Genesis 15B (2011) We dn t have t study the Bible fr lng befre we re cnfrnted with teaching n cvenants The Bible makes frequent mentin f cvenants A cvenant is a Bible wrd fr a slemn agreement between tw parties Cvenants came in different frms, but they all bund the parties t each ther fr sme purpse Every wrk f Gd in His creatin is dne n the basis f a cvenant Gd uses cvenantal agreements t reveals Himself and His plans t men Since Gd s wrd is unbreakable, every cvenant Gd makes is permanent and cmpletely trustwrthy And these mments are imprtant mile markers in Gd s plan fr histry, fr they set the terms fr hw men and Gd will relate t ne anther A cvenant is established in very specific ways, using specific rituals t mark entry int the agreement by each party Smetimes Scripture recrds these mments clearly enugh that we can see the cvenant cming int place Other times, the effects f the cvenant can be seen, but the ritual that led t its establishment isn t described in the text We culd use the example f a marriage cvenant A marriage begins thrugh a series f rituals that nte the beginning f the relatinship Smetimes we are present when a marriage begins and we witness the marriage cvenant ritual Other times we meet a married cuple lng after the wedding ceremny tk place 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 2 We knw they are married and therefre we knw there was a marriage ritual perfrmed even thugh we didn t witness it urselves In chapter 15 tday, we find Abram abut t receive a cvenant frm Gd And the cvenant cmes in respnse t Abram s questins frm last week In v.2 Abram asked Gd what he might give Abram since he had n heirs As we learned last week, Abram was asking Gd what gd wuld it be fr him t have the land if he had n ne t inherit it? Abram knew that it was meaningless t acquire smething nly t lse it at the end f his life Gd respnded by assuring Abram that he wuld have many heirs, as many as the stars And Abram accepted Gd s prmise because He believed Gd s wrd And by his faith in Gd s wrd, Gd cunted Abram s faith as righteusness Prving that men are given righteusness by Gd n the basis f faith, nt wrks, and we may fllw in Abram s ftsteps And Abram s cnversatin with Gd cntinues in v.7 Gen. 15:7 And He said t him, I am the LORD wh brught yu ut f Ur f the Chaldeans, t give yu this land t pssess it. Gen. 15:8 He said, O Lrd GOD, hw may I knw that I will pssess it? This encunter began with Gd assuring Abram he wuld be prtected and blessed Abram respnded with his questin abut an heir Gd answered with His prmise fr many descendants Nw Gd reminds Abram that He was the One Wh called Abram frm Ur and gave him this land t pssess it 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 3 And then Abram respnds with anther questin Befre we examine the questin, we need t get inside Abram s head fr a mment What did Abram think when he heard Gd say I brught yu here t pssess this land? Fr example, we already knw that Abram is living as a nmad in the land The writer f Hebrews tells us clearly that Abram and Isaac and Jacb after him lived in tents because they understd Gd s timeline They understd that they wuldn t pssess the land until after their deaths They weren t expecting t receive their inheritance until after they were resurrected and returned t live in the Kingdm f the Messiah Heb. 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, beyed by ging ut t a place which he was t receive fr an inheritance; and he went ut, nt knwing where he was ging. Heb. 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land f prmise, as in a freign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacb, fellw heirs f the same prmise; Heb. 11:10 fr he was lking fr the city which has fundatins, whse architect and builder is Gd. Heb. 11:13 All these died in faith, withut receiving the prmises, but having seen them and having welcmed them frm a distance, and having cnfessed that they were strangers and exiles n the earth. Heb. 11:14 Fr thse wh say such things make it clear that they are seeking a cuntry f their wn. Heb. 11:15 And indeed if they had been thinking f that cuntry frm which they went ut, they wuld have had pprtunity t return. Heb. 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better cuntry, that is, a heavenly ne. Therefre Gd is nt ashamed t be called their Gd; fr He has prepared a city fr them. S Abram knew that the prmise f the land was nt t be fulfilled in his lifetime And that brings us back nw t the cnversatin between Abram and Gd 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 4 Gd says nce again that Abram will have this land t pssess it What des Abram think as he hears these wrds? He knws that the prmise f the land wn t be fulfilled until after his death And he has Gd s assurance that a multitude f descendants will cme after him, and they will inherit the land as well S Abram asks a reasnable and even bvius questin Hw can I knw that I will pssess it? There are tw reasns t ask a questin like that One reasn is t seek prf because yu dubt the prmise Yu ask fr prf because yu dn t trust the persn and the prf will be yur assurance A secnd reasn is t seek cnfirmatin, smething tangible yu can cling t while yu wait fr the fulfillment And when we remember that Abram wasn t expecting t see the prmise fulfilled in his lifetime nr in the lifetime f his descendants, it s reasnable t see him asking fr assurance What he wants is smething he and his descendants can pint back t and remember the cvenant even during the generatins befre it is fulfilled At this pint, Gd hnrs Abram s request by presenting him with a cvenant ritual First, Gd gives Abram instructins n the preparatins fr the ritual Gen. 15:9 S He said t him, Bring Me a three year ld heifer, and a three year ld female gat, and a three year ld ram, and a turtledve, and a yung pigen. Gen. 15:10 