And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Abraham's question was a request for a visible sign by which he could know for certain that he would inherit the promised land. In answer God did not rebuke the request but confirmed His promise by entering into a solemn covenant with him. At God's direction Abraham prepared the appointed sacrifices, dividing them as was customary in covenant-making, and then symbols of the divine presence — a smoking furnace and burning lamp — passed between the pieces.
That ceremony ratified the gift of the land and secured it to Abraham's descendants as their inheritance. Yet its meaning reached far beyond their later settlement in Canaan. It embodied the plan of redemption, pointing to Christ's sacrifice for sin and to His return, when the earth restored and made new would be given to the redeemed as an everlasting possession.
Abraham's question was a request for a visible sign by which he could know for certain that he would inherit the promised land. In answer God did not rebuke the request but confirmed His promise by entering into a solemn covenant with him. At God's direction Abraham prepared the appointed sacrifices, dividing them as was customary in covenant-making, and then symbols of the divine presence — a smoking furnace and burning lamp — passed between the pieces.
That ceremony ratified the gift of the land and secured it to Abraham's descendants as their inheritance. Yet its meaning reached far beyond their later settlement in Canaan. It embodied the plan of redemption, pointing to Christ's sacrifice for sin and to His return, when the earth restored and made new would be given to the redeemed as an everlasting possession.