The Way Home

We are taking two weeks to try to understand what it means to be in covenant with God. Covenant plays an important role in the story of the Bible because God is conducting his rescue operation for creation in partnership with humans, and that partnership is structured around covenants. A covenant is a solemn agreement that brings two parties into some kind of partnership.

Let me elaborate on that definition. A covenant is a solemn agreement. It is serious. We can see that in an Old Testament story about Israel, just after Joshua led them into the promised land. God told Israel’s leaders that they were not under any circumstance to make a covenant with the people living in Canaan. But when an embassy of Gibeonites arrived, claiming to have come from a distant land, and wanting to enter into covenant with Israel, those leaders were duped. The Gibeonites had been told that Israel would not make a covenant with them if they knew where they were from, so they carried out an elaborate ruse. (You can read about it in Joshua 9.) When Israel learned it was all a lie, they wanted to renege on the covenant, but God would not let them. They had done a foolish thing, but now that they were in covenant, they must uphold it. God takes covenant very seriously.

A word about “partnership” is needed as well. In his generosity, God enters into partnership with us. It is not an equal partnership, as we’ll see. He does almost all the work, and we receive the benefit. But that does not mean that we have no responsibilities. You cannot be in covenant without responsibilities. J. I. Packer described covenant as a “voluntary mutual commitment that binds each party to the other.” God has bound himself to us by covenant.

We’re looking at Genesis 15 today. It shows us something of the actual process by which people in ancient times entered into a covenant. It was a bloody business and seems gruesome to our 21^st century sensibilities, but it shows us the solemnity of covenant and the seriousness of breaking it.

The chapter begins this way: “After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” This verse just begs to be put it into context. “After this…” After what?

In the preceding passage, we learn that Abraham had gone to war against five kings. When we read that they were kings, don’t think of the kings of England or of France. These kings didn’t rule over a nation but over a city and its outlying villages, so we’re not talking about massive armies. But they had combined forces and had attacked the city-state where Abraham’s nephew Lot was living. They conquered it and took captives, including Lot and his family. Captives in such wars were either killed or sold into slavery. Abraham was not about to let that happen. Read Genesis 14 sometime; it plays out like an adventure movie.

Abraham was not a king, but he was rich and powerful. He put together an army that included 318 of his own men, plus mercenaries, and he went after the five kings. He and his men caught up to them at night, routed them, and freed the prisoners.

The king of Sodom, where Lot had lived, was delighted to get his people and treasures back and offered Abraham a substantial reward, which would have included the land ruled by the five kings. Abraham declined the offer. In their brief exchange, it is clear that Abraham had no respect the king of Sodom and wanted nothing to do with him. Then Abraham returned home.

So, what might have been going through Abraham’s mind after all this? He had defeated those kings at night in a surprise attack and with the help of mercenaries. But if those same kings were to mount an attack against him now, it would be a very different story. Were they already planning their revenge?

And had he done the right thing in turning down the reward? This operation had cost him a lot of money, and he had no way of recouping it. In the middle of the night, thoughts like these may have plagued Abraham.

That was when the word of the Lord, whose timing is always right, came to Abraham in a vision. This is the first time we read of the word of the Lord coming to a person. It is also the first time we hear of anyone having a vision. The Lord tells Abraham that he is his shield, that is, his protection. He needn’t worry about the five kings seeking vengeance. He also tells Abraham that he is his “very great reward.” He needn’t worry about having enough. He has the Lord, and whoever has the Lord has enough.

But Abraham does not think he has enough. There is one thing he is missing: a son to inherit the land God promised him. So, Abraham says, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? …You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

God could have argued with Abraham, or chastised him for his lack of faith, but instead, he satisfied him with a promise: “…a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” Then God took Abraham outside in his vision, showed him the stars, and said, “Count them—if you can.” Of course, he could not: There are something like 10 septillion stars in the universe. (10 septillion is a one followed by 25 zeroes.) Then God told him, you won’t be able to count your descendants either; there will be too many of them.

