Indeed, the covenant of the torch is the clearest manifestation of the administration of God in the history of redemption, which accomplishes the election of His people, their growth and the formation of their nation, and the possession of their dwelling place, the land of Canaan. There are two major reasons for this.
(i) It is a covenant established with a “torch” that passed between the pieces of the animals that were cut in two.
According to the Ancient Near Eastern customs of establishing a treaty (or covenant) around the fifteenth century BC, when the Pentateuch was recorded, the parties that are establishing the covenant must cut sacrificial animals in two pieces and pass between the pieces in front of many witnesses. This custom was carried out as an act of swearing an oath to keep the covenant, agreeing that whoever fails to keep the covenant will be cut into pieces like the animals (Jer 34:18-21).
A unique phenomenon that happened when God was making the covenant with Abraham is a flaming torch, which passed between the pieces of the animals. Since the torch symbolizes God’s presence (Exod 13:21; 19:18; 20:18-20; Deut 4:11-12; 5:23-24; Isa 62:1), the party that passed between the pieces was God. This was an emphatic expression of God’s will that He would certainly fulfill this covenant.
(ii) It was a definite promise concerning the establishment of God’s kingdom
Of the many covenants in the Old Testament, the covenant that contains the most details concerning the kingdom of God is the “covenant of the torch.” Genesis 15:7 states, “And He said to him, ‘I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.’” Through the covenant of the torch, God proclaimed that He would surely give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants. Additionally, God promised that they would enter Canaan in the fourth generation from Abraham (Gen 15:16), and God even delineated the boundaries of Canaan (Gen 15:18).
The covenant of the torch is not limited to the fleshly descendants of Abraham. Ultimately, it is the promise given to all the spiritual descendants of Abraham—those who receive salvation through their faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 9:7–8; Gal 3:7, 27–29). If God established an everlasting covenant to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants (Ps 105:8–11), that covenant is still valid today for the believers who have received the promise of the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, the covenant of the torch is not merely a covenant from the past. It is a covenant of great importance that will be finally accomplished through the saints who fervently hope for the kingdom of God and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
PART TWO
The Covenant of the Torch and the Four Generations
Chapter 3
The Content and Confirmation of the Covenant
1. The Content of the Covenant
God’s covenant of the torch established with Abraham in Genesis 15 is a covenant concerning Abraham’s “descendants” and the “land of Canaan” where they were to dwell.
(1) The promise concerning the descendants
The covenant of the torch promises the election and prosperity of godly descendants who will accomplish God’s administration in the history of redemption. Genesis 15:1–6 deals with the promise concerning the descendants.
Genesis 15:4–5 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
This passage clearly illustrates how God’s kingdom will be established through Abraham’s descendants. Because Abraham believed in this promise of “descendants,” God attributed it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6).
The history of redemption up until the covenant of the torch was about finding one “godly descendant” to establish the kingdom of God in the future. The history of redemption after the covenant of the torch establishes that the godly descendants of the “one man” will build a nation and fill the whole earth, so that God’s kingdom will be complete (Gen 15:5). Thus, the history of redemption that once worked through one individual and his family expanded to the scale of a nation and out to the entire world; such a turning point was made possible by the covenant of the torch.
(2) The promise concerning the land
The covenant of the torch promises that the land of Canaan will be granted to the godly descendants who will carry out God’s plan of redemption (Gen 15:7–21).
Genesis 15:7 And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
The message of Genesis 15:13–21 is the promise that the descendants of Abraham would become strangers in a foreign land where they would be oppressed for 400 years, and that they would return to Canaan in the fourth generation.
This is a detailed description of the covenant of the torch:
• First, Abraham’s descendants would become strangers in a foreign land where they would be oppressed for 400 years, but they would eventually come out with great possessions (Gen 15:13–14).
• Second, Abraham would be buried at a good old age and return to his fathers in peace (Gen 15:15).
• Third, the Israelites’ return to the land of Canaan would be accomplished in the fourth generation (Gen 15:16).
• Fourth, God outlined the boundaries of the land of Canaan—from the river of Egypt as far as the great river Euphrates—that would be given to the descendants of Abraham (Gen 15:18–21).
2. The Confirmation of the Covenant
After God disclosed the contents of the covenant, He confirmed it with a smoking oven and a flaming torch (Gen 15:17).
(1) The smoking oven
After having watched for the birds of prey and driven them away when they came down upon the carcasses, Abraham waited tirelessly for the divine presence until the sun went down. At long last, the very first thing that finally appeared over the dedicated sacrifices was a smoking oven (Gen 15:17).
A smoking oven refers to the hot furnace used to melt and refine metal. This foreshadows the severe suffering that the Israelites would face in the future. Gold that passes through a hot furnace comes forth refined as pure gold (Job 23:10). The 400 long and dreary years in Egypt, like being in the “iron furnace of Egypt” (Deut 4:20; 1 Kgs 8:51; Jer 11:4), were the process of purification intended by God to refine the Israelites as pure gold.
It may have seemed torturous and difficult at the time, but herein lies God’s administration in the history of redemption: to cause Israel’s faith to mature through such trials of affliction (Jas 1:2–4), raise them into a “great nation” that trusts only in God (Gen 46:3), and establish them as the true possessors of the land of Canaan.
(2) The flaming torch
After