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Genesis Chapter 19 – Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed by Angels!

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Genesis Chapter 19 – Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed by Angels!

Two angels were sent by the LORD to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. When the angels arrived, Lot urged the angels to spend the night at his house in Sodom.

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. Genesis 19:1

After the LORD and His two angles appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre, Abraham washed their feet and then had a meal prepared for them. After they ate, the two angels went towards Sodom but the LORD remained with Abraham. For the sake of the righteous living in Sodom, Abraham pleaded with the LORD for the city to be spared. The LORD was willing to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous individuals. But the wickedness of the city was so great, that not even ten righteous could be found. So the two angels were commissioned to execute divine judgment against Sodom.

The gateway of a city was generally an arched entrance with deep recesses and seats on either side. It was a place of meeting in the ancient towns of the East, where the inhabitants assembled to socialize or to transact public business. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom to observe strangers that might pass by, and invite them into his house, so that they might not fall into the hands of the wicked Sodomites.

If Lot had recognized the strangers as angelic beings, bowing down before them would have been an act of worship. The angels would have rebuked him for devotion that is reserved for God alone.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” Revelation 22:8-9

Lot prostrated himself before the visitors only as a sign of respect as was the custom of the eastern countries.

“My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” Genesis 19:2

Although Lot does not realize that these strangers are angelic beings, he calls them “my lords” due to their noble bearing and majestic appearances.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Lot not only offers the travelers lodging at his house, but also an opportunity to have their feet washed.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Luke 7:44

When a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to his house for dinner, Jesus rebuked Simon for his inhospitality by not providing for His feet to be washed.

Although Lot is respectful and affords the strangers warm hospitality, they answered that they would sleep outside in the square. It was not uncommon in those days for travelers to sleep in the street wrapped up in their cloaks.

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Genesis 19:3

At the urging of Lot, the two visitors agreed to spend the night at his home. By baking bread without yeast, indicates that Lot did not want to wait for the bread to rise. Since his guests had arrived in the evening, perhaps Lot wanted to hurry the meal because of the lateness of the hour.

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” Genesis 19:4-5

Not even ten righteous men could be found in Sodom. The news of the two attractive male strangers had travelled throughout the city and all the men of Sodom wanted to have homosexual relations with Lot’s house guests.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

The men of Sodom were described as wicked in Genesis 13:13, and as great sinners against the LORD.

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49

The Plain of Jordan was rich and fertile. Living in abundance, the inhabitants of the city of Sodom were prideful and selfish and unconcerned with the poor and needy. They became more and more idolatrous, and in their desire for pleasure, they became more and more perverse.

In Romans 1:25-27, the Apostle Paul explains the root cause of their sin:

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Yahweh is a jealous God. He will have no other gods before Him. He alone is the true God. Only our Creator is worthy of worship. The wicked men of Sodom sinned against God and were given over to shameful lusts.

… Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Homosexuals, by engaging in unnatural sexual relations, are putting themselves at high risk for sexually transmitted diseases. Rates of anal warts, HIV/AIDS, as well as Hepatitis A and B are much greater among homosexuals and bisexuals than among the heterosexual male population.

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” Genesis 19:6-8

The wicked men of the city surrounded Lot’s house seeking to have homosexual relations with Lot’s guests. In the ancient world, the practice of hospitality meant graciously receiving a traveler into one’s home, or community and providing directly for that person’s needs and protection. Not yet knowing that the men were angels and could protect themselves, and not knowing what to say or do to prevent their heinous intents, Lot offered his daughters to the mob out of desperation.

“Get out of our way,” they replied. And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. Genesis 19:9

The men of Sodom shouted at Lot to stand aside. They were so angered by this outsider, who called their intentions wicked, that they threatened Lot with great harm as they pushed him into the door of his house intending to break it in.

But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. Genesis 19:10-11

The two men pulled Lot into the house and shut to the door. They not only rescued Lot from the fury and rage of the mob, they also kept his daughters from being exposed to them, as Lot had offered. Then the perverse men of Sodom were smitten with blindness.

It is interesting that sexual promiscuity can lead to blindness. Chlamydia trachomatis—the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world is the leading cause of infectious blindness. Symptoms of the late stage of syphilis (another sexually transmitted disease) include difficulty coordinating muscle movements, paralysis, numbness, dementia and gradual blindness.