Then he brught all these t Him and cut them in tw, and laid each half ppsite the ther; but he did nt cut the birds. Gen. 15:11 The birds f prey came dwn upn the carcasses, and Abram drve them away. Gd affirm His prmises t Abram by means f a cvenant ritual 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 5 T prepare, Gd instructs Abram t bring Him a cllectin f five animals And then Abram was t prepare them by butchering the larger animals int halves and laying them in a rw facing ne anther The tw birds were nt cut but were killed and likely set facing ne anther The halves were prbably nly a ft r s apart based n the traditin fr cvenants We must als imagine that as Abram butchered the animals, it was a bldy affair Sme bld was spilled as the animals were initially killed But even afterward as their carcasses lay n the grund, the bld in the meat wuld have drained further creating pls f bld n the grund This was the pint f the exercise...t create a graphic depictin f death This explains (in part) why there was a delay between when Abram cut the animals and when the rest f the ritual tk place Gd gave time fr the bld t cllect There is a secnd symblic reasn fr the delay which we will address in a minute This als explains why the birds weren t t be cut, since it wuldn t prduce a meaningful amunt f bld These steps were standard practice in establishing a bld cvenant The animal bld was a substitute fr the bld f the thse entering int the cvenant It was a graphic way f demnstrating that shuld either party break the prmises f the cvenant, this is what wuld happen t them The ther party wuld have the right t spill their bld 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 6 In fact, the Hebrew phrase fr entering int a cvenant is literally cutting cvenant Which refers t the cutting f animals as part f the ritual The animals didn t g t waste After the ritual, they were rasted and the meat was shared in a cvenant meal The sharing the meat was significant because as bth parties tk the meat int their bdies, they were united The sacrificed meat was symblic f their wn bdies, and nw that flesh was a part f each man s bdy They became united in the way they bth ate the flesh that had represented their death vw The carcasses lies n the grund s lng that they eventually attract vultures Abram knws that these carcasses are imprtant t Gd s purpses, s he scares the vultures ff This is a curius scene, and it s ur first hint that this ritual cmmunicates mre than simply the terms f the cvenant It is als a picture f hw Gd will wrk thrugh Abram and his descendants in this cvenant Abram is made t wait fr Gd t perfrm the ritual because the wait itself is a picture f hw this cvenant will be fulfilled And the arrival f the vultures t pick apart at the sacrifice is anther picture But at this pint the pictures aren t clear, because the answers are given in the last sectin f the chapter 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 7 Gen. 15:12 Nw when the sun was ging dwn, a deep sleep fell upn Abram; and behld, terrr and great darkness fell upn him. Gen. 15:13 Gd said t Abram, Knw fr certain that yur descendants will be strangers in a land that is nt theirs, where they will be enslaved and ppressed fur hundred years. Gen. 15:14 But I will als judge the natin whm they will serve, and afterward they will cme ut with many pssessins. Gen. 15:15 As fr yu, yu shall g t yur fathers in peace; yu will be buried at a gd ld age. Gen. 15:16 Then in the furth generatin they will return here, fr the iniquity f the Amrite is nt yet cmplete. Mst f the day has passed, and darkness came And in that mment Gd places Abram int a deep sleep The descriptin f sleep here in Hebrew is the same as we saw in Gen 2 when Gd placed Adam int a deep sleep t remve his rib This is a supernatural sleep, nce that renders the persn incapacitated but nt uncnscius We ntice here that Abram still felt the terrr and great darkness frm the Lrd s presence Even Abram, a man wh had been cunted righteus by faith was still sinful S as the hliness f Gd apprached, Abram had the natural reactin...terrr And Gd uses this special frm f sleep because it renders the persn unable t act r respnd yet leaves them able t understand what was happening Adam s sleep allwed him t understand what Gd was ding s that he might understand where wman came frm Here it permits Abram t understand While Abram is in this deep sleep, Gd begins t disclse mre f His plans t Abram cncerning His prmises Gd pens with a surprise annuncement 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 8 Abram s descendants wuld live utside the prmised land Take nte f the way Gd begins His statement Knw fr certain... Gd assures Abram that his descendants will nly settle in the land after having left centuries earlier We cme t understand Abram s real cncern based n what Gd says here Abram seems cncerned fr whether his descendants will remain in a faithful relatinship with Gd r whether they will frfeit the prmises The Jewish cmmentary n this chapter thught that Abram asked fr this assurance because he feared that his descendants wuld sin and anger Gd If s, then Gd might take away the land and Abram wuldn t see it in his resurrectin We dn t knw if this is true, but it makes sme sense Gd s statements here suggest that this entire mment was the result f Abram s insecurity ver Gd s prmises f land fr his descendants S Gd begins by saying, Yes, Abram, they will live utside the land. Yu can be certain f that... It sunds as if Gd is addressing the real questin in Abram s heart And t make matters wrse, Gd ges n t say they will be enslaved and ppressed Gd wisely desn t name the place we knw will be Egypt Fr Israel must take this detur and naming the natin might have stpped the plan frm happening As an aside, the date f 400 years des nt describe the time they were in