Within Seventh-day Adventism, the writings of Ellen G. White are seen to be divinely inspired and correcting of inaccurate interpretations of scripture. In particular, her Conflict of the Ages series, along with Christ Object Lessons, is seen to be the gold standard set when it comes to an unofficial hierarchy of authority within her writings.
In her book, Patriarchs & Prophets, the first in the Series, she wrote:
The Lord condescended to enter into a covenant with His servant, employing such forms as were customary among men for the ratification of a solemn engagement. By divine direction, Abraham sacrificed a heifer, a she-goat, and a ram, each three years old, dividing the bodies and laying the pieces a little distance apart. To these he added a turtledove and a young pigeon, which, however, were not divided. This being done, he reverently passed between the parts of the sacrifice, making a solemn vow to God of perpetual obedience. Watchful and steadfast, he remained beside the carcasses till the going down of the sun, to guard them from being defiled or devoured by birds of prey.
About sunset he sank into a deep sleep; and, “lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.” And the voice of God was heard, bidding him not to expect immediate possession of the Promised Land, and pointing forward to the sufferings of his posterity before their establishment in Canaan. The plan of redemption was here opened to him, in the death of Christ, the great sacrifice, and His coming in glory. Abraham saw also the earth restored to its Eden beauty, to be given him for an everlasting possession, as the final and complete fulfillment of the promise.
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs & Prophets, pg. 137 (PP 137.1)
This contradicts the Bible and is the root of why Adventist covenant theology is heretical, not understanding the distinction between law and gospel.
Notice what Genesis 15 says and then we will see the details that Ellen White added which end up distorting scripture:
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Genesis 15:7-21
Between verses 11 and 12, Ellen White adds the detail that after the cutting of the animals, Abraham “reverently passed between the parts of the sacrifice, making a solemn vow to God of perpetual obedience.” The Bible does not say this. And this is an added detail that entirely distorts the covenant of grace administered with Abraham. To understand why, it’s important to understand some things about biblical covenants.
What Is A Covenant?
Covenants in the Bible are modeled after what we see in ancient near eastern culture. More specifically, suzerain-vassal treaties. Dr. Michael Horton explains this succinctly where he writes:
The basic structure of the relationship God has established with His people is the covenant. A covenant is usually thought of as a contract. While there surely are some similarities between covenants and contracts, there are also important differences. Both are binding agreements. Contracts are made from somewhat equal bargaining positions, and both parties are free not to sign the contract. A covenant is likewise an agreement. However, covenants in the Bible are not usually between equals. Rather, they follow a pattern common to the ancient Near East suzerain-vassal treaties. Suzerain-vassal treaties (as seen among the Hittite kings) were made between a conquering king and the conquered. There was no negotiation between the parties.
Dr. Michael Horton, What is a Covenant?
Unlike a contract, biblical covenants are not negotiated agreements between equals but rather divinely initiated bonds through which God establishes a relationship with His people. Contracts involve mutual compromises and negotiated terms, while covenants are established by a Superior (the suzerain) and imposed upon an inferior (the vassal) according to the terms set by the Superior.
This dynamic is clearly seen in the Mosaic Covenant, as exemplified in Exodus 20:2. In the covenant’s preamble, God declares, “I am the LORD your God,” explicitly identifying the parties involved. God, as the sovereign Superior, initiates the covenant and dictates its terms, while Israel, as the vassal, is called to respond in obedience and loyalty.
Such covenants emphasize God’s authority, grace, and faithfulness in His dealings with humanity. They reveal a relational framework in which God graciously condescends to establish and maintain a bond with His people, underscoring His role as both Creator and Redeemer.
Dr. Horton continues where he makes another important point about biblical covenants, but in the process he highlights something important about what we read in Genesis:
In biblical times, covenants were ratified in blood. It was customary for both parties to the covenant to pass between dismembered animals, signifying their agreement to the terms of the covenant (see Jer. 34:18). We have an example of this kind of covenant in Genesis 15:7-21. Here, God made certain promises to Abraham, which were ratified by the sacrificing of animals. However in this case, God alone passes through the animals, indicating that He is binding Himself by a solemn oath to fulfill the covenant.
Dr. Michael Horton, What is a Covenant?
Biblical covenants are ratified with blood, symbolizing their solemnity and binding nature. The covenant was “cut” through the ritual of dividing an animal in half, with the parties walking between the dismembered pieces. This act signified their agreement to the terms and implied a grave consequence: if either party broke the covenant, they would suffer the same fate as the animal. Such agreements are known as bilateral covenants.
