Musar sobre Génesis 15:8

How very great and holy it is to learn these subjects, as it states in Tractate Megillah,¹⁵Talmud Bavli, Megillah 31b that our forefather Avraham said before the Holy One, blessed is He, “Master of the world, if heaven forbid, Israel will sin before You, will you do to them what You did to the generation of the flood or the generation of the dispersion? (That is, will You bring about a deluge or a scattering upon the entire surface of the earth?) The Holy One, blessed is He answered, “No.” Avraham said before him,¹⁶Genesis 15:8 “Master of the world, how will I know that I will inherit it?” HaShem answered, “Take for me three heifers, three goats and three rams etc.,” (that is, the sacrifices will atone for them). Avraham said, “Master of the world, that is fine as long as the Holy Temple is standing. However, when the Holy Temple is not standing, what will be with them?” HaShem answered, “I already have established the order of the sacrifices for them. As long as they read them, I will consider it as if they offered the sacrifices before Me, and will forgive all their sins.” (What is meant here is that a person should contemplate their meaning and how they are offered. As Rabbeinu Bachaye wrote, we cannot say that what is meant is to simply recite the verses without contemplating their meaning.)

Avraham, who was so beloved to his Maker such that scripture testifies of him "Avraham, My beloved" (Isaiah 41:8). Even so, he did not escape from judgment for slight words which he was not meticulous in, namely, for merely saying "with what will I know?" (Gen. 15:8), G-d replied to him: "by your life, you will know that your descendants will be foreigners [in Egypt]" (Nedarim 32a). And similarly for forging a covenant with Abimelech without being commanded by G-d, the Holy One blessed be He, replied to him: "by your life, I will delay the rejoicing of your sons for seven generations" (Gen. Raba 54:5).

For the Creator, blessed be He, who created the evil inclination also created the Torah as its antidote as our sages of blessed memory have stated: "I have created the evil inclination, and I have created the Torah as its antidote" (Kidushin 30b).