The life-threatening, lie-detecting, truth-telling oath, “Cross your heart and hope to die?”, is heard daily in school playgrounds across the world. At best, it’s a way of vouching that some kid with dubious intent is not attempting a clever con. At worst, it’s a trivial way of transacting school yard commerce, and especially with the accompaniments: “Stick a needle in your eye, thrust a dagger in your thigh, eat a horse-manure pie”.

Unbelievably, this oath was once made by the God of Heaven. When God was promising the future possession of land to Abraham, He presented the promise in the form of an incredibly powerful oath. He instructed Abraham to cut some sacrificial animals in half (Genesis 15:8ff), then to lay them out on the ground, to form an aisle with the separated pieces. And then God proceeded, in the form of a flaming torch, to pass between the bloodied body parts.

Meaning what!? Meaning that this grislily death would be inflicted upon the one who broke his promise. In this case, the very death of God! In other words: “Cross my heart and hope to die!” In other words, there was no way that the promise would ever fail to come to pass. The descendants of Abraham would receive the Promised Land. And in its ultimate fulfilment, the Land that the God of Abraham has promised to all the children of faith, will most certainly be given and received. Our heavenly inheritance is guaranteed. Upon God’s life!