What was the ancient rite that God performed when deeding the Middle East to Abraham?
The ancient rite was the customary real estate transfer ceremony of antiquity, which God Himself performed by descending to man's level and carrying out the deed transfer. In Genesis 15, from verse 12 to the end, this is called Israel's deed, where Jehovah deeded the whole Middle East to Abraham.
Les explains that way back in Genesis 15, shortly after the covenant God gave Abraham, Abraham asked in verse 8, "Whereby shall I know that I'll inherit this land?" God literally descended to man's level and went through the very rites of transferring real estate. Les tells people to write in the margin of chapter 15, from verse 12 to the end, "Israel's deed." There Jehovah came down and actually carried out the rite (r-i-t-e) of real estate transfer as they did back in the antiquities, deeding the whole Middle East to Abraham. As He was going through this transfer, He also gave prophecy beginning in verse 13: Abraham's seed would be a stranger in a land not theirs, serve them, and be afflicted four hundred years, referring to Egypt. Les clarifies the four hundred years is the sojourning, not necessarily just the affliction.