Picture of Calvary – Part 1

God had taken him out into the night and shown him the stars of heaven, and promised him, “so shall thy seed be.” There was the simple promise, unattended by any other evidence. God had said to Abram, “I am the Lord that brought you out of the Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land to inherit it.” And Abram says, “I know, and I believe it the best I can, but I do desire something additional whereby I shall know that I shall inherit this land.” Then follows one of the most profound and marvelous pictures in answer to Abram’s cry for more assurance:

“He [God] said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.” (Genesis 15:9-11).

Then a few verses later, God gives Abram this wonderful picture:

“When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates’ “ (Genesis 15:17-18).

Abram had asked God for the assurance of the promises of God. Probably, as we suggested before, he was looking for some unusual manifestation, some physical experience, or some other external evidence by which he would be able to say, “Now I can be certain that God has really spoken.” But instead of this, God takes Abram to Calvary and seems to say, “The only sign I am going to give you is a picture of Calvary. If you can stand before Calvary and see all that I have done there, and then still have any doubts in your mind, there isn’t anything else that I can do for you.” He tells him to take a heifer three years old, a she goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove and a pigeon; and He commands Abram to slay them.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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