App
or Download
Very few understand that the Passover of the Old Covenant and the Passover of the New Covenant are both founded on the promises of the covenant that God made with Abraham. These promises are dual in nature, having both a physical fulfillment and a spiritual fulfillment. In this chapter, we will examine God’s covenant with Abraham, and we will learn how God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham through the Passover, the Exodus and the establishment of the Old Covenant with the children of Israel. As we will see, the timing of these events was planned by God more than four hundred years in advance.
God Promises to Bless Abraham
The first promises that God gave to Abraham are recorded in Genesis 12. Notice that these promises were accompanied by a specific command: “And the LORD said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, into a land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed’ ” (verses 1-3).
Abram, who was later named Abraham, was required to fulfill the conditions that God had laid down in order to receive these promises. The Scriptures record that Abraham obeyed God and departed from his kindred, who were dwelling in the city of Haran: “Then Abram departed, even as the LORD had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. And Abram was seventyfive years old when he departed from Haran” (verse 4). Abraham obeyed God in faith that He would fulfill the promises that He had given to him. These promises formed the basis for the covenants that God established with Abraham and his descendants.
The Four Promises of the Covenant
Ten years after making these promises, God again appeared to Abraham. At this time, God gave Abraham additional promises, which He confirmed by establishing a covenant. In Genesis 15, we find a detailed account of the covenant that God made with Abraham. This covenant is the foundation of the Old Covenant, which was established with the physical seed of Abraham, and of the New Covenant, which is established with the spiritual seed of Abraham.
Many who read the account in Genesis 15 see only the physical aspects of God’s covenant with Abraham. They look upon this covenant strictly as a national covenant and believe that it was established exclusively for the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac. As we examine the Scriptural account of this covenant, we will see that it applies not only to the physical seed of Abraham but also to those who become the spiritual seed of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ.
The account begins with God’s promise that a son would be born to Abraham: “After these things the Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.’ And Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will You give me since I go childless, and the heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.’
“And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir’ ” (Gen. 15:1-4). This promise was fulfilled first by the birth of Isaac and later by the birth of Jesus Christ, Who was a descendant of Isaac’s grandson Judah. The New Testament reveals that Jesus Christ is the true Seed of Abraham and the Heir of the promises: “Now to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken. He does not say, ‘and to your seeds,’ as of many; but as of one, ‘and to your Seed,’ which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).
God’s promise to give Abraham a son was followed by a second promise. The words that God spoke reveal that the promises were given after the sun had set and the darkness of night had come. Notice: “And He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your seed be’ ” (verse 5). As the New Testament shows, these words of God do not refer to Abraham’s physical descendants but to those who would become the spiritual children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ: “Because of this, you should understand that those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). The true children of Abraham are not counted by their physical lineage. They are a spiritual nation, composed of individuals of every race and every bloodline who follow in the faith of Abraham (verses 8, 14). At the return of Jesus Christ, they will be resurrected to eternal life as glorified spirit beings and will shine as the stars forever (Dan. 12:3, Mat. 13:43, I Cor. 15:40-44).
The account in Genesis 15 shows that Abraham received the promises with complete faith that God would fulfill them: “And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness. And He said to him, ‘I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.’ “ (verses 6-7).
When we understand the full significance of the Scriptural account, it is clear that there are four specific promises:
1) promise of physical seed
2) promise of spiritual seed
3) promise of physical land
4) promise of a spiritual kingdom of God
The first promise was fulfilled through the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac, and the second promise through the birth of Jesus Christ. The third promise was fulfilled through the covenant that God established with the physical nation of Israel, called the Old Covenant. The fourth promise is being fulfilled through the New Covenant, which Jesus Christ has established with His Church.
The Promises Lead to Righteousness Through Faith
The Scriptures clearly record that when Abraham received the promises, “he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). It is important to understand that when God imputed this righteousness to Abraham, He did not require him to be circumcised. Abraham was not circumcised until fourteen years after he had received the promises. God gave Abraham the promises before he was circumcised so that he would become the father not only of the physical seed but also of the spiritual seed. The physical seed would receive their inheritance in the Promised Land through the circumcision of the flesh and obedience to the requirements of the law. The spiritual seed would receive an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of God through faith and the circumcision of the heart.
