The voice came again. Twice it called his name: "Abraham, Abraham!"
"Here I am."
"It is I. Fear not, for I am before the worlds, a mighty God who has created the light of the world. I am a shield over you and I am your helper."
Then came the command, an echo of a scene already written in the scroll of fate (Genesis 15:9): "Take for me a young heifer of three years old, a she-goat of three years old, a ram of three years old, a turtledove, and a pigeon. Bring me a pure sacrifice."
But this was no ordinary offering. God made a promise that turned the sacrifice into something far greater than blood and smoke.
"In this sacrifice I will lay before you the ages to come and make known to you what is reserved. You shall see great things which you have not seen, because you have loved to search me out, and I have named you my Friend."
Abraham, the idol-smasher from Ur, had been promoted. God called him "Friend," the same title later echoed in the prophets (Isaiah 41:8).
But there were conditions. "Abstain from every form of food cooked by fire, from wine, and from anointing yourself with oil for forty days. Then set forth the sacrifice in the place I will show you, on a high mountain."
Forty days of fasting. Then revelation. God promised to show Abraham the ages that had been created and established by His Word, and to reveal what would come to pass for those who practiced evil and those who practiced righteousness among all the generations of humanity.
The covenant of (Genesis 15:1) was about to become a journey to the throne of heaven itself.