The following will try to come to an informal understand of Genesis 15 by examining the text in a verse-by-verse. The chapter is written in two major sections the promise of the descendents (vv. 1-6) and the concerns the promise of a homeland (vv. 7-22). .
There are two main character in this chapter God and Abram. I believe that the setting of this chapter is in the Promise Land. I believe this because he says that this is the land that the Israelites will get when they are released from bondage. From what I know there is the Promise Land that they receive after several hundred years of waiting. Most of this chapter is about God's covenant with Abram and how it is going to be fulfilled and how it has started to get to the point of fulfillment. Here, God test; the faith of Abram and asks his to perform a sacrifice. .
Verse 1 begins with "After these things- This shows that some time has passed since the last chapter. "These things" could mean what has happened in the previous chapter. Some of the things that happened are Abrams blind faith in God. Even when all else failed he believed in God that he would make things the best and all things are possible because of him. Another is God promised Abram certain things and we see though out the book of Genesis and Exodus that they start to get fulfilled even if it not in his life time they get put into place just like God said they would. The phrase "The word of the Lord came," is common in the prophets. This shows here that Abram has special status with the Lord. Abram gets the word for the Lord in a vision, which also shows his prophetic. It says, "I am your shield" this means that the Lord is going to protect him; that the Lord is Abram's King. You also see this in Psalms 5:12 " You surround them with favor as with a shield" this is saying that when you have God with you he is going to protect you with his powers that you don't have to worry about the small things because God is always on your side if you just reach out to him.