GENESIS 15

BERESHIS 15

He recovered all the spoil, and returned south, considerably disturbed in mind, doubtless, on account of the danger of the times.

At this crisis, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, and comforted him with the assurance...**

1 After these things the word of the Yahweh came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Thy exceeding great reward -

"He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" Heb 11: 6

Abram was now eighty-five years old, and he had no child. How then, could the promise made of God at Haran, and repeated at Sichem and Bethel be fulfilled, seeing that he was childless? He was even now an old man, and had concluded to make Eliezer of Damascus his heir; how then could the great, the exceeding great, reward be realized by him?

Prompted by these considerations, but in no wise distrusting God, Abram said...**

2 And Abram said, Adonai Yahweh, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Adonai (pllural) is derived from dan, to judge, rule, and therefore, where related to Yahweh it is indicative of Divine sovereignty. Abram had been given an example of this Divine sovereignty in the overthrow of Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14), so that the context is appropriate to his use of this name.

The Christadelphian Expositor

And the steward of my house —

The Hebrew is ben meshek, the son of possession. Abram had made Eliezer his legal heir. This was a normal custom of the times with childless couples, as archaeolical documunts excavated at Nuzu, not far from modern Kirkuk, and southeast of ancient Nineveh have revealled.

These same documents show that though such a legal adoption might take place, they also made provision for the rights to be set aside if the adopter should afterward beget a son of his own. See Archaeology And The Old Testament, p.121.

The Christadelphian Expositor

Is this Eliezer of Damascus —

Eliezer signifies El is my help. The fact that he was "of Damascus" implies that Abram visited that city en route to the Promised Land.

The Christadelphian Expositor

The reassurance of Yahweh that he should not fear, and that God was his shield and his exceeding great reward, does not seem to have assuaged his concern. In the vast scheme of things he suddenly felt alone, his faith tested. He saw the practical problems in relation to his age, and Sarai his wife, and his endless desert wanderings, and all these difficulties closed in on him.

God was his shield, his protector but what of the exceeding great reward?

"The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward." (Pv.11.18).

Abram cast around for solutions. *

3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

The word "born" is ben, son. The phrase can be literally rendered: "the son of my house," that is, his legal son by adoption.

The Christadelphian Expositor

4 And, behold, the word of the Yahweh came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

This was a great draft upon the faith of an old man of upwards of fourscore, with a wife of seventy-five years of age. But it is testified of him, that against hope he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, saying, So shall thy seed be.

And not being weak in faith, he considered not his own body afterwards dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to perform" (Rom. 4:18-21). **

Elpis Israel 2.2. 

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

We can picture Abram emerging from his tent and gazing up into the vast vault of heaven and seeing the myriad stars against the blackness of the Middle East night. What a stupendous sight of the Milky Way, each one of those stars a symbol of Yahweh's power and glory of his endless dominions, each one a sun in itself: all the constellations, Orion and Pleaides, the bright star Arcturus (Job 9,9,10, 38.31,32, Amos 5.8).

It is said that there are a hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone, and there are billions of galaxies, all held in their places by the laws of Yahweh, all in constant motion, wheels within wheels, testifying to the omnipotence and omniscience of Ail, possessor of the Heavens and Earth and the puny insignificance of man.

Of course Abram could only see, and number, a minute fraction of the stars of heaven, so that in reality he could not number them. Therefore he is being told that his seed would be a numberless multitude, or a

"great multitude which no man could number" (Rev.7.9),

who would constitute the immortal (palm bearing) multitude of the sealed sons of Israel, or multitudinous seed of Abram, who would be priests for ever (the Olahm) after the order of Melchizadek (Kings of righteousness) (Pslm 110.4).

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork."

Abram would have been totally cognisant of this awesome spectacle heavenly grandeur, and its significance giving silent witness to the plan and purpose of Yahweh to fill this earth with his glory and beautify this planet with a glorious and righteous seed, sprung from the loins of Abram (Mtt.l, Lk.3).*

6 And he believed in the Yahweh; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Such was the manner of Abram's faith, his mode of thinking upon the things reported to him in the word of the Lord, and his disposition in relation to them. So pleased was God with him, that "He counted it to, him for righteousness."

Abram, having first sought the kingdom of God in leaving his father's house to "seek the city, whose architect and builder is God," had now become the subject of the righteousness of God by faith, so that the Lord was now prepared to add all other things to him (Matt. 6:33). **

''And he believed in Yahweh; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

This is what we must do, believe what God says in his Word.

Here is a two way response between the faithful believer and Yahweh. The weak mortal man believes what God has promised, he believes the Promises, the plan and purpose of Yahweh with the earth, and is motivated by this through every day of his probation, to walk faithfully with full conviction in Yahweh.

