The binding contract

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

“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 Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

This section is full of grace. The Lord delayed His judgment on the Canaanites because their iniquity was not yet full. The Lord always deals in grace and He always gives people time to repent, even though they may not take advantage of this. The second part of this section refers to a very ancient rite and confirms that this part of the Bible is very old. It was written long before the Israelis went into Egypt and then came back into the Land. This rite concerns the making of a binding contract. When two people wanted to make a contract they would sacrifice an animal and then cut the animal in half. Each half of the animal was laid on the ground and the parties to the contract would walk between the two parts of the carcass. The implication was that the person who broke the contract would forfeit his life. In this case, however, the symbolism shows that the Lord was the only One to bind Himself to the contract for Abraham did not pass between the animals in the vision. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp signify the Lord’s presence. This means that the Lord committed Himself to this binding contract at the cost of His life. Later, the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life, His blood was shed as a sacrifice, this was so that the contract would be kept. Now that the blood has been shed the contract is binding for eternity and no one has to make any contribution because the Lord Jesus Christ did everything.