"The Lord said to Abram,'Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father's house to the land I will show you. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and those who damn you I will curse, and all the clans of the earth through you shall be blessed."
According to Alter, the promises of God "become more and more definite"(n.18, p.66) as Abram ages. The second promise occurring in Chapter 13 adds definition to the first promise of God. The chapter begins with Abram returning to Canaan from Egypt and separating from Lot. Between his separating from Lot and Lot's taking up residence in Sodom, the Lord tells Abram, "Raise your eyes and look out from the place where you are to the north and the south and the east and the west, for all the land you see, to you I will give it and to your seed forever. And I will make your seed like the dust of the earth-could a man count the dust of the earth, so too, your seed might be counted. Rise, walk about the land through its length and its breadth, for to you I will give it"(13:14-17). As Alter points out (n.17,p.57), the language used here includes "a legal formula in the region for conveyance of property."
Chapter Fourteen follows in which Abram defeats Chedarlaomer and his royal confederates, avenging the kings of the plain and rescuing his nephew Lot. The king of Sodom attempts to give Abram the spoils, but Abram rejects the offer. In Chapter Fifteen, the Lord comes to Abram in a vision. Initially, God's promise here is vague: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great"(15:1). Abram questions the Lord:"What can You give me when I am going to my end childless"(15:3). God then proceeds to give definition to his promise: "he who issues from your loins will be your heir"(15:4). He further illustrates by taking Abram outside and asking him to "'Look up to the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them.....So shall be your seed"(15:5).
In this scene, a doubting Abram begins by questioning God. God's visit, statement and demonstration seems to re-awakens Abram's faith. Abram "trusted in the Lord, and He reckoned it to his merit"(15:6). Faith as I understand it is belief that is not dependent on signs. Seeing as the scene suggests Abram harbors doubts, God answers those doubts, and thus restores his "faith." It is interesting to note that unlike the incident with the three visitors, Abram is the only participant/observer in this particular act of divine communion. Unlike the scene to follow, where God employs a wondrous kiln to smoke the agreement he makes with Abram, there is not an element of miracle in this exchange. Abram is dependent on nothing miraculous to turn his doubt to faith. Instead, he simply listens to the lord and looks at his creation. he hears God, witnesses/feels God take him outside and direct his attention to the stars, and sees them as a sign.
Alter believes what follows the promise in that opens Chapter fifteen is a "complementary" story to the promise at the end of the chapter and shouldn't be read as an incident directly and sequentially following the star-promise. The two incidents do complement each other. In the first, God points to the stars and reiterates his promise with flair and drama. Then, according to Alter, in the complementary version follows, God resorts to a more formal and practical type of promise. This promise is "cast more in terms of a legal ritual"(n.6,p.64).
I note a pattern in the promises God offers Abram. First, promises are paired. There is first a vague, sweeping and dramatic statement of the promise and then one that spells out, in legalistic terms, the promise. Thus, in chapter 12, God commands Abram forth but offers little detail as to what lies ahead other than "land." Then, in 13, God's promise is much more formal. God shows Abram the specific land he is to inherit and then requests Abram walk its perimeter, as any new owner would. In this exchange, God comes across as a partner in a real-estate transaction, employing phrases commonly used in land conveyance. Keeping with this pattern, in the first promise in 15, the nature of the promise is vague and God resorts to dramatic gesture to give an idea of the reward. In the second promise offered in the chapter, God commands Abram perform a certain ritual associated with the sealing of pacts.
The other notable aspect of this sequence of promises is the way God often literally directs Abram's seeing. Repeatedly, God tells Abram to either go out and look up. In effect, He directs Abram to expand his horizons. In 13, God directs Abram:"'Raise your eyes and look out from the place where you are"(13:14). In the promise that opens 15, the Lord takes Abram outside (presumably of his tent) and directs Abram's eyes upward, using the stars to symbolize the vast number of Abram's future offspring. In the brazier episode, the narrator includes the reader enjoining us to join Abram, to see his presence, imploring us to "look, a smoking brazer with a flaming torch that passed between those parts"(15:17).
Abram must come to see as God sees. This culminates in the story of Abram agreeing to sacrifice his son; at this crucial juncture, Abram has achieved the vision God intends. Fittingly, he calls the mountain on which this occurs "YHWH-yireh...'On the mount of the Lord there is sight'"(22:14).
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