Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Genesis 15:12 (NKJV)
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled [Filled with horror and deep distress (NLT 1995)]. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Mark 14:32-37
The above two passages describe, in part, the cutting of two covenants between God and man - the Abrahamic covenant between God and Abraham, and the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus Christ. I was struck by the word "horror" used in both these accounts, plus also in the Messianic Psalm 55, which describes the same scene in Gethsemane.
My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm" [Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will but what you will] ... Psalm 55:4-8
There are several heartrending similarities between the two covenant-making events. Both times there was a blood sacrifice. Both times a complete surrender and yielding to the will of God. Both times horror and darkness. Both times a deep sleep. As if the human body, soul, and spirit could not handle the great warfare that was going on. The unleashing of the furious love of God quaking the universe. The unfaceable wrath of God against our Enemy.
But there is one most precious difference. God in his mercy allowed the deep sleep for Abraham and the disciples, but God Himself, Yeshua, Messiah, stayed awake all through the darkness and the horror and did battle for us all alone. To the very end he fulfilled the Word. To the very end he loved us.
Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Mark 14:36
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1
Photo and blog copyright Sheila Bair 2024
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