Abraham’s covenant, however, was fundamentally different. It was a unilateral covenant in which the Suzerain—God—bound Himself alone to fulfill its terms. While Abraham was asleep, God alone passed through the cut animal, represented by the fiery torch in Abraham’s vision. This act demonstrated that Abraham played a passive role in the covenant, which rested entirely on God’s faithfulness.
The late Dr. R.C. Sproul explains why Genesis 15:17 is his favorite text in all of scripture and, in so doing, he points out why this unilateral cutting is a big deal:
…People will come up to me with a Bible and ask me to write my life verse…And there was a little devilishness in my selection in Genesis 15:17, which I write it down, and invariably, people will come back ten or fifteen minutes later after they look it up, scratching their head and saying, “Did you mean to write this verse?” And I say “Yes.” It’s that verse in Genesis 15:17 where it says, “And that night when the sun had set, this smoking oven and burning torch passed between the pieces.”
And they look at me and say, “That’s your favorite verse?” I say, “Yeah, that’s my favorite verse.” They say, “Why is that your favorite verse?” I guess, because if you look at Genesis 15, it is the occasion in which God made a promise to Abraham. And Abraham said to God, “How can I know for sure that you will do what you say you will do?” (Gen. 15:8). And God condescended to Abraham’s weakness, to his unbelief. And He said, “Abraham, go and get these goats and these animals and cut them in half and put them as a path, like a gauntlet on the ground” (Gen. 15:9–10). And then after Abraham obeyed and cut up these animals in this grizzly ritual and laid them end to end in a pathway, God made Abraham have a deep sleep. And during that sleep, behold, this burning oven and flaming torch pass between the pieces.
The author of Hebrews understood that. That what is going on here in this theophany is that God, manifesting Himself as the burning fire, moves between these pieces and symbolically is saying to Abraham, as He’s cutting a covenant with him, He said, “Abraham, if I don’t keep My word, may I be torn asunder as you have cut these animals in two. I am promising you and swearing, not by My mother’s grave—I don’t have a mother. I’m not swearing by the earth—that’s My footstool. I’m not swearing by the heavens—that’s My abode. I’m swearing by Myself.” And because God could swear by nothing greater, He swore by His own being, saying, “If I break My word, may the immutable deity suffer mutation. I’m swearing by My holy character.”
Now, when I make a promise to you, you know that it’s possible I will break it. We, by nature, are covenant breakers. We are, by nature, people whose words cannot always be trusted. But God’s word cannot be broken. And Abraham, who becomes the father of the faithful, was a man who lived the rest of his days trusting not in what he saw, not in what he felt, but he trusted in the word of God.
Dr. R.C. Sproul, God’s Unbroken Promise & Unfailing Word
God’s sole act of cutting the covenant demonstrated His unwavering commitment to keeping His promises, despite human frailty. This was a unilateral covenant in which Abraham was a passive recipient. The New Covenant is an extension of this singular covenant of grace established with Abraham.
In Romans 4, Paul highlights Abraham as an Old Testament example of justification by faith, illustrating that he was made right with God in the same way New Covenant believers are today. The key difference is that we live in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham—specifically, God dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14), through whom all nations have been blessed.
Conclusion
Unlike bilateral covenants, which rely on human obedience and are often broken due to human frailty, the covenant of grace is unbreakable. This is because God, who cannot break His oath, has pledged to be the God of His people and to make them His own (Genesis 17:7).
Ellen White’s claim that Abraham passed through the cut animals not only contradicts Scripture but also misconstrues the nature of the covenant of grace. By framing it as a bilateral covenant—where human obedience plays a role in maintaining a covenant relationship with God—she shifts the focus from divine sovereignty to human effort. White’s statement that Abraham’s passage through the animals was a “solemn vow to God of perpetual obedience” imposes a dual responsibility that Scripture does not support. In truth, Abraham was asleep when God alone passed through the cut animals, symbolizing that the covenant rests entirely on God’s faithfulness.
This misinterpretation has influenced the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s understanding of covenant theology, which traditionally aligns with Reformed Theology. By blending law and gospel, this perspective has led to a distorted view of salvation, teaching that right standing with God depends on human obedience. However, the truth of the gospel is that salvation and a right relationship with God are entirely the result of the person and work of Jesus Christ, not through any works or active righteousness on our part.
