GENESIS
CHAPTER 15
Abram desires offspring—The Lord promises him seed in number as the stars—He believes the promise—His seed shall be strangers in Egypt—Then, after four generations, they shall inherit Canaan.
1 AFTER these things [ The events of Gen 14. A rabbinic commentary notes that "the word of the Lord came to Abraham after he had returned all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah." 3 In other words, says a modern rabbi, Abraham qualified for his special relationship with God because of his exemplary relationship with his fellow beings.4 ] the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, [ Jewish sources further point out that, ironically, God's instruction to Abraham to "fear not" is addressed "only to a person who truly fears God," showing that "only one who truly fears God can be without fear of man. ] Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. [ I am the one who promised you all of these things - including the numerous posterity promise. So Abram might be a little perplexed here, God has promised him that he would be his shield; or his protector in battle which he has done. However the question of posterity is still un-resolved. "Your reward shall be very great" means "Because you spurned the reward of mortal man a great reward is in store for you from Me." Coming as it does immediately following Abraham's reception of the Melchizedek priesthood and temple ordinances, the timing of the Lord's statement that He would be Abraham's shield and reward appears particularly significant for Latter-day Saints.
President Boyd K. Packer has explained, "Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection."(Packer, The Holy Temple, 265) In addition, Abraham was about to be taught firsthand precisely how the Lord could act as his protection and shield. In latter-day revelation, when the Lord gave the same counsel to Abraham's latter-day seed, "Fear not" —repeated three times! (D&C 6:33-34, 36)-the Lord indicated why they need not fear: "Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet" (D&C 6:37). Abraham is about to see a vision the great event that would inflict those wounds and win victory for the Son of God.
The dialogue recorded here between God and Abraham is a mere abridgement. Joseph Smith Translation, restores part of what happened which adds that after God promised to be a shield, He said, "And according to the blessings of my servant, I will give unto thee" (JST Gen. 15:2). (Just two verses previously, the JST had spoken of "the blessing wherewith Melchizedek had blessed him." JST, Genesis 14:40.) In context the servant must be Melchizedek, who had just blessed Abraham. Similarly, the Combat of Adam expressly names Melchizedek in its more detailed account of what God now told Abraham: "Fear not, great is thy reward with Me; and in like manner as Melchizedek My high priest blessed thee, and made thee partaker with himself of Holy Mysteries, so will I make thee partaker with him of heavenly grace." (Combat of Adam and Eve with Satan 4:1, in Malan, Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, 180 (spelling "Melchizedek" for the original "Melchizedec" in Malan's rendering)) While this statement could refer in the long run to the final celestial inheritance that both Abraham and Melchizedek would ultimately attain, in a more immediate sense it might well have been interpreted by Abraham to indicate that he might ascend with Melchizedek to the translated city. ]
2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, [ It would appear that God has told Abraham whatever you really want I will give unto you. Kind of what the Savior told his Nephite apostles. Three choose to be translated. So Abraham is given the same choice. Now what has Abraham been searching for? He has been looking to follow the path of Enoch and Melchedezick. He wants to be translated, to be taken up to the city of Enoch. But it is his choice here; and he chooses to ask for a child. Abraham's response, according to Genesis, was: "Lord GOD, what will [or 'can'(JPST; Alter, Genesis, 63)] thou give me, seeing I go childless (or, I am going to my end childless'(Alter, Genesis, 63)]... Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is [or 'expects to be' (Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 15:3, in Maher, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, 60)] mine heir" (Gen. 15:3). The Midrash insists that Abraham's question to God-"What will Thou give me ...?"— presupposes that God had instructed Abraham to ask for whatever he desired. (Genesis Rabbah 44:8, in Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, 1:366). If the Jewish tradition is correct in telling that Abraham also was offered whatever he desired, it presented him with the opportunity of his lifetime, the chance to attain what he had so long sought—translation to the city of Enoch's Zion. Finally it was his just for the asking. But apparently this opportunity touched a deep chord. Something else, associated with the future of Zion below, was paramount in his thoughts. For despite the great blessings of "riches, and honor, and lands for an everlasting possession" that Abraham had been promised (JST Gen. 14:40), yet one thing weighed so heavily on him that, according to one source, he "wept, and supplicated before the Holy One" (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:181) and asked the Lord what He would give to Abraham.
Above the riches and popularity of the world, and even above Abraham's long quest for the city of Zion, was his desire for fatherhood, his desire for the posterity that would bless the world.
