Abram's Covenant (Genesis 15)

Genesis 15 describes the original covenant that God made with Abram.

In this composition, I have painted the nocturnal scene as it is described in Scripture. In the foreground, Abram has fallen asleep and is experiencing a nightmare about the future enslavement of his people by the Egyptians (evidenced by the pyramids on the horizon). In the middle ground are the animals that God commanded to be cut in half and laid out on the ground. God Himself, in the form of a smoking grill and a flaming torch (similar to the pillars of smoke and fire that led the Israelites through the Sinai), passes between the pieces.

One can also see what I imagine to be God’s face appearing within the flames. At the upper left, a flock of birds of prey, silhouetted against the night sky, descends on the animal pieces before Abram drives them away. A dove and a pigeon—reminders that God always remembers the poor—flank the torch.

I have never seen a painting of this subject in any museum, gallery, or art history book. I find this very strange because it is one of the most visually compelling passages in the Bible. What makes this scene even more intriguing is that it could be seen as one of the very few “portraits of God” in Scripture.