TWO BIRDS SIGNIFYING THE RESURRECTED CHRIST - The two birds, neither of which was killed, signify the resurrected, living Christ (Lev. 14:6-7). This resurrected Christ is mainly in His divinity because, according to the Bible, a dove in typology signifies the Holy Spirit (John 1:32). Therefore, while the cattle typify Christ in His humanity, the birds typify Him in His divinity. So the birds in Genesis 15 signify the heavenly Christ, the Christ who came from and who still is in heaven (John 3:13), the Christ who was and who still is living. Christ has been crucified, yet He lives. He was killed in His humanity, but He lives in His divinity. He was killed as a man who walked on this earth, but now He is living as the heavenly One soaring in the heavens. While His humanity was good for Him to be all the sacrifices, His divinity is good for Him to be the living One. He was sacrificed for us in His humanity, and He is living for us in His divinity.

In typology, the turtledove signifies a suffering life and the young pigeon signifies a believing life, a life of faith. While He was living on earth, the Lord Jesus was always suffering and believing. In His suffering life He was the turtledove and in His believing life He was the young pigeon.

There were two birds, and the number two means testimony, bearing witness (Acts 5:32). The two living birds bear testimony of Christ as the resurrected One living in us and for us (John 14:19-20; Gal. 2:20). The living Jesus is the testimony, the One who constantly bears witness. In Revelation 1 the Lord Jesus said, “I am...the living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever” (v. 18). His living forever is His testimony, for the testimony of Jesus is always related to the matter of being living. If a local church is not living, it does not have the testimony of Jesus. The more living we are, the more we are the testimony of the living Jesus.

There were three cattle and two birds, making a total of five items. The number five is the number of responsibility, indicating here that Christ as the crucified and living One is now bearing all the responsibility for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.

AS FOWL FROM THE AIR, SATAN AND HIS ANGELS COMING TO MAKE CHRIST OF NONE EFFECT - When the sacrifices were made ready, the fowl from the air came down trying to eat them (v. 11). This signifies that Satan and his angels come to make Christ of none effect for the church life (Gal. 5:2, 4). Today Satan and his angels (2 Cor. 11:13-15) are doing their best to rob Christians of the enjoyment of Christ for the church life (Col. 2:8). As Abraham drove the fowl away, so we must drive Satan and his angels away from what Christ is to us for the church life.

THE COVENANTING GOD PASSING BETWEEN THE PIECES OF THE SACRIFICES - It was through the sacrifices as types of Christ that God passed to make a covenant with Abraham (vv. 17-18; cf. Jer. 34:18-19). After Abraham divided the cattle and arranged all the sacrifices, “when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him” (vv. 11-12). When Abraham was in this kind of situation, God came in. Verse 17 says, “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces” (v. 18, Heb.). God did not come in a very lovely way but as a smoking furnace and as a flaming torch. A furnace is for refining, and a torch is for enlightening. In the midst of a dark situation God came in to refine and to enlighten. This happens quite often in the church life. Suddenly the sunrise becomes the sunset, a dark night descends upon us, many saints are sleepy and out of function, and there is suffering on every side. During such a time of affliction, we may begin to doubt, saying, “What is this? Is something wrong with us?” At such a time God will always come in as a furnace to refine us, to burn us out, and also as a torch to enlighten us. People often say of those in the church life, “How can you people have so much light? What light there is among you! How the torch is flaming!” The light mainly comes from the sufferings. Look at Abraham’s situation: the sun went down, night came, Abraham was sleeping, and God came in, not as a comforter but as a furnace to burn and as a torch to enlighten. On the one hand God is burning us and we are suffering; on the other hand He is enlightening us and we are under the light. At such a time, even if we are in a dark night, we shall be so clear.

It was in this kind of a situation that God passed between the pieces of the sacrifices, and that was the enacting of God’s covenant. God made a covenant with Abraham in the way of passing through all of the sacrifices as a smoking furnace and a torch of fire. It was in this way that God confirmed His promise to Abraham by making a covenant with him for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.
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