The Beginning:
God calls Abram to leave his homeland and go to a land God will show him, promising to make him into a great nation and to bless all families of the earth through him (Genesis 12). Abram obeys and travels into Canaan, yet he and Sarai remain without children, creating tension between the promise and their circumstances.
The Middle:
God reassures Abram that his own offspring will be his heir and invites him to look at the stars as a sign of countless descendants; Abram believes God, and this faith is credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:1–6). God then formalizes the promise with a covenant ceremony in which animals are divided and, symbolically, God alone passes between the pieces as a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,” pledging the land to Abram’s descendants (Genesis 15:7–21). Later, God renews and expands the covenant, changing Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah, promising that kings and nations will come from them (Genesis 17:1–8).
The End:
As the covenant’s visible sign, God commands circumcision for Abraham’s household and future descendants, marking them as the covenant people (Genesis 17:9–14). The story concludes with Abraham receiving the covenant’s terms and sign in the present, while waiting for God’s promised fulfillment in the future.
This covenant highlights God’s initiative, faithfulness, and long-term purpose to bless the nations through one chosen family. The narrative emphasizes that God’s promise is grounded in God’s commitment rather than human capability: Abraham’s role is responsive trust and obedience. The covenant binds together promise (offspring, land, blessing) and relationship (God’s pledge to be their God), setting a foundation for later biblical themes of covenant identity and salvation history.
Covenant-making in the ancient Near East often used formal rituals and visible signs to establish binding commitments. Genesis 15 reflects this world: dividing animals and passing between the pieces functioned as a solemn pledge, communicating the seriousness and permanence of the covenant relationship in a way ancient audiences would recognize.
“And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6
Answer the questions below. When you choose an option, you will see the result and an explanation.
1. What visible sign did God command for Abraham’s household and future descendants as part of the covenant?
2. In the covenant ceremony, what symbolically passed between the divided animal pieces?