In His great love and mercy, God did not limit His promises to the physical descendants of Abraham but made provision for all nations to receive them—not through circumcision and the works of law, but through the righteousness of faith. Through faith, Abraham was counted righteous in his uncircumcision. In imputing this righteousness to Abraham, God planned for the time when He would establish the New Covenant through Jesus Christ, which would enable the Gentiles to be justified by faith without the requirement of physical circumcision. The words of Paul clearly show that justification comes through faith and not through the circumcision of the flesh: “What then shall we say that our father Abraham has found with respect to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has a basis for boasting, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness’.... Now then, does this blessedness come upon the circumcision only, or also upon the uncircumcision? For we are saying that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness. In what condition therefore was it imputed? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision” (Rom. 4:1-3, 9-10).
Abraham was justified by faith and lived in righteousness before God for fourteen years before he was circumcised. When he was ninetynine years old, he received the command to be circumcised. The circumcision of his flesh was a token of the covenant that God had made with him and an outward sign of his faith that God would fulfill the promises. Because Abraham’s faith preceded his circumcision, he became the father of all who believe, both of the circumcision and of the uncircumcision: “And afterwards he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had in the condition of uncircumcision, that he might become the father of all those who believe, though they have not been circumcised, in order that the righteousness of faith might also be imputed to them; And that he might become the father of the circumcision—not to those who are of the circumcision only, but also to those who walk in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had during his uncircumcision.... For this reason it is of faith, in order that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might be certain to all the seed—not to the one who is of the law only, but also to the one who is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Rom. 4:11-12, 16).
The righteousness that was imputed to Abraham while he was in uncircumcision laid the foundation for salvation through the New Covenant. The writings of Paul clearly show that those who enter the New Covenant through faith in Jesus Christ do not have to be physically circumcised in order to be justified from their sins and receive salvation. Rather, they are spiritually circumcised through the circumcision of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:11). Through the circumcision of the heart, they become partakers of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and are counted worthy to enter the New Covenant and to participate in its renewal each year at the Christian Passover.
The New Testament makes it absolutely clear that righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, the promised seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16, 22). Born of the tribe of Judah, He was a physical descendant of Abraham. Resurrected and glorified, He became the first spiritual descendant of Abraham. According to God’s promise, an innumerable number of spiritual descendants will be added during the fulfillment and completion of His plan. As the children of Abraham through faith, they will be granted an inheritance in the kingdom of God, sharing His glory and shining like the stars forever (Dan 12).
The Promises Are Confirmed by a Covenant
Abraham had been sojourning in the land of Canaan for ten years when he received the promises. Although he believed God, he wanted to know how and when God would fulfill His promises: “And he said: ‘O Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?’ ” (Gen 15:8.) The next morning God spoke to him and instructed him to prepare a sacrifice. This was a special sacrifice by which God would establish a unilateral covenant with Abraham. Because God would ratify His promises by passing through the middle of this sacrifice, it was necessary to split the animals from head to tail and make a path between the two halves: “And He said to him, ‘Take Me a heifer of three years old, a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle, and laid each piece opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds” (Gen. 15:9-10).
This was a unique sacrifice, totally different from the sacrifices that God later gave to Israel for the tabernacle offerings. This sacrifice had no altar, no wood, and no coals to set the wood on fire. Instead, Abraham was required to split the animals down the middle and lay them on the ground, placing the two halves of each animal beside each other with a path between. This sacrifice was prepared in accordance with the requirements of covenantal law.
The Covenant Sacrifice Was a Maledictory Oath
According to covenantal law, a covenant does not become valid until it has been sealed with a blood sacrifice. The bloody carcasses of the sacrificial animals represent the symbolic death of the one confirming the covenant. By passing between these carcasses, the one who is ratifying the covenant is swearing by an oath that if he fails to perform the terms of the covenant, he will die, and his blood will be spilled on the ground in the same manner as the animals of the covenant sacrifice. Once ratified by this maledictory oath, the terms of the covenant cannot be changed—neither by adding to them nor by diminishing from them.
In the book of Jeremiah, we find an example of the binding power of a covenant that has been ratified by a maledictory oath. When the men of Judah broke the covenant they had made to free their servants who were fellow Jews, the maledictory oath was enforced by God. Let us examine this account: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, that each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave—if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman—go free, that none should enslave a Jew, his brother among them. And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that not any should be enslaved among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go. But afterwards they turned [went back on their word] and took back the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had set free and enslaved them again as male slaves and female slaves” (Jer. 34:8-11).
