When Genesis 15 opens, “the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision.” This is more than a voice in Abram’s head. Throughout Scripture, the Word of the LORD is not merely speech but a personal manifestation, appearing, acting, and revealing. This same mysterious figure later bears the title “the Angel of YHWH” or “the Angel of the LORD.”
Here, the Word steps into the story to reassure Abram: “Fear not… I am your shield.” The promise of descendants and blessing is not spoken by a distant deity but by the very One who would one day take on human flesh and dwell among us (John 1:14).
As the sun sets, Abram follows the LORD’s command to prepare a covenant sacrifice. Then, as a deep sleep falls upon him, he witnesses something astonishing: a smoking fire pot and a blazing torch pass between the pieces of the animals. In ancient covenant rituals, both parties would walk through the divided sacrifices, pledging loyalty unto death: “May this happen to me if I do not keep my side of the covenant.” But here, only God passes through.
Fire and smoke — symbols of divine presence — will later reappear at Sinai and again on the day of Pentecost. They reveal that the LORD himself takes the oath. The pre-incarnate Word, the Son, guarantees the promise with his own life.
Centuries later, Jesus would once again walk the lonely path of covenant faithfulness — this time through the darkness of Calvary — to fulfill what began that night with Abram. The same divine Word who appeared in fire and light became flesh and blood so that the covenant could never fail.
When we trust him, we stand within that same unbreakable promise: God has bound himself to bless and redeem us through his Son, the living Word.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 ESV)
Scholarly Note
Many early Jewish and Christian interpreters recognized that the word of the LORD in passages like Genesis 15:1 is not an abstract communication but a visible manifestation of God’s presence, often identified with the Memra (“Word”) in the Aramaic Targums or with the Logos in John 1.¹ The imagery of fire and smoke recalls theophanies where God’s glory is made manifest through fire and smoke (Exod.19:18; Acts 2:3). In this sense, the covenant ceremony anticipates the incarnation — when the same divine Word who once walked through the fire would take on flesh to secure the covenant forever.
Resources:
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 148–152.
- Doug Van Dorn, The Angel of the LORD: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Study (Erie, CO: Waters of Creation Publishing, 2018).
- Daniel Boyarin, The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ (New York: The New Press, 2012), 27–35.
Featured image by Andy Watkins on Unsplash.
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