Genesis 15:12–16
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
We come now to one of the most solemn and mysterious moments in the life of Abram. But Abram, being a man and not a disembodied spirit, asks for assurance. His answer is a covenant, a binding oath, sealed in blood. But the circumstances surrounding this covenant are deeply unsettling. It is a promise given in the dark, a word of hope delivered through terror. God’s greatest promises are often ratified in the darkest providences. The central promise of our salvation was sealed in the supernatural darkness that fell over Golgotha. The light of the resurrection was preceded by the blackness of the tomb. Before the smoking firepot and flaming torch of God’s presence pass between the pieces, Abram must first pass through a horror of great darkness. The terror and the darkness are part of the message.