SOM: Walking Between the Pieces

Introduction

For the past few weeks, we’ve been doing a deep dive into some of the lesser known Old Testament passages that point towards the person and work of the coming Messiah. Our aim in this series has been to kind of recreate the conversation that Jesus might have had with his disciples on the road to Emmaus, recorded in Luke 24.

Luke 24:27 ESV

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Today, we’re going to wrap up that series with a very interesting passage. This passage really embodies our theme quote from Augustine:

“The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”

—St. Augustine, Quaestiones in Heptateuchum VII, 2,73: PL 34, 623; cf. DV 16.

Well, in Genesis 15, the gospel is present, but it is definitely concealed for most modern readers!

Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 15.

There are a number of passages in our Bibles that, if we’re honest, seem a bit bizzare or strange to us as modern readers, and Genesis 15, or at least verses 7-21, have to be near the top of the list. This is a passage that I can’t recall having ever heard someone preach on, and it wasn’t until I was in either a college Bible course or maybe even seminary that I heard someone explain it.

Most of us, when we come to strange passages like this, shift uncomfortably in our seats, scratch our heads, and then either find a way of explaining the text that makes sense in our modern framework and worldview, or else go on reading right past it and assume it must not be important.

But, I’ve found over the years that oftentimes, the opposite is true. Passages that puzzle us are quite often evidence that our worldview and context doesn’t line up quite as nicely with the Bible’s as perhaps we thought. Michael Heiser, the author of The Unseen Realm and the former scholar in residence for Faithlife and Logos Bible software, goes so far as to argue,

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible 3. We Assume that a Lot of Things in the Bible Are Too Odd or Peripheral to Matter

if it’s weird, it’s important. Every passage plays a coherent role in the mosaic whole.

Of course, not every weird passage or passing comment is equally important, but I find that oftentimes, the best gold nuggets are not the ones laying on the river bank, but the ones you have to dig for a little.

So, I hope you brought your shovels and had plenty of coffee this morning, because we’re going to do some digging. But, by the end of it, I hope you’ll see the gold in this passage—how this obscure passage from the Old Testament points to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Illumination

Transition:

Genesis 15 ESV

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 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.”

Abraham shows us that God’s grace is not merited (vv. 1-6)

Justification is not by works

God chose Abraham in Gen. 12 not upon the basis of anything good or bad they had done, but because of his sovereign (and secret) purpose.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham’s acts of obedience (for which he is praised as a model) followed his faith, and even Abraham’s faith followed God’s calling. Abraham didn’t earn God’s favor and God wasn’t reacting to Abraham’s faith—God called him, then Abraham responded in faith and obedience.

Abraham did nothing to justify himself--it was a gift from God. Abraham was declared righteous by simply believing God and taking him at his word, not by any good works he did.

This pattern continues with Isaac, who is chosen over Ishmael, and Jacob, who is chosen over Esau.

Romans 9:9–12 ESV

9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

And so it continues today. Justification has never been based upon works. You could not earn a righteous standing before God, even under the Old Covenant.

The Law served not to give us a means of justification but to expose our sinfulness and inability to attain self-righteousness.

The relationship between faith, works, and justification is concealed in the OT, but fully revealed in the NT.

Romans 3:19–20 ESV

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Many people think that OT believers were saved through works, while NT believers are saved through faith. But that is not true. Justification has always been by faith alone, even in the OT.

Justification is by faith.

Romans 3:21–22 (ESV)

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

The interpretation of the phrases “righteousness of God” and “faith in Christ” are a hot debate because the meanings are ambiguous. Options:

Option 1: “God’s righteous character has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—God’s righteous character through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe...”

Option 2: “The righteousness from God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness from God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe...”

The question that Paul is trying to answer is, “If not by works of the law, then how can sinful people be justified?” (v. 20)

Option 1: “Through the righteous character of God and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

Option 2: “Through imputed righteousness granted by faith in Christ.”

When we phrase it this way, it’s clear that the answer is “yes! both!” If not for God’s righteous character exhibited in Christ’s faithfulness, imputed righteousness through faith would not be possible. Yet, this doesn’t fully answer how man is justified, it simply shows how God can be just in justifying sinners. And, by citing Genesis 15:6 in Romans 4:5, it’s clear that he means that righteousness is imputed to those who have faith.

Justification is for all who believe, regardless of race.

This episode in Genesis 15 lays the groundwork for understanding Gentile inclusion in the New Covenant.

Abram was the father of the Jews, but was himself not an “Israelite,” because he was the grandfather of Jacob/Israel.

Furthermore, Abram in Gen. 15 is justified by faith before he receives circumcision, the marker of Jewish identity.

Romans 4:9–12 ESV

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Gen 15 shows us that justification has always been by faith, not works, and it points forward to a day when God’s people will be defined by faith, not ethnicity.

Galatians 3:5–9 ESV

5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

But, thus far, this probably hasn’t been anything too revolutionary. No doubt, most of what I’ve said so far you’ve heard before and is fairly self-evident. But, that brings us to verses 7-21, where things get a little weird...

