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The understanding of this covenantal story is crucial to understand the rest of the biblical story. The standards that are set and the imagery that is revealed points forward in a meaningful way. Here we begin to see a shift. The redemption plan unfolds a little more.
We can read this story starting in Genesis 12.
"Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.
2I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you;
and all the families of the earth
4So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oakc of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.
7Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
Rather than an agreement between nations, this was a covenant sworn to by individuals. A "royal grant" given in perpetuity (no fixed maturity date). Because of Abram's faithfulness in following Yahweh into an unknown future, he is rewarded with land and heirs.
But time passes and Abram's certainty in those promises begin to waiver.
Genesis 15-
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
2But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
- Abraham is wondering where this promised heir is. He wants to take the issue into hand and solve this supposed problem. It has been several years since he was first promised by God and he could not see how this was still even possible without his human intervention.
4Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
7The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
-Yahweh condescends to Abram's humanity by choosing a means of warranty that had currency in Abram's world. God shows up and the Lord of the cosmos makes a covenant with his servant Abram, which he seals with a promise of His own blood.
9And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”
10So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.c 15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
This ritual was commonplace in first century covenant making. The decimated animals were a visual representation of the consequences of what would happen to the party that broke the agreed upon stipulations. As we talked about in a previous posting, the patriarch was a means of protection for the family, clan and tribe. Any agreement they failed to fulfill would bring those under their protection to great harm. Covenants were immensely sacred agreements for all of the parties involved and were never taken lightly. But God reminds Abram, "Do not fear, I am your great reward."
The most astounding thing occurs here though that we might miss if we do not understand it's ancient context and that is the fact that only God walks through the covenantal path (Abram had supernaturally fallen into a deep sleep). God is essentially declaring that He alone would suffer the consequences of our broken covenant upon his body in the form of Christ crucified and his flesh torn apart. God in this moment knows his covenantal partners will fail and still again is providing a way of redemption for failed humanity while personally accepting the payment that will rest upon our Savior many many years later.
Genesis 17-
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty.a Walk before Me and be blameless. 2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
3Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
7I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
Yahweh reaffirms the covenant we've come to know in Genesis 12 and 15 and here God changes their names. The deal is sealed. The lineage will go into exile for 400 years, but God promises to deliver them.
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