The Smoking Firepot - Genesis 15:8-18

©Copyright March 31, 2019 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Do you ever have strange dreams? I do. All the time. I wake up wondering "What was all that about?" I don't recall ever having a dream that revealed anything of significance to me.

Throughout the Bible dreams and visions are ways God communicated with His servants. Joseph and Daniel came to their prominent positions because of their ability to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh and King Nebuchadnezzar respectively. Joseph not only interpreted dreams, he also had dreams. Paul was guided in his missionary endeavors by a vision. The Bible is filled with various dreams (many of which are quite strange) that point to profound spiritual truth.

Today there are some great stories coming out of Muslim countries of people having visions of Christ that resulted in those individuals coming to trust Him as their personal Savior. God communicates to us in ways that will be effective for us.

This morning we are going to look at a significant dream that Abraham had. Let's pick up the story. God reaffirmed His plan to bless Abraham. Abraham asked God about the promise of descendants. He was old, the only heir he would have would be his chief servant. God assured Abraham that God was not unaware. He would indeed have a child of his own. And God took him out and showed him the stars and promised His descendants would be more numerous than those stars. Abraham believed God.

But Abraham's questions were not finished.

7Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

8But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

Like Abraham's earlier question (about a son), God did not rebuke Abraham for a lack of faith. God is patient with Abraham. He knows Abraham is still growing in his faith. He knows we are still growing too.

God's Covenant with Abraham

What God does next is somewhat foreign to us but would not have been to the first readers.

9The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

12As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15(As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

17After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River

This dividing of the animals was the normal act of "cutting a covenant." It was kind of like drawing up a legal contract today except WAY more picturesque. The cut-up animals would have had pieces on both sides of the path. The person would make his promise and walk through this path decorated with dead animals which symbolized the person(s) saying, "May it be to me as it is with these dead animals if I fail to live up to the promises I have just made." In other words, may I be cut in half if I do not fulfill my promise! This is much stronger than "I cross my heart and hope to die and stick a needle in my eye!"

What made this covenant ceremony interesting was the fact that this "smoking firepot" and "flaming torch" went between the animals ALONE. In other words, and don't miss this, God was anchoring this promise to Abraham, to His character rather than to the behavior or performance of Abraham. This is God saying, "Abraham, may I be cut in two; defrocked as God; if I do not fulfill my promise to you."

This is significant as a picture because our salvation, likewise, is anchored to the work and promise of God. We bring nothing to the fulfillment of the promise other than a willingness to embrace said promise and the One who made it. This adds meaning to the verses in Ephesians 2:8-10:

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

God forgives us and sets us free to be who we were meant to be through the grace that is made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our salvation is not due to anything we have done. It is ENTIRELY dependent on the gracious mercy and promise of God.

Philippians 1:6 affirms "And I am certain that God, who began the good work in you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Romans 8 asks us what shall separate us from the love of Christ? The answer is a resounding "NOTHING."

This is why we should ALWAYS be grateful. No matter what is happening in our lives, God has given us a gift that continually provokes gratitude.

So, here is the question: Have you entrusted yourself to the Jesus of the Bible? Have you received God's gift or are you still trying to negotiate a purchase price so you can "save yourself?" I encourage you today to examine your heart to see if you have ever embraced God's promise of forgiveness and new life. If you have done so, give thanks to God. If you have not, then I encourage you to do so today. Admit your failure to live up to his standards and then take hold of God's gift of Jesus for forgiveness and a brand new life.

Details Revealed

What comes next in the account shows us that God is Sovereign and He knows exactly how He will bring the promise to pass,

You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15(As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

God is not guessing at the future! He KNOWS the future because He ORDAINS the future. God does not orchestrate everything that happens in our lives, but He does weave all things into the future He has planned for us. Abraham can be SURE of what God is telling him.

When God talks about being slaves for 400 years He is referring to the slavery in Egypt after the death of Joseph. By the time any of this happens, Abraham would have been dead for a good while. Israel served in Egypt for 400 years as slaves. When Moses came along God sent plagues on Egypt and eventually the Hebrews were sent packing with great riches . . . just as God had said!

Things were not going to happen the way Abraham might have liked them to happen. It was not even going to happen during his lifetime! However, the promise would be fulfilled.

Suppose someone said to you: "I am going to bless you. You won't see the full impact of your blessing but a couple of generations from now your great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren are going to make a significant contribution to the Kingdom of God. I will bless them and empower them. All these promises you may have thought were forgotten, have not been. . . they will be fulfilled in the future."

