Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

The training of the believer for the inheritance.

Genesis 15-21.

Chapters 15 to 21. These chapters might be summarized thus:—Chapter 15: Justification by faith, and history of that nation which, stumbling at God’s stumbling-stone, is set aside for a while for the heavenly seed; chapter 16. Flesh active, and Hagar, or law, resorted to; chapter 17. Grace judging the flesh; chapter 18. Communion; chapter 19 Judgment; chapter 20. Man to the last unconfiding; yet, chapter 21, the Lord faithful—the true Seed born, and the Millennium. Obviously, it will be impossible in our rapid survey to do more than touch on the salient points in this summary.

In chapte 15 there are five scenes, together extending over an entire night and day. It would likewise seem as if only in the night-time did the Lord throughout this chapter accost Abram. This probably may be accounted for by the prophecies found here, all referring to Abram’s seed during the night of their history. In scene one, extending down the first six verses, the time may be about midnight. The word of the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, and, in reference to his self-denial in refusing the goods of the king of Sodom, says, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” For God never lets His people lose in the long run for their trust in Him. If Abram refused the spoil of Sodom, he gained in increased joy in God. So it is ever. If one, for Christ’s sake, abandons what God calls him from, he not only has eternal life in the world to come, but a hundred-fold more in the enjoyment of God’s presence than anything he has surrendered. But God continues with the assurance that Abram’s seed, old as he is, shall be numerous as the stars of heaven. And that this latter part of the promise is widely different from that found in chapter 13 verse 16, see the remarks already made on that Scripture. Compare Jeremiah 33:22, where, as further on in Genesis 22, the two seeds, the heavenly and the earthly, are each distinctly specified. And well may the heavenly seed be glanced at here, seeing that the precious truth of justification follows in the next verse, and on which passage read the inspired comment in Romans 4:3, 17-24.

Then, in scene two, occurring near the morning light, from verse 7 to verse 10, Abram hears somewhat as to the earthly seed which is to possess “this land,” asking for a sign, not in unbelief, but in the boldness of faith; for communion with God increases faith, and renders it bold. God gives him his desire. He is instructed to take three animals, for the three kinds of offerings; for Israel can only be blessed through Christ’s sacrifice. Each of the animals slain is to be three years old, signifying that his earthly seed should be a sacrifice for three centuries, but in the fourth should come safely out, as the birds.

Next, in scene three, Abram seems to pass the day in standing by his sacrifice of animals cleft in twain. Thus, too, did Balak by his; and thus, too, the Christian should by his identification with the Christ who died, is risen and glorified—the sacrifice is the plea of him who stands by it. The sole occupation of Abram during the day is to drive away the birds of prey. We, when we appear before God, should have our eye on Christ, and thus be filled with joy, delighting in Him, and in His finished work. But, alas, wandering thoughts, and anxious cares, and unbelief, will, unless they are watched against, obstruct all this peace and joy in Christ. In the type to Abram, these fowls that come down on the sacrifices rent in twain, signify of course the Egyptians, who would fain have made Israel a prey for themselves.

Accordingly, in the fourth place, when the sun declines, the Lord again speaks to Abram, first interpreting to him, inverses 13-16, the sign that He had given to him; and next, when the sun has set, that sign is confirmed by the vision of the smoking furnace; and then with the passing between the pieces of a burning Lamp, symbol of the Shechinah; the lamp is Christ, who is salvation for Israel and for us (see in proof Psalm 132:17; Ezekiel 1:13; and Isaiah 62:1).