On this basis God imputes or counts righteousness to that person (Rom 4.3-8, 20-25, Gal.3.6). This is the great hallmark of Abram's faith highlighted by the apostle Paul as the example for all true believers, Jew or Gentile. It stands out or shines forth like a beacon light in the darkness and corruption and idolatry of the world, one man's faith in Yahweh his God to be his shield and his exceeding great rewarder.

It is further taken up by the apostle when he defines faith

"Without faith-it is impossible to please God -. He that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him."

Yet the Lord says "When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find The, Faith?" What this implies?

If we have any other faith, then it is not worth a fig. That in spite of the wilderness trials, we are strangers and pilgrims in the earth, having no continuing city, but looking for one whose builder and maker is God Hb.11. This cannot be emphasised too much. That we are not gobbling up the world, but separate, and not compromising for the sake of ecclesial peace and harmony.*

Now, the name of God contains all the attributes of God.

When we know God's attributes we know His name and one of the attributes of His character or name is that He is a God of truth, that He cannot lie, that in Him is no darkness at all. Hence He has made this the test of men's allegiance and obedience and affection for Him. It is to believe what He says, and that is the highest honour we, as creatures, are able to develop in honouring God.

You know very well that if you had a particular friend, and he was to say, "I love you very dearly," and, when you told him anything, he were practically or verbally to say, "I do not believe a word you say," you would say, "How could you love me and treat me as a liar?"

So God, in effect, says to mankind, How could you love me when you do not believe a word I say? Here we have a man, Abraham, no matter what God promised him, he believed it; and because he treated God as a God of truth, therefore that confidence of Abraham was counted to him for righteousness.

Abraham first came to know what the promises were, then he believed them, and that became the basis on which God counted to Abraham his faith for righteousness. And that principle of justification by faith in the promises of God has been the principle of men's justification from the days of Abraham down to the present time.

It was not necessary for God to vary His principles of justifying men, because the Messiah was afterwards introduced, and a new development of God's power and principles. All who are justified on the like principles that Abraham was justified on, became the sons of Abraham by justification by faith, and therefore he is called the father of the faithful and the friend of God.

All those therefore that are justified on like principle with Abraham become the children of the father of the faithful, and they also become the friends of God, for, says Jesus,

"ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you."

Bro Thomas 1869 Address given in Stoke - printed The Christadelphian, Jan 1888

7 And he said unto him, I am Yahweh that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

àHe reminded him of the purpose for which He had brought him into the land of Canaan...

Abram had been in the country ten years. He had become well acquainted with the land, and he perceived that it was a noble and desirable inheritance.

When, therefore, the angel referred to the Lord's promise, Abram requested a sign, saying... **

8 And he said, Adonai Yahweh, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? [Shall I have Confirmation of the Covenant]

...various things have been done by way of confirming the promises; and other things have been done which, though not an actual fulfilment of the promises themselves, are yet so many preliminary steps preparing the way for their actual and complete fulfilment when the time for that grand consummation arrives.

By "confirm" we mean "to make firm, to settle or establish, to make certain by additional evidence, to corroborate, to put past doubt, to strengthen, to verify." The same idea is expressed by the word "ratify," but we have chosen the word "confirm" because it is the word used in the common version of the Scriptures.

Now as God has at various times given signs and brought to pass things which establish His intention to fulfil what He promised at the first, by these things He has made His promises "certain by additional evidence."

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, Oct 1874

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

àThis sacrifice was, representative of the qualities of the Christ, concerning whom confirmation was about to be made, attestative of Abram's and his Seed's possession of the land in the fulness of the times afterwards to be arranged.**

The Confirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant

To this transaction the apostle no doubt refers when he speaks, in Gal. 3:17, of "the covenant that was confirmed before of God in (or concerning) Christ," as the promised seed; for he says that the law was 430 years after, and we find that this transaction took place 430 years before the giving of the law.

God subsequently, on the occasion of Abraham obeying His command to offer up Isaac, still further confirmed. His promise by an oath (Gen. 22:16), to which the apostle refers in Heb. 6:18, when he speaks of the "two immutable things" (the promise and the oath) "in which it was impossible for God to lie." Thus did God give Abraham further "evidence of things not seen," and thus his assurance of "things hoped for" was made doubly sure. With the oath, however, we have not now to do: we, therefore, revert to the sign.

As this sign was evidently based upon, or connected with, the ancient mode of ratifying or confirming covenants, it is necessary, in order to fully understand the significance of the sign, to be acquainted with the custom then in vogue for confirming covenants or agreements. As pens, ink, paper and other appliances of later ages were entirely unknown to the unsophisticated minds of those who lived in the childhood of the world's history, it was necessary to adopt means of a more primitive character; and one of these—apparently the principal—we will now explain.

The details, as far as can be gathered from various authors, were as follow. When two (or perhaps more) parties had made a verbal agreement of such importance that they wished to render it more binding upon each other by something of a more formal and impressive character than the simple passing of their word, they would take a calf or other animal, cut its throat, and pour out its blood, probably as an offering to God (or in the case of idolators, to their particular god), in order to obtain His approval of the covenant, and His subsequent assistance in carrying it out, and perhaps also to give greater solemnity to the occasion, for it was evidently regarded as a religious ceremony.

The whole carcase was then divided through the spinal marrow, from head to tail, into two equal parts. These two halves having been placed a short distance apart, the parties to the covenant passed between them, or, entering at opposite ends, met in the centre, whereupon the conditions of the covenant by which they were to be mutually bound were recited, and there they took the covenant oath that they would faithfully perform their respective conditions. The parties were also sprinkled with the blood of the animal.

The meaning appears to have been, that by this ceremony each party imprecated upon himself the fate of the slain animal, should he fail to perform his part of the covenant, and agreed to submit to be cut asunder, this being an ancient mode of punishment, as may be seen from Dan. 2:5; 3:29; Matt. 24:51; and Luke 12:46. The fact that this was an ancient mode of punishment is strongly confirmatory of the conclusion that this was the signification of the rite. After this ceremony, the parties ate together, partaking of the flesh of the animal used in the confirmation. Indeed, it is said that no covenant was deemed binding unless the parties had eaten together.

When the ceremony had been duly performed by the observance of these details, the contract was considered, in modern legal phraseology, to have been "signed, sealed and delivered." The custom of eating the flesh of animals appears to have extended to other occasions of more than ordinary importance, for we find that on the occasion of Isaac blessing Jacob he ate venison, which had been prepared for the occasion. Indeed the practice of eating together has usually been regarded, especially in the east, as a sign of friendship.

There were in some cases mediators who assisted at the ceremony, and who were sureties for the performance of the conditions of the covenant. This would be more necessary where the object of the covenant was to reconcile those who had been at enmity, and where the mediator had acted as peacemaker in effecting the reconciliation. Moreover, if any former covenant between the same parties had been infringed, satisfaction was made for such infringement at the ratification of the second covenant.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, Oct 1874

àAll those offerings would have been without spot or blemish, not the worst animals from the flocks and herds, but the best, showing Yahweh desires the best of our lives, and this is what Abram gave (not the fag end, and not sin's flesh dominated) (the heifer confirms the Christ would be sin's flesh yet without sin = without transgression, Hb.4.15*

***

àThe Truth above all is sacrificial, this is what Abram is being told. But more that this, Yahweh's plan was dependent on One who would be the perfect sacrifice, impossible for any other to accomplish.

That he would manifest the characteristics portrayed symbolically in the 5 elements of sacrifice: the heifer (of 3 Yrs old), the she goat, the ram (all of 3 Yrs old), and the turtle dove and young pigeon.'

In these are the elements of atonement and God manifestation. The element of the flesh, the sturdy independence, the productiveness or fruitfulness, the spirit, and the harmlessness in character, in summary God - likeness.*

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

àFrom the time of the sacrifice until the going down of the sun, Abram was engaged in watching the carcases, so as to keep off the birds of prey. **

Abram divided the sacrifices in twain, excepting the birds, but found he could not guard them from the predatory fowls. He collapsed in exhaustion at the eve of the day, when the sun went down. This showed that he himself would be unable to implement that sacrifice. That he would die before it could be fulfilled, and that it would only be fulfilled at his resurrection from the dead.*

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

àIt is probable that the sacrifice was exposed about three hours ; at all events, "when even was come" and the sun was going down, Abram fell into a state of figurative death...**

EI 2.2.

Deep sleep and horror: Typical of Messiah's death

à"Messiah the Prince," or High Priest, was "cut off," or covenanted, as the Spirit had revealed to Daniel. But before he died, he cried with a loud voice, in the words of Psal. 22:1, saying, Aili, Aili, "My strength, my strength, why hast thou forsaken me!"

Before he had uttered this exclamation, the Holy Spirit, which had descended upon him from the Habitation of Light and Power, in the form of a dove, and rested upon him, from the time of his immersion in the Jordan, had been withdrawn. The Father-Spirit had evacuated the son of David's daughter, who is styled in the Songs of Zion, "the Handmaid ofYahweh" (Psal. 116:16).

