Genesis 15:17-21 ESV
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
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,
the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Using cut animals in covenant making was a common practice of that day, but there was something different about this occurrence.
It is a covenant of the Creator of the all creation. Usually a covenant is made between two parties which involves action or promise by both sides. Here only the Lord confirms a vow. Abram does not pass between the carcasses or swear an oath. The Lord has done something similar for those who place their faith in Him today. He vows salvation for those who believe.
The Lord is signified by the passing of two representations which speak of two of the Holy Trinity. Two give witness to the covenant, but they are of the One Lord
The fire pot may signify Jesus Christ Who contained the fire of the all consuming God and would provide a burnt offering that would rise as a fragrance pleasing to the Lord. The flaming torch may represent the Spirit like the seven torches before the throne of God in the heavenly vision. Both will come and abide within the believers in the New Covenant, in the deepest part of these new creatures.
Just as the offspring of Abram would inherit the land described in verses eighteen through twenty one, the sons of God will receive an inheritance that is God Himself as foreshadowed by the priests and Levites in the Old Testament.
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