SUZERAIN
TREATY
Genesis
15:5-21
Genesis
15:17: “when the sun had set and
darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed
between the pieces.”
Ms. Tierney, Girl Scout Camp Leader,
challenged the eight to ten year old campers:
“Whoever keeps her bed made and empties her cabin trash will get an ice
cream sundae at dinner.”
The girls cheered and clapped their
hands. Then one asked Ms. Tierney, “How
can we be sure of this? Won’t girls who
don’t make beds and pick up trash also get ice cream sundaes?”
“No.
Your cabin leader will keep records,” Ms. Tierney assured them. “I promise!”
“I promise!” is something God also
assures when He makes a covenant with people.
Suzerain Treaty [sue-ze-RAIN TREE-tee] originated in ancient Near
East. The treaty is made between a lord
or king and his subject. The treaty is
confirmed when sacrificed animals were cut in half, then laid on the ground in
two rows with an aisle between them.
The suzerain, or king, would walk
between the halves. This was his public
promise to keep the covenant—or else he’d be like the dead animals if he failed
to do his part. When Abram asked God how
he could be sure that God’s promises would happen, God used the suzerain treaty
custom as His response.
The opening Scripture shows God as
the smoking firepot and blazing torch passing between the halved dead animals. As Abram watched the burning torch pass
through his sacrifice, he understood that God was declaring that it was His job to keep the covenant. (God would rename Abram Abraham in Genesis
17:5).
Apostle Paul refers to believers in
Christ in his New Testament books as “Sons of Abraham.” He assures us that to whomever accepts Jesus as
Savior, God extends His covenant of faith. Check out the lesson linked below supporting how
believers in Christ are truly Sons of Abraham.
Jesus says in John 10:27-30, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow
Me. I give them eternal life, and they
shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is
greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Take
Home Nugget
God is the keeper of
believer’s salvation. He kept His
covenant of faith with Abraham, and He will keep His covenant of faith with
you. That’s His job!
God’s
covenant He will never break;
Come
now, and be bold,
He
will never fail us nor forsake!
Our
salvation is in His hold.
Trust
Him, oh children of the day,
For
His Word will never pass away.
J.D.
Griffith 
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