The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” Genesis 19:12-13

The visitors identify themselves to Lot as agents of Yahweh sent to destroy the city and its wicked inhabitants. Not only is Lot told to flee the city, but he is urged to take with him any of his family that is dwelling in the city as well.

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. Genesis 19:14

The men who were pledged to marry the daughters of Lot most probably did not know or fear the LORD because they did not take Lot’s warning seriously.

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. Genesis 19:15-17

Sodom pictures the sinful world in which only God’s grace saves believers. The Lord was merciful to Lot and His family.

It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30

The deliverance of righteous Lot is a type of the rapture. As angels grasped Lot’s hand and the hands of his wife and daughters, Angels will gather the elect before the outpouring of the seven bowls of God’s wrath. On the very day Lot was pulled from Sodom, judgment rained upon the city. On the very day of the rapture, the seven last plagues will begin to be poured upon the earth:

For the LORD himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And so we will be with the LORD forever. 1Thessalonians 4:16–17

As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.) Genesis 19:18-22

After enduring the distress and anxiety of the previous night’s attempted assault by the men of Sodom, Lot now had to flee for his life. His emotional and mental state left him so drained that he felt physically unable to make it to the mountains. Lot was focusing on his own strength, and not the power of the LORD to deliver him. None the less, the very small town of Zoar (which means insignificance) was not destroyed as Lot requested.

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:22-26

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. Genesis 14:10

The region of the Dead Sea is known, now and in ancient history, for its natural petroleum deposits. The Jordan Rift is an unstable area with a great deal of thermal energy as demonstrated by the hot springs on both sides of the sea. Pressure from an earthquake could have caused bitumen deposits to be forced out of the earth through the fault line that exist precisely at this site. If natural deposits of sulfur were forced into the air, the dust would have been extremely flammable. If natural heat ignited existing sulfur deposits at the time of an earthquake the results would result in localized cataclysmic rain of fire, tar and burning sulfur. This flammable substance ignited and produced an inferno that destroyed the valley, the cities, and that which grew on the ground.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Lot’s wife disobeyed the angel’s warning not to look back. When we experience deliverance from the LORD, we are to run our race and look forward. We are to set our eyes on the prize – the incorruptible crown of life and be transformed. We are not to look back and long for the perishable things of this world. Molten salt along with the burning sulfur raining down from the sky could explain how Lot’s wife was punished when she looked back by becoming a pillar of salt.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Genesis 19:27-29

Abraham gives us an eyewitness account from Hebron. When he arose, in the morning, and looked over the mountains, he saw that “the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” Our God is a consuming fire. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah both serve as a warning to those living in sin and as a type of eternal judgment.

Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father.”  Genesis 19:30-32

Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar because of its close proximity to the fires and smoke of the burning cities of the plain. Lot may have feared that the fires would eventually spread to Zoar. Ironically, Lot went to live in those very same mountains where God originally had commanded him to flee to in order to make his escape from Sodom’s judgment.

Although there were men living in Zoar, after spending time secluded in a cave, Lot’s daughters may have thought the whole world was destroyed by fire, as it had been by the flood. The LORD had promised that there would never again be a worldwide flood, but Lot’s daughters had imagined that the judgment by fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah spread worldwide.

That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. Genesis 19:33

Lot was so drunk that he never heard his older daughter come to bed nor get up out of the bed. Lot may have been so inebriated that he forgot that his wife had died. In his drunken state, Lot may have thought that he was being intimate with his wife.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. Genesis 19:34-35

The same scenario took place on the following night between Lot and his younger daughter.

So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. Genesis 19:36-38

The name Moab, the son of Lot from his older daughter, means “from the father.” The name Ben-ammi, his son by his younger daughter, means “son of my people.” These sons conceived through incest gave rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites.

No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation. No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Deuteronomy 23:2-4

The Ammonites were a pagan people who worshiped the gods Milcom and Molech. God commanded the Israelites not to marry these pagans, because intermarriage would lead the Israelites to worship false gods.

Despite their blood links with Israel, Moab was her enemy, very determined to seek her defeat. For eighteen years they oppressed Israel under Eglon, king of Moab. They also attempted to corrupt the birth line of Israel, seducing Israel to immorality amongst “the daughters of Moab” (Numbers 25:1-9).

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

Not only did Lot’s drunkenness lead to debauchery, it caused great strife and oppression to generations of God’s chosen people .