The Son was, therefore, left without strength or power, and consequently without God. Still he was suspended to the tree a living man; a man crucified through weakness (2 Cor. 13:4), and dying of his own volition in obedience to God. But after the God-Power had forsaken him, and before he committed his life to the Father in breathing his last, there was an interval in which, after the example of Abraham at the typical confirmation of the covenant, "a horror of great darkness fell upon him" (Gen. 15:12); "for there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour."

In this darkness he cried aloud; and drank the bitterness of gall and vinegar; and again cried with a loud voice; and the deep sleep fell upon him from which he did not awake until the early dawn of the third day.

Eureka 1.1.

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them 400 years;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. [wealth]

àI suppose the reader need hardly be informed that all this was literally accomplished. Jacob and his family, consisting of seventy persons, migrated into Egypt [250] years after the revelation was made to Abram.

When a king arose in Egypt who knew not Joseph, the saviour of the country under God, the Israelites were sorely oppressed till the end of four hundred years from Abram's deep sleep. After this four hundred years had expired, even thirty years after, God having judged the Egyptians, they left the country with great substance; and in the fourth generation re-entered the land of Canaan, as God had said. The iniquity of the Arnorites was then full [v16]; and Israelites, under Joshua, became the executioners of divine vengeance upon them.**

àFrom the typical confirmation of the land-covenant to Abraham [v7-14], 430 years before the night of the Exodus from Egypt, to the antitypical confirmation of the same covenant in the crucifixion of Jesus (Gen. 15:7,8-18; Exod. 12:41,42; Matt. 26:26-29; Rom. 15:8; Gal. 3:16,17) -- there was an interval of 2187 years. In all this time, there was a peculiar people that had the mark or "token" of the Land-Covenant in their flesh.

This mark was placed there by circumcision.

Eureka 2.2.1.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

àWhile he was in this state [v12], the Lord revealed to Abram the fortunes of his descendants in the ensuing four hundred years, the judgment of the nation that should oppress them, their subsequent exodus from bondage with great wealth, his own peaceful death in a good old age, and the return of his descendants into the land of Canaan again.

... Jacob and his family, consisting of seventy persons, migrated into Egypt two hundred and fifty years after the revelation was made to Abram. When a king arose in Egypt who knew not Joseph, the saviour of the country under God, the Israelites were sorely oppressed till the end of four hundred years from Abram's deep sleep.

After this four hundred years had expired, even thirty years after, God having judged the Egyptians, they left the country with great substance; and in the fourth generation re-entered the land of Canaan, as God had said. The iniquity of the Arnorites was then full; and Israelites, under Joshua, became the executioners of divine vengeance upon them.

But God had said to Abram at Bethel, I will give THEE the land of Canaan FOR EVER, and in the answer to this question "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" here tells him that he should die and be buried in a good old age! Now the promise to Abram rests upon the veracity of God. If we attempt to interpret it by the history of the past, we are brought

to the conclusion that the promise to Abram has failed.

Stephen alludes to this apparent failure of the promise to Abram in his speech before the Sanhedrim in these words,

"God said to him come into the land which I will show thee. Then came he into this land in which ye dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: YET he promised that He would give it to him for a possession and to his Seed (T0 SPERMATI, in the singular, to one person called the Seed) after him when as yet he had no child" (Acts 7:5).

What shall we say then? Shall we dare to say that God hath lied to Abram; or, that He meant something else than what He promised?

Far be it from the writer or reader to insult God by any such insinuation; but rather let us say with the apostle in reference to this particular incident that "God cannot lie ;" that in promising to Abram an everlasting possession of the land of Canaan, and nevertheless, afterwards declaring that he should die and be buried, and his posterity be oppressed for four hundred years -- "He promised" to him a resurrection to "eternal life" before the arrangements of the times (PRO CHRONON AIONION, Tit. 1:2).

If Abram were sentenced to die, how could the promise of God concerning the land be fulfilled unless he were raised from the dead? And as he is to possess it for ever, when he is raised, he must be also made incorruptible and immortal to enable him to possess it everlastingly.

The promise of eternal life, then, consists in promising a mortal man and his Son possession of a terrestrial country for ever; and this promise to the two, becomes a promise to all who believe it, and are constituted one in them.

Elpis Israel 2.2.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp <flame of fire> that passed between those pieces.

àThis was a sign which could not be mistaken. The animals he had slain, and watched and defended so long from the birds of prey [v11], were consumed by fire from heaven. By this he knew, and was assured, that he and his Seed, the Christ, should inherit the land for ever. But this was not all.

Elpis Israel 2.2.

