Genesis 15:8-21

[eduncan01]

Hey There,

I have been reading about covenants that God has established. And I was wondering if anyone knew what the smoking oven and flaming torch were?
This is from the Amplified Bible.

"8But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.
11And when the birds of prey swooped down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.
13And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]
14But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old (hoary) age.
16And in the fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full and complete.
17When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.
18On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates--the land of
19The Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20The Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Happy Bible Study!
Eric

 

[Macca]

Hey There,

I have been reading about covenants that God has established. And I was wondering if anyone knew what the smoking oven and flaming torch were?
This is from the Amplified Bible.

"8But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.
11And when the birds of prey swooped down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.
13And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]
14But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old (hoary) age.
16And in the fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full and complete.
17When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.
18On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates--the land of
19The Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20The Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Happy Bible Study!
Eric

Eric,
There are several other places in the bible where God is described in this way, one of them being the latter part of Ezek. 1.
This is the way people described the appearance of God to them, mostly in visions or dreams.
Macca.

 

[Tractor1]

I agree with Macca. The oven and torch represent God, but there is something else that we should understand clearly. This portion of Scripture covers the ratification of the Abrahamic covenant. In those times people enetered into a binding covenant by slaughtering animals and dividing them into pieces. Once the pieces were laid opposite each other the parties making the covenant would pass between them ratifying the covenant by blood. What is interesting is Abraham wasn't required to pass between the pieces as God did. This action declared that God alone was responsible for the fulfilling of the covenant. If the covenant would have been bilateral both parties would have walked between the pieces.

In Christ,
Tracey

 

[eduncan01]

I have heard that when walking between the pieces, it is in a figure eight, which is the sign of eternity. Basically meaning, that it would never be broken.

Eric

 

[Macca]

I have heard that when walking between the pieces, it is in a figure eight, which is the sign of eternity. Basically meaning, that it would never be broken.

Eric

The reason God put Abraham to sleep during the covenant ceremony is; Abraham had no part to keep in the covenant.
There is so little understood today about covenants, that is why people break bargains so readily.
A covenant in place meant, if you break the covenant you have with me, I have the right to kill you.
Wouldn't that prevent many marriage covenants from being broken?
Macca.