OT Lesson 9 Study Notes: Abraham 1; Genesis 15-17, 21-22

Because there is so much material to cover I’m going to abbreviate some of what I do. I’ll feel guilty about skipping over Abraham 1 and try to get it into these notes the next time around. I’ll deal with Genesis 15-17 and 21 relatively briefly and then concentrate on Genesis 22. As you can well imagine, the scholarly literature on Genesis 22 is enormous, thousands and thousands of pages. I don’t pretend even to have dipped into that literature. At the most I’ve wetted the tip of my finger, so I cannot pretend to do justice to the chapters assigned.

Genesis 15

Synopsis:
The chapter begins with Abram’s complaint to the Lord: You’ve not provided me with an heir, so my servant will inherit my estate. The Lord responds with a promise that Abram will have an heir and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. The Lord promises Abram that he will inherit Canaan, and Abram asks how he will know that he will. In response the Lord makes a covenant with him: Abram is to offer unique animal sacrifices (they are not put on an altar and burned) and the Lord appears to him in a vision, promising that his descendants will inherit Canaan, though they will spend time in exile in Egypt. After the vision a pot filled with fire appears, passing between the pieces of the offerings, and the Lord covenants that Abram’s descendants will inherit Canaan.

Notes:
The victories of chapter 14 are not what Abram wants. When the Lord promises to be his shield and to reward him (presumably in battle), Abram responds that no reward can compensate for the fact that he has no heir.