Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017
WSC 20b of 107
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Genesis 15:7-21
WSC 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life,1 did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.2
1 Eph 1:4; 2 Rom 3:20-22; Gal 3:21,22
The church is the pillar and ground of truth. God’s people must be transformed by the renewing of their minds. It is the truth that sets us free. It is by the truth that we are sanctified. Love, moreover, rejoices not in iniquity, but in the truth. Therefore, it is essential for us, as a church, to know the truth.
This is why as a church, we emphasise preaching and teaching. This is why we have serial expository preaching through the Bible. But using serial expository preaching, we can take a long time to cover the essential doctrines the church should hold to. Therefore, we have embarked on a series of sermons based on our Shorter Catechism.
This series is intended as a quick survey of the biblical truths that we believe as a church.
We have already begun to study Question 20. In Question 20, we ask:
“Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?”
Answer:
“God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.”
This is a beautiful declaration that brings together a few crucial verities. It presents the doctrine of election. It highlights the covenant of grace. And it introduces the Redeemer.
We considered the doctrine of election in our previous study. We noted how God, from before the foundation of the world, sovereignly elected some to enjoy everlasting life.
This is the basis and source of our salvation. But in our present follow-up study, we want to consider the mechanism for our salvation, namely the covenant of grace.
What is the covenant of grace? We have already dealt with the covenant of life or the covenant of works. God has graciously covenanted to reward Adam and his posterity with life upon condition of perfect obedience. But Adam fell into sin, and with him, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation ceased to be able to obtain life by the first covenant. The covenant of grace is God’s gracious provision for fallen man to enjoy life.
We must understand, however, that the covenant of grace is not an afterthought. It is not as if God thought about it only after the covenant of works failed. No, no; the covenant of grace had always been in God’s mind from the beginning. It logically precedes the covenant of works, even though the covenant of works is manifested first. This is a bit hard to explain in brief. But think of the covenant of works as a stepping stone for the covenant of grace.
With this in mind, let’s turn to Genesis 15. I believe this passage provides a beautiful picture of the covenant of grace.
Genesis 15 is, I believe, one of the most significant chapters in the Bible. This chapter contains two great doctrines: the doctrine of justification by grace through faith and the doctrine of the covenant of grace.
The doctrine of justification is taught in the first six verses of the chapter. From there, we see how, after Abram rescued Lot, God encouraged him by telling him that He was his shield and exceeding great reward.
Abram understood the Lord to be reiterating his twin promises to him.
The first of these promises is that God would bless him with many children. But we must understand that this is not merely about having many descendants. It is ultimately about Christ descending from him and a multitude of people united to him in Christ. Abram would be a blessing to the world through Christ.
The second of these promises is that Abraham would inherit the Promised Land. But again, note that this is not merely a promise about the land. It is ultimately about an eternal inheritance in heaven for all united to Christ.
These two promises are yea and amen in Christ. They are meaningless apart from Christ.
They would, however, be fulfilled typically in Abram having many children and in his children inheriting the land of Canaan.
To reiterate that He would keep his promises, God first directed Abram to look up to the night sky to count the stars. He assured Abram that his seed would be as innumerable as the stars in the sky.
And Abram believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Abram believed in the promises of God that they would be yea and amen in the Messiah. Abram was justified by grace through faith, as all who are the true children of Abram would be.
But God is not yet done assuring Abram and us that He will keep His promises. He tells Abram, in verse 7:
“I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.”
Abram, as he did before, seeks further assurance and clarification. The land is still in the hand of the Canaanites. How will God keep His promise? He asks the Lord, verse 8:
“Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”
The Lord answers in a most remarkable way. In this way, He assures Abram that He will keep His promise, while giving us a graphic lesson on the covenant of grace.
How does God reply? He replies by asking Abram to prepare a contract to seal a covenant. You will see the term “covenant” in verse 18.
What is a covenant? We have already seen that a covenant is essentially a bond of fellowship governed by an avowed agreement between two parties. It is like a contract but more than a contract, for it involves a relationship that transcends it.