àThe Spirit of Yahweh passes through the sacrifices and consumes them. This signifies a sealing or confirmation of the sacrificial Covenant between 2 parties (Jer.34.I8, Hb.l0.5-10), which therefore since it was sealed by the spirit of Yahweh could not be broken (Rom.15.8). It was an everlasting Covenant.*

"Covenant" Defined

àA Covenant is a system of government indicative of God's chosen, selected, and determined plan or purpose, fixed by his absolute and sovereign will, and imposed on the people without the slightest consultation between them as to its expediency, fitness, or propriety.

Yahweh is the testator; the people or Tribes of Israel, are the legatees. Hence, his covenants, testaments, or wills to the nation, require the death of the testator, because they are of no force while he lives.

But Yahweh is a deathless being. He never died, nor can he die.—1 Tim. 6:15. His Covenants, therefore, are

"ordained in the hands of mediators subject to death."—Gal. 3:19.

A Mediator is Yahweh's substitute, who represents Him in all his dealings with his nation. Moses was the mediator of the Old Will, which was dedicated by sacrifice consumed by fire from heaven, and only partially carried out for forty years in the wilderness; but came into full force after his death, when Joshua gave the nation a rest, representative of a future sabbatism for it in the same land under the Christ for 1000 years.

Jesus is the mediator of the New Will; which was confirmed in the consuming of Abraham's sacrifices by fire.—(Gen. 15:17; Gal. 3:15–18.) It cannot, therefore, be disannulled. For forty generations between Abraham and Christ, this confirmed Will was of no force at all. But when Jesus, the mediatorial testator of the Will, died, it acquired force; and became partially effective to the impartation of remission of sins, and a title to eternal life in the kingdom to all who believed in the things covenanted or bequeathed, and in Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles.

It has not yet come into full force. It is destined, however, to become fully developed in all its efficiency, when Jesus shall come again and save the Twelve Tribes from their enemies, and from the power of all that hate them; and to perform the mercy promised to their fathers, even the holy covenant, the oath which God sware to their father Abraham, that he would grant unto them, that being delivered out of the hand of their enemies, they might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of their life.—Luke 1:69–75.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Sept 1851

Previous to the circumstances narrated in this chapter, God had promised to Abraham that He would make of him a great nation, that He would bless him, that in him all families of the earth should be blessed, and that He would give to him and to his seed after him, the land of Canaan for a possession.

It would appear, however, that hitherto God had not given Abraham any sign that He would fulfil promises; but at this time Abraham asked God for a sign. This request would seem to be only a natural one on his part, for although the promises would, doubtless, be given by the Elohim, who received their messages direct from the throne of heaven, yet Abraham's knowledge of these beings may have been very imperfect. He might even take them for ordinary men, as he appears to have done on a subsequent occasion.—(Gen. 18:2.)

But whether that was so or not, he might be ignorant of their heavenly character, and of the fact that they were infallible media for the divine communications to mankind. Therefore on the occasion of God repeating His promise concerning the land of Canaan, he said, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"—(Gen. 15:8.) This has erroneously been taken to mean, "Whereby, or by what means, shall I inherit it?" as signifying that the taking away of sin—which was typified by the slaying of the animals which followed—was necessary before Abraham could possess the land.

Of course it is true that the taking away of sin was necessary before either Abraham or any of his seed could possess the land, and the slaying of the animals here recorded is probably typical of the taking away of sin; but Abraham's question certainly had no reference to the abolition of sin, for his language is incapable of such a construction.

His words are not, "What means will be taken to enable me to possess the land?" or, "Whereby shall I inherit the land?" but, "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" His request was simply for a sign—for some miracle by which he would know, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that he had not been mistaken in putting faith in the promises previously given.

And here it may be remarked, that in the case of a covenant with God, the sign on His part must be a miraculous one, in order that the individual to whom it is given may know that it comes from God. That Abraham's request was not a presumptuous one is shown by the fact that it was granted, for we read that God gave him a sign

"He said unto him, take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto Him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the birds divided he not . . . And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp (margin, lamp of fire) that passed between those pieces."—(Gen. 15:9, 10, 17.)

Whether this smoking furnace and burning lamp had any symbolic meaning is not stated. Probably the former was a symbol of the oppression and slavery to which his seed was to be subjected in Egypt, for this event is predicted in verse 13, and we find a similar expression—"the iron furnace"—applied to Egypt in a similar connection in Deut. 4:20. If the smoking furnace was a symbol of their Egyptian bondage, the burning lamp would be an appropriate symbol of the divine power by which they were delivered from Egypt.