One of the great blessing promised to Abraham is posterity as numbered as the sands of the sea. So was Abraham perhaps simply reminding God that despite all His gifts, the one not yet given was the one long promised, the gift of posterity? Or was Abraham saying something like, "What good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless?" Or, "to what purpose are your gifts, when I continue childless?" Was Abraham wondering if he had misunderstood, thinking perhaps those promises of posterity might have "meant to his family, or to his household, but not to his own son who would come out of himself. How do you think Abraham would have felt as he tried to trust in the Lord; and yet had no posterity? Would he have wondered if this was to happen in another way? Would he have doubted the Lord? How would you react? How do you react today when you read your Patriarchial blessing and do not see how it will ever happen? ] and the steward [ Foreman. ] of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: [ You made us a promise and yet we have no children. The closest I have come to posterity is Eliezer my steward. The one given him by the Pharoah. ] and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. [ Abraham begins to bargin with the Lord that Eliezer vs 2 was born of his house and the Lord could make him the heir; so that the covenants and promises may all be fulfilled. ]
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This [ Eliezer's son. ] shall not be thine heir; [ So to answer you directly Abraham - NO. ] but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. [ Your heir will be the offspring of your own body. Literal seed, blood relation. ]
5 And he [ Jehovah. ] brought him [ Abraham. ] forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, [ Look down on earth from the heavens and tell me the exact number of stars that there are. Abraham is now up in heaven he has been shown the stars before and their positions but now he is seeing them from a completely different perspective he is looking down from heaven upon them. At this time he will also be shown the future of the earth, the rest of history. Years earlier he had seen the early history, beginning with the creation of the world and the events in the Garden of Eden.(Abraham 3-5) Now he was shown the rest of history, from his day forward. (One rabbinic tradition held that on this occasion the Lord "revealed to him (history] until that day," while according to another tradition the Lord "revealed to him the future from that day." Genesis Rabbah 44:22, in Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, 1:376. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, he seems to see all of history from the premortal existence. However, if Abraham had earlier been shown history up to his day-which may be the case, judging from the portion of the book of Abraham that we have then the Apocalypse might be combining the revelations from two different occasions into one. Certainly the Apocalypse seems to restate what Abraham says about seeing the host of premortal spirits.) ] if thou be able to number them: [ If you can count them. The number of stars multiply beyond human capacity to count. ] and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. [ You will have an idea of the size of your posterity. In the JST the Lord adds several verses including the idea that nothing is imporssible for God. JST 15:9-12. ]
6 And he [ Abraham. ] believed in the LORD; and he [ The Lord. ] counted it [ Gave him credit for doing so. Thank you for trusting me. ] to him for righteousness.
7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, [ The homeland of Abraham. ] to give thee this land to inherit it.
8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? [ To which the JST adds "yet he believed God.". So he has not seen it but he trusts God that he will fulfill his promises, while he is not sure how it can happen. So he is asking help thou my unbelief.]
9 And he [ Jehovah. ] said unto him, Take me an heifer [ A female cow that has not given birth. ] of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he [ Abraham. ] took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, [ Slaughtered them and divided them in half. As explained by scholars, what to the modern mind may seem a mysterious ceremony actually was a standard "ritual of covenant-making, which, in a similar form, was well known to many ancient peoples.... When the animals are halved and laid opposite each other, and when the partners to the covenant stride through the lane that has been thus formed, they express thereby a curse upon themselves in the event the covenant is broken," saying, "May the deity chop the covenant-breaker into pieces like these animals!" (Gunkel, Genesis, 180, citing Jeremiah 34:17-20, and discussing similar practices among ancient peoples). ] and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, [ Scavenger birds like vultures, magpies and ravens. Some suggest that the swooping down of birds of prey could be understood as an evil omen. Or are they perhaps evil powers who intend at the last moment to thwart the conclusion of the covenant. In fact, in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the "unclean bird" that swoops down on the carcass is Satan, (Called "Azazel." Apocalypse of Abraham 13:3-14, in Charlesworth, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:695) who attempted to intimidate Abraham. ] Abram drove them away. [ Genesis reports that Abraham drove the birds away, in addition to a literal event, may carry a deeper meaning: he drove them away through repentance (See Miller, Abraham Friend of God, 57, quoting Genesis Rabbah)-that is to say, Abraham's constancy in keeping the commandments meant that, as Jesus would later say, "the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). ]
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; [ At this point Abraham is about 75 years old. and will yet live another 100 years. Interesting the choice of words here "deep sleep" (this is the same thing that happened to Adam when Eve was created (Moses 3:21; Jasher 1:4)) ] and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. [ It was apparently then, as told in Genesis, that "a trance fell upon Abram" and "a thick and dreadful darkness came over him" (NIV Gen. 15:10- 12) (Or "a deep and terrifying darkness" (NRSV Genesis 15:12), or "a deep dark dread" (Speiser, Genesis, 111), or "fright and great darkness" (Fox, Five Books of Moses, 67), or "a great dark dread" (JPST Genesis 15:12; Alter, Genesis, 65), or "a great dark fear" (Wenham, Genesis 1-15, 324)). Here he saw his posterity and the misery that would be brought upon them by the Egyptian's. For an interesting parallel to the experience Abraham had at the beginning of his vision, read Joseph Smith—History 1:14–16. Just as Abraham's forefather Enoch had been shown events in the future, he had pled for mercy for his descendants, and the Lord granted Enoch's request by making a covenant (see Moses 7:48-67, especially 50-52). So it apparently happened now with Abraham as he foresaw the distress of his latter-day posterity and, according to Jewish tradition, petitioned God for their benefit, (Legends Of The Jews, 1:235) whereupon the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. ]