It has four elements: (1) two parties enjoying a bond of friendship; (2) conditions or promises by both parties; (3) curses for breaking the promises; and (4) blessings for keeping the promises.
One of the best examples of a covenant in human life is marriage. In marriage, there is friendship between the husband and wife; but they are more than friends. They are lovers, and they have an avowed agreement to love one another exclusively. If they keep their promise to one another, they will enjoy many blessings: love, security, children, joy, etc. But if they were to break their promises, they would suffer the pains and sorrows associated with a broken marriage.
If they are just friends, they may simply part company if they discover that they don’t like one another. They have no obligations towards one another apart from emotional obligations. But if they are married, they will not only love one another deeply, they will have mutual obligations towards one another and mutual blessings; and they may not just part company without suffering painful consequences.
Think of the marriage certificate as a contract, but the relationship between the husband and wife as a covenant.
In our text, God is instructing Abram to prepare a contract to seal the covenant relationship that He has established with him.
In those days, a contract was not simply a piece of paper where the parties signed on the dotted line. It was much more elaborate.
Let’s take a look at this contract that God made with Abram under three heads: (1) Preparation for the contract; (2) Parties in the covenant; and (3) Promises of the covenant.
1. Preparation for the contract
God instructed Abram to prepare the contract. What was Abram to do? God says unto him, verse 9:
Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
Abram is to take two birds, a heifer, a goat, and a ram, all three years old. A heifer is a young female cow that has not yet calved. At three years old, it is at its prime.
He was to kill these animals, and not just to kill them, but also to cut them into two. We are not told how he is to cut them—whether to split them in the middle from head to tail, or chop them in half at the abdomen.
Whatever the case may be, it is a very gory thing to do. And to add to that, Abram is to arrange the animal parts to form a bloody path. Half of the heifer is to be placed on the left, and the other half is to be on the right. Half of the goat is to be on the left, and the other half on the right. Likewise, for the ram. Only the birds are not divided.
The whole scene must have looked very bloody and revolting. It is not something you will forget quickly.
What is Abram doing as he executes these elaborate steps? He is preparing a contract! In those days, when two parties would make a contract, they did that.
They would secure a few animals, cut them up, and arrange the parts to create a very bloody path. Then both parties would walk through the path, while making a promise and calling a curse upon themselves if they fail to keep their promise. For example, they may say with gesticulation, “Let me be cut asunder like these animals if I fail to keep my promise to you.”
We see a reference to this malediction in Jeremiah 34:18-19. Here the Lord alludes to the fact that the leaders of Judah had passed between the pieces and that He would do to them as was done to the calf since they did not keep their promise. The ESV is a little clearer in its translation of this verse. It reads:
And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts—the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.
Jer 34:18-19, ESV
Ancient Near Eastern contracts were not sealed on paper. They were sealed indelibly in the memories of the contracting parties.
It would have been clear to Abraham when God instructed him to cut the animals that God was going to cut a covenant with him. In Hebrew, we do not say sign a covenant or make a covenant, but cut a covenant. In verse 18, where we are told: “The LORD made a covenant with Abram,” the word translated ‘made’ is the Hebrew כָּרַת (kârath), which literally means ‘cut’.
Abram did as God instructed him. And to show us that it really happened, we are told that the birds, maybe ravens and vultures, began to swoop down to feast on the carcases (v. 11). Abram did what he could to shoo them away.
The props for the signing of the contract are set in place. But who are the parties of the contract, or more precisely, who are the parties of the covenant who will sign the contract?
2. Parties in the Covenant
We would expect that if God were cutting a covenant with Abram, God would be one party, and Abram would be the other. But what do we read? Verse 12:
“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.”
Abram falls into a deep sleep! Or perhaps he falls into a trance and finds himself unable to move, though He seems aware of what is happening.
In recording the event, Moses would have us know with certainty that Abram did not pass through the pieces. He was in a deep sleep! A horror of great darkness enveloped him.
Who then passed through the pieces? Look at verse 17:
“And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.”
What passed through the pieces? A smoking furnace and a burning lamp! What are these? They are obviously symbolic, and there are many different interpretations of them. Most commentators believe that the two symbols represent two attributes or works of God.