This term “Lamp” is not unfrequently found in the book of Kings, and is there used to denote a son and successor to David (see 1 Kings 11:30, margine; 15:4; and 2 Kings 8:19). The passing between the pieces of the sacrifice is explained in Jeremiah 34:18, to represent the entrance into a covenant of the parties so passing. Wherefore the passing of the lamp here signifies the Lord pledging Himself in that striking way, to succour and to deliver Israel, bringing them forth from the furnace in triumph, and in plenty. And thus the issue of their bondage was seen to by Him from the beginning. And then, as the time for their deliverance drew nigh, He enlarges at once on the minuter details of that deliverance, providing from the outset for their coming forth, not as beggars, but rather as princes, with silver and with gold in plenty (Psalm 105:37). They were to “ask” (Exodus 3:22), (Hebrew, not “borrow “) of the Egyptians. For these wages for their hard work were of long date, and had never been paid. But here God’s pledge of His succour is unconditional, as seen by the fact that the lamp alone and not Abram passed between the pieces. But the morning cometh, according as we see is suggested, in the fifth and concluding scene in this chapter (verse 18). And there all that God had promised Israel, that people shall yet possess. Never of old did their territorial possessions actually extend to the great river Euphrates, as is here promised should be the case, because the real and full inheritance of the land can only be obtained and enjoyed, when sovereign, grace shall have all its own way with them. By a covenant of plaster, which the winds and storms could destroy, they have as yet possessed only a part (Deuteronomy 27:4). At the most a shadow of the truth passed for a moment before their eyes in Solomon’s time (1 Kings 4:21). But God will yet remember every engagement which He has made, and fulfil to the letter every part of His word. Likewise will He act towards ourselves. Even now we who believe are under grace. And ere Israel obtains possession in full of the land promised to Abram we shall have been brought safe home to our inheritance reserved in heaven. The Earnest of that inheritance is ours to be enjoyed now. Still, however, we await Him who to us is the morning Star. Till then our path is a chequered one, being alternated on the one hand in the furnace of affliction, and on the other by the shining of the light from above upon our souls.

Chapter 16 On this chapter, the third and fourth chapters of Galatians should be carefully pondered. We find here an illustration of what we are painfully conscious to be the case with ourselves, that unbelief can be present and at work even in a believing heart. In chapter 18 we have further evidence of this. Abram and Sarai were each of them believers, yet neither at this time appears to have been in a condition of soul to wait patiently on God. The Holy Ghost often in the Word combines patience with faith. See, for instance, Revelation; 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Titus 2:2; Hebrews 6:12. Nothing tests faith like delay on the part of God; for the flesh will struggle to make itself heard, and will resort to efforts that, at another time, the believer can see the unbelief displayed thereby. For that text is still true, “He that believeth shall not make haste “(Isaiah 28:16). No surer evidence of simple faith and obedience can be named than patient continuance in well-doing. Talking of faith is all very well; walking by faith is far better. Observe the descending climax in Isaiah 40:31. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;” that is, comparatively easy; “they shall run, and not be weary;” more difficult this, but the last named is the hardest of all—”they shall walk, and not faint.” Excitement will carry one through much, but ordinary plodding along in the path of duty, with little to encourage us beyond the consciousness that such is the will of God, and the daily exercise of confidence in Him, that in due season we shall reap if we faint not, no wonder that flesh resists, and chafes, and works counter to all this. Therefore in Abram and Sarai here we may see something of what is in ourselves. Here the resort is seen to be to nature and to law. Sarai is too prominent in this picture; and, out of our place, the readier are we to commit sin. Nay, she not only sins herself, but invites her husband likewise, and then turns round and blames him. It is a sure mark of a wrong state of soul when one is ready to blame everybody except oneself. God was not hurried, could not be hurried, by the restlessness of unbelief. Possibly the blessing was delayed. At all events, for fourteen years longer, Abram had to wait ere the Lord fulfilled His promise. It is a pithy saying of some one, “Saints who will carvel for themselves are sure to cut their fingers.” Let us believe God, that it shall be exactly and unreservedly as He hath told us—in His time. The great promise to us is found in John 14:3. Then let us recall to mind the exhortation in view of this in Hebrews 10:36, “Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Now that this promise here spoken of refers to that in John 14 is evident by the next verse: “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”

