Continued.
Prior to Abraham ~ Adam's family and Noah's family
Adam's family
Directly after Adam fell, God worked to have Adam's family restored to him, so that he could bring the Messiah, to give rebirth to them, by having Abel the second son, make an offering. God firstly separated the good and evil in Adam symbolically into the younger son, representing good, and the elder son, representing evil.
Abel made his offering in a manner that pleased God (aka was correct), and this became the condition that Abel united with God's word and fulfilled his providential responsibility, so he could stand as God's representative. Next, Cain (representing Lucifer) had to submit to and unite with him. But Cain murdered him, repeating the Fall where Lucifer murdered Adam spiritually.
Thus, Adam's family (including the 2nd generation) was now lost. Tragically, because Adam's family failed to restore the mistake of Adam, God's providence then had to center on restoring all the mistakes in Adam's family. Thus, Adam and his family became the blueprint for the providence to reverse the effects of the Fall.
To start again, to find a champion to make an offering correctly and who could then stand as God's representative, God worked through 10 generations (10 symbolizing the return to original position) to reset the starting point. After 10 generations, God chose Noah, a righteous man, to make the offering. The offering Noah had to make was the Ark.
Noah's family
Long story short, Noah was successful, and stood as God's representative. However, to have Ham inherit that foundation, and stand as God's representative (like Abel) to Shem (like Cain), the elder brother, Ham had to display complete and unwavering belief in Noah. Sadly, Ham disbelieved in his father, and even convinced his brothers to disbelieve in him "Oh, he is so sinful and shameful, lying there intoxicated!". So, Ham failed to inherit the successful position of Noah, and all God's work in Noah's family, even the 120 year period for the offering of the Ark, was lost. THIS is the reason that Noah cursed Ham when he woke up and realized what Ham had done.
Ham had failed to have unity with his father and inherit the position of God's representative (accordingly, there was no possibility for Shem to unite with Ham to restore the failed relationship between Adam and the Angel, because Ham lost the position of God's representative).
So God had to start all over, and attempt, for the third time, to find and establish a champion who could complete the offering correctly to stand as God's representative, and then have someone in the elder son position (like Cain, or like the Angel Lucifer) submit to and unite with God's representative in the younger son position (like Abel, or like Adam towards Lucifer).
If and when these conditions are met, God has the lawful foundation to say to Satan, this (family, people, nation) are mine. And he can send the Messiah to give rebirth to the offspring of Adam and Eve and restore them back to God's family.
Because God's ideal (which Adam lost) to be restored is the Family, the number 4 x 10 (return to starting point) symbolizes separation from Satan and the fallen situation. Thus, after 400 years from Noah, God found Abraham to become his champion.
Abraham's family
Abraham could thus make the offering at God's instruction after 400 years of separation from Satan.
After a lengthy course of preparing Abraham through all sorts of events (as recorded in scripture) God finally commanded Abraham to make the offering. God commanded 3 different levels of offering: heifer, Sheep + goat, pigeon + dove. The 3 different levels represent restoring the 3 stages of maturing to perfection. Just like the 3 levels in Noah's ark.
Abraham made the offering.
"So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." 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. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land......"
How to understand all this?
Firstly, the cutting in half of the offering symbolize separating the good in Adam from the evil in Adam, and draining out the satanic blood that Adam became home to when he fell.
Abraham did this correctly for stages 3 and 2, but the foundation stage, the pigeon and dove, he failed to do.
Thus, because the offering was not correctly (and symbolically) separated from Satan, God could not claim it. Instead, Satan claimed it, as symbolized by the birds of prey descending.
The problem here is that this was the third attempt by God to have humanity set the right symbolic condition to restore the mistake of Adam. Abel & Cain was the first attempt. Noah, with Ham and Shem, was the second attempt. Abraham was the third attempt. For reasons I won't go into, there is a condition in God's restoration that Satan cannot claim the third attempt.
Thus, even though Abraham failed in the offer, God was able to set up a situation where Abraham did NOT fail in the offering, by sort of creating a ‘legal’ condition that Abraham succeeded and then executing providence to fix up the mistake AFTER the fact.
