EXPOSITION
And he (Jehovah, or the Word of the Lord) said unto him (after the act of faith on the part of the patriarch, and the act of imputation or justification on the part of God, and in explication of the exact nature of that relationship which had been constituted between them by the spiritual transaction so described), I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees (vide Genesis 11:28), to give thee this land to inherit (or, to possess) it.
And he said, Lord God (Adonai Jehovah; vide Genesis 15:2), whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Not the language of doubt, though slight misgivings are not incompatible with faith (cf. Judges 6:17; 2 Kings 20:8; Luke 1:34), and questioning with God "is rather a proof of faith than a sign of incredulity" (Calvin); but of desire for a sign in confirmation of the grant (Luther), either for the strengthening of his own faith, or for the sake of his posterity (Jarchi, Michaelis), or for some intimation as to the time and mode of taking possession (Murphy). Rosenmüller conceives the question put in Abram's mouth to be only a device of the narrator's to lead up to the subject following.
And he said unto him, Take me (literally, for me, i.e. for my use in sacrifice) an heifer of three years old. So rightly (LXX; Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Josephus, Bochart, Rosenmüller, Keil); not three heifers (Onkelos, Jarchi, Kimchi, et alii). And a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old. These offerings, afterwards prescribed by the law (Exodus 29:15; Numbers 15:27; Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3), were three in number, and of three years each, to symbolize him who was, and is, and is to come (Wordsworth); perhaps rather to indicate-the perfection of the victim in respect of maturity (Murphy). Cf. Ganymede's offering (in 'Lucian's Dialogues') of a three years old ram for a ransom. And a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon—also prescribed by the law (Le Genesis 1:14; Luke 2:24).
And he took unto him all these, and divided (a word occurring only here in Genesis, and supposed by Michaelis to have been taken by Moses from the ancient document from which he transcribed this portion of his work. The word is afterwards found in So Genesis 2:17, and Jeremiah 34:18) them in the midst,—μέσα (LXX.); in equal parts (Onkelos)—and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. So afterwards in the Mosaic legislation (Le Genesis 1:7). Wordsworth detects in the non-dividing of the birds an emblem of "the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of peace and love; which is a Spirit of unity, and of "Christ's human spirit, which was not divisible." Kalisch, with more probability, recognizes as the reason of their not being divided the fact that such division was not required, both fowls being regarded as one part of the sacrifice only, and each, as the half, being placed opposite the other. Wordsworth numbers seven parts in the sacrifice, and sees a symbol of completeness and finality, the number seven being the root of shaba, to swear; Kalisch reckons four, which he regards as "denoting perfection, but rather the external perfection of form than the internal one of the mind," and pointing "to the perfect possession of the Holy Land." The ritual here described is the same which was afterwards observed among the Hebrews in the formation of covenants (cf. Genesis 34:18), and appears to have extensively prevailed among heathen nations.
And when the fowls—literally, and the bird of prey, a collective singular with the article, as in Genesis 14:13, symbolizing the Egyptians and other adversaries of Israel, as in Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:7, Ezekiel 17:12; Ezekiel 39:4, Ezekiel 39:17; Revelation 19:17, Revelation 19:18 (Knobel, Rosenmüller, Lunge, Keil, Kalisch), which may be regarded as probable if the divided victims represented Israel in affliction, which is doubtful (vide supra). It does not appear necessary to attach any special significance to the descent of the vultures, which are always attracted towards carrion, and the introduction of which here completes the naturalness of the scene—came down upon the caresses (the LXX. interpolates, ἐπὶ τὰ διχοτομήματα), Abram drove them away. Literally, caused them to be blown away, i.e. by blowing. "Though Abram is here represented as the instrument, yet the effect is to be ascribed primarily to the tutelar agency of omnipotence" (Bush; cf. Exodus 15:10; Ezekiel 21:31). The act of scaring the voracious birds has been taken to represent the ease with which Abram or Israel would ward off his enemies (Jonathan, Targums, Rosenmüller, Bush); the averting of destruction from the Israelites through Abram's merit (Kalisch, Keil); Abram's religious regard for and observance of God's treaty (Wordsworth); the patriarch's expectation that God was about to employ the sacrificial victims for some holy purpose (Alford); simply his anxiety to preserve the victims pure and un-mutilated for whatever end they might have to serve (Murphy).
