Dizzy Rascal

“This is dizzying.”^[1] That’s how one newspaper described this week in current affairs. The world today is subject to carnival-like nausea due to the rapidly changing, dizzying nature of current affairs and geopolitics. On the world’s stage over the last several weeks, we’ve seen the breaking down of agreements that have been in place for generations as well as the realigning of alliances. Friends have become enemies; enemies have become allies. Now, when it comes to agreements, generally surprises are to be avoided, but some leaders just seem to have no end of surprises to offer an already volatile world. This is truly dizzying.

Genesis 15

In today’s reading from Genesis 15, Abram too felt dizzy, jostled by God’s surprising promises to him in the face of evidence to the contrary. God had made an agreement with him but didn’t seem to be respecting it. God promised to reward Abram more than he could imagine; he said he would bless him and make his name great so that he would be a blessing not to just some people but to every family on earth (Gen 12:3). This was all supposed to take place through children born to Abram and Sarai, his wife, but they were childless, infertile, and steadily advancing in age. Abram had already left his home at God’s command in search of a new land God promised to give him and his descendants. But where exactly are these descendants? Where exactly is that land? So, Abram is honest with God and asks, “How can this be?”

Covenant Ceremony

In the Bible, a covenant is a type of agreement in which each party agrees to a set of obligations toward the other.^[2] A common example today would be a marriage covenant. In Abram’s case, he asks God for confirmation and assurance that he will fulfill his promises. God answers by enacting a covenant ceremony. This is the seemingly bizarre ritual with the animals, the firepot, and the flaming torch that we just heard about. A variety of animals are slaughtered and cut in two. The halves are placed on either side of what becomes a sort of aisle down the middle. Then after dark, the smoking firepot and flaming torch pass through the halves. In so doing, the text tells us, “the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (Gen 15:18). What’s curious about this is that the Hebrew expression which we translate as “made a covenant” is “cut a covenant”: “on that day the Lord cut a covenant with Abram.” So, we see that the cutting in two of the animals confirms the covenant cut by the Lord.

Many biblical scholars believe that the firepot and flaming torch both represent God. The halves on each side serve as witnesses to the covenant ceremony. The one passing down “the aisle” between the cut pieces solemnly vows a “self-curse” that they should become like the halves if they fail to keep their covenant promises.

Here we notice that it is God alone who passes between. God alone is the one makes an unconditional covenant with Abram. He alone is willing and able to bear any potential negative effects.^[3] As for Abram, well, he is asleep and sees all of this in a vision. God is doing something new and unpredictable, but for his good. There’s no need to be afraid.

Flitch of Bacon

We may ask ourselves what sort of culture is it that confirms covenants in this way, by cutting up animals, taking oaths, calling on witnesses, and passing between them. Well, in all my travels and research perhaps no other ceremony is closer to that which we read about in Genesis 15 than one that takes place right here in Essex. I’m, of course, referring to the Dunmow Flitch Trials.

Since medieval times, a sizzling ceremony has been takeing place every four years in the town of Great Dunmow in Essex. (The last one was in 2024, so you’ll have to wait until 2028 for the next.) During the Flitch Trials, married couples are invited to try to convince a panel of judges comprised of six maidens and six bachelors that in the last year plus one day they’ve never wished themselves unmarried. If the couple is successful, they are paraded through the town, take the “Flitch Oath” while kneeling on pointed stones, and are awarded half a pig, “a flitch of bacon.”^[4]

While the couples have already gone through a marriage covenant ceremony—a wedding—where they made promises to one another, this trial serves to confirm their commitment. The pointed stones and split pig call to mind the sacrifices required in any relationship. The couple passes down an aisle of witnesses like the firepot and torch between the animals. Who knew that Essex culture was so close to that of the Bible?

The Vow

Now, it’s good that the Flitch Trials celebrate marriage and covenant agreements. But not everything is rosy. We know that life is full of tension and at times dizzying as we try to be and stay in agreement with another human being. That is why I love the following poem The Vow by Sandra Beasley who puts a slightly different spin on the Dunmow Flitch Trials. She writes:

But never for us the flitch of bacon though,
That some may win in Essex at Dunmow.

So promises the old wives’ tale,
a covenant according to Chaucer:
that if tomorrow I trek to Dunmow Church
and swear, before God and congregation,

not a fight, no single quarrel,
in 366 days not even once wishing
to be un-married to you,
that salted hog is ours for the taking.

My love,
what a limp victory that would be,

sweet silence of perfect agreement
as we swing a pork trophy between us,
walking the many miles home—
the fatback won, the battle lost.

I reserve my right to a good spat,
to the meat’s spit in flame:

I take joy in choosing you, again and again.^[5]

Heidelberg

This poem is an honest look at relationships and the need to be honest with one another. More than that, it’s a powerful reminder to take joy in choosing again and again to be a dependable ally.

Did Abram ever wish himself “unmarried” to God? How about you? Regardless, when there was tension, Abram was honest but submissive. That’s hard for us to do, especially for those in high-pressure roles like politics… or parenting. It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking after one’s own interests rather than striving for what’s best for everyone or the common good. That’s partly what’s been so dizzying about world events this week is the turnaround of significant actors on the world’s stage who seek their own interests. One newspaper thus ran the title, “dizzying jerks and jolts freeze business.” That word “jerks” is sure doing a lot of work!

So, what’s the difference between God surprising us and seeking to work out his plans versus people doing that same? Well, one significant difference is that God has a right to do so as Creator, as the only true sovereign over life and death. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,” says the psalmist. Second, when God is self-interested, it’s for our good. God’s plans to establish a people for himself, to dwell among them, to be king, and to be the desire of all nations, well, that’s in our best interest too because we were created by him and for him. You were not created for yourself. You do not exist for yourself. I love how the Heidelberg Catechism puts it: What is your only hope in life and death? I am not my own but belong to God.

This belonging to God means that we respond to him honestly in obedience and trust like Abram did. Out of this love for God should then flow love and self-sacrifice for others, recognizing that I am not the center of the universe. This doesn’t come naturally but takes hard work.

Closing

In closing, we recognize that life cannot be lived without engaging in social or legal contracts of one sort or another. It’s not a question of whether you will enter into an agreement, but with whom. God called Abram into a special, covenantal relationship with him. Abram’s rightful reaction was to fully commit himself into God’s care, but he was honest about his doubts. Nevertheless, God chose Abram again and again. By faith, Abram trusted God again and again. You see, it wasn’t as much about Abram having right belief about God as being in the right in God’s eyes by trusting him and his promises, doubts, difficulties, and all.

Today, God is choosing you to hear this word of exhortation to enter into the New Covenant with him. It is a covenant sealed and confirmed by his Son, Jesus Christ. So, who are you trusting? The world is dizzying and often unpredictable. So, too, can seem God, but he is for your good.

Amen.

References

1. Oliver Milman, “The Guardian: This Is Dizzying,” 10 March 2025, https://milled.com/the-guardian-soulmates/this-is-dizzying-KwMmYkhDNDwOSG6z. ↑
2. Martin A. Sweeney, “Covenant in the Hebrew Bible,” Bible Odyssey, n.d., https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/covenant-in-the-hebrew-bible/. ↑
3. Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler, and Michael Fishbane, eds., The Jewish Study Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). ↑
4. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud, eds., “Dunmow Flitch,” in A Dictionary of English Folklore (Oxford University Press, 2003); “Dunmow Flitch Trials—History—The Flitch Oath,” n.d., https://www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/history/flitch-oath/. ↑
5. Sandra Beasley, “The Vow,” Agni 89 (2019): 23. ↑