Calvin suggests that they constitute “a symbol of future deliverance.” Matthew Henry suggests that the smoking furnace symbolises affliction in Egypt, whereas the burning lamp denotes comfort in this affliction. Another commentator suggests that “The oven of smoke and lamp of flame symbolise the smoke of destruction and the light of salvation” (Barnes). Yet another commentator suggests that “the smoking furnace might be designed as an emblem of the sore afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt; but the burning lamp was certainly the symbol of the Divine presence” (Clarke).
However, the problem with these interpretations is that they overlook the significance of the symbols passing through the pieces! Indeed, when they are interpreted the way they are commonly interpreted, the fundamental idea behind the whole vision is lost and misunderstood.
You see, in the rite of covenant cutting, the parties making the covenant pass through the pieces. When Abraham saw the symbols passing through the pieces, he would have understood that they represented the parties making the covenant. He would not think that they represent the covenant’s content or the circumstances surrounding it!
And I am convinced that he understood that they represented God. Who passed through the pieces? God passed through the pieces in two theophanies! A theophany is a symbolic appearance of God.
But why are there two distinct theophanies rather than one?
The answer becomes rather obvious when we compare scripture with scripture and are willing to let theology guide our understanding.
I believe the smoking furnace represents God the Father, whereas the burning lamp represents God the Son. The Father is He who provides our daily bread. The Father is also He whose wrath will burn against all sinners for all eternity. The Lord Jesus calls hell “a furnace of fire” in Matthew 13:42. Hell is hell not because the devil is there but because the holy wrath of the Father against sin is constantly felt there.
So I believe the smoking furnace represents the Father.
On the other hand, the Lord Jesus is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Jn 1:9). The Lord Jesus is represented, I believe, by the burning lamp.
Who passed through the pieces? Who made the promises upon pain of death and destruction? Not Abram. He was in a deep sleep.
Who passed through the pieces? Who made the promises upon pain of death and destruction? It was God the Father and God the Son.
What was enacted before Abram that day was the everlasting covenant of grace between the Father, representing the Triune Godhead and the Son representing His Church. Our Larger Catechism, question 31 asks, “With whom was the Covenant of Grace made?” And the answer: “The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.”
This enactment of cutting the eternal covenant would serve as a divine oath to Abram that God would keep his promise. But it has a far, far more profound significance.
The apostle to the Hebrews speaks of this event in chapter 6:
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
Heb 6:13-18
The two immutable things could be referring to God’s counsel and God’s oath. But when we see that the apostle probably has in mind the event of Genesis 15, then it becomes possible that he is referring to the two theophanies: the smoking furnace representing the Father and the burning lamp representing the Son.
Whatever the case may be, can you grasp what is going on? When two parties pass through the pieces in the ancient covenant-cutting rites, they essentially say: “Let me be cut asunder if I were to fail to keep my word.”
God is making this assertion. But God cannot be destroyed. So God cannot fail to keep His promise.
In fact, as the Lord Jesus passed through the pieces in the theophany, He undertook to pay for our violation of the covenant, since He is our covenant head. “Let me be cut asunder if I or my people break the covenant bond,” He says.
This is why the Lord Jesus had to die to fulfil the covenant of grace. You see, the covenant of grace is built upon the covenant of works. In the covenant of works, man is promised life upon perfect obedience. The covenant of works was never abrogated. So to have life, we must not only pay the penalty due to our breaking of the covenant of works, but also fulfil the terms of the covenant of works.
Now, fallen man cannot do so. But Christ is the perfect man. He was born of a virgin, and so was not credited with the guilt of Adam. Christ came to pay for our violation under the first covenant and to fulfil the covenant’s terms on our behalf. This is why Christ Jesus had to die.
Thus, Christ Jesus was, in a certain sense, cut with the sword of the covenant for our sake. He died on the cruel cross, and He had to face the immense wrath of the Father for our sin. We saw, for example, how He experienced the pains of hell for us in our previous study.
He suffered body and soul. After suffering the pains of hell on the cross, He gave up the ghost. He died.