Abraham was somewhere around 80-years-old at the time. Would he really have children at his age? But the word of the Lord not only informs, it transforms. God’s word not only speaks truth; it makes us capable of believing the truth and acting on it. Abraham believed God, and it was (v. 6) counted to him as righteousness.

Abraham believed God that he would have a son, and yet he turned right around and asked God for proof that he would have the land. I am glad that is included in the Scriptures. It shows me that Abraham was a lot like us. We can believe God one moment and doubt him the next. But God knows that, and he accommodates our weak faith more often than we can imagine.

We would expect God to answer Abraham with a detailed explanation of how the land will be given to him and his descendants. But God gives him something much better: he gives him a covenant. In chapter 12, God promised Abraham descendants and land. Now, God enters into covenant with Abraham as proof that he will fulfill his promises. To Abraham’s mind – to the mind of anyone living in that culture – ratifying a covenant would be the ultimate proof. You couldn’t ask for anything more.

Look at verse 9: “So the LORD said to him…” (This in response to Abraham’s request for proof: You want proof?) “…bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

What kind of proof is a heifer, a goat, and a ram? That does not seem like proof to us, but Abraham understood it perfectly. God was going to make a covenant with him. Abraham brings them to the Lord, and then proceeds to kill and cut in half each of the large animals. I told you that it is a bloody, gruesome business.

It’s also no small task. Leading, killing, and then cutting in half an animal – it’s not like Abraham owned a chain saw – would take time. Killing all these animals and cutting the four-footed one’s in half would require many hours and be exhausting work. After Abraham cuts them in half, he arranges the halves opposite each other (v. 10). Can you visualize what Abraham is doing? He puts one half the heifer here, and the other half there. Half the goat here, and the other half there. Half the ram here, and the other half there. It is almost as if he were creating a path that runs between the animal halves.

That is exactly what he was doing. Ever since the Lord told him to bring these animals, Abraham has understood what he was supposed to do. This is the procedure for making, or as the Hebrew idiom has it, for cutting a covenant. With all this blood and the smell of dead animals rising into the air, carrion birds show up, looking for a meal. So, Abraham, exhausted, has to remain vigilant, and drive away the birds. And he waits.

The afternoon turns into evening, the evening grows dark, and still Abraham waits. What is he waiting for? He is waiting for the arrival of his covenant partner. Abraham knows how this works. The two parties involved in the covenant need to walk down the aisle created by the placement of the animal parts. That is how covenants are ratified.

That seems bizarre to us. Walking between a bunch of dead, smelly animals somehow seals the deal, cements the promise, ratifies the covenant? Yes. But why? Because by walking between the pieces of the dead animals, the covenant partners are saying, “If I do not keep the covenant I have made, may my life be like that of these animals.”

The covenant partners are taking a curse on themselves should their covenant commitments go unfulfilled. I told you that making a covenant is serious business. The most common covenant in American life is the covenant of marriage. At least, that is what people once called it, and that was true whether they were religious or not. But today, that terminology has dropped out of many wedding ceremonies. Maybe that is understandable when one out of two marriages ends in divorce, often after one or both parties have reneged on their covenant vows. No one explained to them the seriousness of the vows they were making.

You know the vows, right? “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.” That is a covenant promise; making it is serious business.

That’s why, when I officiate a wedding, I tell people that if they write their own vows, I will need to approve them. I won’t let couples recite nonsense to each other, like the bride and groom that promised to be there for each other as “long as love shall last.” Drivel like that won’t help love last. Feelings, regardless of their sincerity and intensity, are bound to ebb and flow, whereas a covenant commitment remains, and that makes lasting love possible.

Now, let’s go back to the text and see what’s happening. Abraham has been waiting for his covenant partner to show up and driving away the carrion birds while he waits. But when evening comes, the birds give up and go back to their nests. Abraham sits down and, tired as he is, falls asleep. His covenant partner has been waiting for this moment. With Abraham asleep and unable to walk the perilous path, the Lord speaks to him again. He tells him, verses 13 and 14, that his descendants will inherit the land but it will take 400 years, and they will be slaves in a foreign land. But when the time is right, they will be freed and will return to take possession of the covenant land.

