Genesis 15:7-10(NKJV)
7Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” 9So He said to 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.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
Yesterday we looked at the fact that Israel had some specific things they could look at that would help them stand. God had promised Abraham that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. When they entered Egypt there were only 70 people in the family of Israel. If they took a moment to look around as they were camped at the Red Sea, they would have realized that they were now a nation of 6,000,000 people. God had fulfilled his promise.
In our own lives, if we are to stand in the midst of trials we need to remember God’s past faithfulness. There is always something we can point to that God has done for us in the past. When we remember those things it is easy to stand through the current difficulty because we can have confidence that God will deal with that as well.
Today I want to take some time to emphasize another dimension that Israel could have used to strengthen their stand in the wilderness. In the verse above we see God making a specific promise to Abraham. God tells Abraham that He is going to give him the land he currently occupies. The very land that Israel was headed for when they found themselves at the Red Sea. When Abraham asks how he can know that this is true, God tells him to gather some animals.
You should read what the next verses tell him to do and the process that takes place. I did not include those things because I want to emphasize something. We might wonder how gathering animals would constitute a guarantee that this promise would come to pass. Abraham, Abram at that point, knew exactly what was happening. God was about to make a blood covenant with Abram.
In the ancient world this was one of the foundations of society. They did not have the structures we have today in terms of courts and business laws to govern relationships. Instead they used the blood covenant. It was the most solemn and unbreakable agreement that has ever been designed.
The blood covenant took various forms depending on the location and culture in which it was being applied, but there were some things that were consistent. It always involved the shedding of blood, if it was broken the penalty was always death and it always included the descendents of those who entered into the agreement. If two people made a covenant they and their families were joined forever.
Since this was such an important part of society, Abram knew that God was giving him an absolute guarantee of His word to him. If it was broken, God would have to forfeit His life. This is, of course, not possible. Abram knew that if God made covenant with him there was no way that he would not possess the land of Canaan.
The blood covenant is really an exchange. It says that all I and my descendents have belongs to you and all you and your descendents have belong to me. All my strength, wealth and resources are at your disposal. If you at any time need my help I cannot refuse and everything I have must be made available to help you.
From God’s point of view it would seem that he doesn’t have much to gain. However from Abram’s point of view a blood covenant with an almighty partner is an absolute guarantee of success. However, remember, this kind of covenant was not just to Abram, or Abraham by his covenant name. It was also valid for all of Abraham’s descendants. That brings us to Israel and their need to “stand still” at the Red Sea.
They were headed to the Promised Land. They were going to possess the land that God had sworn to Abraham he would possess. They were known by this covenant between God and Abraham. It was their national identity. However, they had allowed the reality of this covenant to be swallowed up in religion and tradition.
If they had taken the time to remember the power of a covenant, and if they believed that this was reality and not some nice story about great, great, great, (insert the appropriate number of greats) grandpa, they would have automatically stood expecting their Almighty Covenant Partner to do something to help them. The covenant guaranteed it.
The bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that we have a better covenant based on better promises. When I made Jesus the Lord of my life I entered into a blood covenant. It is the fulfillment and extension of the Abrahamic Covenant. It is stronger because it is not really between God and me. It is between the Father and Jesus Christ his son. I get in because Jesus is the “first born of many brethren” and I am in that number.
If I break the covenant it is still in place. I don’t have to die, as I would in a normal blood covenant, but instead Jesus has already died for my breaking of the covenant. If I break it I must repent, but the covenant is still there and in effect for me. At the same time, since Jesus arose from the dead, he is still alive enforcing the covenant. I have an agreement between God and Jesus that I am a part of.
This unbreakable agreement says all that I have is God’s. We can’t forget that. If I want to obtain the full benefit of this covenant I have to realize that I am not my own. I was bought with a price, the precious blood of the Lamb. All my wealth, my resources, even my time, if He asks for it, belongs to my covenant partner.
On the other hand all of his resources, abilities and wealth can be called on by me and God is obligated to meet my need. Not that he needs to be obligated. The power of the covenant is for us. God would meet our need anyway, but the covenant gives us something to stand on.
This is quite a good bargain for us. Let’s consider the idea of time. I need to make my time in this life available for God. If he needs me I must give him my time. However in exchange I get His eternity. I don’t know about you, but to exchange eternity for the few years I have here seems like a pretty good deal.
I don’t mind standing in a trial if I know I have an all powerful covenant friend to help me. In our military today, there is a type of covenant relationship between the branches of the armed services. When some of our ground troops find themselves in an impossible situation against an enemy that outnumbers them, they call in air cover.
This air cover may come from another branch of the service. There may be competition between those branches. They may “hate” one another, but when the call comes to help the ground troops, that covenant cancels everything else and they come to the rescue. The ground troops know this as well and have absolute confidence that the “flyboys” will be there.
They then stand in confidence. The enemy thinks they have the battle won until the bombs begin to fall. Modern aircraft can strike even before they are heard. Soon the enemy is devastated and the ground troops can continue to their objective because of the covenant between members of the military.
You may be on the ground facing a real trial. Call in the “air force.” Call upon your covenant partner. He has given you “great and precious promises” and by those promises you can partake of the covenant blessing. Stand knowing that somehow, usually in a way you cannot imagine, Your covenant partner will provide the help that will win the day.
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