God came to Abram in a dream and said to him: 'Don't be afraid Abram, I am your Shield and I am going to give you big rewards.' Abram replied: 'What will you give me, Lord? I don't have children to inherit from me. All that I have will go to Eliezer of Damascus, because I will die childless. You didn't give me descendants and a slave out of my house will inherit my fortune. The Lord however replied: 'No, Abram, a slave will not be your heir ... you will have a heir from your own seed.'
Then The Lord made Abram go outside and made him look up at the sky. 'Look at the sky and count the stars, Abram. That is how much your descendants is going to be.'
Abram believed God and he was peaceful. And God found it good that Abram believed in Him and was following His words blindly. He then made a bond with Abram: 'I'm The Lord thy God that brought you out of Ur of Chaldees to give you all this land, as far as you can see, as far as you can walk.' Abram then asked The Lord: 'How am I going to know, Lord, that I am going to inherit this land?'
The Lord in return instructed Abram to fetch Him a young heifer, a young she goat, a young ram, a young turtle dove and a young pigeon. Abram did as he was told and brought all the animals to The Lord. Abram then cut them all in halves, except for the birds, and lay the halves down next to each other.
The Lord in return instructed Abram to fetch Him a young heifer, a young she goat, a young ram, a young turtle dove and a young pigeon. Abram did as he was told and brought all the animals to The Lord. Abram then cut them all in halves, except for the birds, and lay the halves down next to each other.
He waited the whole day for The Lord, chasing away the buzzards. When the sun eventually went down, a deep sleep came over Abram. Then The Lord promised Abram: 'Be assured that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land that doesn't belong to them. There they will be slaves and there they will be opressed for 400 years. And I will judge the opressing nation after that time, for making your descendants slaves and your descendants shall have great fortune as a reward.' He then went on to promise Abram great health and a peaceful death, eventually. And, finally, The Lord told Abram that his fourth generation would go back to finally deal with the Amorites.
And when the sun went down again, a smoking oven and a torch suddenly went through the pieces of meat.
And the bond between The Lord and Abram was sealed.
Source: The Bible: Genesis 15