Walking between the Pieces (vv. 7-21)

Overview:

v.7—God reiterates who he is

v. 8—Abram, having just been praised for his faith, seems to doubt or question God’s promise.

vv. 9-10—God doesn’t rebuke him; instead, he instructs Abram to gather up some livestock, cut them up, and arrange them on the ground in some kind of weird, grotesque arrangement.

v. 11—Random tidbit about Abram driving away birds of prey...

v. 12—Abram falls into a trance/deep sleep

vv. 13-14—God gives an ominous prophecy about the Israelites future enslavement in Egypt.

v. 15—God promises that Abram will live a long, peaceful life.

v. 16—God promises that Abram’s descendants will return to the promised land at the right time.

v. 17—A smoking fire pot and flaming torch pass between the severed animal parts

v. 18-21—God makes a covenant with Abram to give Canaan (the Promised Land) to his descendants .

ANE Background

Verses 7-21 seem very odd and puzzling to us as modern people from largely Westernized cultures, but for ancient Mesopotamians, it would have been obvious what was going on.

Interpretive strategy: When you come to a passage that seems bizzare and offers no explanation for its oddities, cultural and historical background should be the first place you start digging. The reason no explanation is offered even though it seems strange is probably because the original audience would have intuitively understood it.

The background for understanding these verses comes from Hittite Treaties and Land Grant Treaties in the ANE during the Bronze Age

Some of these treaties have been discovered and analyzed by scholars, and some patterns/commonalities in these treaties have emerged:

Treaties and Covenants were used to establish deep and binding relationships.

Often, but not always, between a suzerain (Lord) and a vassal (inferior/servant)

Oftentimes used to establish a relationship between a king (of a large empire or more powerful nation) with a ruler of a smaller nation/city-state.

The suzerain would receive unwavering allegiance, possibly tribute, in exchange for military protection and other benefits.

But this wasn’t purely business, there was a strong relational aspect to these treaties.

Identification of the Covenant Giver (Gen 15:7 “And he said to him, “I am Yahweh...”)

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

This introduction to the treaty text typically begins with the formula “The words of …,” followed by the name of the Hittite king, his genealogy, and his various titles

Historical Prologue (Gen 15:7 “And he said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.””)

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

This section, in which the Hittite king recounted his past deeds of benefit to the vassal, is frequently so detailed and extensive as to constitute a major source for our knowledge of ANE history in this period.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

In short, just as in the LB treaties, so also even in the late repristination of the old covenant traditions of ancient Israel, the past was recounted for the specific purpose of instilling a sense of gratitude as the foundation and ground for future obedience.

The Stipulations

Interestingly, not present here in Gen. 15, but present in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

This section of the LB treaties, often phrased in the case-law format (“if …, then …”), described the interests of the great king that the vassal is bound to protect and obey under the covenant relationship.

The Provision for Deposit and Periodic Public Reading

This is also not present here, but is present in the later covenant at Mt. Sinai.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

Interestingly enough, the frequency specified for the periodic public reading varied, but it was usually scheduled from one to four times a year

List of Witnesses to the Treaty

Not present here, but present in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

These treaties also typically listed those “third parties” who would witness the enactment of the treaty. It is of especial interest that the witnesses were exclusively deities or deified elements of the natural world. The list of deities was frequently so lengthy as to justify the conclusion that it was intended to be exhaustive: all gods relevant to both parties were called upon as witnesses, so that there was no god left that the vassal could appeal to for protection if he wanted to violate his solemn oath.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

The witnesses also included the heavens and the earth, and mountains and rivers, a fact of particular significance because the motif continues in the poetic and prophetic traditions of the Bible (Deuteronomy 32; Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1–2)

The Blessings and Curses

The blessings are present in this passage

Gen 15:1 “1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.””

Gen 15:4-5 “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””

Again, however, the curses are absent in this passage.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Covenant

This section of the treaty text described in detail the consequences of obedience and disobedience with which the witnesses to the treaty rewarded or punished the vassal.

The Ratification Ceremony (vv.9-21)

While many other aspects of ANE treaties would vary greatly, sometimes being present and sometimes not, this aspect was almost invariably present and almost always involved the slaughter of one or more animals.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Covenant)

the ratification of the covenant was frequently associated with the sacrifice of an animal....An Iron Age Assyrian treaty, however (ANET, 532–33), makes perfectly clear that at that time and place (N Syria), the sacrificed animal represented, and was identified with, the vassal who was being placed under oath: just as the animal was slaughtered, so would the vassal and his dependents be slaughtered if he violated his oath.

When Abram asks “how am I to know that I shall possess it?” in v. 7, he is not expressing doubt or uncertainty, but politely requesting to enter into covenant.

The animals are part of the covenant ratification ceremony.

The Hebrew phrase which is translated in our English Bibles as “to make a covenant” is literally “to cut a covenant.” Animal sacrifice was such a fundamental part of sealing and ratifying a covenant that it is reflected in the terminology used.

