Dare we Cut a Covenant with God?

“After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Genesis 15:1-2)

Hi Fighter,

Last week we started our journey through Lent, and it’s a journey that takes us to some odd and interesting places. This week we find ourselves dropped back into the early chapters of Genesis – to a time when Abraham and Sarah were still known as Abram and Sarai. This is the very beginning of the history of Biblical Israel, and it all starts with God ‘cutting a covenant’ with Abram.

This language may be as unfamiliar to us as the ritual outlined in the story. Even so, the concept of ‘covenant’ (or ‘testament’) is central to both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, and it’s fleshed out here (pun intended) for the first time.

The story starts with Abram expressing frustration. God had promised him both an heir and a homeland, yet he remains homeless and childless. God responds by repeating those promises to Abram, and then formalising the commitment in a covenant ceremony, which was a ritual that made the promises binding.

‘Cutting a Covenant’ (as it is literally termed) was a bloody affair. Abram had to butcher five animals – a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon – and cut their bodies in half. He then laid out the divided carcasses so as to create a path between the pieces. The parties entering into the covenant would then walk the bloody path together. The implication was that breaking the agreement would result in the transgressor experiencing a fate similar to that of the animals.

Forgive me if this sounds like a lecture in ancient near eastern history with no connection to the present, but I found that the covenant cutting ceremony, outlined in Genesis 15, spoke to me in my grief over the ongoing carnage in Syria.

Certainly, the blood and broken bodies is a point of connection, but it’s more than that. The scene begins with Abram feeling disillusioned with God and with life. Abram had been hanging on to the promises of God – that he would be given both an heir and a homeland – yet he was a homeless and childless old man, and the older he got, the more absurd these cherished promises looked!

The covenant ritual was God’s way of helping Abram hang on to his faith, and the weird detail of the ceremony that scholars draw attention to is that Abram doesn’t actually join God in walking the path between the animal’s corpses. God traverses that path alone in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch (Genesis 15:17)!

Yes, it’s all very strange, yet this would seem to indicate that God was willing to put God’s own life on the line should the promises not be fulfilled! I’ll let you ponder how that one works, but if it makes you think of Christ on the cross, know that you are not the first person to make that connection.

I have a vision for Syria that does not include innocent children, women and men being slaughtered. The Syrian people are better than that. This is not the Syria that I know and love. I have a vision for Gaza too, and for the West Bank, and for Lebanon, for Iran, and for Israel. I have a vision for my own country, for my community, for my family, and for my own future. Whether every segment of that vision has been given to me by God, I am not sure, but I am sure of the big picture.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together.
and a little child will lead them.

They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6,9)

God has promised us a future filled with love and peace, but I suspect we could all do with some kind of Covenant Cutting ceremony at the moment to help us hold on to that vision – to stand with Abram on the bloody path, feel the heat of the torch and inhale the smoke.

“And he believed the LORD, and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6)

Our Sunday Eucharist

We celebrated another wonderful Sunday Eucharist last weekend. Father Mark and Rob Gilland joined me on the panel, and I was especially grateful to Mark for his updates on Palestine. The situation in the West Bank there is now even worse than I had realised! Part of that pain is captured in comments below but, if you missed the broadcast, you can watch the full replay on our YouTube channel.

Enjoy the two most popular shorts from last Sunday (republished below). Watch the others on our Sunday Eucharist Instagram page.

This Sunday I’m looking forward to having Karyn Hemming and Andrew Logan back with us on the panel. Do join us at midday, please, via TheSundayEucharist.com or Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia or Streamyard. I look forward to sharing this Eucharist with you. 😊

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What’s On?

Saturday, March 15^th – Boxing @Legends Gym in Kensington from 3.00 pm
Sunday, March 16^th– Our Eucharist from midday via thesundayeucharist.com (or Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram,Faithia or Streamyard).
Sunday, March 16^th– ‘Stop the Syrian Genocide’ rally @ Sydney Town Hall
Tuesday, March 18^th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
Wednesday, March 19 – Vigil for Syria @ Saint Michael’s Cathedral, 8.30 pm
Thursday, March 20^th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
Saturday, March 15^th – Boxing @Legends Gym in Kensington from 3.00 pm
Friday to Sunday, March 28 to 30 – @Binacrombi. Please join me.
Thursday, April 3^rd – “Who owns the Holy Land?” A panel discussion hosted by the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network (PIEN) at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Burwood from 6.30 pm (download and share the flyer here).

I’m encouraged to see people responding to the catastrophe in Syria with prayer and protest. If you’re not up to date on the terrible atrocities that are being committed, I’ve posted a detailed report on the massacres that was put together by a Swedish human rights team. Download it here. I can also recommend several resources:

I can vouch for the key people behind each of these media channels, but be warned that many of the images … well … once you’ve seen them, you can’t unsee them.

I am in distress over the murderous activities of Al Jolani and his henchmen across the Syrian coastline. I take no pride whatsoever in having predicted that this was going to happen. I pray that it will stop, but my fear is that once the Alawites are gone, the new government will move on to the Christians and other minority groups. My best hope is that they won’t have the resources or the expertise to finish the job.

Al Qaeda is an effective terrorist organisation. It’s never shown any capacity to run a country. Moreover, with Israel having destroyed Syria’s military infrastructure and with sanctions still crippling the economy, it seems highly unlikely to me that the new government will be able to properly control the diverse religious and cultural groups that make up Syria. I expect to see the Balkanisation of Syria within the next 12 months, with a corrupt and innocuous central government. That will suit both Israel and Turkey, of course, and is probably what they’ve been aiming at from the outset.

Forgive my speculations. In truth, I am far less concerned about the big picture than I am about the ordinary men, women and children who are struggling to survive in cities and villages across Syria. Many thousands have already been murdered, and many thousands more could still die.

Of course, if Syria was allied to Western powers, NATO troops and peace-keeping forces would have already flooded into the country. Instead, compliant government media (and even some human-rights groups) repeat the lie that the violence has been caused by ‘Assad loyalists’ resisting the new government. God, have mercy!

I had been asked to speak at Sunday’s rally for Syria at the Sydney Town Hall but, as it clashes with our Sunday Eucharist, it may be finished by the time I turn up. Even so, I will get there, even if only to dialogue with the organisers after the event.

I’m privileged to have also been invited to speak at the Candlelight Vigil at the Melkite Cathedral on Wednesday (see above). I hope some of you can join me there

Forgive me for being so Syria-focused this week but I feel as if a dear member of my family is dying. Pray with me please. Pray with me that our God, who ‘defends the weak and upholds the rights of the oppressed’ (Psalm 82:3) will do for the Syrian people what no earthly power is willing to do. Lord, grant them freedom and peace.

And before letting you go, two more quick reminders for those who live in Sydney:

The “Who owns the Holy Land?” forum of April 3^rd is something that Father Mark is helping organise. Please download the flyer here and share it.
Let me also encourage you to put aside the weekend of March 28 to 30 for a weekend trip with me to the bush. Binacrombi is at a volatile stage. I have no idea whether we’ll be able to hang on to it for the long term, so take the opportunity to join me there while you can.

May the Lord bless and strengthen you for the work to which you have been called.

Your brother in the Good Fight,