The quote below is from an excellent book that a friend loaned me this week, and the quote below has several nuggets on Genesis which I haven't found anywhere else in the two years in which I've been doing deep study there. I bolded the one sentence which is one of the best summaries of Genesis I've seen.
In other words, these promises assure Abraham that he and his descendants will begin to experience what Gen. 1-2 describes. Humankind was told to be fruitful and multiply; Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Adam was given the garden of Eden to till; Abraham is promised the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey. In Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed the continual presence of God; Abraham and his descendants will enjoy similar blessing and protection. And ultimately, through Abraham and his offspring all the families of the world will find blessing.
The rest of Genesis elaborates these promises, making them richer and more comprehensive. It also shows their gradual but progressive fulfillment. The family of Abraham slowly and with great difficulty increased in number, so that there were seventy who actually went down to Egypt. In the course of their travels in Canaan, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob acquired small portions of the land, such as wells, burial sites, and even a hilltop near Shechem. Throughout the sojourn they experienced God's protection and blessing, when they deserved it and when they did not. For although Genesis shows God's promises being enhanced after acts of faith and obedience (e.g., 13:14-17; 22:16-18), these promises are not nullified by disobedience; instead, their fulfillment is delayed (e.g. ch. 16). Ultimately, the promises rest on God's grace, not human obedience. Human obedience, the text implies, hastens the fulfillment of these promises and increases human happiness, but God never deserts those to whom he has made the promises.
(Wenham, Gordon. "Family in the Pentateuch." Family in the Bible, edited by Hess and Carroll, pg 29)
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