God’s Covenant with Abram Who Believed the LORD

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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God’s Covenant with Abram Who Believed the LORD

Abram rescued Lot and paid a tithe to Melchizedek. The LORD came to him in a vision. He believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Genesis 15:1

“After this” refers to the time following the rescue of Lot by Abram, and Abram subsequently paying a tithe to Melchizedek. Abram knew that his success and victory over the kings of Mesopotamia were from the LORD and not by his own hand. Abram declared to the king of Sodom that he would not accept anything belonging to the king, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal. Abram had a great victory and gave a tithe to Melchizedek who was the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High. After Abram publically acknowledged that his success and blessings were from God and not from man, the LORD came to him in a vision.

The word of Yahweh, the Self-existent One, appeared to Abram while he was awake and in a temporary trance (he had a vision) and called him by name. The vision may have been a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus who is the Word of God, or the LORD manifested himself by speech to his servant Abram. The vision must have manifested the glory of God because the LORD assured Abram not to be afraid. Abram may also have feared that the four Kings of Mesopotamia, who he had recently defeated, may return with an even greater force. But the LORD then promised that not only will He be Abram’s shield – his protector and defender – but also his very great reward.

But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Genesis 15:2-3

According to the account found in the first two verses of Genesis chapter 12, Abram had been promised that the LORD would make him into a great nation and would bless him if Abram would leave his country, his people and his father’s household and go to the land that the LORD would show him. Abram had made the arduous and dangerous thousand mile journey. First Abram transported his family, servants, goods, and animals on a hard trek from the Chaldean city of Ur to Haran, and then from Haran to Canaan.

Abram had received a great victory over the kings of Mesopotamia and had already accumulated a great number of flocks, herds and servants. Yet, despite the blessings and honors that Abram had already received from the Lord, he remained childless. Would all of his material possessions be inherited by his eldest servant and the steward of his house, Eliezer? How would all the peoples of the earth be blessed through Abram, if the promised seed of the woman – the Messiah – did not physically descend through Abram who was in the line of Shem?

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars —if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Genesis 15:4-5

The LORD not only reassured Abram that he would indeed have a son coming from his own body who would be his rightful heir, but that Abram’s offspring would be as innumerable as the stars in the sky.

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, Genesis 22:17

Chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis records the account of Abraham’s faith being tested when the LORD tells him to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham responds positively to God’s command to sacrifice his son, and God responds to Abraham by reiterating His promises and blessings to Abraham and his descendants. Not only does God speak of Abrahams descendants as numerous as the stars but also as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore. These two elements not only depict countless numbers but also are symbolic of two types of offspring.

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:41-49

God would later rename Abram which means, “Exalted Father,” and give him the name, Abraham which means “Father of Many.” He would be the patriarch of numerous natural children. “As the sand of the seashore” is a phrase alluding to the first Adam who was of the dust of the earth – the natural man who had a natural body. The children of Israel are the physical seed of Abraham.

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29

The stars are a picture of those who would belong to Christ, having been purchased by the blood of Jesus. Abraham’s spiritual seed are those who place their trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross. They are heirs according to the promise. As the adopted children of God, they are heirs of God. Being the spiritual children of Abraham by faith, they also receive the blessings and promises.

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:13-16

Abraham is the father of us all. He is the father of both the natural children (like the sand on the seashore) and the spiritual children (as the stars in the heavens). Abraham is the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs. He is also the spiritual father of those, like him, who have been credited as righteous by faith in God’s promised Messiah.

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” Genesis 15:7

The LORD God’s purpose for calling Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans was to give him the land of Israel as his and his children’s possession.

for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

God’s gifts and calling are not taken back. God gave Abram and his descendants the land as their possession. It is a gift from God. God’s gifts are irrevocable. The natural land still belongs to the physical seed of Abraham.

But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” Genesis 15:8

Abram had believed God’s promise that he would have an heir from his own body and numerous offspring. Abram was declared righteous because of his faith. Yet, Abram asked for a sign that he would possess the Land of Canaan.

In Judges 6:36-40, Gideon wanted to be reassured that the LORD would indeed use him to rescue Israel. Therefore, Gideon took a wool fleece and sought a sign. He asked that the next morning the dew would only be on the fleece and all the ground would be dry, and it was so. Gideon then asked for another test. He requested that the next time the fleece would be dry and the ground covered with dew. In 2 Kings 20:8, Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?” Isaiah called upon the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on Ahaz’s stairway. These and other biblical accounts confirm that indeed, Jews demand miraculous signs… 1 Corinthians 1:22a

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Genesis 15:9-10

The LORD did not rebuke Abram for asking for a sign, but had him gather animals to be used in order to cut a covenant with him. A covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties.

