P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

WALKING THE BLOODY CORRIDOR

A ninety-two-year-old retired religious leader was highly respected by everyone in town for his integrity. He was a member of the Rotary Club. Every time the club met, he would be there, always on time and always seated in his favorite spot in a corner of the room.

One day the old man disappeared. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. The townsfolk searched all over and couldn't find any trace of him anywhere. But the following month, when the Rotary Club met, he was there as usual, sitting in his corner.

"Where have you been?" everyone cried.

"I just served a thirty-day sentence in jail."

"Jail!” The people were shocked. "You couldn't hurt a fly. What happened?"

"Well, it's a long story," he said, "but briefly, here's what happened. I bought myself a train ticket to go into the city. I was standing on the platform waiting for the train to arrive when this stunningly beautiful girl appears on the arm of a policeman. She looked at me, turned to the cop and said, 'He did it. I'm certain he's the one who did it.' Well, to tell you the truth, I was so flattered I pleaded guilty."

To this old man, the woman's accusation was actually a reassurance that he still had it, that everything was still o.k., that his life hadn't totally disintegrated. It doesn't matter what age we are, don't we all need reassurances? Don't you ever feel the need to be reminded that everything is going to be all right? That you're still o.k.? That you're going to make it?

Today's story of Abraham picks up on this theme - our human need for reassurance. And it depicts a striking picture of where God fits into this need. Genesis 15 tells the story.

As the chapter begins, we find Abram on the tail of his great victory over the four kings who had captured Lot and his family. Abram, who has been a man of peace all his life, has now gotten himself involved in the wars of his neighbors. It was wonderful winning such a surprise victory, but now Abram has exposed himself to the potential of a hostile attack from those fierce kings of the north. These are the guys who tried to destroy people for simply failing to pay taxes! Abram's scared to death of their retaliation. He’s in desperate need of some reassurance, some faith-building.

So what does God do? Notice what He says to Abram: "Abram, don't be afraid. I will defend you, and I will give you a great reward." (New Century Version) We would call what God does here, reassurance.

But in the middle of his fear and uncertainty, Abram still can't let go. He says (v. 2), "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all Your blessings when I don’t even have a son?" (New Living Translation)

Now if you were God, how would you be tempted to feel about Abram right now? You and I might say, "Come on, Abram, where's your faith? Have you forgotten so quickly who has given you everything you have? Who’s protected you in this strange land? Snap out of it, man! Wise up!"

But God goes back to Abram and reassures him again (verse 4), "Abram, You will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you (New Living Translation) . . . Now come outside for a minute, Abram. I want you to see what I'm seeing."

Abram goes outside his tent. He looks up and sees the night sky brilliant and alive with stars. "Go ahead, Abram," God says, "count them if you can. It's pretty hard, isn't it! That's because there are so many of them. Your descendants will be too many to count, too, Abram! You have my word!"

Well, apparently the visualization and reassurance help. Abram finally believes God. Verse 6 says: "Abram believed the LORD. And the LORD accepted Abram's faith and credited it to him as righteousness." (New Century Version)

So what is righteousness here? It's the willingness to believe God. It's an attitude that says, "If God says He'll do it, than I'm convinced that He has the power to do it and He will do it, in His own way and in His own time.”

Here's the way one author comments on this experience:

"Abram received a specific promise from God, but he did not seem to receive what was promised and he could do nothing to achieve it. He was helpless, so much so that the promise appeared to mock him. Yet his response was to look to the greatness of the One who had spoken and to accept that He takes responsibility for the fulfillment of His promise. Faith rests on the fact that God is faithful, and when we take God at His word . . . we are resting on God's reliability which will never let anyone down." (Joyce G. Baldwin, The Message of Genesis 12-50, pp. 51-52)

But Abram still wants more reassurance. He comes back to God and says (v. 8), "O LORD God, how can I be sure that You will give me this land?" (New Living Translation)

Now if you were God how would you react at this point? I think it might be the last straw for me! "You've got to be kidding, Abram! You're hopeless! I've had it with you! If you can't be satisfied after all I've done for you, forget it! I'll just go and find a man who's got some real faith so I can do something with him!"

Wouldn't it be easy to feel that way? But fortunately, God isn't like us! Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:16 that God has unlimited patience. He's in the reassuring business!

But being righteous, as Abram shows us, doesn't mean that I don't ever question God nor need reassurance from Him.

Just because a man’s in love with his wife and has been married to her for twenty years doesn't mean that he doesn’t ever have the need to be reassured that she loves him, does it? Does she fall out of love every time she needs reassurance from him? Does he think any less of her to need to say to her more than once, "I love you, dear?”

Righteousness, in this story, is simply staying on the journey with God even when the way seems uncertain and even when you need reassurance! You keep going back to Him, because God’s in the reassuring business!

So God says to Abram, in verse 9, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old male sheep, a dove, and a young pigeon." (New Living Translation)

So Abram brings all these to God, and following God's instructions, kills them and cuts them all in two, arranging the halves opposite each other. Then he stands there and waits for God to act. This is a typical Mesopotamian procedure for confirming a promise or covenant with someone. By killing and dividing the animals, the parties are placing themselves under solemn oath that the penalty for breaking the agreement is death just like the animals have experienced. And then they confirm their promise to be faithful to the agreement by walking in-between the divided halves of the dead animals.

So, as the sun sets and darkness envelopes the scene, Abram waits there by the bloody corridor. Suddenly, a bright light flashes in the night as what looks like a smoking fire pot and a blazing torch appear. It's God! He passes in-between the divided pieces of animals. Abram feels the heat as the flames of God pass by him. Then he hears God's voice saying, "See, I am giving your descendants this land. It's my promise to you, Abram. I seal it with this agreement."

It's the most amazing, perfectly reassuring sign God could give to Abram! By means of this ritual, by walking through the bloody corridor for him, God is in effect saying to Abram, "I would rather die than to break My promise to you! May the curse of death fall upon Me if I should ever be unfaithful to this promise! I'm laying My life on the line for you. It's My word to you - you can count on Me!"

My friends, that's the way God is! He's in the reassuring business. He stakes His life on His promises to you and me!

Now in this ritual, both parties are suppose to walk through the bloody corridor, in-between the dead animals, in order to bind themselves in faithfulness to the covenant agreement. But the sad reality is that you and I have broken our part of the agreement. We have been unfaithful to God. That’s sin. So, according to the agreement, we have fallen under the curse of death. God knows all this.

So He is not only faithful to His part of the covenant, He is so faithful that He makes provision for our unfaithfulness. He comes and takes our curse of death upon Himself. God not only walks through the bloody corridor, He becomes the bloody sacrifice for us, giving us the privilege of entering into relationship with Him without penalty of death. The penalty for our unfaithfulness has been paid. That's how faithful God is to His promises. That's how far He will go to reassure us of His commitment to us! That's Grace!

Are you willing to accept His grace right now? Are you willing to let God be God in your life, to trust Him to follow through with His plan for your life? Will you accept His sacrifice for you and His reassurances of how much He loves you? He’s walked through the bloody corridor for you. That makes Him a God worth trusting.