And when the sun was going down. Literally, was about to go down. The vision having commenced the previous evening, an entire day has already passed, the interval being designed to typify the time between the pro-raise and its fulfillment (Kalisch). A deep sleep—tardemah (cf. Adam's sleep, Genesis 2:21); ἔκστασις (LXX.); a supernatural slumber, as the darkness following was not solely due to natural causes—fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness—literally, an, horror, a great darkness, i.e. an overwhelming dread occasioned by the dense gloom with which he was encircled, and which, besides Being designed to conceal the working of the Deity from mortal vision (Knobel), was meant to symbolize the Egyptian bondage (Grotius, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Aalisch), and perhaps also, since Abram's faith embraced a larger sphere than Canaan (Hebrews 11:10, Hebrews 11:14, Hebrews 11:16), and a nobler seed than Sarah's son (John 8:56), the sufferings of Christ (Wordsworth, Inglis)—fell upon him.
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety—literally, knowing know—that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land which is not there, and shall serve them (i.e. the inhabitants of that alien country); and they (i.e. these foreigners) shall afflict them—three different stages of adverse fortune are described:—
(1) exile;
(2) bondage;
(3) affliction (Murphy);
or the two last clauses depict the contents of the first (Kalisch)—four hundred years. The duration not of their affliction merely, but either of their bondage and affliction, or more probably of their exile, bondage, and affliction; either a round number for 430 (Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Alford), to Be reckoned from the date of the descent into Egypt (Kalisch, Lunge), as Moses (Exo 12:1-51 :89) and Stephen (Acts 7:6) seem to say, and to be reconciled with the statement of Paul (Galatians 3:17) by regarding the death of Jacob as the closing of the time of promise (Lange, Inglis); or an exact number dating from the birth of Isaac (Willet, Murphy, Wordsworth), which was thirty years after the call in Ur, thus making the entire interval correspond with the 430 years of Paul, or from the persecution of Ishmael (Ainsworth, Clarke, Bush), which occurred thirty years after the promise in Genesis 12:3.
And also that nation (the name of which he does not reveal, in case of seeming to interfere with the free volition of his creatures, who, while accomplishing his high designs and secret purposes, are ever conscious of their moral freedom), whom they shall serve, will I judge:—i.e. punish after judging, which prediction was in due course fulfilled (Exodus 6:11)—and afterward shall they come out with great substance—recush (cf. Genesis 13:6; vide Exodus 12:36).
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (cf. Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; Genesis 49:33). Not a periphrasis for going to the grave (Rosenmüller), since Abram's ancestors were not entombed in Canaan; but a proof of the survival of departed spirits in a state of conscious existence after death (Knobel, Murphy, Wordsworth, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Inglis), to the company of which the patriarch was in due time to be gathered. The disposal of his remains is provided for in what follows. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
But in the fourth generation,—τετάρτη δὲ γενεᾷ (LXX.); but, more correctly, the fourth generation, calculating 100 years to a generation. "Caleb was the fourth from Judah, and Moses from Levi, and so doubtless many others" (Bush). Drs. Oort and Kuenen, reckoning four generations as a far shorter space of time than four centuries, detect a contradiction between this verse and Genesis 15:13, and an evidence of the free use which the ancient and uncritical Israelitish author made of his materials. On the import of דּוֹר vide Genesis 6:9—they shall come hither again (literally, shall return hither): for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Literally, for not completed the iniquity of the Amorites (vide Genesis 14:7; here put for the entire population! until then (the same word as "hither, which is its usual signification).
