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Genesis 15 Bible study: Count the stars
Abram's first recorded words to God are an honest question. God answers with the stars, Abram believes, and it's credited to him as righteousness, years before circumcision and centuries before the law. Then, after a deep sleep falls on Abram, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch pass between the pieces, and the LORD makes a covenant with him.
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“He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Abram's first recorded words to God are a question.”
Is that in Genesis 15, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"I am your shield"
"After these things", after the battle of chapter 14, the LORD says, "Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" (15:1). The word for shield, magen, is the noun behind Melchizedek's blessing in 14:20: "God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand", where "delivered" is miggen (Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs both derive the verb from the noun). Abram had just turned down the goods the king of Sodom offered him (14:21-23). Now God calls himself Abram's reward.
Where it leads to Jesus
Credited to us too
Genesis 15:6leads toRomans 4:23-25
Abram believed, and it was credited to him for righteousness. Paul says it was written "for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification."
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Genesis 15
That was a taste
The rest of Genesis 15 is waiting in Favor
- Believed, and credited
- Only the fire passes between the pieces
- A promise with a long road
- Genesis 15:6 in the New Testament
- Four hundred years later
- 12 questions as you read
- 6 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Genesis 15 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אָמַןamansay a-MAN
In this form, to stand firm, trust, believe (Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hiphil); in other forms, to be firm, sure, reliable, faithful. "He believed in the LORD" (15:6) is the first time the Bible uses this verb. Strong's derives the word "amen" from it. Paul (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6) and James (2:23) both quote this verse.
For your group
Genesis 15 Bible study questions
- 1Abram's first recorded words to God were an honest question about what he didn't have. How honest are you with God about what you're missing?
- 2Abram believed while he was still childless. What promise of God are you being asked to believe before you see it?
- 3God told Abram about four hundred hard years along with the promise. How do you hold on to God's promises when the road is long?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Genesis 15 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read Genesis 15 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Genesis 15 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Start with Genesis 15
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home