Gen15 describes the Lord's initial covenant with Abram. v1-11 describes the day conversation filled with guarantees of direct heirs, promised lands, and unseen heirs uncountable. The first half of v12 sets the scene for the night conversation as the sun descends. Then second half of v12 hits you in the eyes with a surprise:
"and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon [Abram]."
From there, Lord paints a picture of four hundred years of slavery. One of those "not to be a downer" conversations. We remember the rosy covenant, but leave out the vision of longsuffering that accompanies that promise. Either it's because we choose not to focus on the gloom, eternal optimism and all, or we are not good at facing reality. But interesting to see that visions from God aren't always scenes of picaresque beauty. Sometimes that image of the glimmering streets of gold are preceded by paths of stone, narrow paths of faith hard-won.
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