In the first part of this chapter man is seen, as often elsewhere, in failure and unbelief and in abortive attempts, to help himself. Indeed, all three here, Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, are to be blamed. Of the three surely the least part of the blame falls on Hagar. She ought to have been helped, and not stumbled as she was by those who knew the Lord better than she. But the “angel of the Lord,” as He is called in verse 7,or “Jehovah,” and “God,” as His name is (verse 13), finds her in her distress and soul-sorrow, and sets her right again. She was only, in man’s account, an insignificant servant maid. Yet she was, as we behold, cared for and watched over by Him that has ever proved Himself to be a friend in need. He was not engrossed with the care of such saints as Abram and Sarai. He knows everyone that trusts in Him. Though she was in lowly life He knew all about her. And that fountain of water, near which He finds her, must have been a memorial place to her in all after life. It was the fountain, as afterwards it came to be called, “of Him Who lives and sees me.” Jehovah, who had appeared to her, she called, “Thou, God, seest me.” Thus had He fixed her eye on Him Whose eye was fixed on her. Their eyes had met; and in His look there was forgiveness and restoration of her anguished soul. Now, as He had bidden her, she could return happily to Abram’s tent and to Sarai’s rule. This had He bidden her to do. Yea, by addressing her as Sarai’s maid He implied that she was defrauding her mistress in leaving her home. Thus did He cleanse her from all unrighteousness, whilst He forgave her sin. Christians have no right to leave the place where God has called them, unless there is something necessarily sinful connected with their continuance there. A Christian walking after the flesh is sometimes tempted to think of himself as suffering for righteousness when he is suffering through sheer wilfulness, and through baste to deliver himself out of an unpleasant or irksome position. Thus this chapter is a very instructive and useful chapter to us all. Such verses also as verses 13 and 14 show us what is true godliness. Finally we note that in His word to Hagar, a prophecy as to how her offspring should fare, was uttered by this uncreated Angel of the Lord, which has been fulfilling from that day even down to the present. Still is it true of the Ishmaelites, their hand is against every man, and every man’s hand is against them. Yet they live, though the word concerning them was pronounced three thousand years ago. And if this be so, if God thus affords proof even in this age, that His word cannot pass away; so may we be sure that, as respects the woe of the wicked and the joy of the righteous alike, every jot of what is written shall be fulfilled and fulfilling in its integrity, its entirety, and for ever and ever (Matthew 25:46).

Chapter 17. Thirteen years have elapsed since man’s impatience led to the picture as displayed in the last chapter. During this long interval, Abram would have ample leisure to be ashamed of his own folly. And he and we might at length understand why the Lord appeared to delay the fulfilment of His promise. Romans 4 is the divine clue to this chapter, as appears by the reference there to the rite of circumcision instituted at this time. God waited till “Abram’s body” and “Sarah’s womb” were virtually “dead.” Not till then could He so act as to fill the scene entirely with His own glory. There is a reason for all that God does or delays to do, even though we may not understand it. The same chapter (Romans 4) informs us that at this period Abram was strong in faith, he staggered not, his being kept waiting long had wrought its due effect on him, he had seen his own folly in his incredulity and the wisdom of trusting in God. Hence his “falling on his face,” as we read in verse 3, was not in confusion, for the identical expression is used again in undefined

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undefined verse 17, where most certainly it was not so. Nay, rather at the contemplation of the sovereign grace in the Lord again appearing to him, notwithstanding his unbelief, he is overpowered and he worships. And the Lord in a glance back at his unbelief teaches him and us that the one all-potent remedy for this sin is found in keeping the eye fixed on God.