It is clear that the people of Judah had made a covenant with God to let their fellow Hebrews slaves go free. They had agreed not to hold them in bondage. In making this covenant, they had bound themselves by a maledictory oath. By walking between the halves of the covenant sacrifice, they had pledged that if they broke the terms of the covenant, they would suffer the penalty of death.
When they turned back from this covenant by again enslaving their brethren, God sent the prophet Jeremiah to announce that the maledictory pledge they had taken was being placed into effect: “So the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:…‘I will give the men who sinned against My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant which they made before Me, WHEN THEY DIVIDED THE CALF IN TWO AND PASSED BETWEEN ITS PARTS; the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the officials, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth” (verses 12, 18-20).
This account in the book of Jeremiah shows that when a covenant has been ratified by a maledictory oath, the terms of the covenant are binding and irrevocable. The covenant by the people of Judah was binding because it had been ratified by a blood sacrifice. The people, including the princes and the priests, had pledged their lives by passing between the parts of a calf. When they broke the covenant they had made before God, He required their lives.
Unlike the covenant that Jeremiah records, the covenant that God established with Abraham did not require him to participate in a maledictory oath. When we examine the account in Genesis 15, it is clear that only God Himself passed between the parts of the sacrificial animals. Let us continue with the account.
God Enters Into Covenant With Abraham
By the time that Abraham had finished preparing the covenant sacrifice, it was late in the day. Notice: “And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him! And He [God] said to Abram, ‘You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, (and shall serve them…)” (Gen. 15:11-13).
Long before the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac, God revealed that the children who would be born of his lineage would be enslaved by a foreign nation. They would not receive their inheritance until long after Abraham had died: “…(and shall serve them and afflict them) four hundred years. And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall 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, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full’ ” (verses 13-16).
After prophesying these events, God bound Himself to fulfill them by entering into a covenant with Abraham. Notice the time setting: “And it came to pass—when the sun went down [beginning the next day] and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces” (verse 17).
After the sun had gone down, God alone passed between parts of the sacrificial animals, revealing His presence by the smoking furnace and the flaming torch. By passing between the halves, God established a unilateral covenant with Abraham and made it irrevocable. Notice: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates. The land of the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites and the Jebusites’ ” (verses 18-21).
In reading the full account in Genesis 15, it is clear that the making of the covenant took place during two consecutive days. When God first spoke to Abraham, it was night because the stars could be seen (verse 5). In the morning, God gave Abraham instructions for preparing the covenant sacrifice. Abraham prepared the sacrifice that same day. We know that he completed the preparations while the sun was still high because the birds of prey were flying about and attempting to land on the sacrifice (verse 11). The next verse records the end of the day: “And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram” (verse 12). After the sun had gone down, God appeared to Abraham and established the covenant (verse 18).
There is great significance in the fact that the covenant was established over a two-day period, with the promises being given on the first night and the covenant being ratified on the second night. The timing of these events has an exact parallel in the chronology of the Passover and the Exodus, which were the first acts in the fulfillment of God’s promises for the physical seed—the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob.
God Fulfills the Promises for the Physical Seed
God had promised Abraham that the land would be given to his descendants in the fourth generation. At that time, the descendants of Abraham numbered in the millions. They bore the name Israel, which was the name God had given to their forefather Jacob. The children of Israel were dwelling in the land of Egypt, suffering under cruel bondage as slaves. God heard their cries of anguish and sent Moses to announce that He would deliver them from the bondage of Egypt and would bring them to the Promised Land. Notice how God spoke to Moses at the burning bush: “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6).
God revealed Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—the forefathers of the children of Israel—and commanded Moses to speak to the people in His name: “Go, and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, saying, “I have surely visited you and observed what is done to you in Egypt. And I have said, ‘I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey’ ” ’ ” (Ex. 3:16-17).
Notice again the words that God spoke when He established the covenant: “And He [God] said to Abram, ‘You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, (and shall serve them and shall afflict them) four hundred years. And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve...” (Gen. 15:13-14). This promise of judgment has its final fulfillment on the Passover night, the 14th day of the first month, when God executed His final judgment against Egypt: “...It is the LORD’S Passover, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I WILL EXECUTE JUDGMENT against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:11-13).
