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| Last night we saw this conflagration that reminded me of this verse. From 2010 |
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Translation choices lead to interpretive decisions. Below I’ve listed quotes from interpreters of this passage both ancient and modern. Most of these I’ve chosen because they were working from the KJV as their base text. There are a number of layers of interpretation at work here. How did the contemporary readers of this text interpret the text? And then over the centuries this or other interpretations have become more prominent. Then there is the New Testament interpretation of this text. (I haven’t discovered any quotes or allusions to the furnace and lamp in the New Testament. Help me if you can.) Finally, we see how Christians interpret the passage as a typological or allegorical. If I were preaching this passage I might want to consider how this entire ceremony foreshadows Christ’s sacrifice and finally what it might say about our own smoking furnace and burning lamp.
John Wesley: The smoaking furnace signified the affliction of his seed in Egypt: they were there in the furnace of affliction, and labouring in the very fire. They were there in the smoke, their eyes darkened that they could not see to the end of their troubles. 2. The burning lamp speaks comfort in this affliction; and this God shewed Abram at the same time with the smoaking furnace. The lamp notes direction in the smoke; God’s word was their lamp, a light shining in a dark place. Perhaps too this burning lamp prefigured the pillar of a cloud and fire which led them out of Egypt.
Ray Stedman: At the place of self-despair, there comes deliverance! When we become aware of how much we are enslaved by selfishness, how little we really experience what God is offering, how much we are victims of our own self-indulgence, self-pity, and self-righteousness, then we are ready for victory. At the moment when the heart is cold and empty and the light of faith has gone out, something will precipitate a crisis, and suddenly you find yourself, without warning, in the midst of a smoking furnace.
John Gill: behold a smoking furnace; or the likeness of one, as Aben Ezra notes; for all this was represented in a visionary way to Abram, and was an emblem of the great troubles and afflictions of the children of Israel in Egypt, called the iron furnace, Deuteronomy 4:20, and may have respect to the furnaces in which they burnt the bricks they made, see Exodus 9:8; the Jewish paraphrases make this to be a representation of hell, which is prepared for the wicked in the world to come, as a furnace surrounded with sparks and flames of fire; and Jarchi says, it intimated to Abram, that the kingdoms would fall into hell: and a burning lamp, that passed between those pieces; or a lamp of fire {o}; an emblem of the Shechinah, or majesty of God, who afterwards appeared in a pillar of fire before the Israelites in the wilderness, after their deliverance out of Egypt, and when their salvation went forth as a lamp that burneth, of which this was a token: this burning lamp passed between the pieces of the heifer, goat, and ram, that Abram had divided in the midst, as was usually done when covenants were made
Emanuel Swedenborg: “And it came to pass that the sun went down,” signifies the last time, when the consummation came; “and there was thick darkness,” signifies when hatred was in the place of charity; “and behold a furnace of smoke,” signifies the densest falsity; “and a torch of fire,” signifies the burning heat of cupidities; “which passed between those pieces,” signifies that it separated those who were of the church from the Lord.
Matthew Henry: “The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites’ severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time.”
John Calvin: But here, by the word, liberty was promised to Abram’s seed, in the midst of servitude. Now the condition of the Church could not be painted more to the life, than when God causes a burning torch to proceed out of the smoke, in order that the darkness of afflictions may not overwhelm us, but that we may cherish a good hope of life even in death; because the Lord will, at length, shine upon us, if only we offer up ourselves in sacrifice to Him.
Bill Burns: We find ourselves in the midnight hour when darkness is upon the people. Therefore, our glorious God will become a flaming torch and a smoking oven of His glory–the cloud by day and the fire by night–and He shall lead His covenant sons of glory into the final victory! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Amen.
Rashi: He hinted to him that the kingdoms of the pagans would fall into hell.
Allan Stanglin: And the Lord, symbolized by the blazing torch, passes through the pieces in Abram’s place. He stands in, actually walks in, for Abram. If the Genesis 17 condition applies here, God is telling Abram, “If you sin, if you’re not perfect, if your descendents are not blameless, if you break the covenant in any way, you may do this to me.” And it’s at that point that God sentences himself, his Son, to die.
Elizabeth Kirkley Best: The burning, bright presence of God, as has been discussed, is light, guidance and deliverance for Israel, the smoke is seen as a cloud or the enfolding of heaven, and is noted in the Tabernacle as proceeding from the burning of incense, which is later likened to the prayer of the saints. The glory passing through the midst of flesh is also a type and kind of the indwelling of the Temple, of the indwelling Holy Spirit, foretold in Zechariah. Jesus was the Glory enthroned in flesh, manifested in the flesh, and he is called the Glory of God. The Glory passing in the midst of the sacrifice shows the Deliverance by the Glory which is to come.
Ralph Wilson: The smoking firepot and blazing torch that Abraham observes represent God himself walking between the animal carcasses — binding himself solemnly to his promise. Abraham doesn’t walk between the pieces, Yahweh does, making it a unilateral promise that God pledges to fulfill in the most solemn and binding way.
We Christians know the end of the story, where God himself bears — in the broken body of his innocent Son — the penalty for man’s breaking of the covenant.
I found a number of these through these nice collection of links about Genesis 15: Text Week and Eword Today.
Can you discover other references to this verse by interpreters, commentary writers and preachers? Please share them with a web link if possible.
Did the KJV translation lead to misunderstanding of the text or did it keep the passage within wider Biblical motifs?
James McGrath suggested doing a “synchroblog” on Genesis 15. This is my humble offering for a kickoff post. Maybe Tim and John would consider contributing or spreading the word.
© 2010, Matt. All rights reserved.