Whether this be so or not, the passing of the burning lamp between the pieces of the animals killed by Abraham was undoubtedly a miraculous sign, a sign which he would know came from God Himself, and which was, therefore, a guarantee or confirmation of the promises previously given. First the promises, then the confirmation: first the promises, then the "covenant established upon the promises."—(Heb. 8:6.)

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, Oct 1874

The Confirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant

... it is evident that the "appointed victim" or "confirmatory animal" finds its counterpart in Jesus Christ, and that he occupies a similar position here to that occupied by the bisected animals in the ancient mode of confirming covenants. Thus we at once perceive a parallel between the death of Christ and the transaction in which Abraham took part, as recorded in Gen. 15. We see that in the present case Christ answers to the animals slain by Abraham, the difference being, that whilst in the one case we have animals, in the other we have a human being, "the man Christ Jesus;" that whilst in the one case we have creatures which could not develop any moral character, in the other we have one who was obedient unto death.

But the similarity in the two cases, even as regards the death, is not perfect; for whilst in the one case the animals were divided asunder, in the other there was no division of the dead body. It was, however, a violent death, and was accompanied with the shedding of blood, which answered the requirements of the case. But when we come to the next feature in the type, we see a remarkable occurrence in the antitype which completely answers, and more than answers, to that in the type.

We saw that when Abraham had divided the animals, the Lord caused a burning flame to pass between the pieces; and so, when Jesus had lain three days in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, the Spirit of God—the antitype of the burning flame—passed through the inanimate body, in token of his acceptance as a sacrifice, like as the fire of God had, ages before, descended to consume the sacrifice of Elijah, in attestation of the divine approval.

But while in the one case the animals remained lifeless as before, in the other case the lifeless body was energised by the Spirit of God, and, the stone having been rolled away from the mouth of the cave, Jesus walked forth a living man.

"But where," it may be asked, "if this be the meaning of the passage, are the contracting parties in this confirmation of the covenant? In Gen. 15., we see the Deity on the one hand, and Abraham on the other; here we only see the Deity. Abraham was dead; therefore it could not be made with him, excepting so far as Christ was the antitype of the animals he divided. The parties who slew the Covenant-Sacrifice—the murderers who cried out, 'Crucify him, crucify him,' and who said, 'His blood be on us,' and those who nailed him to the cross—by those very acts excluded themselves from the benefits of the covenant.

Who. then, were the other parties to the transaction?" We answer: those who had already accepted the word preached by "the Messenger of the Covenant" (Mal. 3:1), and all who in after generations should accept the same word and take the covenant-sign.

The fact of the Covenant-Sacrifice being a human being, not an animal, rendered it inappropriate, and the length of time during which the covenant was to be offered for acceptance rendered it impossible for the parties who should accept it to enter into it precisely according to the ordinary custom. We therefore find another sign appointed as the means by which all who should believe the promises of God and desire to enter into covenant-relationship with Him might testify their agreement thereto and their intention to fulfil the conditions of the covenant.

This sign is mentioned in the passage where the Confirmer of the Covenant commanded the eleven apostles to preach the covenant:

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel"—the Abrahamic covenant—"to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (shall partake of the covenant-blessings), "but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Thus immersion is now the covenant-sign, and the only means of entering into the bond of the covenant. The significance of immersion as the covenant-sign lies in the fact that it is a symbol of the burial of the covenant-sacrifice, and that by passing through that symbolic burial the subject of it is thereby symbolically associated with the death of the covenant-sacrifice, and admits that he deserves death, just as those who entered into covenant with God by animal-sacrifices admitted, by passing between the pieces, that they were worthy of the fate of the animals they had slain.

This is one reason why baptism is the appointed means for entering into the covenant in this dispensation, and all those who have availed themselves of it have become contracting parties to the covenant. True it is, they did not slay the sacrifice; true, they have not divided it into two parts, and passed between the pieces, and taken a formal covenant oath; true, they were not literally sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice; true, the majority of them have not even seen the covenant sacrifice.

But they have read the clauses of the covenant; they have believed that God will fulfil His covenant-oath; they have accepted Christ as their covenant-sacrifice, believing that apart from him they would have died in their sins, and had no part in the covenant-blessings, and that only by him are they permitted to approach God and enter into covenant-relationship with Him; they have taken the covenant-sign by having their "bodies washed with pure water," and thus had their "hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience;" they have received the testimony concerning the resurrection of the confirmatory-sacrifice, believed in it as an accomplished fact, and accepted it as a sign of God's intention to fulfil the covenant; and they have also agreed to fulfil their part of the covenant.

