By What Shall I Know? Question and Covenant

We tend to think of a divine covenant, a treaty with God, as something good - not just good, but wholly good. It is a gift from God, granted to the forefathers and passed on to future generations. We expect our covenants to include the promise of nationhood, possession of the land of Israel, the promise of divine caring and perhaps some form of religious responsibility. However, we do not expect them to include suffering. The "covenant between the pieces" ("brit bein ha-betarim") shatters this expectation. In the very first formal covenant granted to Avraham by God, God promises suffering, and much of it.