<TITLE>10. Par 34-36</TITLE>L-34 Now, every clergyman, here or anywhere, will admit... Dr. Scofield, here, admits it. All the rest of the great clergymen knows that that's when God confirmed the covenant with Abraham.
"Now, what was He doing, Brother Branham? You call this the confirmation of the covenant. What was He doing?" Here's what He did: He was proving to him what He was going to do with him.
Now, what do we do when we make a covenant with one another or sign a contract with one another? Usually, we may go out and have a sandwich together, a cup of coffee, or something, and then, after it's all over, we walk up, and take a hold of one another's hands, and say, "Shake, boy!" "All right. I'll agree. I'll agree, I'll get a certain thing."
If I made a covenant with a... with some brother with... my Brother Gene Goad setting here, I said, "Brother Gene, a... Tuesday I'll go with you down into Kentucky on a certain errand."
"Okay, Brother Branham, put it here." See? That's a covenant.
If these two Arkansas brothers setting here, if I say, "I..." (Been begging me for the last few years to come to Arkansas again.) If I called you up here and said, "Brethren,..." I don't even know your names. But if I say, "I'll make a covenant with you, a promise that next week I'll come down to Arkansas..."
"Thank you, Brother Branham." It's an agreement, a covenant. That's the way we decide it with a handshake. Isn't that right?

L-35 Now, in Japan, you know how they make their covenant with one another? They toss things over it, and then take a little cruse of salt to throw salt on one another. That salt's got life. You see, it contacts, holds: salt keeps. And that's the way, they throw salt on one another.
Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." See? And when they make a covenant... one another, they throw salt on one another. That means that their covenant must keep. Salt holds them together, keeps it from spoiling. Nothing can spoil their contract. It's a covenant or handshake. It's fellowship. "We agree upon the basis of fellowship, that we'll keep our covenant one to another. Salt will keep our covenant, because it will not mar or spoil. Our covenant will always be kept."

L-36 But in the days of Abraham it was different. Now, when they made a covenant in them days, what they done, was kill a sacrifice, split it open, walk in between it, and... Then they didn't have paper. Paper was just recently, a few years ago, found by the hornets that was building their nests out of the pulp out of the tree. But they didn't have paper, but they had... they put all the parchments and so forth on skin, ram skin. They would tan it, and then draw these letters and make... and write out their writings. All the old ancient writings was either on rock or on skin.
So they take it either on rock or skin, and they made this covenant with one another. Then they walked in between these sacrifices, these two pieces of the dead animal, and then they broke this in two, or tore it in two. One got one from one another and took an oath. "If we break this covenant between us, let our bodies be like this sacrifice, that stands for it." You see what I mean?
Now, what was God doing? He was showing to Abraham what He was going to do in the future to the seed of Abraham, as which He had not yet. Oh, brother... He didn't have it yet, but He had the promise, and that was as good done. Amen.


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