And divided them in the midst

“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.”

Abraham was suffering from issues relating to his hope. He was feeling as though nothing was happening because he couldn’t see the way forward. On the other hand, God reminded him of the facts. God brought Abraham out of the land of his birth and took him to the land that he was going to inherit. After that the Lord told Abraham to take some animals and kill them then lay them out on the ground in halves. Each of these animals was a sacrificial animal that was later used in Temple sacrifices. Notice that he didn’t divide the birds and the sacrificial birds were not cut in the Temple sacrifices either. God was preparing the ground for a sacrificial system that would be the basis of the relationship that Abraham’s descendants had with the Lord. This happened after Abraham believed God and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. However, righteousness can only be legally purchased with the shedding of blood. First came faith and then the shedding of blood for without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb 9: 22). However, in our case the blood has already been shed and now the remission of sin and being counted as righteous comes from believing in the Only Begotten Son (John 3: 16).

Would you like to support this ministry? Please click this link: http://jamesmcnaught.blogspot.com/ and then click “Follow” and encourage all your friends to follow as well.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)