The LORD is trustworthy — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 15:7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Gen. 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Gen. 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15 describes the “Abrahamic Covenant.” In our last episode, we read about the LORD’s promise to Abram to give him innumerable descendants. Abram was aging and had not yet had one offspring, yet he believed God. God assessed Abram’s trust as righteous. This is an important fact to remember as we read and interpret the rest of chapter 15. A second important thing to remember is that this book is being written for the Israelites who had come out of Egypt.

Genesis 15:7 reads, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” Why is this important? It’s important for the Israelites to understand that the LORD who brought them out of the land of Egypt, had brought their ancestor Abram out of a land of people who did not worship the LORD. If he planned to give the land to Abram and his descendants, then it makes sense that he is now going to give it to them.

These Israelites might wonder, “How can we know for certain that the LORD intends to give it to us?” The response might be something like, “It’s funny you should ask that because Abram had the same question, (See Genesis 15:8) The LORD responded to Abram by establishing a covenant with him, which included some animal sacrifices. Notice the sacrifices were cut in two, and the halves were laid opposite each other. Then, verse 11 offers a strange comment that birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. What is the point of that? Well, these birds are unclean animals because they feast upon the dead. This is perhaps a picture of conflict with the unclean people of the nations dwelling in the land, and as Abram drove away the unclean birds, the Israelites will need to drive away the people that God deems unclean.

After the animals were cut in two and laid out, the LORD caused Abram to fall into a sleep and an ominous state of darkness and dread. The LORD revealed to him more details about his descendants and the land. The LORD told him that his descendants would be oppressed in a foreign land for 400 years, and afterward, the LORD would judge that nation and deliver Abram’s descendants back to the land he was giving them.

Certainly, the Israelites should see God’s providence in bringing all of this about as he had told Abram. It should cause them to trust in the LORD as their ancestor Abram did. They should also notice that God judges sin. He is patient and not looking to bring quick judgment upon the slightest infraction. (See verse 16)

Verses 17-21 reveal the LORD’s enactment of the covenant. Here’s where the story gets interesting. Typically, in a covenant agreement like this, both parties of the covenant walk between the divided parts of the sacrificial animals. The parties mutually agree their part of the agreement will be fulfilled and their failure to do their part should bring a curse upon themselves to be like these animals. Yet in this covenant agreement, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass through alone. The LORD does not require anything of Abram to bring about this covenant. Bible scholars understand that the LORD is making an unconditional covenant with Abram. The LORD accepts full responsibility for providing descendants to Abram and land for them to dwell in.

Scholars like to pose questions about whether God can curse himself. I think the point here is that the LORD is giving Abram and his descendants the strongest possible sign that he can be trusted to fulfill what he says he will do. That’s the lesson I think we can take from this account. While I cannot take this text and read myself into it as a recipient of this specific promise, I can rightly accept that this God has made promises that are to all who trust him. We can be confident that he will fulfill them.