Covenant

This one is going to be a stretch and perhaps a little strange, but it's a connection that occurred to me today as I was reading for Disciple.

In Genesis 15, God and Abraham are having a discussion about God's promises to Abraham. God instructs Abraham to bring animals for a sacrifice. He follows God's instructions. As he prepared the animals, he cuts them in half and lays them on the ground. I thought it was an odd thing to do until I read the notes in my study Bible. It was a practice of the time -- the animals would be split, and then those making the covenant would walk between the pieces. It was symbolic -- if one of the two broke his promises, he was saying that he would agree that he should be split like the animals.

Glad we just shake hands now.

As Abraham sleeps, God walks between the split animals, assuming sole responsibility for the covenant. He will be faithful, even in the face of our unfaithfulness. He knows us very well.

God taking responsibility for the covenant brought to mind his greatest act of love. He sent his son to us. The Word was with God, the Word was God, and then the Word was with us. I don't mean to imply that the God was split through the incarnation, but it reminded me of God -- as God and as Jesus, accepting full responsibility for the covenant because we have broken it.