The deliverance of Israel was initiated with the killing of the Passover lambs at the beginning of the 14th day of the first month between sunset and dark. When midnight came, God executed His judgment against all the firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt. But He passed over the houses of the children of Israel, sparing their firstborn. The children of Israel were under the protection of the blood of the Passover sacrifice, which had been placed on the side posts and lintels of the doors of their houses.
Notice what God told Abraham He would do for his descendants after He had judged their oppressors: “...And afterward shall they come out with great substance” (Gen. 15:14). When did the children of Israel come out with great substance? The Scriptures record that they began their Exodus from Egypt on the 15th day of the first month, the day after the Passover. The account in the book of Exodus shows that they went out with great substance, as God had promised: “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they asked for articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing from the Egyptians. And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they stripped the Egyptians” (Ex. 12:35-36).
In the morning of the Passover day, the 14th day of the first month, the children of Israel left their houses and gathered great spoil from the Egyptians before assembling in Rameses for the Exodus. They departed from Rameses with their spoil, as the sun was going down, ending the 14th day and beginning the 15th. They traveled all that night under a full moon with the pillar of fire to guide them. Here is the account of their departure: “And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, the men being about six hundred thousand on foot, apart from little ones....Now the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, IT WAS EVEN ON THAT VERY SAME DAY, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt...” (Ex. 12:37-42).
Notice the phrase “the very same day.” This phrase refers to a specific day exactly four hundred and thirty years before the Exodus. What day was this? The Scriptures reveal that it was the day that God established His covenant with Abraham. On that day, God promised that He would bring his descendants out of bondage with great substance. The words of the apostle Paul clearly link the four hundred and thirty years to God’s covenant with Abraham: “Now this I say, that the covenant ratified beforehand by God to Christ [Abraham’s true Heir] cannot be annulled by the law [the physical requirements of the Old Covenant], which was given four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect” (Gal. 3:17).
As Paul shows, God established His covenant with Abraham four hundred and thirty years before the Old Covenant, which He established with the children of Israel after bringing them out of Egypt. The account of their Exodus shows that they began to leave Egypt on the same day that God made the covenant with Abraham. Four hundred and thirty years later, ON “THE VERY SAME DAY” THAT GOD COVENANTED WITH ABRAHAM, GOD BROUGHT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT.
The Scriptures clearly pinpoint the 15th day of the first month as the day that God established His covenant with Abraham. On the 15th day of the first month, God passed between the parts of the covenant sacrifice. The promises, which were given to Abraham on the previous day, were spoken by God on the night of the 14th. In the morning of the 14th, God gave Abraham instructions for the covenant sacrifice, and Abraham prepared the animals on that same day. After the sun had set and the 15th day had begun, God walked between the parts. On the very same day—four hundred and thirty years later—He fulfilled this part of the covenant by bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt.
After six days of travel, they came to the Red Sea, where Pharaoh and his army came upon them. It appeared as though the Egyptians would capture the children of Israel and take them back into bondage. But God intervened with a powerful divine miracle, and the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. All the chariots, horsemen and soldiers of Pharaoh followed the children of Israel into the sea and were destroyed when God brought the waters back (Ex. 14:15-30).
After seven weeks of travel, the children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai. There God delivered the words of the Old Covenant, personally speaking the Ten Commandments in an awesome display of power from the top of Mount Sinai on the day of Pentecost (Ex. 19-20). Then He gave Moses all the statutes, judgments and ordinances of the Old Covenant (Ex. 21-23). On the day after Pentecost, the covenant was ratified by all the people and sealed with the blood of oxen: “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has said we will do.’
“And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the base of the mountain and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of bullocks to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant [which contained all the requirements of the covenant], and read in the ears of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’ ” (Ex. 24:3-8).
Notice that the Old Covenant was ratified by sprinkling the blood of the covenant sacrifice on the people. Because the number of the people was so great, God did not require them to pass between the pieces of the sacrificial animals. Unlike other covenant sacrifices, the animals were not offered on the ground, and their blood did not spill on the ground. Instead, the animals were offered on an altar made of whole stones (Ex. 20:25), and their blood was caught in basins. Half of the blood was dashed against the altar, and the other half was sprinkled on the people to ratify the covenant: “And they said, ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’ ” (Ex. 24:7-8). This sprinkling of blood made the covenant as binding as if the people had passed between the parts.
