City Life Starter

Written by Nate Warren

The Word

7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 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, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15:7-21 (ESV)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Reflection

Yahweh has just promised Abram an heir and a multitude of descendants. Now Yahweh opens today’s section with a promise for a land that will serve as the inheritance to his descendents forever. Abram again questions Yahweh, asking for assurance of the promise of the land, which is now occupied by several Canaanite tribes. 

The scene playing out is an ancient covenant ceremony. A covenant is a sacred oath between parties, ratified in a bloody display. An animal (or more) is split in two lengthwise. The parties of the covenant then walk through the space between the carcass halves, with the ground soaked with the blood of the animal. Symbolically, the parties would be declaring, “If the covenant is broken, then my life just as this animal.”

Abram prepares the animals, in a process that must have taken all day, maybe longer. As he completes building the path of blood between the carcasses, Yahweh’s manifest presence descends, evoking images of the fierce fiery cloud on the mountain in the future story of the Exodus.

Abram falls to the ground at the head of the animals in a trance-like sleep. Yahweh speaks, committing that Abram’s descendants will eventually take possession of the promised land of Canaan. Then Yahweh, in the form of a fiery pot and torch, navigates alone through the path of blood, as Abram watches. 

Abram has no responsibility. Yahweh forges the covenant unilaterally, sealing His promise that Abram’s descendants will possess the land.

Application

This amazing experience only comes about in response to Abram’s bold question.

Are you seeking something in your relationship with Him? What promises do you need reassurance of? Rest? Hope? Peace? Are you unsure about a possible calling?

Write down a question about your relationship with the Lord. In regular times of prayer, take this question to Him, and wait for the Lord to respond.

Prayer

Father,
Thank You for appreciating our heartfelt questions. Help me to understand my questions as faith that You know more than me, and that You desire to converse. May You provide the responses that lead me to Your Life.
Amen