Ankerberg Show

January 20

Genesis 15, Matthew 13:24-35

Thought from Today's Old Testament Passage:

[Genesis 15] 8-21. Immediately Jehovah was ready to ratify the covenant with the man who had yielded himself to the divine will (cf. Gen 12:1-3). Hebrew b^erit is vari­ously translated "covenant," "compact," "solemn agreement," "testament," "trea­ty." No one of these words brings over into English the full meaning of this solemn transaction. In ancient times men sometimes ratified an agreement or cov­enant by passing between the parts of a halved, sacrificial animal. This "cut­ting of the covenant" was not in it­self a sacrifice. Rather, it was a sacred ceremony by which the men declared their solemn purpose to keep the agree­ment. Some Bible students have pointed out that in the instance recorded in Genesis 15:8-21, only one symbolic representative of the contracting parties—the lamp of fire (AV marg.), or "flaming torch" (cf. Jud 7:16,20), symbol of Jehovah—passed between the halves of the ani­mals. In other words, the covenant in this case was to be kept from the God-ward side alone. Only the Lord him­self could fulfill its promises. He would make Abram's descendants as numerous as the stars and give them a great land, stretching from the gates of Egypt to the mighty Euphrates.

(Wycliffe Bible Commentary, (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), p. 21)

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Pinterest
The John Ankerberg Show | P.O. Box 8977 | Chattanooga, TN 37414 USA
(423) 892-7722 | For credit card orders only: 1-800-805-3030