God's Covenant with Abraham

by Chad Pennington

Advent Devotional ~ Day 5

Read Genesis 15:1-21

The idea of covenant is one found throughout the pages of Scripture. As Christians, we are use to hearing about the old and new covenants. As followers of Christ, we are in the new covenant. However, what is a covenant, and what does it mean to be in covenant with God? The late R.C. Sproul defines a covenant as “an agreement between two parties based principally on a promise.” In the text of Genesis 15, we read about the institution of God’s covenant with Abraham, or the Abrahamic Covenant. This chapter may well be one of the most important chapters in the entire Old Testament. In Genesis 15 we read about the promises given by God to Abraham in the format below.

 1. A Promise Given (Genesis 15:1-3)

2. A Promise Believed (Genesis 15:4-6)

3. A Promise Guaranteed (Genesis 15:7-21)

4. A Promise Given (Genesis 15:1-3)

In this chapter we see that Abraham had found it difficult to see how the Lord would keep His promises, even though he knew God to be mighty (15:1–6), at this time Abraham's faith was not perfected and he needed assurance. Abraham asked for a sign remarkably, and the Lord did not condemn or rebuke Abraham, but indeed gave him some confirmation.

To understand the sign that God gave to Abraham, we must know something about the covenant-making process in the ancient Near East. In this culture, while making a covenant, or promise, often, the parties would cut up animals just as Abraham did and lay them next to each other with a path in between. The two parties to the covenant would then walk between the pieces as they committed to it. In this instance, however, only God passes between the animal pieces (vv. 9–21). The Lord takes it upon Himself alone to accomplish His word, and vows to be destroyed should He not keep it.

To put this in a more concise way, I will conclude with R.C. Sproul's paraphrase of what God said to Abraham in this ritual: "'Abraham, I'm putting My very deity on the line here. I'm swearing to you by My holy nature. If I don't keep this word, I will no longer be God.' And God made a covenant with Abraham. He made a promise, and He backs up that promise which is not just to Abraham but to all of God's people. He makes a promise that He seals with an oath based upon His own very nature. There is no conceivably higher guarantee than that."

Application Questions

1. Do you ever find it difficult to understand how God will keep his promises? Do you ever ask God to give you a sign?

2. As we look at the initiation of God’s Covenant with Abraham, what similarities do we see with the New Covenant through Christ?