This seventeenth chapter we may divide into two parts — (1) God’s revelation of Himself; and (2) the response which He demands in view thereof. Here, for the first time in the Bible, we encounter the name El Shaddai—God, the all-sufficient One. The word “Almighty” scarcely conveys the thought of the original here. The Hebrew word comprehends this power too. For nothing can occur in God’s creation which shall surprise Him, or place Him in a difficulty. If sinners boldly and persistently defy Him, He is quite competent to cope with their rebellion or their obstinacy. His little finger will be more than a match, in power, against all their attempts to thwart His purpose. But the term El Shaddai may be used, as in fact it is here, in a gracious sense. No strait, no trial, no trouble of His people is such that He cannot triumphantly deliver them from, or, if it please Him, carry them through. Now this fresh and ampler discovery of His name, that is to say of Himself to Abram, was beautiful in its season, when he must have abandoned all hope of an heir, had he “considered his own body.” Then in the next verses the Lord proceeds to open out the import of this unfolding of His name, in uttering seven “I wills;” wherein he evidently adverts to His promise, on which Abram had yet failed to lean. See verses 6, 7, 8, 19, 21. In like manner, again, in Exodus 6, God makes another and further discovery of His name as Jehovah, to Moses, and explains to him its import, also, in seven other “I wills,” in Exodus 6:6-8. And once more the Lord Jesus has declared unto us God’s name in full as, the God and Father of Him, and therefore the God and Father of us in Him. And, in my opinion, the epistles of Paul to the seven Gentile churches of Home, Corinth, etc., are designed to be the seven unfoldings of this name. Well would it be if Christians in general apprehended this truth; and were not, alas! often heard to address Him as the Almighty, which is the term by which the world is wont to speak of Him, thereby exposing its ignorance, and yet terror, of God. True, in the book of Revelation, this name of God does occur frequently, because therein is displayed the execution of judgment and wrath on all unbelievers; otherwise, only in 2 Corinthians 6, is this word to be found, and there, indeed, only for a special and most precious reason.

Now to this opening of His name to Abram, as the All-sufficient One, God expects a hearty and entire response. Hence the admonition, “walk before Me, and be thou perfect,”^{See note 11} by which it is signified that his heart should correspondingly open and expand to receive these overtures of sovereign grace. Hence, also, the change of his name to Abraham, by which he would be reminded constantly of the largeness of the blessing bestowed upon him. And, once more, hence chiefly the institution of the rite of circumcision with which, at this period there was no connection as to law. The law was only introduced at another epoch, through Moses, when this rite concurrently received a legal tinge. See John 7:22. But its obvious design here was that it might be to him a seal of the righteousness of his faith (Romans 4), and thus serve as a mark, in the flesh, of separation unto God, which he and his descendants might ever carry. The flesh then not having shown out its enmity to God in the murder of His Son, was cut or maimed, and not adjudged as yet to be altogether bad. But now the ordinance instituted by the Lord requires that the flesh be buried, as that which is utterly corrupt. Therefore, likewise, in the one case was the rite for the children of Abraham and his race after the flesh; whilst in the other, it is for those who have a nature other than the flesh; in other words, for the true children of God. Only as then circumcision involved separation to God alone, and was of no eternal value without it, so baptism now is not mainly outward, but is only true when the Holy Ghost appropriates us for God, as those who are risen with Christ. See Colossians 2:11, 12; 3:1-5. In short, the further the discoveries of Himself in grace to the souls which God is pleased to make, the simpler should be the surrender of that soul to such a God, taking sides with Him against nature, flesh and unbelief. God wants us for Himself alone.

Chapter 18. Here, happily, follows a picture of the Lord communing with Abraham, and of Abraham, in that high and blessed communion, interceding for others. But before Abraham is fit to enjoy this communion, his heart must be set at ease before God. For still his desire of an heir and God’s promise to him are unfulfilled; and, naturally, the older he became, the more solicitous would he be for the speedy accomplishment of the promise. And the fact that God removed his solicitude ere He took him into His secret counsel argues that, otherwise, he would scarcely have been able to attend upon the Lord without distraction. Accordingly, we read here first of a feast provided by Abraham, and partaken of by his heavenly Visitants; and, next, of His assurance to Abraham that His promise to him was about to be fulfilled. Sarah laughs, hearing of this joyful news, as her husband, in chapter 17 verse 17, had laughed likewise. Here it is clear from the context that there was incredulity in her laugh. Yet in Hebrews 11 we read that, through faith, she received strength to conceive seed. But this apparent contradiction as to the state of soul of Sarah contains nothing that needs to perplex any Christian; for who of us is not conscious of the presence of these two, of faith and unbelief, in his own heart, and, consequently, of the struggle that there takes place?

