The First Week of Awaiting His Advent (A Substack Post)
As I’m writing this, it’s the Monday right after the first Sunday of Advent.
Yesterday in church, we discussed one of the first advents of God. When “Abram believed God,” God came down to make a covenant with him.
In Genesis chapter 15, we see the first covenant that God created with the man who would one day become the father of the nation of Israel. Let’s read just a bit of the story:
“Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” 9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land….”
I’ll simply relate what the pastor said to clarify that a little: cutting animals in two and walking between them was an old way of making a covenant. Just as today you may sign a contract, in ancient times they would perform this ritual and say, essentially, “If I break this covenant, let me be cut in half like these animals.”
I won’t be sharing a sermon. But I noticed a few things that I felt were especially prescient this time of year.
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him…And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark….
Deep in the heart of winter, we are approaching the longest days of darkness we’ll encounter each year.
We are approaching Christmas, when thousands, perhaps millions, of people around the world suffer the deepest, darkest depression they’ll ever experience.
Darkness consumes; darkness hides. A heart of darkness is unseen, unknown, and inescapable. But God comes in the darkness.
There appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces….
God’s light came into the picture. Why a smoking oven and a burning torch? Is it a representation of God as Father and Son? Or simply a way that Abram might understand light? I don’t know. I’m not a theologian.
But there’s this. Only the torch and oven passed through the pieces. Abram should have gone through and promised that he too would keep the covenant. But he didn’t. And those of us who know anything of humankind know that he didn’t keep the covenant.
Why didn’t he pass through? He was asleep. He was in the darkness. He was enveloped in great horror.
God came to Abram in the deepest darkness he had yet known. He knew Abram could never keep the covenant. And so, He promised to keep it for Him.
“If I should fail to keep this covenant, let me be split in half.”
God did not fail. But Abram did. He did not keep his side. God gave His descendants expectations in the commandments He gave on Mount Sinai hundreds of years later. They broke them all.
But instead of splitting the people in two, God split Himself in two. He sent His Son, one part of His Own Spirit. On the cross, His Son spoke the words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
As we impatiently await His advent, remember this moment. In the making of a covenant, God comes to you and says:
“I know you’ll break this covenant. I know you can’t do it. I know you’re lost in a darkness that you can’t escape. It’s okay. I’ll keep the covenant. I’ll take the punishment. I’ll find you and bring you light.”
And the light came.
2,000 years ago, a baby was born in a manger.
Today, we celebrate by baking sweet treats, watching heartwarming movies, and giving Christmas gifts. But there’s more to Christmas than that.
For many people, Christmas brings intense loneliness. It reminds us of broken relationships, romances that never were, and poverty that consumes us.
This time of year is a confusing mixture of darkness and light. And this is when Jesus chooses to come closest. If you listen, you can hear him whisper it:
“I am the light of the world…”
This post was originally published on my Substack, Writrix Unbound. Follow me there for more content!