Genesis 15:15-17

"But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation shall they come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full. And it came to pass when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces."

"Thou shalt go to thy fathers ..." This cannot apply to the place where Abram was buried, for he was not buried with his fathers, but in the cave of Machpelah. "We find here a clear testimony to belief in an eternal life in the patriarchal age.")[17]

"And in the fourth generation ..." See under Genesis 15:14 for note on this.

"They shall come hither again ..." Hebron, where Abram lived at the time, was in Canaan; and the promise that in subsequent ages Abram's seed would "come hither again" meant that they would come and possess the land of Canaan.

"The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full ..." The word "Amorite" is used here as a "collective term for the pre-Israelite population of Canaan."[18] The justice of God is visible in this, as Francisco noted:

"God would not arbitrarily dispossess one people for another, even to fulfill His purpose. Later, when the Canaanites were conquered, it was because they had lost the right to the land by their own sinfulness. Later, the Jews were expelled for the same reason.[19]"

"Smoking furnace ... flaming torch ..." Such symbolism stands for God Himself; and it should be noted in this vision, that Abram did not pass between the carcasses, because only God would keep the covenant. In no sense whatever did Israel keep it.