After the children of Israel had ratified the covenant, pledging to obey all of God’s commandments, God led them to the Promised Land. But when they arrived, they refused to go in because they feared the people of the land. They did not believe that God was able to deliver them from their enemies. Because of this terrible sin, they were sentenced to wander for forty years in the wilderness. All those over twenty years of age died in the wilderness as punishment for their disobedience and disbelief.
At the end of the forty years, when the children of Israel were ready to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminded them of the reason that God had brought them to the land: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
“Therefore, know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God Who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations. And he repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slow to repay him who hates Him. He will repay him to his face.
“You shall therefore keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which I command you today to do them. And it shall come to pass, if you hearken to these judgments to keep and practice them, then the LORD your God shall keep with you THE COVENANT and the mercy which HE SWORE TO YOUR FATHERS. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your grain, and your wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you” (Deut. 7:6-13).
All that God did for Israel—the covenant that He made with them and the land that He gave to them—was a fulfillment of His unconditional promises to Abraham, which were confirmed by a covenant and passed on to Isaac and Jacob, because Abraham believed and obeyed God.
Israel Receives the Promised Land on the Very Same Day
When God covenanted with Abraham on the 15th day of the first month, He promised to give his descendants the land where he [that is Abram] had been sojourning. Notice: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites’ ” (Gen. 15:18-21).
God fulfilled this promise on the very same day that He had established the covenant. The Scriptures record that the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land before keeping the Passover on the 14th day of the first month. On the following day, the 15th day of the first month, they officially took possession of the land by eating of the harvest. Here is the account in the book of Joshua: “And the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening [immediately after sunset of the 13th] in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the old grain of the land on the next day after the Passover [on the 15th day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread], unleavened cakes and roasted new grain, in the same day” (Josh. 5:10-11). For a technical exegesis of these verses, see Appendix O.
The fact that the children of Israel began to eat the produce of the land shows that they had officially received the land as their inheritance. During their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God had sustained them with manna from heaven. They had harvested neither grain for bread, nor grapes for wine. When they arrived at the Promised Land, Moses delivered these words from the mouth of God: “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not become old on you, and your shoe has not become old on your foot. You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the LORD your God” (Deut. 29:5-6).
The forty years of wandering, which began with the Exodus from Egypt on the 15th day of the first month, ended on “the very same day” when the children of Israel ate of the harvest of the Promised Land. Because they had received their inheritance, they no longer needed manna to sustain them: “And the manna stopped on the next day after they had eaten the grain of the land. And there was no more manna for the children of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year” (Josh. 5:12).
Although the children of Israel had entered the Promised Land on the 10th day of the month, they were forbidden to eat any grain that grew in the land until they had fulfilled God’s command for the wave sheaf offering. Notice: “When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of the first -fruits of your harvest to the priest....And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor green ears until the SAME DAY, until you have brought the offering to your God [the first sheaf of the first-fruits, which was waved during the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the day after the weekly Sabbath]” (Lev. 23:10, 14).
God specifically commanded the children of Israel not to eat any bread or any grain—neither fresh nor parched—until they had brought the first sheaf of the grain harvest to the priest to be waved before Him. Since the Scriptures record that they ate of the grain of the land on “the next day after the Passover,” we know that the 15th day of the first month was not only the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but was also the Wave Sheaf Day that year. That day was “the very same day” that the Exodus from Egypt had begun, and “the very same day” that God had walked between the parts of the sacrifice, guaranteeing His promise to Abraham by a covenant: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I have given this land to your seed…’ ” (Gen. 15:18).
God fulfills everything at His appointed time. He fulfilled the promises that He had given to Abraham in the very same day that He had established the covenant—the 15th day of the first month. Four hundred and thirty years later, to the very same day, the children of Israel left Egypt, beginning their journey to the Promised Land. Forty years afterwards, on the very same day, the children of Israel received the land as their inheritance.
God fulfilled His promise to give the land to Abraham’s descendants of the fourth generation. In the next chapter, we will see how the promises that God made to Abraham were passed on to his descendants of all generations.
