God's Promise to Abraham
Count the stars
Two things you can tap
- A verse number shows the Bible’s exact words.
- An underlined word shows what it means.
Story
What happened?
Tap a verse number, like , to read the Bible’s exact words.
Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- The LORD: God. LORD in capital letters stands for God's personal name. Jewish readers traditionally don't say it aloud, out of respect.
- Abram: A man from the city of Ur, now living in the town of Haran. Later God gives him a new name, Abraham (17:5). This story uses "Abram," the name he had at the time.
- Sarai: Abram's wife. She has no children. Later God gives her a new name too, Sarah (17:15).
- Lot: Abram's nephew, the son of Abram's brother who died.
Setting
- First, the town of Haran, far to the north. Then the land of Canaan, the land later called Israel. Abram lives in tents and moves from place to place.
When
- About 4,000 years ago, long before Moses or David.
Before the Story
Abram's family had already moved once. His father Terah took the family from Ur toward Canaan. But they stopped in Haran and settled there. Terah died in Haran (11:31-32).
Sarai could not have children. The Bible says it plainly: "But Sarai was barren; she had no children" (11:30). Barren means unable to have a baby.
Back then, children meant a family's future. A family's land and name passed to its children.
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: Abram and Sarai will have a son, Isaac. But they will wait about 25 years for him (12:4, 21:5).
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. "Leave your country" | 12:1-3 | The LORD calls Abram and makes big promises |
| 2. Seventy-five years old | 12:4-5 | Abram leaves Haran with Sarai and Lot |
| 3. Altars in a new land | 12:6-9 | Abram travels through Canaan and worships |
| 4. "Do not be afraid" | 15:1 | Later, God speaks to Abram in a vision |
| 5. Abram's honest complaint | 15:2-4 | Abram tells God he still has no child |
| 6. Count the stars | 15:5-6 | God shows Abram the sky. Abram believes |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 6"Leave Your Country"
Abram lived in Haran with his family. Abram was not young, and he and Sarai had no children.
Then the LORD spoke to Abram. "Leave your country, your kindred, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you" (12:1). Kindred means relatives.
God did not say where the land was. Abram would have to go without knowing.
Then God made promises. He would make Abram into a great nation. He would bless Abram and make his name great. Abram would be a blessing to others.
God would bless people who blessed Abram and curse people who cursed him. To curse means to call down harm on someone. And then the biggest promise of all: "all the families of the earth will be blessed through you" (12:3).
This was a huge promise to a man with no children. A nation needs children. A family needs children. Abram had none.
Scene 2 of 6Seventy-Five Years Old
"So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him" (12:4). His nephew Lot went with him.
Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. He took everything they owned. He took the people who worked for them. They set out for the land of Canaan.
The Bible doesn't say what Abram felt as he left. But he was leaving his family's town, his relatives, and his father's household. He was going somewhere he had never been.
Scene 3 of 6Altars in a New Land
At last they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram traveled through the land. He came to a big tree called the Oak of Moreh, at a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time.
Then the LORD appeared to Abram. He said, "I will give this land to your offspring" (12:7). Offspring means children and the family that comes after them.
Abram still had no children. Other people already lived in the land. But God kept promising.
So Abram built an altar there to the LORD. An altar is a raised place, often made of stones, where people worship God.
Abram moved on to the hills east of a town called Bethel. He set up his tent there. He built another altar and "called on the name of the LORD" (12:8). That means he prayed and worshiped.
Then Abram kept moving south, toward a dry land called the Negev.
Scene 4 of 6"Do Not Be Afraid"
Time went by, and many things happened. Abram was not always brave. Once, in Egypt, he was afraid for his life. He asked Sarai to say she was his sister, not his wife (12:11-13). He went to war to rescue Lot (14:14-16).
God kept promising. But there was still no baby.
Then the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. A vision is something God shows a person, like a dream while awake.
God said, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward" (15:1).
A shield is what a soldier holds up to stay safe. This is a comparison. God was saying he himself would protect Abram. A reward is a gift given to someone. God was saying he himself was Abram's reward.
Scene 5 of 6Abram's Honest Complaint
Abram did not pretend. He answered God honestly.
"O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" (15:2).
An heir is the person who receives your things after you die. Abram had no son. So a servant named Eliezer would get everything.
Abram said it again. "Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir" (15:3).
One likely reason Abram spoke this way: he was tired of waiting. God had promised a great nation. Abram could not even see one child.
God did not get angry. He answered. "This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir" (15:4). Abram would have a son of his own.
Scene 6 of 6Count the Stars
Then the LORD took Abram outside.
God said, "Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able" (15:5).
Abram could not count them. Nobody can.
Then God told him, "So shall your offspring be" (15:5). Abram's family would be like the stars: too many to count. This is a comparison.
Nothing had changed yet. Abram was still old. Sarai still had no baby. Abram had only God's word.
"Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (15:6).
Credited means counted, like money written into someone's account. This is a comparison. Righteousness means being right with God.
Abram did not earn it. Abram trusted God's promise. So God counted Abram as right with God. The baby had not come. But the promise was sure.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "Leave your country" (12:1) | God asked Abram to leave behind the safety of home and family. He did not tell Abram where he was going. |
| "I will make you into a great nation" (12:2) | God promised a huge family to a man who had no children. The promise depended on God, not on Abram. |
| "All the families of the earth will be blessed through you" (12:3) | God chose one family in order to bless the whole world. The blessing was never meant only for Abram. |
| "Do not be afraid" (15:1) | God told Abram not to be afraid before Abram said a word. Fear is not a sin. God speaks to frightened people. |
| "I am your shield" (15:1) | This is a comparison. God protects Abram. Israel's songs use the same picture: "You, O LORD, are a shield around me" (Psalm 3:3). |
| "O Lord GOD" (15:2) | GOD in capital letters also stands for God's personal name. Abram spoke to God as someone he knew. |
| "Count the stars, if you are able" (15:5) | Abram could not do it. God's promise was bigger than Abram could count. |
| "It was credited to him as righteousness" (15:6) | God counted Abram as right with him because Abram trusted God's promise. Abram did not earn it. |
Back Then
Abram lived in tents. He pitched his tent in one place, then moved on to the next (12:8-9). He did not own the land God promised.
