God's Covenant with Abram

Genesis 12-15

     Abram and Sarai and Abram's nephew Lot went to the Negev part of Canaan and lived there until there was not enough food for their animals. Then they moved to Egypt for a while and finally went back to Canaan.

     Lot went to live near the city of Sodom, and Abram and Sarai went to live in their tents by the big trees of Mamre at Hebron in Canaan. God promised Abram and Sarai and their children all the land they could see.

     One night God said to Abram, "Do not be afraid of anything, Abram. Your reward for obeying me will be great."

     "What good will that do?" Abram asked, "I have no children. All the land you give me will not even belong to my own family."

     "Come outside your tent," God said. Abram walked outside and looked at the sky.

     "Count the stars, if you can." God told him. "The number of the stars is how many children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren you will have."

     Abram believed God and trusted God, even though he was old. Because Abram trusted God, God was pleased with him. The next time God spoke to Abram, God said, "I am God, who brought your family from Ur to give you this land to own."

     But Abram said, "How can I be sure I will own this land?"

     God said, "Kill some animals and cut each of them into two pieces and put the pieces side by side." Abram put the meat out and kept the birds from eating it.

     Just as the sun was going down, God made Abram fall asleep. In his dream, Abram felt afraid, but God said, "Your great-grandchildren and their children's children will live in another land, where they will be slaves for four hundred years. But I will bring them out of that land, and they will be rich. Your great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren will come back here to the land I have shown you."

     The sun had gone down and it was growing dark when Abram saw flames and smoke passing between the pieces of meat he had laid out. Then the Lord made a covenant with Abram. God told Abram, "I will give you all this land for many miles in each direction."