January 22, 2024 | Be God's Light
God's Covenant with Abram
Scripture: Genesis 15(NIV)
1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Devotional
We return to the word covenant that is so prevalent in the Bible. Recall that in the Noahic Covenant, God set a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of His promise to never again wipe out life through a global flood. Now we turn to the Abrahamic Covenant made with the patriarch Abraham.
Covenants in the Old Testament times often took the form known as Suzerain-Vassal treaties. That is, a greater power (the Suzerain) promised to provide and protect, while the lesser power (the vassal) promised to serve and sacrifice. Here in Genesis 15, God is the greater power promising to provide a nation of countless offspring coming from Abram, whose wife Sarai is still childless. As unbelievable as this sounded, verse 6 tells us, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
In the New Testament, the brother of Jesus quoted this passage, saying that because of this Abram “was called God’s friend” (James 2:23). Paul also quoted this verse, saying it proves that we are saved by faith and not works (Romans 4:3). Belief in the face of doubt is powerful.
When a Suzerain treaty was enacted, it was common practice for animals to be sacrificed and laid with their bleeding sides facing each other. Both the lesser party and the greater party would walk through the blood path, with blood splattering up on their garments as a sign that the covenant was unbreakable. If the lesser party tried to walk away from the covenant, he paid for it with his life.
Here, God walks through the blood path as BOTH the lesser party and the greater party (the smoking firepot and the blazing torch) while Abram was in a deep sleep. If Abram or any of his descendants broke the covenant with God by sinning, God Himself would pay for it with His life. Yes, two thousand years later Jesus would fulfill this covenant by shedding his own blood for our sins. Now, two more thousand years after that, you and I are recipients of that covenant. Praise be to God!
Take time to thank God for His covenant promises, that He not only provides and protects, He also serves and sacrifices. Glory be to God.
Poem
Can you count the stars?
Can you count the stars?
Can you imagine the universe?
Can you understand outer space?
Can you comprehend eternity?
Can you count the grains of sand?
Can you change the tides?
Can you rein the ocean?
Can you explore the depths?
Can you count your hairs?
Can you move what is paralyzed?
Can you heal yourself?
Can you add to the number of your days?
I created the universe
I power the ocean
I know you
I AM
