Picture of Calvary – Part 2

From Last Lesson: God tells Abram 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.

NOW it is worthy of note that the only part Abram had in this entire transaction described here was simply putting to death the sacrifice. It is important to see this. Every one of these animals and these birds is a type and a picture of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The heifer has to do especially with the cleansing of salvation; the ram with the atonement; the goat with the carrying away of our sins into the wilderness; and the pigeon and the turtledove with the keeping power of Almighty God in sanctification. It is a marvelous, wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who had to be slain by the hand of the sinner; but beyond that, like Abram, the sinner has absolutely nothing to do at all in the procuring of redemption.

Abram takes the heifer, and cuts it in two and lays one piece over on one side, and the other piece opposite. Then he takes the goat, cuts it in two and lays one half on one side, and the second piece opposite the first. Then he takes the ram and does the same with it, a half on one side and a half on the other. The birds he divides not, but places them in their entirety, one on each side, so that the result is an aisle or a passageway between these bloody pieces of the sacrifice, through which, as we shall see later on, and upon the basis of which, God is going to give Abram the answer to his question regarding the assurance and the knowledge of salvation.

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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