5: The Bizarre Story Of Abraham Cutting Animals In Half

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6: Why Is “LORD” Often In All Caps In The Bible?

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Hello, and welcome back to the Ready for Eternity podcast. My name is

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Eddie Lawrence. In Genesis 15, God is reassuring Abraham that he would indeed have a son and that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of heaven.

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When Abraham asked the Lord, how can I know this for sure? God had

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Abraham do one of the strangest things that we read about in the entire

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Bible. Let's talk about the bizarre story of Abraham cutting animals in half.

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In Genesis 15, we find Abram, who was later renamed to Abraham, performing a really strange ritual involving cutting animals in half.

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This was in response to God reiterating his promise that Abram would become the father of offspring as numerous as the stars.

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God had made this promise years earlier, but so far had not made good on it.

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Abram is beginning to despair and is resigning himself to the possibility that his heir might end up being his servant

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Eliezer. After being reassured, Abram took God at his word and believed the promise.

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This promise was not only about offspring, but also about a place where Abram's descendants could call home.

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God said that the place would be the land where he now dwelt, the land of Canaan. But Abraham wanted to formalize this promise.

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He wanted it to be official. Therefore, God told Abram, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

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And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other.

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But he did not cut the birds in half. Genesis 15 9 -10

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Notice that God did not tell Abram to cut the animals in half. He just knew he was supposed to do this.

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This is beyond strange. What is going on here? Let's notice what is

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NOT happening before we look at evidence for what the ritual is about.

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In the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, John Walton says,

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It is not a sacrifice. There is no altar, no offering of the animals to deity, and no ritual with the carcasses, the meat, or the blood.

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It is not divination. The entrails are not examined, and no meal is offered to deity.

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It is not an incantation. No words are spoken to accompany the ritual, and no efficacy is sought.

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If it wasn't a sacrifice, divination, or an incantation or a spell, what could this ritual be?

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Clearly, we don't have a category for cutting animals in half. While this may be strange and incomprehensible to modern readers, everyone in the ancient

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Near East would have been familiar with what was about to take place. What the

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Bible describes here is called cutting a covenant. In verse 18, the

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English translation says the Lord made a covenant, but the Hebrew says the

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Lord cut a covenant. This was a well -known covenant rite in the ancient

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Near East involving cutting animals in half. The two parties who were to be bound by a covenant walked between the halves of the animals.

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The idea is that just as the animals were cut in half, so shall it be done to the one who violates the covenant.

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The covenant ceremony is also referenced by Jeremiah. As Jeremiah makes clear, the parties entering into covenant pass between the parts of the calf.

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Furthermore, he implies they will die for violating this covenant. This was a covenant inaugurated with blood.

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God introduced the Sinai covenant with blood in Exodus, as Jesus did with the

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New Covenant. This ancient Near Eastern rite could be the origin of blood covenants.

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Our English phrase, cutting a deal, preserves the ancient ritual language used in making agreements.

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However, in modern usage, we've disconnected the words from the rite. While we use some of the same words when striking a deal, we no longer have the practice of cutting animals in half.

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Based on what we know of this covenant ritual, what we expect to see next is

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God and Abram taking turns walking between the animal halves. This would bind each of them to the covenant.

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In effect, if either were to break the covenant, they were agreeing that the violator would suffer the same fate as these animals.

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But this isn't what happens. Abram fell into a deep sleep and we read that a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the animals.

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Abram never takes the walk. Two objects pass between the animals instead.

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Scholars have suggested various ideas as to what the smoke and the torch may represent.

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Some say the smoke represents the affliction that Abram's offspring would endure, while the torch represents hope of deliverance.

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Others say that the smoke and torch foreshadow the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that would lead them in the wilderness.

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Regardless, the interesting thing is that Abram did not walk between the pieces with God.

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Instead, both the pot of smoke and the torch passed through, which suggests that it was

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God walking through. These objects represented God walking through with himself.

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What this means is that God was committing himself to bear the consequences in the event that Abram or his descendants fail to uphold the covenant.

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With the exception of keeping faith in God, Abram ends up with no obligations in this covenant.

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It was God who would take sole responsibility for keeping its terms. The burden of fulfilling this covenant rested squarely on God's shoulders.

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As the story of Abram's descendants unfolded, we know that they failed to keep faith in God.

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And true to his commitment, God would eventually suffer the fate of these animals – death.

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This would take place more than 1800 years later at a place called

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Golgotha. Please share it with your friends.

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For more Biblical studies, visit our website at ReadyForEternity .com.

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That's all for now. Keep studying your Bible. Growing closer to God. And getting ready for eternity.