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites among the peoples whose land God promised to Abraham's descendants, then occupying and inhabiting Canaan within the promised boundaries from Egypt to the Euphrates, to be dispossessed by them. They were among the nations they would dispossess, some of them stronger than the Hebrews, the whole summed up as the Amorites. The promise of the land recorded as extending from the Euphrates to Egypt was fulfilled in Solomon's time, and drew near to fulfillment at the Exodus from Egypt.
The covenant illustrates the Hebrew method of making a covenant, ratified through the death of victims. The divided sacrifice was crossed between, so that covenant unfaithfulness was subject to a corresponding fate.
The promise in Genesis 15:13-21 sets out a separate promise to Abraham from the broader promise of inheriting the world, fixing both place and time for earthly Canaan by its boundaries and by making clear the time of its possession in the fourth generation. It shows the close of God's promise that his seed would be pilgrims and wanderers for four hundred years in the promised land as in a strange country and in Egyptian bondage and slavery. They were to return after that period of bondage and possess the land in peace after its enemies had been driven out.
Entry was delayed until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and Israel had grown numerous enough to occupy the land, so that they would be thrust out before Israel. The delay meant Abraham's family must first go down into Egypt, where brief prosperity would be followed by long and terrible oppression, affliction, trials, and sorrow. God would judge the merciless slave-owners and bring Abraham's seed out into the promised land.
The horror of great darkness and the smoking furnace seen by Abraham in vision in the same chapter foreshadowed the iron furnace and bitter servitude of Egypt. At evening he suffered in vision the agonies of the Egyptian bondage.
Promised Land and Fulfillment
The four names close a covenant promise of territory stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates to Abraham's descendants, and that promise drew near to fulfillment at the Exodus from Egypt and was fulfilled in Solomon's time. Israel's victories over those peoples regained a lawful inheritance promised to Israel. Those same victories punished Canaanite idolatry and established the worship of the one true God.
The promise was not fulfilled during Abraham's lifetime, nor was it exhausted by temporary possession by his descendants. As an everlasting possession it will be fulfilled when the faithful receive the redeemed earth after the resurrection. The land named belongs to a promise that includes the world restored to its Eden beauty by the power of God, after Abraham's seed would be pilgrims and wanderers for four hundred years in the promised land as in a strange country and in Egyptian bondage and slavery, with God to judge the merciless slave-owners and bring the seed into the promised land.
The land of Canaan marked out by the lands of the nations named, including the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites, and later possessed by the children of Israel, typifies the earth, the dominion or kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. The promised rest was peaceable possession of that land after its enemies had been driven out, as sworn to Abraham and his descendants. That promised possession is a type of the future rest which the faithful will enjoy when delivered from their enemies and able to serve God without fear.
The promise is fulfilled only by possession of the earth, which is the rest, possession and kingdom yet remaining to the people of God. The promise that Abraham should be heir of the world comes through the righteousness of faith, those who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, and as the meek they shall inherit the earth. That Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15 is one of the covenants included in the everlasting new covenant in Christ, whose associated promise is life, salvation and a kingdom through Jesus Christ.
The passage shows the everlasting covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the fathers, made and confirmed at definite times and places and under definite circumstances, with Scripture reason why they were called pilgrims and strangers in a strange land. Deliverance from Egypt was the only possible opportunity for Israel to enter into and receive its benefits, for deliverance means salvation, redemption and recreation, with Christ the Creator as Deliverer. The covenant established with Israel rested on the then-new historical fact of deliverance from Egypt, though its underlying principles were old. Some features belonged peculiarly to that people and dispensation, not because Israelites were preferred above Jebusites or Ammonites, but because through Israel the Lord was bringing in the promised Seed, the Redeemer, with a special work of education and revelation in the unfolding of the plan of redemption.
Faith Waiting and Hope
The covenant in Genesis 15 shows true faith doing its part and then waiting for God's time. Abraham did his part by killing the sacrifice and dividing the pieces, and he drove away the fowls that came to devour the sacrifice. At evening he suffered in advance the agonies of the Egyptian bondage, and he waited until God came when it was dark. Blessed are those who, having done their part, can wait upon God, laying hold not on appearance but on the Word of God.
Abraham did not come at once to fullness of faith but learned the lesson over and over. His call and sojourn and trials of faith were attended by constant and remarkable evidences of God's overruling providence. The account stands in Genesis 15-17, set within the 375-year span from B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872, and within chapters 12 to 26, which give God's providential dealings with the family of Abraham as the chosen progenitor of the promised Seed. It continues the history of the beginning of things and the story of God's dealing with the Seed against the enemy's attempts to thwart His plan, pressing the question whether readers are children of Abraham.
The list of peoples closes the most blessed and comprehensive promise God ever made. That promise was given to Abraham in communion and was meant to strengthen him for trial. Immediately after the promise a horror of great darkness fell upon him, which was not evidence that he had forfeited God's favor. God was in the darkness with Abraham and repeated the promise in the midst of it, because darkness does not hide from Him but night shines even as day and darkness and light are both alike to Him.