Now, let us read the full account of God’s covenant with Abraham in Gen. 15:7-13, 17-18. As we do, you will note all that is underlined, which I will comment on as we go along:
“Then He (God) said to him (Abraham), I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it. And he (Abraham) said, Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?. So He (God) said to him, bring Me a three-year old heifer, a three-year old female goat, a three-year old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and behold, a horror and great darkness fell upon him.
Then He said to Abram: know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years…
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day, the LORD made a covenant with Abram saying: to your descendants I will give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates”. Emphasis in italics mine.
