Questions and Covenant: Extra Credit

Okay so I have always know that there would never be enough time in each blog to cover everything that I want to share about each chapter and verse in the Bible. Most of the time I follow where God leads me in each lesson and trust that I have done justice to His Word. However Genesis 15 is so full of amazing theology and glimpses of our great and loving Father that even after finishing the weeks study I feel very strongly that there is more to be said.
So I am writing one more post for Genesis 15 with just a few details that make this chapter so much richer and beautiful.
God never wastes a detail! I maintain that even if we won't know the fullest meaning of every detail in Scripture this side of Heaven, every single detail is significant to God. He uses every word of the Bible to give us better insight into Himself and His purpose, both for us as His beloved creation and as each of us individually.
The major theme of Genesis 15 is God giving peace to a worried and wondering Abram. Hidden in the details there is more than salvation through faith alone, and God's strong affirmation that He will be faithful to keep His word.
When God told Abram to prepare for the covenant ritual He commanded 5 very specific animals to be brought, 3 even had age requirements. According to Number 19 the sacrifice of a heifer was for purification and cleansing. A goat was the levitical sacrifice for unintentional sins. When a leader was made aware of his sins he was to bring a male goat and sacrifice it before the LORD. If a member of the community sinned unintentionally, when he (or she) was made aware then they were to bring a female goat (note the higher cost for those in leadership).* The ram was sacrificed as a guilt offering. When some one broke the law in regard to the holy things of God or lies, cheats or steals, they were to bring a ram as an offering.** I find the birds to be the most interesting.
"If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring 2 doves or 2 young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for his sin- one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering." Leviticus 5:7
The 2 birds were a substitionary sin offering. If you couldn't afford the price of your sins, God had a back up plan.
I certainly cannot unequivocally say that God was pointing to Jesus in Genesis 15:9, but clearly God was looking forward to the sacrificial system that He would set up on Mount Sinai several 100s of years later. That sacrificial system points to directly to Jesus. God always indicated that there would have to be a substitute for our sins. How cool is that!


Another part of Genesis 15 that I didn't have time to talk about is verses 12-16. As the sun set God put Abram in to a deep sleep (in fact its the same kind of deep sleep He put Adam in when he took his rib to make Eve), then He prophesied over him. We all hope for only good things to come, but the reality is that God often uses tribulation to accomplish His will. There is something about suffering that brings us to our knees so that God can stand up for us. Pain might not be how we want to grow in Christ but you just can't argue that it is the most effective and efficient way to get there.
Abram was told that though he would die happy and old in the land of Canaan, his descendants would spend 400 years enslaved in a foreign land, but would return to Canaan with lots of stuff.
These verses will become very important when we get to the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, where they begin to find their fulfillment. Its so awesome to me that long before the Israelites were enslaved by Egypt, God had already promised them that it would not last forever and that He would punish the nation that enslaved them. Not that 400 years is not daunting but God gave His word there would be freedom.
One last thing about God's prophesy is sorta hidden at the end of verse 16.
"In the 4th generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
Now I'm not going to pretend I actually understand exactly what that meant. I have no idea what the Amorites were up to at this time, nor do I have any clue as to what how God determined when their sins would "reach its full measure", but what I do know shows a loving and patient God.
The Amorites were one of the tribes that lived in Canaan. Amorite was also used as a generic name for all the people living in Canaan.*** Whether God was referring to the tribe or all the tribes in general, God was clearly giving them time before He took their land and gave it to the Israelites, and He took their land, not arbitrarily but because of their sin.
Its easy to think that because the Old Testament is about the Israelites that God did not care or was not involved with anyone else on Earth at the time. We may not see that He was wanting repentance from Canaan, but His patience in punishing them demonstrates His love. Remember, the Bible is the complete history of all God has done, it is a Love Letter, showing us how to know Him.

The last thing that I want to marvel at from Genesis 15 is what happened after the sun went down.
Abram was fast asleep while the LORD prophesied over him and he was still asleep when "a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces."
There is some debate over what the firepot and torch actually were (not all Hebrew words have clear meanings in English), and what exactly they symbolize, however two things are clear. However they represent Him, the elements represent the LORD and He walked alone among the pieces.
At first it might not seem super important that Abram played no real role in the covenant but if you think about how a covenant ritual was to be preformed it becomes striking that God did it alone. Abram didn't agree to the terms, he didn't make any promises or set any conditions, he was completely passive. God on the other hand, set the terms and conditions and made all the promises. God promised Abram the land (and by extension all of the promises of Genesis 12:1-3) without requiring anything from Abram. God alone would fulfill His promises.
There are definitely times in the Bible where God required something from someone. Later God would require Abram to be circumcised, He required the Israelites to no intermarry with the Canaanites (and there were heavy consequences for their failure to obey). Most of Deuteronomy is a list of blessing for obeying God's covenant and curses for disobedience. However all of these covenants (that I can find) have to do with living a God honoring life. There about obeying God, but when it comes to salvation, entering into the covenant of relationship with Him our role is completely passive. He set the terms and conditions, Jesus took our sins on the Cross and was raised again on the 3rd day to give us eternal life with Him. He made the promise, that we could have an intimate, loving relationship with Him, the God of the Universe. All we do is accept that He's already done it all. God alone fulfills His promises.

I hope that by adding an extra lesson to Genesis 15, you can see how utterly loving and patient our God is. He wants us to have peace, trusting that He will always do what He has promised to do. He provides the plan, we just have to step out in faith.
Genesis 15 is probably the most important chapter in the Old Testament (maybe the whole Bible), so much of the rest of Scripture is rooted in this one chapter.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write then on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." Hebrews 8:10

* Leviticus 4:22-35
**Leviticus 5:14- 6:7
*** Courson, Jon. Application Commentary: Old Testament Vol. 1. Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson. 2005. pg. 72