The Abrahamic Covenant
The Unconditional Covenant
1 Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, …he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell (count) the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
Abraham declared righteous
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:20-22
By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD
God "Cuts" A Covenant with Abram
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
The LORD's solitary "passing between the pieces" while Abram was asleep indicates that this covenant is unconditional, and is not dependent upon Abram or his descendants.
Six chapters later, in Genesis 21, Abraham "swears" ('sevens' - same word in Hebrew) an oath with Abimelech at a well by giving Abimelech "seven ewe lambs."
Hereafter the place is called "Beersheba" (the well of the oath or the well of the 'sevening').
Abraham is modeling the oath God made with him here in Genesis 15. The number seven is the number of swearing an oath or establishing a covenant relationship. This word sheba also has the idea of binding oneself by seven things. Oaths were often confirmed by seven sacrifices, witnesses or pledges.
The number seven has been considered sacred because of Creation.
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Genesis 2:3
This is the basis of the 4th of the Ten Commandments.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:8-11
The "Smoking Furnace" Represents Egypt
The Abrahamic Covenant details future events of Abraham's descendants, describing that they will be "sojourners in a land that is not theirs" and "will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years."
"When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a 'smoking furnace' and a flaming torch passed between these pieces."
The 'smoking furnace' was a symbol of the affliction Abraham's descendants would experience in Egypt. Multiple passages throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament) describe the LORD bringing Israel out of the "furnace" of Egypt.
Why Does "Smoking Furnace" Have a Value of 2520?
The reason the 'smoking furnace' has a mathematical value of 2520 is because it is a 'type' of a future 'furnace' that the nation of Israel will go through in the coming time of "Jacob's Trouble" which will last for 2520 days.
This future period of 2520 days is further detailed in the "In Time" section of this website.
The LORD Brings Israel Through the Fire
God's promise of bringing the believing remnant through the fire, and as the Apostle Paul said to the congregation in Rome, "and all Israel will be saved."
