Pinky Swear

What do you do to make an agreement with someone? Have you ever spit in your hand while your friend did the same and shake on something? Yeah, I haven’t either and frankly it sounds really gross. However, people do all kinds of things to make a promise together. What happened to the days of the good ole pinky swear? We will read a passage where God made an agreement with Abraham. It has rich meaning that gives us so much hope and encouragement.

Read Genesis 15

When you read this passage, you have to remember that Abraham just rescued Lot in a daring military action. God blessed him and he was victorious. Abraham has just experienced victory in all ways but here we see that God comes around Abraham and continues to encourage him. Abraham is surrounded by the realization that God is his shield and great reward. This is important because we need to know that the evil one will try to discourage us and tempt us to move away from a place that is close to God, a place where we have had victory through Him.

So be reminded that God comes along side you and says that He is our shield and our great reward. God also does something amazing in this passage. He makes a covenant (a promise) which is really powerful because when God makes a promise, He keeps His promises. How do they come to this covenant. Jeremiah 34:18 speaks of a ‘covenant’ or contract that certain men made with God. When they made this covenant, they cut a calf in two and then walked between the pieces. God says that since they broke their part of the covenant he will ‘treat them like the calf they cut in two’.

Even if you don’t have any background it is possible to determine from the text in Jeremiah that there is something going on with ancient contracts of the day with the making ceremonies. In today’s society, it would be done through your signature and writing contracts. Unless you have it signed and legally documented, it may not be considered valid. But ancient cultures were oral cultures and story-telling cultures. And the way contracts were often ratified (parallel to our ‘signing’ or ‘handshake’) was when the parties dramatically acted out the penalty for breaking the covenant. A way that covenants were made was to kill and animal, cut it into pieces, and walk between it as the oath was taken. This way the speaker was identifying with the animal and expressing his willingness to receive the ‘curse of the covenant’ if he is not faithful to his promise.

As you read in Genesis 15:17, we are given very graphic imagery of a smoking firepot with a blazing torch. This can be seen as God’s presence showing Himself in great power. After this demonstration, we see that God himself taking a covenantal oath (promise) and entering into a contractual, binding relationship with Abraham. I was reading some material by Tim Keller and he suggests that there are two amazing things about this covenant making ritual.

First of all, it is incredible that God goes through the pieces himself. In the ancient Near East, when a lesser party made a treaty with a great King, it was often customary that only the party took the oath and walked between the pieces. But here God lowers himself to take the oath and made himself accountable.

Second, it is even more amazing that Abram is not asked to go through the animal pieces or take an oath. If Abram were to also walk through the pieces here and now, then the promised covenant blessing would be as contingent on Abram’s keeping his promise as on God’s keeping his. But here it is all God. What an amazing thing God does for us. He continues to show us His mercy, grace and love. It should blow us away that the mighty Creator loves us and takes initiative with us. Take some time just in reflection of this fact.