bndage...they were nly in Egypt 215 years It represents a cunt f years frm the time Isaac is weaned until Israel leaves Egypt 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 9 The years between the arrival f the prmised sn until Israel s receiving f her next cvenant Just as Abram s fears are running wild, Gd cntinues with the gd news Gd will keep His prmises t Abram and bring his descendants ut with many blessings Thugh Abram will nt live t see these things, Gd reminds him When it says yu g t the grave in peace, it means withut experiencing the slavery that is t cme And after fur generatins, the peple will return The fur generatins refer t the generatins that leave and return Exdus 6 tell us that Levi left the land and fur generatins later, his descendant Mses brught them back Nw we can appreciate the earlier delay when Abram ran ff the vultures while waiting fr Gd We can see sme f the symblism f this chapter cming tgether Gd tells Abram that the natin wuld be set utside the land fr hundreds f years And that wuld result in a delay fr the peple ccupying the land Earlier we saw the carcasses lying expsed fr a perid f time while Abram waited fr Gd t return And during that time, unclean animals tried t pick at the animals But Abram stpped them D yu see a beautiful picture emerging here? The cvenant Gd is extending t Abram als applies t Abram s descendants, his children t be called Israel 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 10 And there will be a delay in the Lrd bringing the cvenant int reality fr Israel Just as there was a delay in Gd beginning this ritual And in the time while the delay ccurs, Israel will be picked apart by vultures, s t speak The vultures are a picture f Egypt But Abram was able t keep the vultures frm destrying the cvenant symbls thus allwing the cvenant ritual t g frward Likewise, Abram is the key t Israel returning t the land Specifically, Gd s prmises t Abram are the means t Israel being rescued frm Egypt We culd say that Abram kept the vultures f Egypt frm destrying Israel Abram s cvenant saved Israel Curiusly, Gd says the delay is made necessary because the sin f the Amrites isn t cmplete Literally, Gd is telling Abram that the Canaanite peple in the land will be given a certain time fr their sin t be cmplete r full Once that time is reached, then Gd will use Israel t cnquer and judge these peple under Jshua Therefre, Abram s descendants can t enter the land until that fullness is reached Plus, the delay gives time fr Abram s descendants t grw numerus Gd will grw Israel while they are in Egypt, s that when they cme ut f slavery they are mighty enugh t subdue the land This secnd reasn yields yet anther picture fr us 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 11 Gd tells Abram that his descendants can t ccupy their land until a Gentile peple are first given their full time under Gd s plan And nce that time is cmplete, then Abram s descendants will enter the land as prmised Tday we can see this suggesting Israel s scattering during the time f the Church, when Gd is giving pprtunity fr Gentiles t repent And when that time is cmplete r full, then Gd will permit Abram s descendants t enter the land Finally, after that explanatin, Gd initiated the cvenant ritual fr Abram and his descendants Gen. 15:17 It came abut when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behld, there appeared a smking ven and a flaming trch which passed between these pieces. Gen. 15:18 On that day the LORD made a cvenant with Abram, saying, ı T yur descendants I have given this land, Frm the river f Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: Gen. 15:19 the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmnite Gen. 15:20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim Gen. 15:21 and the Amrite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite. Gd leaves Abram in the deep sleep and then prceeds t manifest Himself thrugh these symbls Gd shws Himself as smke and fire The text literally means smking pt and rising flame I believe these lked the same as thse that led Israel in the desert A clumn f smke, rund in shape like a pt And a rising flame, like the kind that cmes frm a trch As smke and flame, Gd gives Himself a nn-incarnate frm And then He prceeds t mve thrugh the pieces f meat by Himself 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 15B 12 Nrmally, bth parties wuld mve thrugh the meat signifying that bth parties were bligated t keep the cvenant As men walked thrugh the pieces f meat, they wrn lng rbes that wuld becme bld stained at the hem This signified their acceptance f the cvenant under penalty f death But here, nly Gd takes an bligatin upn Himself He alne is bligating Himself...grace (5 animals = grace) The specific cvenant prmise in the ritual is spken in vs.18-21 Abram s descendants wuld receive the land between the Brk f Egypt and the Euphrates River This is a span f land Israel has yet t wn And yet Gd has bligated Himself t this very prmise Clearly, the prmise has yet t be fulfilled Fr we are still in the perid f delay, which Gd pictured thrugh the time f waiting in the afternn But a night fall will cme upn the Earth And in that perid f darkness, Abram will prtect his descendants, just as he prtected the carcasses frm the vultures Gd will remember His prmise t Abram, and the Lrd will appear ut f darkness t rescue Israel and bring Her int the prmised land Remember I said earlier that cvenants are established with rituals But even befre this ritual was cnducted, Gd has already been acting fr Abram Gd acted first bring Abraham ut f Ur That led t Abram s faith in Gd and it was credited as righteusness And finally, with faith came relatinship in a cvenant alng with rituals t affirm that cvenant...like ur cmmunin meal tday 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.