Genesis 15:12 Commentary and Bible Study

So he waits a long time by which time the day was nearly ended and he is overwhelmed by a great sense of horror. He is terrified and astonished, and amazed. The sun goes down and the carcasses begin to fade in the gloom. What does that say to him? That there is a time of suffering ahead; there is a long period of difficulty ahead for his seed included in this covenant. The people of God in this world will go through many problems. Israel will constantly rebel and be punished and diminished, and a remnant will be enabled to survive by God. Then one day Christ will come, the great seed, and take upon him the punishment of all who will be saved. There will be the new period, the New Testament, with the world against the church, and at last the final judgment . There is a lot of horror in the coming centuries. ‘You must understand this, Abram’, God seems to say to him. ‘How will you know that the promise will be kept, that there will be a nation, a whole nation from you? Well, I am making this solemn covenant with you, but there is going to be difficulty and trouble for God’s people: in the world you will have tribulation.