Covenant Ground
If a modern observer had stumbled upon the scene in Genesis 15, it would have looked terrifying—five animal carcasses laid out on the ground, three of them split cleanly in half, the pieces arranged opposite one another with a path running between them. Blood soaked the earth. Death marked the ground. To modern eyes, the scene appears ominous, even barbaric.
But Abraham would not have been alarmed.
In his world, this arrangement was unmistakable. It was covenant ground.
When God first called Abraham out of his homeland, He made promises—of descendants, of land, and of blessing. These were not vague hopes or spiritual aspirations. They were covenant promises. And in Genesis 15, God does something extraordinary: He does not merely restate His word; He visibly, publicly, and irrevocably binds Himself to it.
A Covenant Sealed by Blood
God instructs Abraham,
“Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon” (Genesis 15:9).
Abraham obeys without hesitation. He cuts the animals in two, laying the halves opposite each other, leaving a path between them, just as covenant rituals had been practiced throughout the ancient Near East (Genesis 15:10).
This was no symbolic gesture. It was a blood covenant—a legally binding oath sealed by death. Those who entered such a covenant would walk between the divided animals, declaring in effect, “May what happened to these animals happen to me if I break this covenant.” Scripture later confirms this practice explicitly: “Those who have transgressed My covenant… when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it” (Jeremiah 34:18–19).
When God Walked Alone
Yet something unprecedented happens next.
As night falls, Abraham does not rise to walk the path. Instead, “a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12). Abraham is rendered completely passive—unable to act, unable to swear, unable to contribute.
Then God appears.
In the form of a smoking firepot and a flaming torch, the visible manifestation of His presence, God alone passes between the pieces (Genesis 15:17). The oath is spoken. The covenant is sealed. And Abraham never takes a step.
This moment shatters every known pattern. In every ancient covenant, the lesser party walked first—the servant, the vassal, the one with something to prove. But here, God walks alone. The entire covenant rests not on Abraham’s faithfulness, but on God’s.
The writer of Hebrews explains the weight of this moment: “When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself” (Hebrews 6:13).
Faith That Receives, Not Earns
Nothing in this covenant diminishes faith; it defines it.
Earlier in the chapter we are told, “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham’s faith was not intellectual agreement or emotional assurance. It was trust—expressed through obedience, sacrifice, and surrender.
Faith did not earn the covenant.
Faith received what God had already committed Himself to fulfill.
Life in the Blood
The blood spilled that night mattered. Scripture declares, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). In every blood covenant, life is what is placed on the line.
In the Abrahamic Covenant, God was effectively declaring that He would give His own life if His promises failed. This was not an empty oath. It was the strongest possible assurance, grounded in the nature of a God who cannot lie and cannot die.
This covenant secured three foundational promises: an heir beyond human impossibility, land beyond Abraham’s lifetime, and blessing that would extend to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:2–3; Genesis 15:5–7). It was never private. It was always global.
From Shadow to Fulfillment
Later, under Moses, God established another covenant—also sealed with blood. Moses sprinkled blood on the altar and on the people, declaring, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you” (Exodus 24:8).
Hebrews reflects on this, saying, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
Yet animal blood was never the final answer. “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). These covenants were shadows—temporary signs pointing forward to something greater.
The Covenant Fulfilled in Christ
That greater covenant arrived in Jesus Christ.
At the Last Supper, Jesus lifted the cup and declared, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).
Once again, God went first.
Once again, God bore the curse.
Once again, God walked through death on behalf of humanity.
Hebrews declares, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). What began in Genesis 15 reached its fulfillment at the cross.
Walking Inside the Covenant
After sealing the covenant with Abraham, God later said to him, “I am El Shaddai; walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1).
This was not a demand to earn what had already been given. It was an invitation to live faithfully within a relationship already secured. The word blameless (tamim) means whole, undivided, loyal—not sinless perfection, but covenant integrity.
Grace establishes the relationship.
Faith receives it.
Obedience walks it out.
Heirs According to the Promise
The apostle Paul explains that the covenant was ultimately spoken not to many, but to One: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made… and that Seed is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
And because of that promise, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). All who believe, like Abraham, become participants in the covenant by faith (Galatians 3:7).
God Has Never Broken One
On that dark night in Genesis 15, God walked through blood while Abraham slept. He took upon Himself the full weight of the promise.
Scripture records it with breathtaking simplicity:
“On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram” (Genesis 15:18).
God went first.
God bound Himself.
And He has never broken a covenant yet.
Spiritual Wanderings 