Genesis 15 — Thoughts

Why Are We Cutting Animals in Half?

I remember the first time I read this story. I was amazed that I had never heard it Sunday School. God appears to Abram as a giant bowl of fire in the sky! That's pretty amazing!

But then, there's the part about cutting animals apart and arranging their body parts. That's not really something kids can get behind — at least I hope not.

But that's actually a key part of this story. Here, we see God and Abram follow an ancient covenant ritual. It involved cutting animals in half and arranging a pathway between those halves. The respective parties would then walk together down this path, signifying that if either of them should break their agreement, that person should suffer the same fate as the animals. It would be better to be killed and mutilated than to be unfaithful.

In this story, however, only God walks down this path. Only God takes on the penalty for unfaithfulness. In effect, He's telling Abram, "Even if you break this covenant, I will bear your punishment."

Why would God do this? Because "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

The same thing happens for the believer.

Through our sin, we have all broken faith with God, and the penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). But Jesus took on that penalty for us when He went to the Cross in our place (2 Corinthians 5:21). Like God passing through the animals alone, Jesus effectively says to us, "Even though you broke the covenant, I will bear the punishment."

All He asks of us is that we have the faith to trust Him (Ephesians 2:8).⁠

(Originally written June 17, 2020)