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Genesis 15
“When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (vv. 17–18).
Having established a covenant of preservation with Noah, God gave the next major covenant under the covenant of grace when he came to Abram many years after the flood. Our Lord’s covenantal dealings with Abram began when He spoke to the patriarch and commanded him to leave his own country and go to Canaan so that God would multiply his descendants and bless all the families of the earth through him (Gen. 12:1–3). By the time the patriarch died, he had received many more covenantal promises and had his name changed to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude of nations” (17:5).
God unfolded His covenant with Abraham over time, adding promises and the covenantal sign of circumcision (see 17:1–14; 22:15–18). Our Lord did not give the sign, however, until after formally establishing the covenant bond. Genesis 15 records the ceremony in which God officially enacted the covenant with Abraham.
The Lord reiterated His promises to Abraham just before this ceremony, and the patriarch believed Him (15:1–6). Yet while Abraham’s faith was sufficient to justify him, to receive God’s declaration of righteousness (v. 6; Rom. 4:1–5), it was not a perfected faith. Therefore, Abraham asked the Lord to further confirm His promise.
God graciously condescended to grant Abraham’s request, telling the patriarch to kill several animals and to lay their pieces on the ground side by side so that there was a path between them. Then, while Abraham was asleep, God passed between the pieces under the guise of a smoking pot and flaming torch, speaking His promises to Abraham yet again. According to ancient Near Eastern practices, this meant that the Lord was pledging to become like those animals if He were to not keep His promises. God was saying that He would be destroyed like those animals if He did not fulfill His word to Abraham. He was putting His own “life on the line,” so to speak.
This event demonstrates that it is impossible for God not to keep His covenant. He cannot die or change, so He cannot become like those animals. If He cannot become like those animals, then if He were to break His promise, He could not be destroyed (Mal. 3:6). Yet God also cannot lie (Titus 1:2). So if He cannot be destroyed, the only way that He can remain true to His Word and His unchanging nature is to keep His promises to Abraham. In other words, to remain true to Himself, God must keep His covenant.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Dr. R.C. Sproul says in his book Truths We Confess, “When we struggle with faith and wonder whether we can trust God, it is good to go back and read Genesis 15, where He swore an oath by Himself and put His character and being on the line in dramatic fashion.” Understanding the meaning of Genesis 15 and returning to it again and again will fortify our faith in our covenant-keeping God.
For further study
- Micah 7:18–20
- Hebrews 6:13–20
The bible in a year
- Proverbs 7–8
- 1 Corinthians 15:1–34
- Proverbs 9–12
- 1 Cor. 15:35–16:24