Now, look at verses 17 and 18: “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, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…”

The covenant is being ratified. But something is wrong. Only one of the covenant partners – the smoking fire pot and a flaming torch represent God who is a consuming fire – passes between the pieces of the animals. It is God, not Abraham, who invites the curse on himself if the covenant vows go unfulfilled. Abraham is asleep. He can’t do anything to help, and that is precisely the point. God is taking it on himself to fulfill this covenant. Whatever Abraham and his descendants do or do not do, God will see to it that the covenant is fulfilled. He has promised to bless all the peoples of the earth through Abraham, and nothing will stop him—cross his heart and hope to die.

So, what do we do with what we’ve seen in this strange passage? For one thing, we ought not settle for second best. Abraham went to war against the five kings in order to rescue Lot and his family. He was not trying to expand his territory or increase his power. He wasn’t looking to gain wealth. But after the battle, the King of Sodom offered Abraham the spoils of war, which included the territory of the five kings.

That territory comprised a good share of the land that God had promised to Abraham. He could have it right now—without the wait. And maybe this was God’s way of keeping his promise. But it would mean cozying up to that slimy, morally corrupt king of Sodom—forming an alliance with him, a covenant. So, what was Abraham to do?

Here’s a similar situation. Adam and Eve are offered the forbidden fruit. If they eat it, they will become like God, knowing good and evil. And isn’t that what God wanted? He made them “in his image.” Isn’t his plan, as we read later in Scripture, to conform all humanity to the glorious likeness of his Son. So why wait? Why not get it now?

Here’s yet another instance of the same kind of situation. Jesus is in the wilderness. The devil takes him to the summit of a high mountain, apparently in a vision, and shows him all the kingdoms of the earth and their splendor. Then he says, “I will give you all this. It will be your kingdom. Then you can do what you’ve always wanted to do: end hunger, end suffering, usher in an age of justice and peace. And all you have to do is bow down and worship me.”

Of course, God was already planning on giving Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth. But why wait? Why not have it now? Why should humanity endure its suffering any longer?

In each case, people can have something immediately that God intends to give them later.  The catch is they have to go against God’s ways to get it. Adam and Eve refused to wait, and they did receive the knowledge of good and evil, but not in the way God intended. Yes, they know good (as do all their children), but only through the lens of evil. If they had obeyed God, they (and we) would have known evil only through the lens of good.

Had Abraham taken the bait, he would have immediately possessed the land that his descendants had to wait 400 years to obtain. However, those descendants would not have learned to trust the Lord; they would not have seen his power; they would not have become his partners in the covenant. But they would have been indebted to the slimy king of Sodom.

Had Jesus taken the bait, he would have had the authority to do the things his heart desired, but it would have been the devil’s kind authority—a usurped authority, a tyrant’s authority. By doing it God’s way, Jesus has been exalted to the highest place and given the name above all names. He will do all that his heart desires, but he will do it with and through us, and so bless all the peoples of the earth.

We are an impatient people, and each new time-saving device that hits the market leaves us even more impatient. That’s a real problem for people who want to know God, because he’s never in a rush. Intimacy is not built on the run. It takes time to build a relationship with God. Are you giving him that time?

Besides that, hurried people make horrid decisions. Perhaps you need to slow down!

I said earlier that when God walked through the sacrificial animals alone, he took the responsibilities of fulfilling the covenant on himself. The God who would become a man – a descendant of Abraham – represented both parties on the perilous walk. God called the curse down on himself should the covenant be broken. And the One who sees the end from the beginning knew exactly where that would lead.

Abraham’s descendants would fail to keep the covenant, but it was God who would bear the curse. Listen to what St. Paul, who understood these things, wrote: “Christ” – Son of God, son of man, seed of Abraham – “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

Now listen as Paul explains: “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus…” (Galatians 3:13-14).

God knew what the cost of keeping covenant with people like us would be. And he kept it anyway. That is our God. Let us be his people.