Bethel means "house of God." It was about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Shechem sat in a valley between two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, in the middle of the land. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
The Negev is a dry area in the far south. A caravan road to Egypt ran through it. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
A servant could become the heir. In Abram's time, a man with no son could name a trusted servant to receive everything. Some old writings from that part of the world seem to show this custom.
It was a long wait. By the next chapter, Abram and Sarai have lived in Canaan for ten years. They still have no child (16:3).
Literal Reader Alert
Is it Abram or Abraham? Both. He is Abram in this story. Later God changes his name to Abraham, which sounds like "father of many" in Hebrew (17:5). Sarai becomes Sarah (17:15). It is the same two people.
Was it wrong for Abram to complain? No. Abram told God the truth about how he felt. God answered him with a promise, not a punishment. The Psalms are full of honest prayers like this.
Did Abram stop doubting after this? No. In the very next chapter, Abram and Sarai tried their own plan to get a child, through Sarai's servant Hagar (16:1-4). Abram's trust was real, and it was not perfect. God kept his promise anyway.
What about the Canaanites who lived in the land? The Bible mentions them here without explaining (12:6). God's promise of land was about Abram's offspring, far in the future. Later parts of the Bible, about Israel entering the land, are hard to read. Christians have struggled with those passages for a long time.
Does "count the stars" mean a real number? No. This is a comparison. It means a family too big to count.
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Abram | Unsure | God told him to go but did not say where (12:1) |
| Abram | Afraid, perhaps | God told him, "Do not be afraid" (15:1) |
| Abram | Discouraged | He still had no child, and a servant would get everything (15:2-3) |
| Abram | Trusting | God showed him the stars and promised him a son (15:5-6) |
| Sarai | The Bible doesn't say | She is not described in these verses. Years of having no children were very hard in her time (11:30) |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
Which part of Abram's story feels like yours? Tap one.
Not knowing where I'm going
Abram didn't know either. God went with him, one step at a time. You don't have to know every step ahead of time.
Waiting and waiting
Abram waited years. God did not forget him. Waiting is hard, and you can tell God it's hard.
Scared about the future
God's first words to Abram were "Do not be afraid." God speaks to scared people, not only brave ones.
I don't feel like enough
Abram was old and had no child. He was not enough to make a nation. God was enough.
My faith feels small
Abram's faith wasn't perfect either. God counted him right because of God's promise, not because Abram's faith was big.
You Might Have Heard
"Abram had great faith, so God blessed him. If your faith is strong enough, God will bless you too."
What's true: Abram trusted God. The Bible praises his faith (Hebrews 11:8).
What the story is mainly about: God spoke first. God called, God promised, and God kept promising, even when Abram was afraid and complained. Abram did not make himself right with God. God counted him right. The blessing rested on God's promise, not on how strong Abram's faith felt.
Where Jesus is: Paul quotes this very verse. "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Then he says these words were written "not only for Abraham, but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:23-24).
Good News
Genesis 15:6 is one of the most important verses for Lutherans. It shows how God makes people right with him. We are not made right by being good enough. God counts us right when we trust his promise. Christians call this being justified by faith.
Even the trust is a gift. "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Abram's trust came through God's word, the promise God spoke to him. The Holy Spirit still gives faith through God's word today.
God's promise to Abram and his family, Israel, still stands. Paul, himself Jewish, wrote, "For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). Irrevocable means they can never be taken back.
And through Jesus, people from every nation are welcomed into Abram's family too. "Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7). In the next verse, Paul says the Scripture "foretold the gospel to Abraham" (Galatians 3:8). All the families of the earth are being blessed, as God said. Christians do not replace Israel. We are added to the family.
When you are unsure, afraid, or feel you are not enough, God's promise is enough. God counts you as his own because of Jesus.
Big Idea
God called Abram, promised him more than he could count, and counted his trust as righteousness, a gift God gives through Jesus.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
In his Lectures on Genesis (begun in 1535), Luther spent a long time on Genesis 15:6 (Luther's Works, volume 3). He taught that Abram was counted right with God by faith in God's promise, not by his works.
The Augsburg Confession (1530) is a key statement of Lutheran belief. Luther's co-worker Philip Melanchthon wrote it. Article 4 says people cannot be made right with God by their own strength or good works. God makes them right freely, for Christ's sake, through faith. This happens when they believe their sins are forgiven because of Christ. Then the article echoes Genesis 15:6. It says God counts this faith as righteousness. It points to Romans 3 and 4.
In the Small Catechism, Luther explains the third part of the Apostles' Creed. He says that I cannot believe in Jesus by my own understanding or strength. The Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and kept me in the true faith.
In Church
Many churches follow the Revised Common Lectionary. It reads Genesis 12:1-4a on the Second Sunday in Lent in Year A. That Sunday also has Romans 4, where Paul quotes Genesis 15:6. It reads Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 on the Second Sunday in Lent in Year C. In August of Year C (Lectionary 19), Genesis 15:1-6 is one of two choices for the first reading. It comes with Hebrews 11, which praises Abraham's faith.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
How did that feel?