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down,—literally, and it was (i.e. this took place), the sun went down; less accurately, ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἤλιιος ἐγένετο πρὸς δυσμὰς (LXX.), which was the state of matters in Genesis 15:12. Here the sun, which was then setting, is described as having set—and it was dark,—literally, and darkness was, i.e. a darkness that might be felt, as in Genesis 15:12; certainly not φλὸξ ἐγένετο (LXX.), as if there were another flame besides the one specified in the description—behold a smoking furnace,—the תַּנּוּר, or Oriental furnace, had the form of a cylindrical fire-pot—and a burning lamp—a lamp of fire, or fiery torch, emerging from the smoking stove: an emblem of the Divine presence (cf. Exodus 19:18)—that passed between those pieces—in ratification of the covenant.
In that day the Lord made a covenant—literally, cut a covenant (cf. ὅρκια τέμνειν, foedus icere). On the import of בְּרִית vide Genesis 9:9)—with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt—the Nile (Keil, Kurtz, Hengstenberg, Kalisch) rather than the Wady el Arch, or Brook of Egypt (Knobel, Lange, Clarke), at the southern limits of the country (Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4; Isaiah 27:12)—unto the great river, the river Euphrates. The ideal limits of the Holy Land, which were practically reached under David and Solomon (vide 1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chronicles 9:26), and which embraced the following subject populations, ten in number, "to convey the impression of universality without exception, of unqualified completeness" (Delitzsch). The Kenites,—inhabiting the mountainous tracts in the south-west of Palestine, near the Amalekites (Numbers 24:21; 1 Samuel 15:6; 1 Samuel 27:10); a people of uncertain origin, though (Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11) Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite—and the Kenizzites,—mentioned only in this passage; a people dwelling apparently in the same region with the Kenites (Murphy), who probably became extinct between the times of Abraham and Moses (Bochart), and cannot now be identified (Keil, Kalisch), though they have been connected with Kenaz the Edomite, Genesis 36:15, Genesis 36:42 (Knobel)—and the Kadmonites,—never again referred to, but, as their name implies, an Eastern people, whose settlements extended towards the Euphrates (Kalisch)—and the Hittites,—the descendants of Heth (vide Genesis 10:15); identified with the Kheta and Katti of the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, and supposed by Mr. Gladstone to be the Kheteians of the 'Odyssey;' a powerful Asiatic tribe who must have early established themselves on the Euphrates, and spread from thence southward to Canaan and Egypt, and westward to Lydia and Greece, carrying with them, towards the shores of the AEgean Sea, the art and culture of Assyria and Babylon, already modified by the forms and conceptions of Egypt. The northern capital of their empire was Carchemish, about sixteen miles south of the modern Birejik; and the southern Kadesh, on an island of the Orontes—and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims (vide Genesis 13:7; Genesis 14:5), and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Oirgashites, and the Jebusites (vide Genesis 10:15-1). The boundaries of the Holy Land as here defined are regarded by some (Bohlen) as contradictory of those designated in Numbers 34:1-4. But
(1) the former may be viewed as the ideal (or poetical), and the latter as the actual (and prosaic), limits of the country assigned to Israel (Hengstenbreg, Keil); or
(2) the former may represent the maxima, and the latter the minima, of the promise, which admitted of a larger or a smaller fulfillment, according as Israel should in the sequel prove fit for its occupation; or,
(3) according to a certain school of interpreters, the former may point to the wide extent of country to be occupied by the Jews on occasion of their restoration to their own land, as distinguished from their first occupation on coming up out of Egypt, or their second on returning from Babylon; or
(4) the rivers may be put for the countries with which the promised land was coterminous (Kurtz, Murphy); or
(5) strict geographical accuracy may not have been intended in defining the limits of the land of promise ('Speaker's Commentary,' Inglis).
HOMILETICS
Taken into covenant.
I. THE BLESSING OF THE COVENANT.
1. The ultimate blessing, to which, in both the commencement and close of the present section, the prominence is assigned, was a splendid inheritance—the land of Canaan for his descendants, and for himself the better country, of which that earthly possession was a type.
2. The mediate blessing, through which alone the last could be reached, was a distinguished seed—a numerous posterity to occupy the land, and a living Savior to secure for himself the bettor country.
3. The proximate blessing, to be enjoyed while as yet the second and the third were unfulfilled, was a celestial alliance by which Jehovah himself engaged to be his shield and exceeding great reward. It is obvious that these are the blessings which the gospel confers on believers—a heavenly Friend, an all-sufficient Savior, a future inheritance; whence the Abrahamic covenant was nothing different from the covenant of grace.
II. THE REASON OF THE COVENANT. The essential idea in a covenant being a visible pledge for the fulfillment of a promise, the necessity for such a guarantee on the present occasion, it is apparent, could not lie with God. On the contrary, the proposal on the part of God to bind himself by a superadded engagement to implement his own gracious and spontaneous promise was an explicit condescension, if not to the feebleness of the patriarch's faith, at least to the weakness of his human nature. Perhaps the recollection of who Jehovah was, and what he had already accomplished in bringing Abram from Ur, should have proved sufficient to authenticate the promise; but it would almost seem as if human nature, in its innocent no less than in its fallen state, instinctively craved the assistance of external symbols to enable it to clearly apprehend and firmly grasp the unseen and spiritual blessings that are wrapped up in God's promises. In the garden of Eden the tree of life was Adam's sacramental pledge of immortality; after the Flood the many-colored rainbow was a sign to Noah; in the Hebrew Church material symbols of unseen verifies were not awanting; while in the Christian Church the passover and circumcision have been replaced by the Lord's Supper and baptism. The reasons that required the institution of these external signs may be held as having necessitated the solemn ritual which was exhibited to Abram.
III. THE SYMBOLS OF THE COVENANT.
1. The sacrificial victims. Seeing that these were afterwards prescribed in the Mosaic legislation, which itself was a shadow of the good things to come, to be employed as propitiatory offerings, it is impossible not to regard them, though not necessarily understood as such by Abram, as types (not of Israel, Abram's seed after the flesh simply, nor of the Church of God generally, i.e. Abram's seed according to the spirit, though perhaps neither of these should be excluded, but) of Abram's greater Seeds whose perfect, Divinely-appointed, and substitutionary sacrifice alone constitutes the basis of the everlasting covenant.
2. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp. Compared with the smoke and fire that afterwards appeared on Sinai when Jehovah descended to covenant with Israel, and the pillar of cloud and fire that led the march of Israel from Egypt, these at once suggest their own interpretation. They were emblems of God's presence, and may be viewed as suggesting
(1) the combination of justice and mercy in the Divine character, and
(2) the twofold attitude in which the Deity exhibits himself to men according as they are his enemies or friends.
IV. THE IMPORT OF THE COVENANT. Partly through visible sign, partly in spiritual vision, partly by audible words, the patriarch was instructed as to—
1. The objective basis of his own justification, which was neither personal merit nor faith considered as an opus operatum, but the Divinely-appointed sacrifice which God was graciously pleased to accept in propitiation for human sin.
2. The true security for God's fulfillment of the promise, which was not any outward sign or token, but the everlasting covenant which in mysterious symbol had been unfolded to him.
3. The interval of discipline allotted to the heirs of the land; for his descendants three generations of exile, servitude, and affliction, to prepare them for receiving Canaan in the fourth; and for himself a continual sojourning, without a final settling within its borders; in both cases emblematic of the saint's experience after justification and before glorification.
4. The ultimate assumption of the inheritance by his seed—a Divine voice solemnly foretelling their return from captivity, as it afterwards declared that his spiritual descendants should be emancipated and brought back to their celestial abode, and a Divine vision unfolding to his gaze the wide extent of territory they should eventually possess—perhaps the limits of the earthly land melting away, as his spirit stood entranced before the gorgeous panorama, into the confines of the better country..
5. His own certain passage to the heavenly Canaan, for which he was even at that time looking—a promise which belongs individually to all who are the children of Abram by faith in Jesus Christ.
See from this subject—
1. The fullness of Divine blessing which the covenant con-rains.
2. The depth of Divine condescension which the covenant reveals.
3. The glorious securities which the covenant affords.
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS
The strength and weakness of faith.
I. FAITH'S SOURCE OF STRENGTH.
1. Looking up to the Divine character—"I am the Lord."
2. Looking back to the Divine grace—"that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees."
3. Looking oat to the Divine promise—"to give thee this land to inherit it."
II. FAITH'S OCCASION OF WEAKNESS.
1. Looking forward—the fulfillment of the promise seeming far away.
2. Looking in—discovering nothing either in or about itself to guarantee its ultimate realization.—W.
The silent worshipper.
I. THE NATURE OF ABRAM'S WORSHIP.
1. Divine in its appointment.
2. Simple in its ritual.
3. Sacrificial in its character.
4. Believing in its spirit.
5. Patient in its continuance.
6. Expectant in its attitude.
II. THE INTERRUPTIONS OF ABRAM'S WORSHIP.
1. What they were. The descent of the fowls may be regarded as emblematic of those obstructions to communion with God which arise from—
(1) The principalities and powers of the air.
(2) The persecutions and oppressions (or, where these are absent, the pleasures and engagements) of the world.
(3) The disturbances and distractions of vain thoughts and sinful motions in the heart.
2. How they were removed.
(1) By watchfulness.
(2) By opposition.
(3) By perseverance.
(4) By Divine help—the breath of Abram's mouth being probably accompanied by a wind from God.
III. THE ACCEPTANCE OF ABRAM'S WORSHIP. This was proved—
1. By the approach of God at night-fall towards the scene.
2. By the supernatural revelation accorded to the patriarch.
3. By the passage of the symbol of Jehovah's presence between the divided victims.
4. By the announcement that God had taken him into covenant with himself.
5. By the vision of the land which was granted to him.
Learn—
1. The sinfulness and worthlessness of all forms of worship except that which God has appointed.
2. The need for self-examination and Divine assistance when engaged in serving God.
3. The certain acceptance and spiritual enrichment of those who worship God in spirit and in truth.—W.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Abraham's watch and vision.
"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep," &c. The great blessings promised are still afar off. As yet Abraham has no son to hand down his name to posterity. By means of a vision God strengthened his faith. Weird is the picture in this fifteenth chapter. See the solitary sheik in the desert offering his varied sacrifice, then watching until the sun goes down to drive off the vultures from the slain offerings. His arms become weary with waving and his eyes with their vigils. As the sun sinks below the widespread horizon, and night quickly steals over the desert, a horror of great darkness creeps over his spirit. Then a deep sleep falls upon him, and in that sleep come visions and a voice. The vision was of a furnace and a shining lamp moving steadily between the divided emblems. Look at the meaning of that vision.
I. It indicated the ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFERINGS. Fire in the East is generally understood to be a solemn witness to any engagement. To confirm an oath some Orientals will point to the lamp and say, "It is witness." Nuptial ceremonies are sometimes solemnized by walking round a fire three times, and the parties uttering certain words meanwhile.
II. The furnace may have referred to THE NEED FOR PURIFICATION, AND THE LAMP TO THE CERTAINTY OF DIVINE GUIDANCE.
1. Both the Israel after the flesh and that after the spirit had to pass through the fire of persecution; but the lamp of truth had always been kept alight by the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and confessors of the Church.
2. The life and work of Christ may also have been shadowed forth in that furnace and lamp. Christ knew the bitterness of betrayal, denial, and death; but he knew also the joy of conscious sinlessness, complete self-sacrifice, and unending power of salvation.
3. They illustrated the character of the life of many believers. Trial and joy must be intermingled. As Abraham saw the vision in connection with sacrifice, so on Calvary shall we best learn the meaning of the smoking furnace and burning lamp.—H.