Previous post: Genesis 14
Have you ever been far enough away from a city that you can see the night sky in all of its glory? You know, out where man-made lights don’t pollute the power of the light of the stars and planets? There’s probably a sermon in there somewhere…like how creation-made lights of stars and planets reach our eyes millions of light years away but how our manmade lights don’t make it outside of our atmosphere. And how light is essentially perpetual in that it doesn’t dissipate or “lose steam” in a vacuum but only “goes away” when it is absorbed by the things it hits.
But, I digress. On my first trip to Kenya, we were driven out into the middle of nowhere—an area known as the bush. It was many, many miles from electricity or any source of man-made light. The sky was mind-blowing. You could plainly see the milky way galaxy. The constellations stood out as I had never seen them before. I could hardly process how many stars there were…and even the diversity of them all. Different sizes. Different twinkles. Different colors. Different magnitudes of light. That night in Kenya is the mental image I have every time I read in the Bible where god tells someone to look at the stars.
He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5, NIV)
“So shall your offspring be.” A diverse multitude of individual lights of various brightness, colors, ages, etc., shining their lights throughout the darkness of both the universe and history…shining their lights throughout the past, present, and future.
I love it when God speaks to humanity like this. When Abram asked for an heir (and a lineage), God could’ve stuck to words. “Yes, you’ll have a son, Abram. And a lot of grandkids. And a whole lot of great-grandkids.” But, God didn’t say that. Essentially, he said, “Look up. So shall your offspring be.” That’s powerful. And, the more science has helped us understand about the properties of light and stars, the more powerful the imagery has become.
I can’t leave this chapter without talking about verses 8 through 20. Powerful story. Let’s unpack what is going on here.
God has just told Abram, “I’m going to give you offspring and a lineage beyond your wildest imagination. And, I’m going to give you abundant land and territory to grow in.” In verse 8, we have Abram asking a question…the question all humans ask at some point in their lives: “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” (NIV) In other words, those are great promises, God. But, you seem to have forgotten that I A) have no kids; and, B) am sort of a wandering vagabond with no land. Tell me what I need to do.”
God answers somewhat oddly (ok, very oddly) at first glance: “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” (verse 9, NIV)
Humans had this ancient tradition of sorts. It was a way to symbolize a vow between two parties—usually a servant and master or servant and king. They would cut some animals in two halves and lay them out in such a way as there was a pathway of blood between the halves. The servant undertaking a vow would walk the path through the cut-up animals. In essence, the servant who walked the pathway of blood was saying, “If I break this vow, may it be done to me as it was done to the animals I just walked through.” In other words, the pathway of slaughtered animals symbolized the seriousness of the vow. You break the vow, you pay with your life.
But, Abram didn’t walk through the pieces. God did. In essence, God was saying, “Abram, if you or your lineage don’t fulfill this vow, you won’t pay with your life. I’ll pay with mine.” And, spoiler alert, he did.
This week’s AI rap summary:
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™