This is why a) God declared that the Israelites would have to suffer as slaves for 400 years. This is because the 400 years of resetting the starting point that God worked from Noah to Abraham was lost when Abraham failed to do the offering correctly, so it had to be re-established, and b) why later, God had Abraham offer Isaac. If an offering is failed on one level, it can be recovered by making an even greater offering on a new level. Because Abraham failed to complete the (relatively simple) offering of the [heifer, goat + sheep, pigeon + dove], he could only fix that mistake by making a much harder and more difficult offering, which is the offering of Isaac. For Abraham, offering (killing) Isaac was the same as offering (killing) himself.
So, even though Abraham failed in the offering, God established a providence to fix this later, and so, as you have well pointed out, God then proceeded to act AS IF Abraham had succeeded, as evidenced by the smoking firepot and blazing torch, and God completing his covenant with Abraham.
Fleshing out the understanding
There are a few points that round out this understanding of the events described in scripture.
One, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. If Abraham had been successful in the first offering, then Isaac, when he united with Abraham, would stand in the position of the younger son, Abel, and Ishmael in the position of the elder son, Cain. If they then achieved unity correctly, then the foundation would be set for God to send the Messiah, Jesus, at that time.
Two, in the offering of Isaac, Isaac was old enough to understand that normally, there should be a sheep. For three days (number 3) they journeyed. Can you imagine the agony in Abraham’s heart? What about Isaac? Even when Abraham laid Isaac on the offering altar, Isaac did not flinch. He had complete and perfect faith in his father, Abraham. Thus, Isaac was able to restore the failure of Ham, who failed to believe in his father.
Abraham being willing to offer his son set the condition for God to forgive his mistake in the first offering. So Abraham could then truly stand as God’s representative. Accordingly, Isaac, who displayed perfect faith in his father, God’s representative, was able ton fully inherit the position of God’s representative (which Ham could not). Via the angel, God re-iterates his covenant with Abraham’s family.
Now, with Isaac standing in the position of God’s representative, the condition had to be repeated in Isaac’s family, with Jacob inheriting the foundation and standing in the position of Abel, and Esau standing in the position of Cain. How that unfolded is recorded in scripture.
Despite what to human eyes seems strange, Jacob valued God’s blessing above all, and eventually was able to get Esau to submit to him, and unite with him, and so, finally, after the third attempt (Adam’s family, Noah’s family, Abraham/Isaac/Jacob’s family), both the person being successful in the offering (symbolizing Adam fulfilling his responsibility to unite with the Word) and the unity between younger son and elder son (symbolizing Lucifer submitting to Adam) were both successful and completed.
This is, in fact, why and how the family of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob became established by God as the chosen family and root of the chosen people. It's not just some random whim of God. Rather, God has worked very hard and very methodically to establish a foundation he could use to separate out a people to him on which foundation he would bring the Messiah.
After the 400 years of slavery, God later expanded the victorious foundation of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob's family to ethnic group and then nation-state level by having Moses complete the same conditions on a new level, albeit with Moses in the position of Abel and the Israelites as a whole in the position of Cain.
So, to answer your question, Abraham actually failed the first offering of the heifer, goat and sheep, pigeon and doves, but through God’s grace and the foundation of success in the third attempt, God was able to treat Abraham as if he was successful by setting conditions to restore the mistake AFTER the fact (Isaac, Jacob).
I’d like to just make a suggestion. Pray on this. Read scripture, reflect on the explanation written here, and seek God’s voice. (Don't be afraid to put aside for a moment your previous concepts of the matter, just as a mental exercise.)
In my experience, understanding these elements is key to understanding later developments in God’s providence, such as Moses’ course of restoration, as well as the 2000 year history of Israel and even Jesus' three-year ministry. E.g. Why did the Israelites have to journey for 40 years in the desert? Why could only the 2nd generation enter Canaan? Why could Moses not? (Was there a failure?) Why did Jesus do the 40-day fast directly after meeting john the Baptist? Etc. Why was the cross necessary? Why must Jesus return? Why has it taken so long?
(Somewhat like the Q board) in the Bible, we actually have more than we know. The Bible is in fact a record of God’s providence, above and beyond simple moral lessons or how to live. It is actually the record of how God directs his providence to achieve very specific conditions that restore the failure of Adam and his descendants and lay the foundation for establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. We are still very much in the midst of that process now, so understanding the WHY and the HOW is actually very important if we are to fulfill our responsibility and make our offering correctly.
