Setting: Genesis 14:17-15:21
Berah, king of Sodom, rode out on a camel to meet us as we returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him. We were a large caravan indeed, consisting of our thousand or so fighting men, and twice as many others who we had rescued, along with their wives and their children and much of their livestock that Chedorlaomer had thought to steal as well.
We met with Berah in the valley of Shaveh, in the place that they call the King’s Dale.
There Melchizedek, king of Salem met us as well, so that the most loathsome and the most commendable of all kings both greeted us on our return to the land of Canaan.
Melchizedek prophesied, and tears filled my eyes, for I was reminded of the prophecies of my mother in the days of my youth. Yet in Melchizedek there is a peace and a joy that even Amathlai could not match. That this man prophecies in the service of El Elyon may the world be forever grateful.
Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, which he blessed in the name of El Elyon, that we might partake of it together. And he blessed me and said “Blessed be Abram of El Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be El Elyon, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
I bowed myself low, humbled beyond measure by the kindness of this great man, and I called forth Eliezer that we might aportion to Melchizedek a tenth part of the spoils of war.
As we prepared the rest of the spoils to be given back to Berah, the Sodomite king stepped forward and gestured to the many spoils in our midst, saying “give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
He is a wicked man, and he would have me forever in his debt. He would like to have it said far and wide that it was he who sponsored Abram in the war of the kings. That Abram risked his life so that he might become rich at Berah’s generosity.
I lifted my hand unto Elohim in his presence, and declared for all to hear, “I have lifted up my hand to Adonai, who is El Elyon, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take one thread of clothing, or the strap of one sandal, or anything that is yours, lest you should say ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I ask only for the food which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Enau, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion.”
I know not what Berah thought of my response, for he simply smiled and said “very well, my son,” and the feast of Melchizedek and Berah and Abram continued late into the night.
As the stars began to disappear, but before the sun appeared on the horizon, I departed from the feast to walk in the desert with God. I was troubled, for I knew in my heart that Lot would return to Sodom, leaving me still childless, and I knew also in my heart that Eliezer, while as much a son to me as any man, was not my flesh and blood and did not deserve the birthright of the house of Abram.
Why would God call me to be the father of a great people, only to deny me a child who is truly of my loins?
There in the desert, a very strange thing happened. I am certain the sun must have fled backwards into the underworld, for pink hues disappeared from the horizon and it was black again, and the stars which had all but faded reappeared in full shining glory.
Then Adonai came to me in a vision, and said to me “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, and your exceedingly great reward.”
They say I am a great and pious man, righteous and holy for Elohim. And let God be true and every man a liar. But in truth as my God spoke these words to me I felt that they were somehow hollow. “I am your shield.” “I am your great reward.” Well and good, Lord, but I have no son to inherit my name. He who would inherit my possessions is known by the name of Damascus.
There is no hiding anything from the Most High, and so I spoke with Him plainly. “Elohim Adonai, what would you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this ‘Eliezer or Damascus’?”
He answered me nothing, and I knew that this was an invitation to simply trust and obey, yet it seemed as though I could not. The darkness that wrapped around me was like a blanket, and it comforted me, that I should be here in this dark place, face to face with Adonai, and able to question Him. But now, as He did not answer, the sky began to lighten again and the stars began to fade and I became at once angry and afraid, and I wept and fiercely I said to my God,
“Look! You have given me no seed, and see, one born in my household is to be my heir!”
At once it grew dark again, even darker than before, a darkness that could be felt. A darkness so black that the stars that pierced it seemed almost blinding. What a wonder to behold! And the word of Adonai came to me.
“This shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir.”
And He caught me up to the top of Hermon, where the stars shone even brighter due to their closer proximity, and He commanded me, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to number them.” And what could I do, but to begin the hopeless task of counting all of the stars?
And he said to me, “I am Adonai, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
“Elohim Adonai,” I asked, “how can I know that I will indeed inherit it?”
And he said to me, “Take a heifer, three years old, and a she goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtledove and a pigeon.” And I arose to return to the feasting grounds that I might collect these animals, but behold, they came out to me instead. So I took these and I severed their bodies in two, for it was clear that Adonai was to have me walk a blood path. If I am bound by a blood covenant to my wife, and rightfully slain should I ever mistreat her, so now it seemed I must be bound by a blood covenant, either to the land or to Adonai Himself, with dreadful consequences should I betray that sacred bond.
When the livestock were cut in two, I drained their blood into a trench, and I did not sever the birds but cut off their heads and drained their blood into the trench as well.
Then I waited all day, and the sun rose above the horizon and made is circuit across the sky as I waited, until it was descending yet again. And carrion fowl began to descend upon the carcasses, and I had to drive them away, for Adonai delayed, it seemed, in coming to the blood path ceremony that He had arranged.
As the sun was going down, I felt exhaustion overcome me, and I slept very deeply. And lo, I awakened suddenly, and I was terrified, and there was a darkness clinging to everything so that this time even the light of the stars was obscured and I was oppressed by the utter darkness, as though suddenly blind.
And Adonai spoke unto me and said “know for certain that your seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
And the sun, which had not set but which I could barely see through the great darkness, set below the horizon so that somehow it was even more dark in Canaan, and I knew that I must now walk the blood path.
I had questioned my God one too many times, and now He was calling me to task for my doubt. I must “know for certain” that all these things would happen and I must question them no more, and might it be done to me as I had done to these animals in butchering them so, if I should doubt my God again.
But behold, as I rose to walk the blood path, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp passed before me, and it was they that passed between the pieces. I thought to ask what was the meaning of this, but God gave me the answer, for He enabled me to see that this was not a covenant based on my righteousness, but on His. That this was not a covenant forged at the cost of my blood, but of His. That the dreadful consequences of our partnership were not mine to bear, but His.
And He spoke to me the words of a covenant, saying “Unto your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephims, and the Armories, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites,” and I sank to the ground in exhaustion and wonder and I worshiped El Elyon, who has no equal nor anyone who can counsel Him in heaven or on earth; the ancient of days, the beginning and the end, the one and only God who is and who was and who is to come, amen.