But because His atonement was sufficient for us, He rose from the dead. Because He paid for our debt, His righteousness in keeping the law for us was also accepted for procuring the promise of life for us. Thus, Christ Jesus kept the covenant of life on our behalf. Thus, we are assured that God’s promises of salvation will never fail.
What a tremendous comfort and assurance!
But let us take a look at what God promised Abram.
3. Promises of the Covenant
God says to Abram, verse 13:
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
And again, verse 18:
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
As usual, the promise made to Abram is couched in typical language. The promises will be fulfilled literally. And they will also be fulfilled spiritually.
Literally, God is telling Abram that his descendants will one day go into captivity for 400 years; and then at the end of the period, they will come out with great wealth; and they will inherit the land which God is promising Abram.
This would be fulfilled literally. Abram’s children would go into Egypt and remain there for 400 years until God brought them out again through some mighty miracles at the time of Moses.
But eventually, under the rule of King Solomon, Abram’s children would have dominion from the river of Egypt unto the Euphrates (v. 18), or from Tipsah to Azza as it is given in 1 Kings 4:21-24.
God’s promise to Abram has already been fulfilled literally. Those who say that it will be fulfilled in future when the nation of Israel will again have her borders enlarged to stretch between the Nile to the Euphrates are, in my opinion, mistaken.
But now let us understand that though the promise was literally fulfilled, this promise has a spiritual overtone, for Egypt is a picture of sin and the world.
God was telling Abram that his seed would be redeemed out of sin and given an eternal inheritance in Christ. This fact was understood by Zacharias, the Father of John the Baptist, as he anticipated the birth of the Messiah. Look at Luke 1:67-75:
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
Thank God that the Messiah has come. Thank God that today we enjoy the spiritual substance of God’s promises to Abram. We have eternal life because the covenant of grace has been fulfilled for us.
Conclusion
Beloved brethren and children, this passage is so rich that we cannot go into details or take any more time to explain it, because we would just be overwhelmed with the tremendous implications.
But these three applications as we wrap up:
First, I trust your heart is filled with holy awe as you consider God’s condescension towards us. God the Father and God the Son passed through the pieces for us. Christ suffered the curses due to our breaking the covenant in Adam. He suffered for us so we might enjoy God and receive all the blessings He would bestow upon us.
Secondly, I hope this passage thrills your heart regarding the grace of God. Why did God not require Abram to pass through the pieces? It is because Abram, by himself, would never be able to keep the covenant. We can never do anything to merit God’s favour. Abram was a righteous man, but he could not merit God’s favour. Neither can we. If God requires us to contribute one thread to the garment of our salvation, we are doomed. Thank God that our salvation is entirely purchased by Christ our Lord and bestowed upon us graciously.
Thirdly, I hope this passage instils in your heart the assurance of the certainty of the promises that are in Christ Jesus. God will never lie. And yet He went to the extent of making an oath: of passing through the pieces to tell us that if He fails to keep His promise, then He will be eternally destroyed.
O beloved brethren and children, do you realise how gracious and merciful our God is? We are but sinful creatures of dust, yet He loves us so much that He went to such an extent to assure us of His love and promises. Were it not for His assurance, we could have no comfort and peace in our Christian walk. Why? Because we know that we fail the Lord constantly! We can never be good enough. We can never love Him enough. We can never love our neighbour enough. We can never be righteous enough. We can never deserve God’s love.
O friends, are you still in unbelief? How could Christ dying on the cross for sinners like us mean nothing to you? You would be moved if a dog were to risk his life to rescue you from a burning building. But this is the King of kings, Lord of Lords. He died to save His people from burning hell.
Will you not turn unto Him to redeem you from spiritual Egypt, where you are still in bondage, sin, and darkness?
Life is meaningless without Christ! But life is full and abundant in our redeemer!
Recall again the answer to WSC 20:
God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
Do you know the Redeemer Christ? Have you been delivered from the estate of sin and misery? Are you enjoying everlasting life? Oh, may the Lord grant that we all walk in newness of life in peace, love and joy in Christ Jesus, who passed between the pieces for us. Amen.
—JJ Lim