Covenant with Abraham

[davesg]

Here is something else to chew on.


Genesis 15:1-18
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”
2 Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”
4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”
5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7 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.”
8 He said, “O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”
9 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.”
10 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.
11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 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.
14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
15 “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
16 “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17 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.
18 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:

8574 { tan-noor’}

from 5216; TWOT - 2526; n m

AV - oven 11, furnace 4; 15

GK - 9486 { rWNT'
1) furnace, oven, fire-pot, (portable) stove
1a) for cooking
1b) of God’s wrath, His furnace (fig)
1c) of hunger, desire for evil
1d) fire-pot

784 { aysh}

a primitive word; TWOT - 172; n f

AV - fire 373, burning 1, fiery 1, untranslated variant 1, fire + 800 1, flaming 1, hot 1; 379

GK - 836 { vae
1) fire
1a) fire, flames
1b) supernatural fire (accompanying theophany)
1c) fire (for cooking, roasting, parching)
1d) altar-fire
1e) God’s anger (fig.)

I find it interesting that two objects went through the split animals. Why do both objects have in their descriptions word definitions that point towards God's wrath, and God's anger?

We know that the two objects, the smoking oven, and the flaming torch represent God. But why were there two objects, would not one object have had the same effect of God walking between the split animals to cut a covenant? Maybe the two objects were both theophanies? Maybe the smoking oven represented God the Father and the flaming torch might represent the Holy Spirit. A blood covenant is a two-sided agreement that has consequences if not honored. From God's side, if Abram failed to honor his part of this covenant, he would earn God's wrath and anger. But Abram did not walk through the "walk into death", so who would be held responsible to God for this covenant? God promised Abram that he would be a father of many nations, not just the Jews.

1471 { go’-ee}

apparently from the same root as 1465; TWOT - 326e

AV - nation 374, heathen 143, Gentiles 30, people 11; 558

GK - 1580 { ywGO
} & 1582 { µyIwGO
}*

n m
1) nation, people
1a) nation, people
1a1) usually of non-Hebrew people
1a2) of descendants of Abraham
1a3) of Israel
1b) of swarm of locusts, other animals (fig.)
n pr m
1c) Goyim? = “nations”

Abraham has become the father to all who would believe in the Lord Jesus. Anyone that confesses Him to be Lord is adopted into the family.

Galatians 3:13-14
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.


So we would all be responsible to honor the covenant or suffer the wrath of God for failing to live up to our end of the covenant. Since Abram could not go between the split animals for all mankind, God sent His Son to finish the covental walk at Calvary. In essence the whole of the Trinity walked through the two walls of blood as a gift of friendship for all of humanity. Jesus took upon Himself, God's wrath on the cross, so that we would not have to. But many choose not to accept the sacrifice made for them. They would rather face God's wrath themselves instead of taking up the cross. And they will! No wonder Paul was so concerned about the Corinthian church's attitude toward communion.

1 Corinthians 11:26-32
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

Paul knew that God in His entirety, the complete Trinity of God, made a covenant with Himself, to guarantee that we would have the opportunity to return to fellowship with Him. He knew that to violate this covenant was more than to treat the body of Christ with disrespect, it was to treat the Holy Spirit with dishonor, and it was to reject the gift of the Father.

John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.