Now Abraham, having heard the period definitely named for that blessing which his heart had for so long a while craved, would doubtless have been satisfied; but the Lord had, as we see, much more to say to him. He delights to go on with us in the discoveries of His grace when He has strengthened our hearts to be able to bear them. Many now are content to know that they have eternal life, and care not to inquire for what purpose God had set His heart upon conferring on us this great gift. Neither are such moved by the evident reply that, by communicating to us of His own nature, and of His own Spirit, we may be compelled in some measure to understand Him, and able intelligently to worship Him and hold communion with Him. Never can angels, however exalted, adequately enter into His thoughts, nor into His love. Still less was aught of this possible for them, ere the twofold sight of Christ on the cross for sinners, and of Christ on the throne for believers, had been opened to creature view. Yet these are the two great modes whereby alone God can be known. Let us follow on to know the Lord; so we please Him.

The two angels that accompanied the Lord, being now about to depart towards Sodom, near to which Lot descries them presently approaching (chapter 19:1), the Lord determines to inform Abraham of what He is about to do, and thus to assure him of His friendship. He also remarkably assigns His reasons for this, which show that His secret is only with those who fear Him, and not with the Lots who disobey Him. And blessed it is to remember that all we who truly believe in Christ are lifted up into this place of intimacy, as the Lord testifies in John 15. And as we abide in Him, so do the eternal realities of the future become distincter unto us, that we may live in the power of them. Who would have thought that to Abraham, rather than to Lot, whom it more immediately concerned, the impending doom of Sodom should be thus at once revealed? Likewise, the godly are they who know not only their own portion in Christ, but also the things that are coming on the earth; yea, and wherefore such judgments are so coming. Such souls should particularly bear in mind what, of all things in the character of Abraham, the Lord singled out as that which specially met His approval. “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him; and they shall keep the way of the Lord” (verse 19). Strange that, in the families of so many of His own people nowadays, His instituted rule is exactly inverted, and, first, the children lead the mother, and the wife rules the husband. Nothing but evil can accrue from such a state of things.

Then when Abraham on the mount of communion with the Lord learns His mind, at once he commences to intercede for Sodom’s inhabitants. “When freed by grace from all care as to harm happening to ourselves, and when in the enjoyment of His smile, it is beautiful to think of the welfare of others. Even in heaven the Church has not only harps to praise Him therewith for themselves, but golden vials full of odours containing the prayers of the Jewish remnant. And these prayers the great Archangel Himself then offers up to God. (Compare Revelation 5:8, with 8:3-5.) A certain timidity and irresolution characterize the intercession even of an Abraham here, as weakness marked that of Moses against Amalek in Exodus 17:12; and as that terrible clause “if not” was heard in his entreaties of mercy for Israel, who had sinned, in Exodus 32:32. So too Ananias speaks against Paul to the Lord in Acts 9:13. Few readers will need to be reminded of how all this blessedly contrasts with the Lord’s intercession for us as in John 17, “Father, I will;” or in Luke 22:32; Hebrews 4:15, 6:25; 1 John 2:1, etc. Here, likewise, we see that Abraham ceased pleading ere God ceased giving. We dare not guess what other issue there might have been for Sodom, had Abraham continued in supplication, not only pleading for mercy for Sodom, if fifty, forty, thirty righteous were found in it, but further if twenty, ten, five, yea, one such soul were there. No doubt we may infer from the Lord’s words: “I will go down now and see,” as also from His action in taking Abraham into His confidence as to Sodom’s condition, that “judgment is His strange work.” If therefore unto us He has shown Himself gracious in constituting us as intercessors for our unsaved friends and relatives, let us catch His mind, and not allow our uplifted hands to flag in their behalf, until we have the answer of peace for them. Study here, the connexion between verses 12 and 13 of John 14. In the former verse we| are said almost ourselves to work the miracle of grace; in the latter, the same is ascribed to the Lord, in answer to our prayer.

