Bible Notes: Genesis 15:18

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On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”  –Genesis 15:18

Cut to pieces. That was what God did on the cross, but before we fast forward to the end of the story, let’s go back. In Genesis 15 we read about a strange event. Abram has been promised by God to be part of a huge nation and this nation would bless the whole world. 

The only problem was, he didn’t have any children. For Abram’s name to be great and in order to have possession of the occupied land Abram would need…..more. 

My Bible Study Notes on Genesis 15

In Genesis 15:1 we read that Abram is afraid and God comes to Abram again. This time, God is going to make a covenant with Abram. Although God has already promised (Genesis 12) these things, God is going to guarantee it here. 

God asked Abram to gather animals and then cut them in pieces. This is an ancient practice done during this time when two people were going to make an agreement together. They would take animals, cut them in two pieces. They would lay each piece on either side and walk through the pieces. 

Basically, they would be saying: “If I don’t keep my end of the promise, may I be cut into pieces like this animal.”

The amazingly unique thing about Genesis 15 is that God was the one to walk through the pieces. In verse 12 we read that Abram fell into a deep sleep and God tells Abram, “I am going to lead your people to Egypt but then bring them back.” Then, God appears to Abram as a smoking fire pot and walks through the pieces. 

God is basically saying, “If I don’t keep my promises to you, I will be cut into pieces.” Do you know what? God ended up doing just that. 

We could not keep our covenant with God so instead of us being cut to pieces (facing punishment), God said, “I will do this. I will take their punishment.” Jesus was killed for us and thus allowed Abram’s covenant to remain intact. 

Every story, every passage, points to Jesus.