God’s Promise to Abraham
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God's
Contract With Abraham In Old Testament times, personal contracts
between human beings were common and very binding. They were called “covenants.” The Hebrew word for covenant
is karath berith; “to cut a covenant.” The details of an agreement
were worked out. A special ritual then sealed the agreement. Once sealed, the
contract could not be broken. One such contract agreement was a blood
covenant. After working out the details of a contract, the parties involved
would kill an animal. Then they would cut the animal in half and join hands
and walk between the animal pieces. They were declaring by this act that if
either party broke the prearranged contract, they should end up like the
animal. The
two parties walking between the animals sealed the contract. Once that was done, the original
agreement could not be broken or changed. Any other parties tampering with
the original agreement would be completely out of order. Abraham was surely familiar with this
blood covenant. The Terms Clarified Let’s go back to Genesis and plug into a
conversation between God and His chosen patriarch, Abraham. God had already
given Abraham a promise. He promised that Abraham would receive a personal
blessing and that he would become the father of a great nation of people
(Gen. 12:1-3). God also promised
to give Abraham and his family a special land and God said that through
Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God is now going to
seal the deal. God reestablished His identity and promised
once more the land. “And
He said to him, ‘I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to
give you this land to possess it.’ He said, ‘O Lord GOD, how (Hebrew, Bemah; by what?) may I know that I will
possess it” (Gen. 15:7-8; commentary mine). “By what will I know that I will possess it?” Abraham was looking
for some token that would assure him that God would keep His promise. God
then instructed Abraham to gather several animals. “So
He said to him, ‘Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old
female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon’”
(Gen. 15:9). Abraham
was to bring five animals. For a
blood covenant, one was sufficient. Considering the number of animals used,
Abraham must have thought that this was to be a very important contract. God then asked Abraham to cut the
animals in half. “Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in
two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds”
(Gen. 15:10). Abraham did all that God had commanded him to do. Then he waited and waited! He waited
until the sun was going down. He must have waited at least 12 hours. God was
teaching Abraham to be patient!
There was going to be a long delay before the fulfillment of all the
promises to Abraham and he was going to need patience. “The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses,
and Abram drove them away" (Gen. 15:11). Birds symbolize evil in scripture. God was
teaching Abraham that his people (the Jews) were going to have some terrible
experiences before the promises would be fulfilled. Abraham Removed God then did something remarkable. “Now
when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror
and great darkness fell upon him" (Gen. 15:12). God removed Abraham from this whole scene. God
took Abraham out of the picture. While Abraham was asleep, God reaffirmed His promise. He told Abraham that the people who
would come from him (the Jews) would at first be strangers in a land that was
not theirs (Egypt), but eventually they would possess the land that God had
promised him. “God
said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a
land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four
hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and
afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go
to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age’" (Gen.
15:13-15). Though
Abraham would not live to see it, God would fulfill all the details of the
contract. The
Contract Sealed Here is the climax of the scene! The animals
were all set! There was an aisle between the parts. The two parties would
join hands and walk between the sacrifices. But Abraham had been removed. Now
catch this glimpse! "It
came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there
appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these
pieces" (Gen. 15:17). A
smoking firepot was familiar to the people in the east. It was a cooking
utensil. But this smoking
firepot was moving, and out of it came a flaming torch. Later God would use a corresponding
cloud and a pillar of fire to direct His people through the wilderness. “The
LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the
way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel
by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the
pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (Ex. 13:21-22). The smoke and fire was symbolized the presence of God. God alone moved slowly down through the pieces of the animals. Abraham was not invited to follow. God alone sealed this blood covenant with Abraham and his descendants. All the responsibility for making good the agreement fell upon God. This was an unconditional covenant. Abraham had no responsibility in the matter whatsoever. God would fulfill His promise no matter what! So how was Abraham to know that he was going to
possess the land? Because God alone was going to give it to him. If Abraham
were to have a son, then God alone would be responsible. It all depended upon God and God
alone. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite” (Gen. 15:18-21). This truth becomes extremely important as we
investigate the work of one of Abraham’s descendants, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our eternal salvation is
based upon our relationship to Jesus Christ who came into this world through
Abraham’s family. We become beneficiaries of God’s promise to Abraham through
Christ. “And
if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according
to promise” (Gal. 3:29). But our being “in Christ” depends upon God and God alone! Our eternal life and our future
destiny are all of Him! God promised and God alone sealed the deal. |
God made a promise to Abraham, and God
alone sealed the deal. The fulfillment of the agreement is depends upon God
and God alone. |