Chapter 19. Here we see the last of Lot. And to the end there appears something strangely unsatisfactory about him. The Holy Ghost expressly states that he was a righteous man, else we might almost have concluded otherwise. By a sort of second-hand fear of God, and influenced by Abraham, he had set out in his company from his native land to the land of promise. And very remarkably from the commencement of Lot’s history, even up to this chapter, where that history is closed, we read not once of the Lord appearing to Lot, or of His having a word to say to him. And even here, if the angels do come into his house, it is only on his pressing invitation. In the eighteenth chapter, they needed no pressing on the part of Abraham. And there, too, the Lord Himself was with them; here the executioners of his vengeance are alone. And how had he got to Sodom? First, when Abraham had made him that noble offer in chapter 13, he had meanly and greedily taken advantage of it; and then the inspired language as to his course is traced in minute and painful distinctness. First, he deliberately chooses Sodom, urged too by the lust of the eye, 13:10, 11; next he pitches his tent towards Sodom. After that he is found among the captives of Sodom, indebted for his deliverance to Abraham’s energy of faith. Unwarned, he returns to the place of his choice and is now a dweller in Sodom, yea, from being found sitting in the gate of Sodom, it would appear as if he had risen to position and to prominence therein, that is to say, to position and even to prominence in that which was evil. “Well might his righteous soul be vexed in such company, which yet he had no inclination to forsake. Here he calls the men of Sodom his brethren, and his children and himself are married to Sodomites, whilst not a single hint is there of any intercourse with Abraham during the many years that have elapsed since they parted company in chapter 13. And even now at the last, if he is to be saved, he has to be almost dragged out. The salvation itself is by the Scripture said to have been partly attributable to Abraham; I suppose to his intercessory prayer. And that prayer could only be heard in bringing him out: for out he must come, if he is to be saved at all. Lot’s wife, who accompanied him on his departure, quickly proved that though bodily she was separated, still in heart she continued there. Therefore, as the Lord Jesus, speaking of her, warns those who may happen providentially to be unconnected with some wickedness, but who would gladly be in it if they could get or return thither, if their step out was not taken in faith deliberately, therefore are such warned, that her punishment was sure, swift, condign, and terrible. When once the Lord speaks out in judgment, there is no mistake as if feebleness were in His arm, or as if hesitation were in His purpose. Men may have thought there was whilst He delayed His blow. They misunderstand His long-suffering, even as they will to the end (2 Peter 3). He keeps silent, and they think wickedly that the “I Am” is such an one as themselves. Let not readers now forget the warning, for there is an antitype, as many Scriptures testify, to the scene here. But on this antitype I have already remarked, when considering chapter 13.

I only add here, therefore, that in 2 Peter we have four classes of souls—two classes of saved in chapter 1, to wit, those increasing in the knowledge of God, and so waxing stronger and stronger in their separation unto Him; next, some others, converted indeed, but “shutting their eyes “(see Greek) as to the evil with which they are connected; and again, in chapter 2, we see another class, false teachers, denying the Lord, and making merchandise of souls; and in chapter 3 their religiousness is seen to be tending towards infidelity. The several parties of 2 Peter are easily to be discerned, each of them, at this very day. Then in Jude we read of some who need to be pulled out of the fire. Here the allusion to this (chapter 19) is obvious. And as the connection of Jude with 2 Peter is admitted by all, so by conjoining the warnings, and interpreting them in the light of this our chapter in Genesis, they become most vivid. Then, in Revelation, all the several stages of the apostasy which we behold all around us are traced in their order by the Son of God. His own people, heeding His call, are seen in obedience in Philadelphia, “holding fast His name, and keeping the word of His patience.” On the other hand, some in Laodicea are urged to be zealous, and repent. But our subject is Genesis, and not Revelation; therefore I refrain myself from pursuing further this solemn subject now.

Chapter 20. At the beginning of Hebrews 12, the path of the Lord through this world is set in contrast by the writer of the Epistle with the flickering faith of the saints enumerated in chapter 11. There the special seasons when they displayed faith are pointed out to us. But Christ was always ready for any trial. Hence, incontradistinction with all those, He is termed, “the Beginner and Completer of the faith.” Wherever the true path of obedience and of unswerving confidence in God led Him, there He was sure to be. However arduous the circumstances into which this steadfastness might lead Him, thither and forwards He went, He ran. This divine course could only terminate at the cross. There He died. Then God raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory, that our faith and hope might, similarly, be in God. For this cause we are enjoined to “look off to Jesus.” His garments were as the pattern Servant of God, seen to be so white in the light of Tabor’s Mount, as that no fuller on earth could whiten them. As for the holiest saints of old, their faith was weak, and their exercise of it only, as it were, by fits and starts. In rare cases, as of Abraham’s, where the faith was more continuous, still there was failure over and over again. Christ’s was one single “work,” one perfect whole from end to end. Others’ was mere patchwork, of larger or smaller pieces.

