Six days ago I started reading The Chronological Study Bible, a Bible that Sarrah got for me. So far it's been really fascinating and quite the learning experience. Along with the verses themselves, the book has extra footnotes and short studies that talk about the cultural context. There were some that detailed different beliefs about Creation and the Flood, beliefs that just show how much greater our God is than the god of any other religion out there.
So I came to Genesis 15. This Bible is a New King James Version and titles it "God's Covenant with Abram." It details a ritual covenant where God promises to Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. "Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be'" (New King James Version, Gen. 15.5).
According to this study Bible, the ritual that took place was very similar to other ancient Near Eastern covenants. The suzerain, or stronger party, and the vassal, or the weaker party, would agree on terms and duties. Usually the suzerain would offer protection to the vassal and the vassal would support the suzerain with taxes or wartime loyalty. This ritual involved the vassal cutting various animals in half and walking between the pieces. This served as a sobering reminder of what would happen to the vassal should he fail to uphold his duties (Nelson 23).
Now, compare this to the Genesis 15 covenant. There are stark differences. One of the differences is the fact that the chapter details the duties of God, clearly the suzerain. He offers Abram His protection (Gen 15.1) and promises that Abram's descendants will be numerous (Gen 15.5).
Also, notice in Genesis 15:17 that Abram, the vassal, was not the one who walked between the dead animals. Rather, a burning torch did. This burning torch is a representation of God, saying "that He would die before He would allow His covenant with Abram to fail" (Nelson 23).
Isn't that awesome? Isn't it incredible how differently from us God works? In our culture, the stronger impose rules on the weaker and punish them for not upholding their side of the deal. God, however, has taken this duty on Himself.
But God, about two millennia later, put His money where His mouth was and did die. In fact, this was the Son that Abram was making the covenant with. If we look at Genesis 15:1, it clearly says "...the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision." Curious, I looked up several versions of this verse. Many of them use the exact same wording. Other versions, such as the New Living Translation, say "The Lord spoke to Abram in a vision," but the wording reflects the same meaning. Rather than simply say "The Lord said," which would still mean the same thing, the author is trying to get a very specific point across here.
That point can be found in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (New International Version). John, the author, is talking about Jesus. This means that Abram was making this covenant with the Son Himself!
Doesn't that blow your mind? Abram is standing here making a covenant with Jesus, a far more powerful person than Abram or anyone in history. And yet Jesus takes it on Himself to fulfill the law and swears to die rather than break it. And He did. We have all been saved because of it.
Works Cited
Nelson, Thomas. "Passing Between the Halves." The Chronological Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008. Print.
New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984. Print.
New Living Translation. BibleGateway.com. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale Charitable Trust, 1996. Web. 16 May 2010.
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