For this reason they are spoken of by the Deity as "those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice," and they will therefore be amongst the multitude to be gathered from the four winds when the time arrives for the Messenger of the Covenant, on behalf of the Great Covenant-Maker Himself, to carry the terms of the covenant into effect, and when the decree goes forth—

"Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."—(Ps. 50:5.)

We thus see the connection between the death of Christ and the confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant: that he did not die in the capacity of a testator, but as the covenant-sacrifice through whom the covenant was confirmed.

From this it follows that just as in an ordinary case the death of the covenant-sacrifice was necessary, and a covenant, though previously entered into verbally, could not come into force while the animal by means of which it was to be confirmed was alive, but received its force in connection with its death; so here, the Abrahamic covenant had no legal validity while Christ was alive, his death as the covenant-sacrifice being necessary before the covenant could legally come into force.

From this point of view we shall be able to understand certain passages in the prophets where, according to the Common Version, Christ himself is called a covenant:

"I will give thee for a covenant of the people." —(Isa. 42:6; 49:8.)

In these two passages berith, though here, as elsewhere, translated covenant, really signifies Jesus Christ, and would be more properly rendered, according to its original meaning, purification-sacrifice.

Bro A Andrew

The Christadelphian, Nov 1874

18 In the same day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

à'... the boundaries of Paradise. He commences the line from the Mediterranean at the outlet of the Orontes, called "the entering in to Hamath," and passes on in a direct course of one hundred and thirty three miles to Berothah upon the Euphrates. This is marked out as the natural boundary on the north by the range of mountains, called Amanus, which, as a natural barrier, extends across the country from the Great Mediterranean sea to Berothah; to which the Euphrates is navigable from the Persian Gulf.

When Messiah is enthroned king of the land, and proceeds to take possession of it to its utmost limits, he will then say to his companions,

"Come with me from Lebanon, my Spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lion's dens, from the mountains of the leopards" (Song 4:8).

Taking up their position upon that commanding border, the Sons of Zion may view the landscape of a goodly and glorious land, fragrant of rich odours, and flowing with milk and honey, outstretching eastward in all the length of Euphrates to the East Sea.

This is its border on the east. From the junction of the Euphrates with the Persian Gulf in lat. 30 deg., the frontier is drawn "from Tamar to Meribah of Kadesh, to the river towards the Great (or Mediterranean) Sea." This is the south border of Paradise; a line of over a thousand miles abutting upon the Nile, and thence to the sea; and affording free access to the Red Sea by the Elanitic Gulf. The boundary on the west "shall be the Great Sea from the border (south) till a man come over against (the entering in to) Hamath."

Thus we have an ample area; containing by estimation three hundred thousand square miles, for the length and "breadth of Immanuel's land," extending, as covenanted to Abraham and his Seed, "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, for a possession in the Olahm" (Gen. 15:18).

Such is the territorial paradise or kingdom of the Deity; which all the prophets testify shall be inhabited by the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and their nobles, all of them Priests and Kings with Messiah pre-eminent in all things over all.

Eureka 2.1.7.

àNow, if a map of the territorial area indicated in the covenant be examined, it will be seen that the broadest extent is "from sea to sea" as it is expressed in Scripture (Psalm 72:8; Zech. 9:10); that is, from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf; and its greatest length, from the rivers to the ends of the land;" or, from the Euphrates at its junction with the gulph, northward; and from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to the entrance into Hamath.

But, the frontiers of the territory were afterwards more particularly marked out at the time of the captivity in Babylon. The twelve tribes were then all in exile form the land and it was once more wholly possessed by the Gentiles, as it is now. They were powerless and prostrate under the heel of the oppressor, and with out hope of recovering the country by their own efforts. At this crisis, the Lord revealed to them the extent to which in after times they should repossess their country.

cp Ezek. 47:13-21, 48:28

...to meet the demands of the covenant it is indispensable that Jesus returns to Canaan, and that He raise Abraham from the dead. ..Hence, the second advent is as necessary as the first. The appearing in sinful flesh was necessary for the dedication of the covenant by the death of the substitutional testator; and the second appearing in the spiritual nature in power and great glory, for the administration of the will by the sole executor.

For it is manifest that the will cannot be administered except by one who is all powerful. Abraham Isaac, and Jacob, and all constitutionally in them, are legatees. The legacies bequeathed to them are eternal life, the land of Canaan, and "a city," or state,

" whose architect and builder is God."

Elpis Israel 2.2.

The division of the land

...we are told that after coming out of Egypt Abraham took up his residence at Bethel.

Previously, on a former visit to Bethel he had erected an altar there, and there he called upon the name of the Lord. Some time after his return from Egypt, after Lot was separated from him, the promise of an inheritance in the land contained in verses 14 and 17

was given. After receiving the promise (see verse 18)

" Abraham removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord."

