Episode 269 - "Promises, promises" - Genesis 17:1-8

Gen. 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed the LORD in Genesis 3, we have been anticipating “the seed of the woman” who would crush the head of the serpent and restore things to the way the LORD intended in the beginning. The narrative has led us to Abram and Sarai. The LORD has promised to make Abram a “great nation.” We even read how the LORD initiated a covenant promise as an unconditional promise. This meant that the LORD was taking full responsibility for bringing about the fulfillment of this promise. We also read about how Abram and Sarai did things that risked disqualifying them from bringing the promised seed.

This passage opens with “When Abram was ninety-nine years old . . .” (Gen. 17:1). Stop there and think about this for a minute. The LORD has made this promise to Abram for many years, and now he is ninety-nine, but he still has not had a single child by Sarai. Too late, right? It would seem an impossible thing for a couple so old to have a child.

It’s at this time the LORD speaks to Abram again and says, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between you and me, and may multiply you greatly.” (Gen 17:1b-2) The LORD is telling Abram, first of all, that there is nothing he cannot do. He is “God Almighty.” In light of that, he instructs Abram to trust him by living according to his instructions. He then reaffirms his promise to give Abram innumerable descendants.

Abram is not jaded. He is in awe of the LORD and worships him. The LORD then revealed to him that the LORD was changing his name from Abram, meaning exalted father, to Abraham. The Hebrew term for Abraham is a word play on a word meaning “Father of nations.” The explanation for this change of identity is explained by the LORD telling him, “for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Gen. 17:5) He continues in verse six to unpack that promise even more.

In verse seven, the LORD promised to establish his covenant not just with Abraham but with every generation of his descendants after him as an everlasting covenant. This everlasting covenant promise includes the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession for Abraham’s descendants. One would have to completely ignore history and the news to know that Abraham’s descendants of promise (Israelites) have not yet realized that promise. So, what gives? Has the LORD failed? Has he reneged on his promise?

Let me keep this as simple as I know how. Those within the Christian faith vary in how they interpret the fulfillment of this covenant promise. Personally, I’m going to take this at face value and say that I believe the LORD will ultimately fulfill this promise in a literal way. In other words, I believe the LORD still has a plan for the Jews. Other people who love Jesus as much as I may have a different understanding of how this has been or will be fulfilled. Regardless of where people fall on this spectrum of interpretation, God is Almighty. He is not powerless to fulfill his promises precisely as he intends. He certainly is not constrained or dependent upon any specific human interpretation of his word. He is able and faithful to fulfill his promises, as we will see as we continue this study.

This brings us to the last part of verse eight. The LORD states, “And I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8c). As one continues through the Old Testament books and time passes, one will witness a recurring pattern of the Israelites abandoning the LORD as their God. When they do so, they lose possession of the land. The lesson we should learn from this ourselves is that if we expect to experience promised blessings from the LORD, he must be our God.

Episode 266 "Abrahamic Covenant" - Genesis 15:7-21

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.