Single lesson
God Makes a Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15:1–21
In this lesson, children follow the order of Genesis 15:1–21 as Yahweh speaks to Abram, Abram asks questions, and Yahweh makes a covenant. They will notice God’s promises, Abram’s belief, and the key events that mark this account.
Before you teach
Genesis 15:1–21 begins with Yahweh’s word coming to Abram in a vision. Abram speaks about having no child and asks how he will know about the land. Yahweh answers with words about an heir and many offspring, instructions about animals, a deep sleep and darkness, and a smoking furnace and flaming torch when the covenant is made.
Students will be able to put Genesis 15:1–21 in order and identify God’s promises about offspring and land, Abram’s belief, and the covenant Yahweh made with him.
Welcome: Listen for God’s words and Abram’s questions
4 minTell the group that today they will hear how Yahweh spoke to Abram about fear, offspring, and land, and how the passage ends by saying Yahweh made a covenant with Abram. Ask children to listen for what Abram says, what Yahweh promises, and the order of the events.
Genesis 15:1, Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:7, Genesis 15:18
Read and explain: A promised heir and countless offspring
8 minRead Genesis 15:1–6. Yahweh tells Abram not to be afraid and says, “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Abram says he is childless and thinks a servant in his house will be his heir. Yahweh answers that Abram will have his own heir and offspring like the stars. Abram believed Yahweh.
Genesis 15:1, Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:3, Genesis 15:4, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 15:6
Discuss: Animals prepared, birds of prey, and deep darkness
6 minRead Genesis 15:7–16. Abram asks how he will know he will inherit the land. Yahweh tells him to bring specific animals and birds. Abram divides the animals, but not the birds, and then drives away birds of prey. Later a deep sleep, terror, and great darkness fall on Abram, and Yahweh speaks about his offspring, another land, return, and Abram’s peaceful old age.
Genesis 15:7, Genesis 15:8, Genesis 15:9, Genesis 15:10, Genesis 15:11, Genesis 15:12, Genesis 15:13, Genesis 15:14, Genesis 15:15, Genesis 15:16
Make and respond: Covenant sequence cards
8 minChildren make simple cards for the events in order: Yahweh speaks, Abram asks about a child, stars and offspring, Abram believes, question about the land, animals brought and divided, birds of prey driven away, deep sleep and message, smoking furnace and flaming torch, covenant over the land. As they order the cards, invite them to retell the passage in sequence.
Genesis 15:1, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 15:6, Genesis 15:8, Genesis 15:10, Genesis 15:11, Genesis 15:12, Genesis 15:17, Genesis 15:18
Closing: Review the full order of the covenant account
4 minReview the whole passage together from Genesis 15:7 onward. Mention the animals being divided, the birds not being divided, Abram driving away the birds of prey, the deep sleep and darkness, God’s words about Abram’s offspring, and the smoking furnace and flaming torch passing between the pieces. Finish with Yahweh making a covenant and naming the land for Abram’s offspring.
Genesis 15:7, Genesis 15:9, Genesis 15:10, Genesis 15:11, Genesis 15:12, Genesis 15:13, Genesis 15:17, Genesis 15:18, Genesis 15:19, Genesis 15:20, Genesis 15:21
Questions to explore
What problem does Abram speak about first, and how does Yahweh answer it?
Look at Abram’s words about having no child, then read Yahweh’s answer about an heir from Abram’s own body and offspring like the stars.
Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:3, Genesis 15:4, Genesis 15:5
What did Abram do after the animals were prepared?
Notice the exact actions in the passage: which creatures were divided, which were not divided, and what Abram did when birds of prey came down.
Genesis 15:10, Genesis 15:11
What happened when it was dark, and what did Yahweh say on that day?
Read the verse about the smoking furnace and flaming torch passing between the pieces, then read the verse that says Yahweh made a covenant with Abram.
Genesis 15:17, Genesis 15:18
Make, think or respond
Abram Covenant Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- Plain paper or card
- Pencils or markers
- Scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Write or draw eleven moments from the passage on separate cards: vision, no child, promised heir, stars, believed, question about land, animals divided, birds of prey driven away, deep sleep and message, smoking furnace and flaming torch, covenant made.
- Mix the cards and have children work alone or in pairs to place them in order.
- Read the matching verses so children can check and correct their sequence.
- Invite each child or pair to retell the account in order using the cards and key words from the passage.
This activity helps children follow the order of Genesis 15:1–21 and notice Abram’s questions, belief, and the events that mark Yahweh’s covenant with him.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, reduce the set to five or six cards and use simple drawings with an adult reading the verses aloud.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to add verse numbers to each card and include one short phrase from the passage on each.
An optional closing prayer
If suitable, the leader may pray these words or similar words: Dear God, thank you for speaking to Abram and making your covenant known in this passage. Please help us listen carefully to your word and trust what you say. Amen.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Genesis 15
1 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
4 Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”
5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.”
6 He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.
7 He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds.
11 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
13 He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.
14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;
15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age.
16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.