# 126 The Price Of Our Credentials

The Book of Genesis Day 126 Ge 15:17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates- 19 "the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 "the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 "the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." Darkness, a smoking oven and a burning torch. These items represent the Holy God Himself passing between the pieces of meat! This is not the only time the Scriptures associate God with smoke and fire. He was in the burning bush when He spoke to Moses. He led the children of Israel out of Egypt via a pillar of smoke and fire. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mt Sinai in the midst of smoke and fire. Elijah’s offering on Mt Carmel was consumed by fire, and of course the Holy Spirit was poured out on the New Testament church on the Day of Pentecost and accompanied with tongues of fire! God and fire (an agent of purification, a symbol of holiness) are inseparable. So God Himself walks through these pieces of meat and the unconditional royal grant of the Promises Land was sealed and made holy. And it came to pass on this day! There’s that phrase again! “And it came to pass!” A crossroads has been reached. The animals have been split in half, the blood has been spilled, and the covenant has been made ready. What will God do? What will He allow to pass here?Let us not forget that this covenant was based on both parties walking between the animals that have been split in half with the idea that if either one should breach this covenant, then a similar fate would await them as the fate of those animals, namely death! This covenant of course foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. By walking through these pieces of meat alone, God was telling us and Abram, that the acquiring and occupying of the Promised Land was on Him. Abram’s part, our part, is to believe God and it will be accounted to us as righteousness. It is our faith that gives us the credentials necessary to enter the Promised Land and the price for those credentials was paid by Jesus! Here’s the thing, you and I break faith with God all the time, its called sin, and because of our sin, we deserve to die. We certainly don’t deserve to inherit the Promised Land! But God, by walking through that meat alone says to Abram, and you and I, “Don’t worry, I will walk through the meat for you! I will allow myself to be slain, so that you and all those who follow in your footsteps of faith may still inherit heaven!” It’s called grace and mercy and it came to pass on this day that God chose to foreshadow it for Abram and you and I. Abram did nothing! He slept through it all! He just received it! And that’s what all children of God need to do! RECEIVE IT! Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: Pray: Father, thank You for this solemn and holy picture. May it always serve as a reminder to us of the awful price Jesus paid that we might inherit eternal life and be called Your children.