This is really a play on words. The Old Testament Hebrew word for covenant is beriyth and is derived from the root barah, meaning to cut.
This seems a little odd and quite unrelated to the concept of covenants. There are, however, both ancient and modern examples.
When Abraham asks God what He will give him since he must go childless, the Lord reaffirms His covenant and promises a posterity equal to the stars in heaven (Genesis 15:1-5).
The next verse comments: "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness (v. 6). Then when Abraham asks for a sign, or token, to confirm the promise of eternal lands and seemingly endless posterity, the Lord gives him an interesting assignment. He said, "Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not (Genesis 15:9-10). Then Abraham is told about 400 years of bondage in Egypt, "and a horror of great darkness fell upon him."
Then the sign is given: "When the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" (v. 17). The covenant is sealed in verse 18 as it states, "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp are reminiscent of Jehovah's guidance in the wilderness, as the Israelites were led by a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (see Exodus 13:21). The imagery points us to the idea that the Lord is passing between the pieces laid up against each other to effect some kind of restoration. But first there is a division and a cutting of the sacrificial animals.
This concept of cutting plays out again in Jeremiah. The Lord chastises those who broke the covenant which they made by cutting the calf in twain and passing between the parts (Jeremiah 34:18). With any cutting and severing there comes in due time a restoration.
Such is the concept of a Greek word translated in Acts as "infallible proofs." It was the proof Jesus gave His apostles when He showed Himself alive after His passion and resurrection. The Greek word is tekmerion, a root of the English word token.
In ancient times a token was half of a coin, which only had value as the two pieces were brought together to show the pieces matched.
Similar imagery was used in the Mosaic meal offering oblation. The scriptures record, "And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil (Leviticus 2:4). The anointing of oil would correspond with the Savior's role as the Messiah, meaning "the anointed One." Oil would relate to the Hebrew origin of Gethsemane, meaning "oil press."
The unleavened cakes are translated from a Hebrew word challah, meaning "pierced bread." A related Hebrew root, chalal is translated as wounded in Isaiah 53, verse 5, as it states, "He (Christ) was wounded for our transgressions."
The concept of cutting used symbolically in covenant making denotes a dividing for the purpose of sharing a sacramental meal. Each Sunday we can participate in a communal sharing with the Savior, who laid down His body for us. I like to think of Him passing between the pieces to bring a sanctification to the souls of each who partakes. The emblems of that covenant can go to the core of each being, as we enter into a covenant with Him.
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