So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds.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.And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not.
3 sermons cite this verse
… could go back and look in the old testament at different places genesis chapter 8 verse 10 where god made a covenant with noah and blood was the seal of that covenant same thing in genesis chapter 15 verse 10 with moses blood was the seal of the covenant they had together exodus chapter 24. That was Abraham, sorry, Genesis 15. In Exodus chapter 24, it was Moses. God sealed his covenant with Moses with blood. And you get to Leviticus chapter 17, verse 11, and the Bible teaches us that blood was so important in these covenants with God because the life of the flesh is in the blood. And so the blood was a picture of the life we have with God, the relationship we have with God, the covenant we have with him. You remember the Passover in Exodus chapter 12 and the chapters that follow, how God's people, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt. And God delivered them out of that. How did he do it? He said, take a lamb, sacrifice the lamb, and take its what? Take its blood and put it over the doorposts of your houses. And for every house that has the blood of the lamb over it, you will escape out from under the judgment of God on the people of Egypt, and you'll be delivered from slavery. That was the Passover. And they were told to remember that year after year after year. Every year, celebrate the Passover where you remember how you, by the …
So you heard the gospel lesson. Jesus' lament over Jerusalem is one of the saddest stories in any of the gospels. Right up there with him weeping over the death of his dear friend Lazarus. Or rearing back when Judas leans toward him on the night of his arrest. Judas, is it with a kiss that you betray the Son of Man? There is such sorrow in these stories, such crushing disappointment at the way things have turned out, in spite of Jesus' higher vision of them, his life's labor on their behalf. In the case of Lazarus, Jesus intervenes, bringing his friend back to life. But in the other two, he's more like us, suffering things that he cannot or will not change. He laments over a city that has killed people like him before and seems bent on doing it again. On the night of his arrest, he watches the police push Judas aside. Then he stops his friends from trying to save him by force. No more of this, he says, when one of them pulls out a sword and cuts off a trooper's ear. …
… Amen. Abram believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. There may be no other sentence in the Old Testament that means more to followers of the new. God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have millions of descendants, as many as the stars in the heavens. even though there was absolutely no proof that that would come true. Abraham believed God, and that was enough to make him righteous in God's eyes. Abraham did not have to fight any battles, follow any commandments, love any neighbors, or give up anything for Lent. All he had to do was believe what God told him, so Abraham did, and God reckoned that made him right. Forever after that, from the Apostle Paul to Billy Graham From Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. From Muslims, Jews, and Christians Abraham has served as the first gold standard of faith As the primal believer who trusted God's promise Though he had no earthly evidence that the promise was ever going to come true For Protestants in particular, his story is key Abraham did not lift a finger to be saved. …