If you read this far, a blessing on your day.
From His Peace to your strength.
Continued.
Prior to Abraham ~ Adam's family and Noah's family
Adam's family
Directly after Adam fell, God worked to have Adam's family restored to him, so that he could bring the Messiah, to give rebirth to them, by having Abel the second son, make an offering. God firstly separated the good and evil in Adam symbolically into the younger son, representing good, and the elder son, representing evil.
Abel made his offering in a manner that pleased God (aka was correct), and this became the condition that Abel united with God's word and fulfilled his providential responsibility, so he could stand as God's representative. Next, Cain (representing Lucifer) had to submit to and unite with him. But Cain murdered him, repeating the Fall where Lucifer murdered Adam spiritually.
Thus, Adam's family (including the 2nd generation) was now lost. Tragically, because Adam's family failed to restore the mistake of Adam, God's providence then had to center on restoring all the mistakes in Adam's family. Thus, Adam and his family became the blueprint for the providence to reverse the effects of the Fall.
To start again, to find a champion to make an offering correctly and who could then stand as God's representative, God worked through 10 generations (10 symbolizing the return to original position) to reset the starting point. After 10 generations, God chose Noah, a righteous man, to make the offering. The offering Noah had to make was the Ark.
Noah's family
Long story short, Noah was successful, and stood as God's representative. However, to have Ham inherit that foundation, and stand as God's representative (like Abel) to Shem (like Cain), the elder brother, Ham had to display complete and unwavering belief in Noah. Sadly, Ham disbelieved in his father, and even convinced his brothers to disbelieve in him "Oh, he is so sinful and shameful, lying there intoxicated!". So, Ham failed to inherit the successful position of Noah, and all God's work in Noah's family, even the 120 year period for the offering of the Ark, was lost. THIS is the reason that Noah cursed Ham when he woke up and realized what Ham had done.
Ham had failed to have unity with his father and inherit the position of God's representative (accordingly, there was no possibility for Shem to unite with Ham to restore the failed relationship between Adam and the Angel, because Ham lost the position of God's representative).
So God had to start all over, and attempt, for the third time, to find and establish a champion who could complete the offering correctly to stand as God's representative, and then have someone in the elder son position (like Cain, or like the Angel Lucifer) submit to and unite with God's representative in the younger son position (like Abel, or like Adam towards Lucifer).
If and when these conditions are met, God has the lawful foundation to say to Satan, this (family, people, nation) are mine. And he can send the Messiah to give rebirth to the offspring of Adam and Eve and restore them back to God's family.
Because God's ideal (which Adam lost) to be restored is the Family, the number 4 x 10 (return to starting point) symbolizes separation from Satan and the fallen situation. Thus, after 400 years from Noah, God found Abraham to become his champion.
Abraham's family
Abraham could thus make the offering at God's instruction after 400 years of separation from Satan.
After a lengthy course of preparing Abraham through all sorts of events (as recorded in scripture) God finally commanded Abraham to make the offering. God commanded 3 different levels of offering: heifer, Sheep + goat, pigeon + dove. The 3 different levels represent restoring the 3 stages of maturing to perfection. Just like the 3 levels in Noah's ark.
Abraham made the offering.
"So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." 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. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land......"
How to understand all this?
Firstly, the cutting in half of the offering symbolize separating the good in Adam from the evil in Adam, and draining out the satanic blood that Adam became home to when he fell.
Abraham did this correctly for stages 3 and 2, but the foundation stage, the pigeon and dove, he failed to do.
Thus, because the offering was not correctly (and symbolically) separated from Satan, God could not claim it. Instead, Satan claimed it, as symbolized by the birds of prey descending.
The problem here is that this was the third attempt by God to have humanity set the right symbolic condition to restore the mistake of Adam. Abel & Cain was the first attempt. Noah, with Ham and Shem, was the second attempt. Abraham was the third attempt. For reasons I won't go into, there is a condition in God's restoration that Satan cannot claim the third attempt.
Thus, even though Abraham failed in the offer, God was able to set up a situation where Abraham did NOT fail in the offering, by sort of creating a ‘legal’ condition that Abraham succeeded and then executing providence to fix up the mistake AFTER the fact.
This is why a) God declared that the Israelites would have to suffer as slaves for 400 years. This is because the 400 years of resetting the starting point that God worked from Noah to Abraham was lost when Abraham failed to do the offering correctly, so it had to be re-established, and b) why later, God had Abraham offer Isaac. If an offering is failed on one level, it can be recovered by making an even greater offering on a new level. Because Abraham failed to complete the (relatively simple) offering of the [heifer, goat + sheep, pigeon + dove], he could only fix that mistake by making a much harder and more difficult offering, which is the offering of Isaac. For Abraham, offering (killing) Isaac was the same as offering (killing) himself.
So, even though Abraham failed in the offering, God established a providence to fix this later, and so, as you have well pointed out, God then proceeded to act AS IF Abraham had succeeded, as evidenced by the smoking firepot and blazing torch, and God completing his covenant with Abraham.
Fleshing out the understanding
There are a few points that round out this understanding of the events described in scripture.
One, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. If Abraham had been successful in the first offering, then Isaac, when he united with Abraham, would stand in the position of the younger son, Abel, and Ishmael in the position of the elder son, Cain. If they then achieved unity correctly, then the foundation would be set for God to send the Messiah, Jesus, at that time.
Two, in the offering of Isaac, Isaac was old enough to understand that normally, there should be a sheep. For three days (number 3) they journeyed. Can you imagine the agony in Abraham’s heart? What about Isaac? Even when Abraham laid Isaac on the offering altar, Isaac did not flinch. He had complete and perfect faith in his father, Abraham. Thus, Isaac was able to restore the failure of Ham, who failed to believe in his father.
Abraham being willing to offer his son set the condition for God to forgive his mistake in the first offering. So Abraham could then truly stand as God’s representative. Accordingly, Isaac, who displayed perfect faith in his father, God’s representative, was able ton fully inherit the position of God’s representative (which Ham could not). Via the angel, God re-iterates his covenant with Abraham’s family.
Now, with Isaac standing in the position of God’s representative, the condition had to be repeated in Isaac’s family, with Jacob inheriting the foundation and standing in the position of Abel, and Esau standing in the position of Cain. How that unfolded is recorded in scripture.
Despite what to human eyes seems strange, Jacob valued God’s blessing above all, and eventually was able to get Esau to submit to him, and unite with him, and so, finally, after the third attempt (Adam’s family, Noah’s family, Abraham/Isaac/Jacob’s family), both the person being successful in the offering (symbolizing Adam fulfilling his responsibility to unite with the Word) and the unity between younger son and elder son (symbolizing Lucifer submitting to Adam) were both successful and completed.
This is, in fact, why and how the family of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob became established by God as the chosen family and root of the chosen people. It's not just some random whim of God. Rather, God has worked very hard and very methodically to establish a foundation he could use to separate out a people to him on which foundation he would bring the Messiah.
After the 400 years of slavery, God later expanded the victorious foundation of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob's family to ethnic group and then nation-state level by having Moses complete the same conditions on a new level, albeit with Moses in the position of Abel and the Israelites as a whole in the position of Cain.
So, to answer your question, Abraham actually failed the first offering of the heifer, goat and sheep, pigeon and doves, but through God’s grace and the foundation of success in the third attempt, God was able to treat Abraham as if he was successful by setting conditions to restore the mistake AFTER the fact (Isaac, Jacob).
I’d like to just make a suggestion. Pray on this. Read scripture, reflect on the explanation written here, and seek God’s voice. (Don't be afraid to put aside for a moment your previous concepts of the matter, just as a mental exercise.)
In my experience, understanding these elements is key to understanding later developments in God’s providence, such as Moses’ course of restoration, as well as the 2000 year history of Israel and even Jesus' three-year ministry. E.g. Why did the Israelites have to journey for 40 years in the desert? Why did Jesus do the 40-day fast directly after meeting john the Baptist? Etc. Why was the cross necessary? Why must Jesus return?
(Somewhat like the Q board) in the Bible, we actually have more than we know. The Bible is in fact a record of God’s providence, above and beyond simple moral lessons or how to live. It is actually the record of how God directs his providence to achieve very specific conditions that restore the failure of Adam and his descendants and lay the foundation for establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. We are still very much in the midst of that process now, so understanding the WHY and the HOW is actually very important if we are to fulfill our responsibility and make our offering correctly.
If you read this far, a blessing on your day.
From His Peace to your strength.