Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it." He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?" So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon." Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:6-18)
Abram has just had his belief credited to him as righteousness by the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The statements of God continue, and Abram asks, "How may I know that I will possess it?" How may I know? Show me a sign. Prove it. Things I would consider gutsy to ask of God. Abram's just been credited with righteousness for belief, so did he just use up his credit?
It seems that God doesn't have a problem with the question, and proceeds to provide the proof. It is an odd way to do it for our culture, but essentially what God does is bind Himself in a Suzerain Treaty. What He has said with the divided carcasses is that, "If I don't make good on my promise, may this happen to Me." God would be destroyed, laid in half, before He would break this promise.
But when I consider the One making this promise and binding Himself to it in such a dramatic fashion, I understand better the sense of verse 12, "Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him." God had arrived. The One forming stars and laying out the patterns for quarks shows up. Unimaginable awesome and utterly destructive Presence emerges into His creation, clothed in darkness to preserve His servant, but the terror remains.
This was not some earthly king laying out victims of his latest battle for those who remain to walk between; binding them to a covenant of servitude. This is the King of Kings moving between the victims. The smoking oven and flaming torch passing between the divide carcasses seems to bind Him to Abram, as if Abram is the king, and God serves Abram.
How does my "theology of God" incorporate this concept? How does this not threaten or negate the "Sovereignty of God"? How is it that the Maker of all Matter will bind Himself to one of His human creatures in such a fashion and not give up His status and place as Ruler of all? Who is this Abram that he should witness such a thing, preserve such a story? And why would it be recorded, inspired by the One binding Himself? This is something that the King of Kings wants me to know about Him.
One reconciliation that I can make between this event and the Sovereignty of God is that the King of Kings binds Himself to His promise rather than Abram. Yet, the form of this event matches the form of such treaties among men, and that is not the case for them. Did Abram understand this as his God binding Himself to a promise or to Abram?
I believe God bound Himself to the promise, and that Abram understood this. Here's why: After this, Abram continues to submit himself to his God as Lord. He doesn't change his view and understand God as submitting to him. Secondly, Abram asked how he would know the promise would be fulfilled, and this is the answer God provides. The connection would make sense to him as an answer to his question.
So why does my Master want me to know this about Himself? Does He still do this? Does He still bind Himself to His promises? From this account, and others, I believe that the King of Kings, my Master, still considers Himself bound to His promises. I believe that my Master would cease to exist before He would break a promise. I can be more sure of Him and His promises than of the sunrise, even the one I witness now. Though I can see His creation, He is more sure and trustworthy than what I see. I believe. Perhaps that will be credited to my account like Abram's.
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