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word “berith” is always translated as covenant. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a “cutting,” with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant.

A series of events are set into motion when two people decide they want to “cut the covenant.” It is referred to as the blood covenant ceremony and is considered a most serious and solemn event.

The walk of blood: Each participant walks a path in the shape of a figure “8” between the halves of the slain animal, then stops in the middle in the midst of the pool of blood to pronounce the blessings and the curses of the covenant. The curses would be brought to bear upon the one who broke the blood covenant. It basically said, “The one who breaks this covenant will die just like this animal has died.” A pledge was also made that said, “Just as this animal gave its life so I will give my life for you if necessary.”

The animals chosen for the “cutting of the covenant” were ceremonially clean animals and birds. They foreshadowed the ceremonial sacrifices that would later be offered up for sin under the Mosaic Law. According to Leviticus 1:17, when a dove or young pigeon was to be offered as a burnt offering it was not to be severed completely.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence… While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and offal… A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.” Numbers 19:1-3,5,9

The heifer (female cow) brought to the LORD by Abram foreshadowed purification and cleansing from sin for individuals.

“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.” Leviticus 16:20-22

The goat that was brought to the LORD by Abram foreshadowed purification and cleansing from sin for the entire community of Israel.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Romans 11:25-27

All Israel will be saved, but only those who survive through the Great Tribulation. On the Day of Atonement, Jesus will return to the earth to redeem Israel. The sins of the nation including wickedness and rebellion will be taken away. On that day, ungodliness will be removed from Jacob.

In the future, a ram would be very significant in Abram’s life and in the life of the promised heir from his own body.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. Genesis 22:6-8

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14

The ram that was brought to the LORD by Abram foreshadowed the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God. For on that same mountain, God himself would provide His only begotten Son, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. Genesis 15:11

In Scripture, birds sometimes represent satanic activity. In the parable of the sower, the Lord Himself explained that the birds which ate the seed represented the action of Satan: “Some people are like the seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them” (Mark 4:15). The birds of prey in Genesis 15 may be another spiritual picture of satanic activity. These unclean birds attempted to tear and devour the sacrificial animals, the visible part of the sacred covenant-confirming ceremony. They had to be driven away. While God could have prevented the birds from disturbing the ceremony, or driven the vultures away Himself, He gave Abraham the responsibility to care for the visible signs of the covenant.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Genesis 15:12-16

After a day of preparation which included gathering and slaughtering of the prescribed sacrificial animals, Abram fell into a deep sleep. The thick and dreadful darkness symbolized the spiritual darkness and physical suffering that his descendants would endure as slaves in Egypt. Indeed in the fourth generation, after the life spans of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the sons of Israel would emerge with great possessions, return to Canaan and the nation they served would be severely punished.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

One of the purposes of the delay in the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt was to allow for the sin of the Amorites to reach its full measure. The LORD didn’t immediately pour out his wrath on this nation, but allowed hundreds of years to pass in which the Amorites could have repented from their wickedness.The term Amorites as used in the Bible is sometimes interchangeable with Canaanite. At other times Canaanite is more general, and Amorite is a specific group among the Canaanites. The more specific use refers to highland mountaineers who inhabited the land of eastern Canaan, described in Genesis 10:16 as descendants of Canaan, son of Ham. After the Hebrews emerged as the nation of Israel from Egypt, God was going to mete out judgment upon the Amorites through Joshua and his army.

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates — the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” Genesis 15:17-21

The LORD’s covenant promise of land given to the descendants of Abram, the children of Israel, was made while Abram was in a deep sleep. This covenant was a unilateral, unconditional promise. There were no terms that Abram or his descendants had to fulfill to earn the right to the land of Canaan. The LORD told Abram that he should know for certain that the LORD would give his descendants the land. It was the LORD himself who verified the covenant through the testimony of two witnesses. God is a consuming fire. He himself, symbolized by the smoking pot and the blazing torch, passed between the pieces. The smoking fire pot also pictures the furnace of affliction that the Hebrews would endure in Egypt; while the blazing torch represents the Shekinah glory that would dwell among them during their wilderness journey and in the Promised Land.