Now why should Abraham do this when he already possessed an altar at Bethel, whereat he

could worship ? The inference is that after he received the promise at Hebron, the place from which he was shown the promised territory, he erected another altar in commemoration of the promise.

The idea is strengthened when we remember that Hebron, by reason of the configuration of the country, is a much more suitable eminence from which to view a wide extent of country than Bethel.

If at Hebron when the promise was given, we can understand why Abraham removed his tent, and why he there built an altar as a memorial of the promise. From Hebron he would be able to "look north, south, east and west" upon the promised inheritance, and from

this centre he would be able to " walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it," with the lively hope of receiving it in due time according to the promise.

In the age to come Abraham will probably reside at Hebron, a fitting place from which to supervise the affairs of the holy oblation. His jurisdiction, probably extending over the whole of that area, may appertain more particularly to the middle portion of the square.

The Temple of Ezekiel's prophecy 6.1.

19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

àThere is a strange and interesting people associated with Israel all through its Old Testament history. They first appear in Genesis 15:19, as the leading name in a list of ten nations whose land Abraham is promised he will later receive. They are the Kenites.

This reference shows they were already a nation at the time of Abraham. We know nothing of them at this time, but we do know Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, was there.

There must have been some faithful people to whom Melchizedek ministered. Several of the nations in this list were descended from Ham through Canaan, but there is no way of determining which branch of Noah's family the Kenites came from. This silence concerning them is perhaps significant.

Their next appearance is in Exodus 2:16. When Moses fled from Egypt, he came into contact with Reuel the priest of Midian, and his seven daughters. They are not identified as Kenites in this passage, but they are several times later. Once they are called Midianites, apparently from their dwelling at this time in the land of Midian among that people. Usually they are called Kenites.

The Midianites (descended from Abraham) always appear as bitter enemies of Israel: the Kenites always as faithful friends.

One unusual aspect of the Kenites is their habit and ability of peaceful association with, and living in the area of, other peoples... They usually appear as simple and harmless strangers and nomads-on good terms with neighbours but not entering into their conflicts: a strange people set apart.

Bro Growcott - BYT 2. 4

20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

The historical accuracy of the Bible right back to the beginning—4000 years before Christ—has been repeatedly confirmed by archeo­logical discovery, while man's records for that period are a pitiful jumble of legends and myths. Until the advent of archeology, man's knowledge of the past, outside of the Bible, went just a few centuries before Christ, and was very limited and erroneous even that far.

Up to a little over 100 years ago, the most pitiful rubbish was gravely peddled by the learned of the world as ancient history. One has only to glance through the long-famous "Rollin's Ancient History" to show that. It is not so long since "educated" men solemnly denied that there ever had been such a city as Babylon.

But amid all man's abysmal ignorance and darkness, the Bible's clear light went back 4000 years before Christ in lucid, specific, accurate detail. As archeology has gradually dug up and pieced together the past, more and more it has confirmed the detailed accuracy of the Bible and exposed the errors and presumptions of man, especially in many cases where the wise of the world denied Bible truth.

Many now well-known figures of ancient history—as Belshazzar,Sargon, Pul, the specific Egyptian Pharaohs, etc.—were completely unknown outside the Bible, and their existence denied, until the spade of the archeologist confirmed the Bible and silenced the critics: silenced them, that is, on those specific points, for the flesh never learns wisdom but merely shifts its attack. The great Hittite Empire, once the rival of Egypt and Babylon, was not long ago so completely unknown that men scoffed at Bible references to them as a strong and feared people.

According to the chronology indicated in the Biblical records, the creation of man works out very close to 4000 BC. This is just about the time that man's own now archeologically proven history starts, as contrasted to blind guesses and speculations of millions of years. No written records or inscriptions have ever been found that can be dated before 3500 BC; and these oldest records come, of course, from the Mesopotamian valley, where the Bible says man began.

It is a very strange fact, if man has existed as claimed for hundreds of thousands of years, that he suddenly learned to write and make records just after the time the Bible says he was created, and that he shows up just where the Bible says he was. One is fact: the other pure speculation.

Bro Growcott - BYT 3. 26

21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

àWhen Abram awoke, as the following day dawned, all the lands between Egypt and the Euphrates are promised to Abraham his seed (10 representative nations)- entire Middle East plus Gentile lands (Pslm 72, 59.13, 86.9,100; Dan.2 Dan.7, Rev.14)*

*Bro Richard Lister -

The Apocalyptic Messenger,

thomas.lister1@btinternet.com