Step 7 of the Abrahamic Covenant:
Give the Covenant Terms
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Genesis 15:5
Step 7 of the covenant ceremony was to list the terms of the covenant. This was the business part of the ceremony. The covenant partners would say, “All of my assets are yours; and all of my liabilities are yours.” They would each make a list beforehand which would be read in front of witnesses of all of the things that each one owned, and also all of the things that each one owed. Because of their covenant, these covenant partners would no longer hold exclusive ownership to their belongings, but would shift to joint ownership. By the same reasoning, the liabilities of each partner would be shared equally.
The covenant was also extended to all of the members of each family also. This meant that when the children were still young, they would automatically be protected and cared for through the terms of the covenant. However, when these same children came of age, they had to choose for themselves whether they wanted to walk in the terms of the covenant.
Because of the sharing of assets and liabilities, it becomes apparent that a person could not be in covenant with someone who was not his equal. An adult could not cut covenant with a child, for example. A covenant partner could protect and raise the child to honor the covenant if his covenant partner died, but he could not be in covenant with the child because the child could not bring anything into the covenant. But when the child became mature enough, he could either accept and walk in the terms of the covenant or reject the covenant relationship.
This particular aspect of the covenant is why we must all make a public profession of our acceptance of the covenant that Jesus bought with His blood. The covenant was cut two millennia ago. We, as offspring, have the choice to accept it or reject it. By not accepting it, we automatically reject it.
Going back to the covenant between Abram and God, what could Abram possibly bring to God? On God’s side, he already said he would be his reward (his cloak – his identity) and his shield (his weapons – his protection). Abram told God of his poverty:
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward [heir] of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Genesis 15:2
Then God took Abram outside and told him to look up and see if he could count the stars, because his offspring would be more numerous. God was telling Abram that all of his assets had yet to be revealed, but they were there, nonetheless.
So the covenant was struck.
But again, Abram could not walk between the pieces of flesh with God because they were not equals. So what did God do? He put Abram to sleep so that he could not interfere, then God walked through the covenant ceremony with himself as the pre-incarnate Jesus. Pretty cool, if you ask me!
When we accept the covenant, what can we bring to the table? We already know that we have nothing to offer. But God in His mercy and grace already provided for us in the form of Jesus. Jesus said,
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
We can bring our burdens and our worries, our mis-steps and our shortcomings and give them over to him. He has already taken them away, it is just for us to turn loose of them. Then He offers us His own assets: His yoke which is easy, and His rest. He is just waiting for us to respond to His offer.
References:
The Holy Bible: King James Version
The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread by Richard Booker
©2025 Chandra Hronchek