THE BIRDS OF THE AIR

In Genesis 15, we read an interesting account of God’s confirmation of a covenant with Abram.  As you know, God first called Abram out of Ur in Genesis 12, telling him to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household and to step out in faith and go to the land that God would show him.  At that time, God established a covenant with Abram and promised to make him into a great nation through which all peoples on earth would be blessed.

Following this, God affirmed His covenant with Abram/Abraham at least twice more, including the affirmation recorded in this passage in Genesis 15.  After Abram met Melchizedek and offered a tithe to him following the battle of the kings, God appeared to Abram in a vision and confirmed the original covenant made with him in Genesis 12.  He had Abram bring a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon, as a covenantal offering.  “Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half” (Genesis 15:10).  When the sun set that night and darkness had fallen, “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces” (Genesis 15:17).  This was God’s acceptance of the sacrifices and His affirmation of the covenant.

But, what really caught my attention in this passage was verse 11.  After Abram had brought all the animals before the Lord and prepared them as a covenantal sacrifice, “birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.”  What this verse describes is not just a natural event, but a supernatural happening and a spiritual attack by the forces of evil on Abram and his offering of a sacrifice.

In Scripture, we see Satan’s emissaries described as birds or flocks of birds on multiple occasions, including here in Genesis 15:11.  Think about the parable of the sower that Jesus told to His disciples in Matthew 13:1-9 and His explanation in Matthew 13:18-23.  In this parable, Jesus told of a sower scattering seed, which represents the word of God.  Some of the seed fell along the path, and the birds came in and ate it up.  Jesus explained in Matthew 13:19 that this represents the person who “hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it” and that “the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” 

The principle to glean from these passages is to be wary of the schemes of the devil when we begin to grow in our relationship with God.  Whenever we come before God to renew our relationship with Him or to offer ourselves or our resources before Him, Satan always intervenes.  He comes in to snatch up our offering and to take our blessing away, just as the birds of prey attempted to foul Abram’s sacrifice and snatched away the word of God planted in the hearts of the unbeliever.  Satan always tries to interject himself between us and God and to hinder our spiritual growth and our effectiveness in the kingdom.  Satan does not want us to grow closer to God or to do great things for God, and he will do whatever he can to thwart these efforts.

As Paul tells us in Ephesians 6, we need to be aware of the devil’s schemes so we can take steps to stand against him.  Truth begets power, and if we know the devil is going to step in and try to snatch away our joy and our blessings, we can prepare ourselves and our churches to withstand him.