The animal(s) would be cut in half and then arranged so that the two parties to the covenant would walk through the pieces together. Oftentimes, the pieces would be arranged so that the blood ran down and pooled in the center, where the covenant parties would walk. The cut up animals represented the parties in the covenant.

This was a visual, enacted oath that meant, “If I break this covenant, may what happened to these animals be done to me.” It was a self-imprecatory oath; a “blood oath.”

Jeremiah refers to this practice in chapter 34:

The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17 2. The Covenant Ceremonies (15:7–21)

Jeremiah’s prophecy is prompted by the actions of King Zedekiah, who had “cut a covenant” with the Jerusalemites in order to set free all male and female Hebrew slaves, but after which his people turned around and took their slaves right back.

Jeremiah 34:17–20 ESV

17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

The birds of prey coming down on the animals is clearly significant, but scholars are divided on the interpretation. Some see in this an attempt by evil spirits to interfere with the covenant. But, given the following context of vv. 13-14, it seems likely that this is a sign of the coming persecution of Israel (represented by the severed animals) by Egypt (the birds).

Thus, what follows in vv. 13-14 is God’s elaboration and explanation of that sign. Persecution by Egypt will come, but God will ‘drive away the birds’ and bring his people out of Egypt in prosperity.

In v. 16, it implies that God is giving the Amorites time to repent (as he did for the Israelites and Ninevites). But, it also implies that they will not repent and that a time will come when God will bring down judgement upon them in the form of the conquest of Canaan by Israel.

Scholars are virtually unanimous that the smoking fire pot and flaming torch (v. 17) are symbolic of God.

God is often symbolized in Scripture with darkness and with fire (i.e., burning bush, Mt. Sinai, Exodus pillar of fire, etc.).

Rev. 4:5 “5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,”

One French translation actually interprets the Hebrew here as referring to one, not two, objects--”a smoking fire pot from which flames and smoke escaped.”

Other commentators have also noted that these two instruments were often used in Mesopotamian rituals to ward off spirits or as representations of Mesopotamian gods. If this is the symbolism, then God has appropriated symbols with which Abram would have familiar in order to make the point of his divine presence in the ceremony.

So, what does all this mean? Well, if you’re paying attention then you’ve realized something significant. If both the smoking pot and torch represent God, and if Abram is knocked out cold while this covenant ratification ceremony happens, then Abram never walked between the pieces—only God did!

God walked between the pieces.

ANE gods were generally portrayed as uninterested in human affairs—aloof and oftentimes petty

But Yahweh here takes the initiative to cut a covenant with Abram.

God is not like the uninterested, petty, quarrelsome gods of Mesopotamia or Greece. He comes down to us and uses means that we understand to communicate and establish a relationship with us.

Christ became our curse.

God not only walked between the pieces, he walked between the pieces ALONE.

He gave Abram no stipulations, no curses for breaking the covenant, because he alone intended to fulfill it.

Since he alone walked between the pieces, he accepted the responsibility, burden, and curses upon himself.

By walking between the pieces, God said to Abram, “I’m going to keep my promise. And if this covenant is broken by either me or you, I will pay the price in my own blood.”

God’s promise to Abram wasn’t just to give them some land, it was a promise of his presence. Covenants like these were a means of establishing a deep, binding relationship. So, when God’s people broke and forsook that relationship, a curse was invoked.

And, one day, he DID pay the price for that broken covenant. Not broken by God, but by us. Yet Jesus Christ took upon himself the curses of all the broken covenants so that you and I might live.

And because Christ has taken that curse upon himself, you and I are freed from bondage to the Law!

Galatians 3:10–12 ESV

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”

If you enter into a covenant, you’re bound by all the stipulations, all the blessings and the curses that it entails. So, if you break the covenant, even in a small matter, you are entitled to the curses of the covenant.

So, if you attempt to please God and earn justification by following the Law, but then break one little point, you invoke the curses of the covenant upon yourself.

But...

Galatians 3:13–14 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

But wasn’t this covenant made with just Abram and his offspring? How does this apply to us?

Galatians 3:16 ESV

16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

Paul, knowing his Hebrew well, recognized that the word translated “offspring” in Genesis 12 and 15, where God promises to make Abram’s offspring as numerous as the stars, is actually singular. It can be used as a collective singular, meaning many, or simply as a singular.

Paul recognizes that ultimately, the Abrahamic promise is fulfilled not through Isaac or the nation of Israel, but through Christ, who brings in many sons and daughters into covenant relationship with God.

Galatians 3:26–29 ESV

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Conclusion

Concealed all the way back in Genesis 15 in the Abrahamic covenant is the bedrock of our faith: Justification by faith, Gentile inclusion, and even the substitutionary death of Christ. From the very beginning, God was working out his plan to make for himself a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And even though time after time he offered mankind the opportunity to enter into relationship with him, time after time humanity broke God’s laws and pushed him away. So, he took upon himself the curse of our broken promises. He walked between the pieces, and then one day, he became the pieces.

Galatians 3:13 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.