“When the sun had set a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces…on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham.” Genesis 15:17 18
Looking at the present day nation of Israel, one can see that God has always fulfilled His promises. Just as God has done so throughout history, especially biblical history, despite all their trials and sufferings and the hatred of nations, He fulfils His everlasting promises to His people.
The reason why God is committed, faithful and true to His promises is that it is His very nature to do so and His covenants were rooted and established in sacrifice. The shedding of blood always symbolised a pledge, a confirmation of the divine promise.
God on that special day with Abram (Abraham) made an everlasting covenant with him. He promised Abram that he would have an heir, and that one day the nation that came from him would come into a new Promised Land and that ultimately all the nations of the world would be blessed through them. This eventually happened though Jesus Christ our Lord who was given to the world through this nation, the Jews.
It was customary in sacred ceremonies and in the ratification of solemn agreements to cut animals in half and the Hebrew idiom for this was ‘to cut a covenant’. Abram had no way of knowing how things would work out with this sacrifice and be confirmed by God, and yet he was obedient.
Abram was instructed to make preparation for a sacrifice by cutting in half a three-year-old heifer, a female goat and a ram. The divided animals were then put with the halves opposite each other, forming a wall and a passage.
When the sun set, a flaming torch, representing the divine presence and approval of God, passed through the blood-drenched sacrifice, no doubt burning and consuming it as it passed through.And in the new covenant/ testament all that God did and was for Abram, on the basis of His great covenant, He is and forever will be and do for us, on the grounds of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jeremiah 31:27-34; John 1:29).The Lord said that seasons of darkness, hardship and suffering, just like for Abraham and Israel and in our Lord Jesus’ life, will surely come to us also, but God has pledged Himself to us, through the innocent suffering and death of His Son on Calvary. All His promises are everlasting and hold true and will see us through because they are written in blood.
A Prayer: Oh Father, what unspeakable blessedness it is to know that, through the Cross, You have committed Yourself to me and that You will be with me, to see me through whatever comes my way in life. Amen.
Acknowledgement: Every Day with Jesus – Selwyn Hughes