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What was going on
when Abraham experienced "an horror of great darkness" and saw "a smoking
furnace, and a burning lamp" pass between the pieces of some divided animals?
What is the interpretation of
Genesis 15:9 to 17? I am referring to the carcases, the smoking fire pot and the
burning torch. What is the significance of 'Horror fell upon him' in verse 12?
Genesis 15:7-18 says, And he said unto him, I
am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit
it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto
him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of
three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and
divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided
he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when
the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four
hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward
shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou
shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither
again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when
the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that
passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the
river Euphrates.
Abrahams
first question, in verses 1-6, was about a son of his own. After these things the
word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I
go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And,
behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he
that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him
forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to
number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and
he counted it to him for righteousness.
Now that the question is
settled that Abraham will have a child of his own, what about some land for Abraham and
that son? God now reminds Abraham of His promise to give him the land. Abraham asks for
some confirmation that that promise will be fulfilled. Some may think that Abraham was
showing some doubt here as to Gods promise, but you will notice that God does not
rebuke him for his request for a confirmation. And in just the previous few minutes, God
had told Abraham that his seed would number as the stars of heaven. And he brought
him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to
number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and
he counted it to him for righteousness. Abraham had readily believed that promise.
Why, then, did he ask God to confirm this second promise that the land would be his? When
land changes hands, there needs to be something official take place. I think that Abraham
was simply asking for some confirmation like that to settle it that the land was indeed
going to be his.
In the
Bible, as well as today, something official takes place when a person acquires some
property. Jeremiah 32:9-14 shows us what happened when Jeremiah purchased some land.
And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed
him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed
it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence
of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that
which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the
son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the
witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the
court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which
is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they
may continue many days.
So what we
see take place with Abraham here before God, is that an official confirmation of the
promise that the land would be Abrahams. To confirm a covenant, the two parties
making the covenant would cut an animal in two; both would walk between the halves; and
then the animal would be sacrificed. We see an example of this type of a covenant in the
passage discussed below.
God told
Jeremiah to warn the children of Israel what was coming because of their sin, in Jeremiah
34:1-7. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the
people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying, Thus saith
the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus
saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall burn it with fire: And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be
taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of
Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet
hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou
shalt not die by the sword: But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy
fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and
they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of
Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities
remained of the cities of Judah.
Jeremiahs words had
some impact upon them, because they repented in regard to releasing their fellow Jews from
being their servants. Verses 8-17 tell us, This is the word that came unto Jeremiah
from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which
were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; That every man should let his
manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that
none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes,
and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let
his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves
of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But afterward they turned, and caused
the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them
into subjection for servants and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant
with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an
Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt
let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their
ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every
man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by
my name: But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every
man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought
them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith
the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother,
and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to
the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into
all the kingdoms of the earth.
When they
had heard Jeremiah warning them of the judgment to fall, they decided to start obeying
Gods Word, but it did not last long. They took those people back into being their
servants. So God pronounces judgment upon them again.
God brings
up the covenant that they had made, confirming that they would release their servants.
Verses 18-22 describe the covenant that they had made. And I will give the men that
have transgressed my covenant, which HAVE NOT PERFORMED THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT WHICH
THEY HAD MADE BEFORE ME, WHEN THEY CUT THE CALF IN TWAIN, AND PASSED BETWEEN THE PARTS
THEREOF. The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests,
AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND, WHICH PASSED BETWEEN THE PARTS OF THE CALF; I will even
give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life:
and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of
the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their
enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of
Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and
cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn
it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an
inhabitant.
Let us
take another look at the passage involving God making a covenant with Abraham about the
land. Genesis 15:7-18 says, And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee
out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD,
whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of
three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a
turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the
midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the
fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he
said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not
theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also
that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with
great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good
old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of
the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it
was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given
this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
The
horror of great darkness that Abraham expereinced there is interpreted as
depicting the 400 years that Israel would be out of the Promised Land, and would be living
down in Egypt in hard bondage. It would be some dark years in the life of
Israel. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an
horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy
seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they
shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I
judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
The
smoking furnace and a burning lamp which passed between the parts
were the symbols that God used to signify His part in the covenant with Abraham. And
it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace,
and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a
covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Those two symbols are seen
in regard to Gods presence. Isaiah 6:1-5 says, In the year that king Uzziah
died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered
his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried
unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of
his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house
was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have
seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Exodus 20:18-21 says, And all the people saw
the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain
smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto
Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear
may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew
near unto the thick darkness where God was. In regard to the lamp we read in
Zechariah 4:1-6, And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I
have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his
seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the
left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What
are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me,
saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
God
remembers and keeps His promises, and we need to remember that we need the power of the
Holy Spirit in our lives to accomplish something for all eternity.

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