seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Check this out.... from the commentary.
Cut them in two… and placed each piece opposite the other: Abram knew exactly what to do with these animals; he understood that according to the custom of his time, God told him to get a contract ready for signing.
In those days, contracts were made by the sacrificial cutting of animals, with the split carcasses of the animals lying on the ground. The covenant was made when parties to the agreement walked through the animal parts together, repeating the terms of the covenant. The LORD made a covenant in Genesis 15:18 is literally, “the LORD cut a covenant.”
And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away: As Abram waited for the LORD to appear and walk through the carcasses with him (to sign the covenant), God didn’t come right away. He had to wait and fight off the vultures until God appeared to complete the covenant ceremony.
I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates: By quoting the specific lands Abram’s descendants would inherit, God made it clear this was not a figurative spiritual promise. It was real, and through this promise, Israel would inherit real land.
So.... Eliezer of Damascus was Abram's top slave. Abram had no kids... So, Eliezer would get the whole of Abram's possessions upon his passing. They didn't do wills and bank accounts and trusts back in the days of Abram. They had animals and slaves to count instead of shiny coins. That's how cutting animals can become a contract in blood. Abram bugged God about an heir. All the men around had kids... sons to carry on the riches of whatever life they were living... and Abram had no kids. Abram would not be remembered by his sons.... because he had none.
Sarai, Abram's wife, was gorgeous.... but she was also getting to be too old for childbirth. Was Sarai one of those women who cared more about her gorgeous body than anything else? Is that how she avoided Pharaoh? Is that how she got so old without having a baby? There were no laws yet.
Now I had a thought about this "too old for having kid stuff". I wonder... Did Sarai avoid getting pregnant in order to "preserve her own beauty"? Having a baby would have dulled her radiant beauty. Did she wash herself out, destroying the seed? Did she insist on having Abram "pull out", spilling the seed but saving the gorgeous body to be admired by all? There was no law.... pulling out or abstinence were the only forms of birth control back in the day.
God told Abram not to worry about having children. God told Abram not to worry. God did this ritual for Abram to ease Abram's mind. After all, God was the one making a covenant with Abram... and He is God. Any contract with God has got to be iron clad, right?
I found an easy to see map. Here's the link. Included in the land area on the map are, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Damascus and of course, Israel. All those nations were all located within the area God defined in the contract with Abram.
God gave all that land to Abram and his offspring.
Oh, Sarai, enjoy that beautiful body while you can... cause putting another woman in the way is not going to work. God said you're going to get pregnant. But don't worry, dear Sarai, people will fight to get the land your baby will inherit.
So... what catchy title can I use to get people to read about the bloody contract God made with Abram?
Here's an idea....
God's bloody contract...