13 And he [ The Lord. A interesting fact in the Abraham's story here is that God himself enters a communal relationship with Abraham. Which have been one of the greatest guarantees to man of contractual security. ] said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, [ Egypt. ] and shall serve them; [ Shall be their slaves. Abram see's his posterity in bondage to the Egyptians before the period when they are lead out by Moses. ] and they [ The Egyptian's ] shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: [ At the end of the 400 year period Egypt will be punished by the Lord for how they treated the children of Israel. ] and afterward shall they [ The children of Israel. ] come out [ Escape from Egypt. ] with great substance. [ Wealth. ]
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers [ Die. ] in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. [ Which is 175 years old See Gen 25:7. So this will not effect you, but your future generations. According to the Joseph Smith translation, the Lord not only mentioned the peaceable nature of Abraham's future passing, but specifically informed Abraham about his future death: "thou shalt die..." (JST Gen. 15:18). Since death is the common lot that will befall most of mankind, why would the Lord bother mentioning this to Abraham? Because the thing that Abraham has sought so hard is to join up with the city of Enoch. it appears that Abraham could have asked for and received this gift, but chose otherwise: he chose to remain on earth to receive fulfillment of the blessing of a posterity that would bless the earth, bless all nations and build Zion. Abraham would remain on the earth to instruct and train his offspring for the great mission that lay ahead of them and their descendants and thereby would taste death, and he now knows what his final fate will be. Not translation but a peaceful death. No sooner did God tell His friend Abraham that he would die, than God also showed him how the Savior would overcome death. As related in the Joseph Smith Translation, Abraham "looked forth and saw the days of the coming of the Son of Man" (JST Gen. 15:12). How is this possible? We need to remember that all things are present to God. So he is not seeing this in vision, he is seeing it happen as it happened. As Abraham viewed these events, he also heard the Savior explain, as recorded in the Joseph Smith Translation, that "the day cometh, that the Son of Man shall live; but how can he live if he be not dead? he must first be quickened" (JST Gen. 15:11). Thus Abraham saw not only the Savior's crucifixion and death but also His Resurrection; and, as had happened with Enoch (Moses 7:47, 56), Abraham "was glad, and his soul found rest, and he believed in the Lord; and the Lord counted it unto him for righteousness" (JST Gen. 15:12). ]
16 But in the fourth generation [ Or after about 400 years in Egypt see vs 13. ] they [ The children of Israel. This Genesis account says nothing of Abraham being in heaven or seeing a vision on this occasion, he is merely told that his posterity will come out of Egypt. ] shall come hither [ To the land of Canaan. ] again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. [ Those who currently reside in the land of Canaan are not yet fully ripe in iniquity; or not wicked enough for the Lord to destroy. In this prophecy about the future captivity of Israel, the Lord gives an important clue to why He later would command the Israelites to utterly destroy any Canaanites living in the land of promise (see Deuteronomy 7:1–2; 20:16–18). Evidently by that time their iniquity had become full and they were therefore ripe for destruction. The term "iniquity ... is not yet full" is explained by John Taylor: There were times when the iniquity of these people was not yet full. In Abraham's day the Lord told that Patriarch that he should go to his fathers in peace, but in the fourth generation his posterity should "come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full:" by the days of Moses they appear to have filled the cup of their iniquity, for he enjoined upon the Israelites, "thou shalt utterly destroy them, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee."... Thus men and nations are adjudged by the Almighty, according to the infinite and eternal laws and principles which exist in the heavens, and with a reference to eternal duration and not according to the finite, erratic and limited ideas of men. (JD 26:36.)]
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. [ Referring to the carcasses in vs 9-10. So he was commanded to put the dead animals on the ground, the larger one's cut in half. Here the burning lamp passes between them. So we will learn later that a pillar of smoke is really the Lord and the children of Israel were instructed to follow it. So in a way this is an answer to the question that Abram posed in verse 8, how shall I know that I am yet to receive the promised blessings of posterity. When we make a covenant, the root comes from beruit meaning to cut. So the Lord is symbolically teaching Abram when he walks through the middle of the animals that have been cut. So God is saying trust me, trust the covenants that I have made with you. ]
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, [ Note how many times the Lord reiterates the covenants that he has made with Abraham. The Lord does not forget but man does. How important is this for us to know that when we think about partaking of the sacrament and going to the temple...If it is important enough for the Lord to keep reminding Abraham then it is importantant enough for us to go ourselves. In the highly abbreviated Genesis version of the story, the covenant concerns merely the promise of the land (Gen. 15:18-
21). But Jewish tradition held that the covenant encompassed more, and that the Lord "promised Abraham to redeem his children"(Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:201 ) and to "deliver them from the kingdoms," (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 15:18, in Maher, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, 61) or, in the words of 4 Ezra, to "never forsake his descendants." (4 Ezra 3:15, in Stone, Fourth Ezra, 59) ] from the river of Egypt [ Which was the Nile river. ] unto the great river, the river Euphrates: