[8] By trusting, Avraham (Abraham) obeyed, after being called to go out to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. [9] By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not him, staying in tents with Yitz’chak (Isaac) and Ya’akov (Jacob), who were to receive what was promised along with him. [10] For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God. [11] By trusting, he received potency to father a child even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. [12] Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore. Hebrews 11:8-12
When I was growing up, we would sing a song in children’s church called Father Abraham.
Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord.
This song was complete with a multitude of actions to go along with each round of singing the song. While physically exhausting, the song holds an extremely simplistic truth. Abraham was given a promise by Adonai that he would be the father of many nations, and we are still seeing that promise fulfilled to this day, every time someone accepts Yeshua as their Savior.
At the time of the promise, Avraham had not received his name change and was still simply Avram, and after being told that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, Adonai went on to tell him that He was going to give “this land as your possession”. While he believed the promise of many descendants, he questioned Adonai asking, “Adonai, God, how am I to know that I will possess it?” (Genesis 15:8) It is here that we see Adonai literally cut a covenant with Avram. Covenant again means, “the sign (cross) of my son”, and within its definition is “cutting up”. When a covenant was made, an animal was cleaved in half and the pieces laid opposite of each other. Both parties would then pass through the pieces, sealing the covenant. What they were saying by this action was, “If I don’t uphold my end of the bargain, you can do to me what we did to this animal.” Covenants and contracts were serious business and not made lightly.
[9] He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” [10] He brought him all of these, cut the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite each other; but he didn’t cut the birds in half. Genesis 15:9-10
To show Avram that He meant every word of everything that He was promising, Adonai decided to cut a covenant that would show how serious He was. However, Adonai also knew that mankind would not ever be able to uphold this covenant, so He did something even more amazing.
[12] As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Avram; horror and great darkness came over him. [13] Adonai said to Avram, “Know this for certain; your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there for four hundred years. [14] But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. [15] As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. [16] Only in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here, because only then will the Emori be ripe for punishment.” [17] After the sun had set and there was thick darkness, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared, which passed between these animal parts. [18] That day Adonai made a covenant with Avram: “I have given this land to your descendants – from the Vadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River – [19] the territory of the Keni, the K’nizi, the Kadmoni, [20] The Hitti, the P’rizi, the Refa’im, [21] the Emori, the Kena’ani, the Girgashi and the Y’vusi”.
First, Adonai put Avram into a deep sleep, and showed him prophetically what was going to happen. The children of Israel would become slaves in Egypt, and after four hundred years they would be brought back to possess the promised land and in doing so would plunder Egypt. We see this come to pass in the book of Exodus. Second, after the sun set, Adonai appeared as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. Here we see a similar appearing of Adonai as he appeared to the Children of Israel during the exodus. Instead of a large pillar of cloud and fire for thousands of people we see Him as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch for a single man. Could it be that He was tying His appearance in this form to the words of prophecy He was speaking to Avram? What happened next is critical. Adonai then passed through the animal parts ALONE. Avram did not pass through them. He was asleep! Adonai was not going to give Avram or one of his descendants the opportunity to break the covenant. Remember, the symbolism of passing between the animal parts, “If I break my word, you can do this to me”.
“Which (that) passed” from this passage of scripture is abar (awbar) and is spelled with the letters Ayin (to see, know, experience), Bet (house, into, family), and Reysh (a head, person, the highest). It is defined as pass by, cross, cross over, to passover or by or through, take, take away, transgress, to forgive. Not only do we see the prophecy concerning the exodus, we see that Adonai Himself was foreshadowing the events, including the Passover with His action of passing between the animal parts. Abar has a numeric value of 272 and we some particularly important words that share this value. Nazarite, bless, mightily, lamb.
Nazarite means undressed, separate, consecrated or devoted one, consecrated one, devotee, untrimmed (vine). Covenant means “The sign of My son” and here we find in the numeric values of 272 that mean “which passed” or “Passover” or “The cross”, also means Yeshua, a Nazarite, the Lamb of God who blesses mightily.
On nights that the sky is clear, and you can see stars for miles, I think of the promise and covenant Adonai made with Abraham and I can’t help but think, I am one of the seeds of that promise. I am a daughter of Abraham! I am proof that Adonai is still holding true to that covenant. In 1948, Israel became a nation reborn, fulfilling the prophecy of the valley of dry bones in the book of Ezekiel. The Jewish people are once again living in the land of Promise, cultivating, and bringing fulfillment to the promise made to Avram. No other nation has ever been resurrected. No other language has ever been resurrected. Yeshua, the Messiah is in the resurrection business and it is through Him that the covenant comes to pass. The sign of My Son, the crucifixion and resurrection of My Son, the firstfruits offering of My Son. Jesus is the covenant and promise made that is everlasting.
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