If someone said this would you feel blessed and happy? I suspect you would. You would be grateful that your relatives were faithful and were going to be used by God. I know I would feel that way. (I would feel pretty good about the "dying in peace" promise too.) Apparently, Abraham felt that way as well.

As I mentioned, this promise to Abraham was fulfilled to the letter! So, what does all of this have to do with us? What can we learn from this strange account about a smoking firepot?

We All Crave Assurance

We understand Abraham because at some point all of us desire to know for sure that we are headed to Heaven. We would love for some great sign to come out of the sky to let us know that we will die in peace (sometime in the future) and then will be in the presence of the Lord.

It is likely that we will not see any smoking firepots. But are there ways to know for certain where we will spend eternity?

God wants us to know. Listen to these verses,

I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)

those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want.And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day.” (John. 6:36-40)

Paul began his letter to the Ephesians

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,14who is a depositguaranteeing our inheritanceuntil the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

At the end of his life, Paul wrote,

Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and amconvinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. [2 Timothy 1:12]

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.[2 Timothy. 4:7-8]

If we want to have real assurance of salvation we cannot trust,

Our emotions

Our experience

Our progress

Or our list of good deeds

God wants you to be confident. In my book FAITH LESSONS, I give this list of reasons God wants us to know we are saved.

He wants us to live with gratitude rather than fear

He wants us to spend our time getting to know Him rather than trying to “find Him”

He wants us to trust in His grace rather than in our efforts

He wants us to keep looking forward rather than over our shoulder

He wants us to serve with confidence rather than be shackled by uncertainty

He wants us to repent and get up when we fall rather than get depressed and give up

He wants us to enjoy the journey rather than simply endure it

Take God at His Word! Stand on His Promises and know the confidence that will set you free to live.

The Road to Fulfilled Promises is Not Always as Expected

Things did not go the way Abraham thought they were going to go. He thought Sarah would be pregnant by now. He thought there would be children running all over the place. But that was not the plan of God. In fact, God had something much better in store; something that would bring Him greater glory than working according to the normal way of doing things.

Have you given any thought to the possibility that God might be doing this with you? Is it possible that what you think are your plans "being ruined" or "having failed" is really just God's way of doing something better?

If I have learned anything over the years it is this: God is full of surprises! He may not do what you have expected, but He will always do what He promised.

He does not always heal people physically, but He does heal. Sometimes it is spiritually, emotionally or best of all, eternally.

He does not always come through to save what we have; sometimes He lets us lose our stuff so we can find that which is better . . . Him.

He does not always heal our relationships; sometimes He opens door to new discoveries, and even, on occasion new relationships that bring us what we never dreamt possible.

Sometimes He doesn't take away the pain; He gives us a way to use our pain to help others.

Sometimes the money doesn't come; but often contentment comes instead.

I don't know who said it, but I think it is true: God is never late . . . be He also is seldom early. His timing is perfect.

God's Promises are Not Always Unilateral but the Ones that are, Should Lead us to Unending Worship.

What God did for Abraham was quite astounding. But in comparison to what He done for you and me, it pales in comparison. The Lord has promised that if we trusted Him, He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we truly put our trust in the way of salvation He provided, (Jesus), we will have life eternal, be filled with God's Spirit, obtain His constant prayers on our behalf, and we will be made a part of a family of people from every tribe and nation. He would give us a way to contribute to this family in ways that are unique. Each of us will have a part to play and in His plan there really is no part that is small.

What do we do in response to this? The Bible tells us that when we get to Heaven we will join the chorus of those who bow in worship before the Lord. It is the ONLY appropriate response. Gratitude is the only way to respond to what God has provided for us.

Here's the thing: We don't have to, and shouldn't, wait until Heaven to begin praising the Lord. He has blessed us richly; far more than we can yet even begin to comprehend. We can praise Him with our songs and prayers, but we can also praise Him with our obedience, our devotion, and our passion to serve Him.

God's great love for us should humble us, soften us, and motivate us to praise Him until our dying breath. It should be the fuel for our obedience, the justification for our forgiveness of others, and the lead for, and the passion behind, our witness. The lackadaisical follower of Christ shows they have no real concept of what God has done, is doing, and will do for those who put their trust in Him.

If you "get it" there will be a dramatic change in your orientation, your heart, and, by virtue of God's amazing promise - your forever. And this is no dream. It is an incredible reality of the grace of God.