Genesis 12:1-3 states, “Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred. And from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 15:18 states further, “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land….”
Although fighting had already started with Britain, on July 4, 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. This was the same as declaring war and stating that the 13 colonies were no longer under British control. On August 2nd, four brave men put their signatures on this document: John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton. (These last three were from New Hampshire.) Later fifty-two others signed. This was like giving the British the information of who to kill first. On the 4th of July we should be thankful to Congress and the four men who made a “do or die” blood covenant to stand up to the great nation of Britain.
In Genesis 12:2 God told Abram that He would make of him a great nation on the condition that he leave his country and family and go to a new land. Abram believed and obeyed. At 75 years old he entered into the Land of Canaan. He did a lot of walking by faith. At 99 years old, still without a child, God encouraged him, naming him Abraham, meaning “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5).
The covenant God made with Abram in Genesis 15:18 was a blood covenant in response to Abram’s question in verse two, “…what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?” He also asked, “…whereby shall I know that I shall inherit the land?” (V. 8). Abram was familiar with this covenant that was used before a wedding. The fathers of the bride and groom-to-be would meet together, kill the animals, divide them, laying half of the bodies on one rock and the other half on another rock close to it. The blood would run down and form a pool between the halves. They in turn would make a pledge to each other that their child was faultless and blameless. After this promise, the dad would walk through the blood, splashing it all over and saying, “If I am not telling the truth, you can do this to me (kill me).” The other dad would then do the same.
With Abram, God was the only one that stated the covenant. He then passed between the pieces as a “smoking furnace and a burning lamp.” God basically said, “If I do not keep my word you can kill me.” Then God took Abram’s place, walking through again and saying, “Abram, if you do not keep the covenant, you can kill ME!” Yes, the Christ, the Cross, the Great Nation!
