5: The Bizarre Story Of Abraham Cutting Animals In Half

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

When Abraham asked the Lord, how can I know this for sure? God had Abraham do one of the strangest things that we read about in the entire Bible. Let's talk about the bizarre story of Abraham cutting animals in half.

In Genesis 15, we find Abram, who was later renamed to Abraham, performing a really strange ritual involving cutting animals in half. This was in response to God reiterating his promise that Abram would become the father of offspring as numerous as the stars.

God had made this promise years earlier, but so far had not made good on it. Abram is beginning to despair and is resigning himself to the possibility that his heir might end up being his servant Eliezer.

After being reassured, Abram took God at his word and believed the promise. This promise was not only about offspring, but also about a place where Abram's descendants could call home. God said that the place would be the land where he now dwelt, the land of Canaan.

But Abraham wanted to formalize this promise. 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. 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.

Genesis 15 9 -10.

Notice that God did not tell Abram to cut the animals in half. He just knew he was supposed to do this. This is beyond strange. What is going on here? Let's notice what is NOT happening before we look at evidence for what the ritual is about.

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

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

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

If it wasn't a sacrifice, divination, or an incantation or a spell, what could this ritual be? 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 Near East would have been familiar with what was about to take place.

What the Bible describes here is called cutting a covenant. In verse 18, the English translation says the Lord made a covenant, but the Hebrew says the Lord cut a covenant. This was a well-known covenant rite in the ancient 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. The idea is that just as the animals were cut in half, so shall it be done to the one who violates the covenant.

The covenant ceremony is also referenced by Jeremiah. As Jeremiah makes clear, the parties entering into covenant pass between the parts of the calf. Furthermore, he implies they will die for violating this covenant.

This was a covenant inaugurated with blood. God introduced the Sinai covenant with blood in Exodus, as Jesus did with the New Covenant. This ancient Near Eastern rite could be the origin of blood covenants.

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

Based on what we know of this covenant ritual, what we expect to see next is God and Abram taking turns walking between the animal halves. This would bind each of them to the covenant. In effect, if either were to break the covenant, they were agreeing that the violator would suffer the same fate as these animals.

But this isn't what happens. Abram fell into a deep sleep, and we read that a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the animals. Abram never takes the walk. Two objects pass between the animals instead.

Scholars have suggested various ideas as to what the smoke and the torch may represent. Some say the smoke represents the affliction that Abram's offspring would endure, while the torch represents hope of deliverance.

Others say that the smoke and torch foreshadow the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that would lead them in the wilderness. Regardless, the interesting thing is that Abram did not walk between the pieces with God.

Instead, both the pot of smoke and the torch passed through, which suggests that it was God walking through. These objects represented God walking through with himself. 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.

With the exception of keeping faith in God, Abram ends up with no obligations in this covenant. It was God who would take sole responsibility for keeping its terms. The burden of fulfilling this covenant rested squarely on God's shoulders.

As the story of Abram's descendants unfolded, we know that they failed to keep faith in God. And true to his commitment, God would eventually suffer the fate of these animals death. This would take place more than 1 ,800 years later at a place called Golgotha.

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