In this week's Perashah Perashat Lekh L'kha we read about B'rit Ben HaB'tarim, which literally means a covenant between the halves. Abraham was commanded to take a calf, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon. The animals were described as M'shuleshet or M'shulash. Some explain that means to bring three of each or that each one should be three years old or the third born. And the verse stated:
ויבתר אתם בתוך And he split them down the middle
Abraham split the calf and the goat and the ram in half, and placed each half across from its other half.
ואת הצפר לא בתר He did not split the birds (the dove and the pigeon)
How come the animals were split in half but not the birds? Many commentators view these animals like sacrifices that are being offered to formalize this covenant, just like the sacrifices that were offered later at Har Sinai to formalize the covenant between HaShem and the Jewish people. When birds are sacrificed they are not torn in half as the verse in VaYiqra instructed regarding bird sacrifices:
לא יבדיל Do not sever it
Then the verse said that a vulture descended upon the animals and birds, but Abraham drove them away. The Ramban explained that this alludes to the future when non-Jews will come to stop the offering of sacrifices in the Bet HaMiqdash, but the descendants of Abraham will chase them away.
Then the verse described the sun setting. Abraham became drowsy, and a great dreadful of darkness fell upon Abraham. Rashi explained that this great dreadful darkness represents the trouble and darkness of Abraham's descendants living in exile. This is when Hashem foretold the slavery in Egypt to Abraham Abinu, and also told him:
וגם את הגוי אשר יעבדו דן אנכי
I will also judge the nation that you served as slaves.
Rabenu Bahye' explains that דן (judge) doesn't necessarily mean punish. It means evaluate. Did they oppress them accordingly or did they oppress them more than my decree? In the end the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea for drowning the Jewish babies in the Nile River. Enslaving them and even afflicting them with hard work was part of the decree like it was told here to Abraham.
ועבדום וענו אתם And they shall enslave them and afflict them
It did not say anything about killing them or drowning them.
And after the slavery is over we will return to the Land of Israel like the verse said:
וְדּוֹר רביעִי ישובו הנה
The fourth generation will return to here (to the Land of Israel)
Rabenu Bahye' explained that this means the fourth generation from when they descended to Egypt. So Yehudah went to Egypt, the second generation was Peress, Hessron was the third generation and Kaleb, who eventually returned to Israel, was the fourth generation.
And then the sun set and it became very dark, and the Presence of Hashem manifested itself in the appearance of a smoking furnace with a flaming torch passing through the halves of the calf, the goat and the ram, formalizing the covenant and promising the land of Israel to the descendants of Avraham Abinu.
The Ramban explained that this vision is similar to the manifestation of the Presence of Hashem that occurred later on Har Sinai, like the verse at the end of Perashat Mishpatim described:
ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אכלת And the vision of the Glory of HaShem was like a consuming fire
And in Perashat VaEt-hannan it said:
ודבריו שמעת מתוך האש And you heard His words from within the fire
The fire on Har Sinai was like the flaming torch with the covenant between the halves. And the fire on Har Sinai was described in Perashat Debarim as accompanied with:
חשך ענן וערפל Darkness cloud and fog
which is like the תנור עשן (smoking furnace) with the covenant between the halves. Furthermore the verse in Yitro described the Presence of HaShem on Har Sinai with:
והר סיני עשן כלו מפני אשר ירד עליו ה' באש, ויעל עשנו כעשן הכבשן ויחרד כל ההר מאד
And Har Sinai was all SMOKE because HaShem descended upon it in FIRE, and it's SMOKE rose like the SMOKE of a FURNACE and the whole mountain trembled a lot.
So again HaShem's Presence on Har Sinai was described as appearing with smoke and fire like like the smoking furnace and flaming torch that appeared with the covenant between the halves.
The covenant between the halves concluded with the established covenant promising the land between the River of Egypt and the Euphrates River to the descendants of Abraham Abinu, which included the land of ten nations specified in the final verses. Meaning not only the land of the כנען (K'na'an included the land of the Hitti, Perizzi, Emori, K'na'ani, Girgashi and Y'busi), but also the land of the Qeni, Q'nizi, Qadmoni and the Refaim will all eventually become part of the land of Israel.