2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The Lord leads me to review some of the basic covenant practices found in the OT that have their origin in the sealing of the Abrahamic covenant. This will also set a foundation for an even better understanding of the NT principles that they foreshadow and of their importance to us in the modern day. Remember that the Hebrew word, “briyth,” means “a compact or agreement made by passing between cut halves of flesh.” The first mention of this word comes in GN 15 :17 which is a most dramatic verse describing the actual sealing of the Abrahamic covenant. It is revealing here that “Abraham fell into a deep sleep and fear and terror came over him [GN 15: 14]. Now let me cite (17), “When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.” I was fascinated to find that the smoking fire pot was symbolic of the suffering that the Jews would endure for 400 of their 430 years in Egyptian slavery, and the flaming torch was symbolic of witness-bearing that they would do. In other words, these things were symbolic of the national destiny of Israel. The significance of Abraham being asleep is that this is a monopleuric covenant in which God is the stronger of the two participating parties and has imposed this covenant on Abraham, knowing it was in the best interests of him and his descendants. Thus, it was God who walked between the pieces in establishing this covenant for both of them.
There is a picture in my mind of Abraham representing mankind who is not able to reach to God’s perspective on how critical making this covenant is to his very survival. So, in His compassion, God puts Abraham to sleep to make sure that the covenant gets sealed and that mankind has the time to gradually recognize its importance within the confines of his limitations [IS 55: 8-9]. We know that God has His “mysterion” [Greek word for “mysteries”] which are His truths gradually revealed as mankind is ready to be able to receive and assimilate them. This gradual revelation can be seen upon careful study of the Scriptures.
When the Jews broke their covenant with God in mistreating Hebrew slaves, they had to learn that there were consequences for doing this. That such a thing happened only supports the point that mankind is slow to learn, and that God knows this. JER 34: 18-19, “The officials of Judah and of Jerusalem, together with the palace officials, the priests, and all the leaders, made a covenant with Me by walking between the two halves of a bull that they had cut in two. But they broke the covenant and did not keep its terms. So I will do to these people what they did to the bull,” [an angry God exclaims]. What is amazing about all of this is God’s careful control of His wrath. When all the disobedience of the Jews which had accumulated up to Jeremiah’s time was counted, it was considerable. Any god but our true and always righteous One, would have struck back with intent to destroy all his children off the face of the earth. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob decided to punish His children in a very measured way. They would be in captivity one year for each time that they disobeyed God by not observing the year of restoration as described in LV 25: 8-17, a total of seventy years. God would allow Judah’s enemies [the Babylonians and Medo-Persians] to have sway over her for that long. In His infinite wisdom, God knew what it would take to bring the Jews to brokenness without destroying them altogether.
The image of the smoking fire pot in GN 15: 17 also brought another thought to my mind, one that may or may not be a correct connection. I’ll share it with you, and you can decide with God’s help for yourself how you feel. REV 8: 3-5 describes the seventh seal of the seal judgments to come. “Another angel, who had a gold incense container, came and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to add to the prayers of all God’s people and to offer it on the gold altar that stands before the throne. The smoke of the burning incense went up with the prayers of God’s people from the hands of the angel standing before God. Then the angel took the incense container, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were rumblings and peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.” This has always made me thought of this smoke symbolically as the vehicle for the prayers of the people being transmitted to heaven. If it is correct that the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch which appeared at the sealing of the Abrahamic covenant signify the destiny of the Jewish people [and may I add all those Gentiles which are in-grafted to them by faith in Christ], then perhaps the smoke from the fire pot was God’s way of establishing a vehicle for the prayers of the believers to reach Him. We all know that an important prayer that believers offer is that evil will one day be conquered and that God will successfully wrest dominion over the earth, through the Lamb, from Satan’s evil hands. God’s permanent Kingdom will then be established. Hallelujah!
PRAYER: O Lord, each time that You bring us to revisit a part of the Scriptures we’ve seen before, You teach us something new. While we are spending considerable time examining all these aspects to covenant theology, we are learning about ourselves, about You, and about Your righteous motives for us. If we only had Your perspective, how much trouble You would be saved! And yet through it all, You remain there for us with patience and compassion. Your wisdom is the only wisdom that gives You the power to know when we are ready to hear more about Your truth. As we hear that truth, You set us free to mature. That freedom extends to being free to be confident in You, to appreciate the enormous sacrifice You made for us in setting Your Son apart to do the work of the cross. You also allow us to revel in the freedom to be discerning supported by our knowledge and belief of Your word. We may take comfort in knowing that You never do anything that isn’t righteous. That is why we have no reason to question the wisdom You exercised in imposing your covenant on Abraham or the Covenant of Grace upon us. We are privileged to bask in Your guidance, encouragement, and love. Thus, we humbly approach You today to offer our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks at Your altar. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to continue reviewing some main covenant principles, because God wants to learn them well. Our review is not a waste of time, because it sets up a foundation that will change how we look at any commands God has given us or will give us in the future. It should also give us a more profound basis for understanding what faith is and examining the nature of our own faith. God does this for us in the Scriptures because of His great love for each of us. Revel in that love, for it is with us no matter what we are doing or whom we are with every minute of every day. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn