An Article of Faith

One of the most mysterious and yet significant events is recorded in Genesis 15. In a vision, God told Abram to take a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon and to cut these animals in half (except for the turtledove and the pigeon). Then Abram was told to place each piece opposite the other.
“Then 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.’ But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?’ The 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.’ So 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. Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away...
“After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So 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–’” (Genesis 15:7-11, 17-18 NLT).
The Hebrew idiom “cutting a covenant” is based on the custom of cutting up an animal and those who were making the covenant walking between the pieces. In the case of Genesis 15, only God (visualized as a “smoking firepot and a flaming torch” passed between the pieces. This suggests that it was an unconditional covenant on God’s part, regardless of what Abram did or did not do.
Covenant is a word with different shades of meaning being used for all sorts of formal agreements between people or between God and people.
Between friends, such as David and Jonathan, a covenant is an alliance of brotherly love and loyalty:
“After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became the best of friends. From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt” (1 Samuel 18:1-4 NLT). By handing his robe and weapons to David, Jonathan was honoring and demonstrated his loyalty to David as the future King of Israel.
The most important covenant of all, between God and man, is the New Covenant or the New Testament in the blood of Jesus Christ:
“After supper [Jesus] took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and His people – an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you” (Luke 22:20 NLT).
“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest [viz., Jesus] offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There He waits until His enemies are humbled and made a footstool under His feet. For by that one offering He forever made perfect those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:11-14 NLT).
Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.