Genesis 15, verses 7 to 11, part 2, Abram drove them away

 

Abram obeys God and performs the first part of the ceremony around making a covenant.

Jeremiah 34:18  And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19  The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Writers, both Jewish and Christian, have different opinions about the significance of the particular animals used. The she goat might represent the Law given to Moses later.

Numbers 15:27  And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.

The ram might represent salvation through faith in Christ as Abram, then named Abraham, tells his son, Isaac, in a prophecy that points forward to Christ;

Genesis 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

And a ram was made available in place of Isaac;

Genesis 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

The turtledove and the pigeon, used for purification, are also part of this blood covenant.

Leviticus 12:6  And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

Leviticus 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

But, regardless of the purpose of those creatures other than the heifer, which purpose scholars are not sure of although the verses I just quoted in Jeremiah 34 show that later the calf represented an agreement, this covenant was understood by the people of the ancient world as the passage in Jeremiah indicates.

Fowls of the air are symbols also of the Devil (see the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4 as just one example) so there is significance in Abram’s part of this covenant, in his obedience first, and also in his keeping corruption from his part. We could make sermons about this and many have been made about keeping things of evil from your worship of God; influences, worldly values, and carnality fluttering around your solemn willingness to wait on, obey, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

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