Here we see Abraham again overcome, and by precisely the same sin through which he had diverged before (chapter 13.) Then he failed when in Egypt; now when at Gerar, half-way between Egypt and Canaan. In full communion and in full obedience only is there security. Oat and apart from these, even though by compromise we are off the straight line, and further wrong we shall quickly get. We might have imagined that, where once he had got wrong, he had been made more strong, did we not know ourselves. Besides which, there was that amount of truth as to Sarah’s relationship, that might render him more liable to convey an impression to Abimelech which was foreign to the fact. Alas! Abraham desired to deceive Abimelech, and did deceive him. He was guilty of a suggestio falsi, and an unfair suppressio veri. And thus by a combination of error and truth are we oft led astray. Only in God’s light can we see light, and walk according to the will of God. As a worldly man, Abimelech is here seen to be exhibiting more integrity than a believer; and this, sad to say, is not a rare sight. Abimelech seems to have had some natural fear of God, and to deprecate like vengeance on his nation as that which had alighted on Sodom. Nor is there here any account of Abraham communing with God, nor of God talking with Abraham. Surely the believer in his experience is conscious of some parallel to all this. Five hundred years after all this came to pass, Moses was inspired to narrate it. And thus it is evident that the Lord notes our conflicts, wounds, depression, and subsequent victories.

For still, blessed be God, the broad fact after all remains true, we are His people. Nor will He abandon us to our foes. He will separate the sins which He hates from the souls that He loves. “No change Jehovah knows.” Fickle we may be and are; He sees us in Christ. Hence beautiful it is to observe that at the very time when Abraham was so thoroughly down, then the Lord speaks of him as a prophet, and declares that at Abraham’s prayer, Abimelech shall live. The allusion here, doubtless, is to the grace by which Abraham had been taken into the confidence of the Lord as to Sodom’s doom, and to his intercession in its behalf. By a prophet, I understand one who stands usually in God’s light, and who therefore can shed light on the difficulties of others which beset their path through not equally dwelling in that light: and also one who, through abiding with God and in Christ, prevails in prayer with God (John 15:16). This interpretation of this oft-used term will, I believe, be found to be a clue to every passage wherein it occurs. In the case of the inspired prophet, his light, of course, is so distinct and so purely obtained from God, as to be the very judgment of God Himself. In a secondary sense only, some nowadays more continue in God’s light and know His will better than others, and therefore are competent ofttimes to give godly counsel to a “carnal” Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1). But in this subordinate sense of the use of the word “prophet,” the light which such an one gives must be brought to the searching test of the Word of God.

Abraham here speaks of himself to Abimelech as a wanderer. The original Hebrew here is peculiar. “And it came to pass when God,… they caused me to wander from my father’s house,” etc. There may be some allusion here to the truth of God being three-one. At all events, he confesses himself a pilgrim and a stranger. Conjoin with this what we have already heard as to his being a prophet; then we have the double truth—one brought out so much more vividly in the New Testament, viz., of separation—perfect both unto God and from the world; or, as we are wont to say, “inside the vail and outside the camp.” There was surely the germ of this twofold aspect of life in Abraham’s day. For then, too, the world was a fallen world, and God was the one Resort of His people. Only the depth of its fall and the measure of its hostility had not been gauged; it was the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that showed all this. And Christ came to give us this life, in either aspect “more abundantly.” For through Him we obtain power to become sons of God, and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost given unto us, we are made joint heirs with Himself; but at the same time we, in this day of His rejection, suffer with Him also.

Chapter 21 This chapter, the last one in the second part of Abraham’s life, has for its chief feature the faithfulness of God in fulfilling His promise. It reminds one of that passage in Habakkuk quoted in Hebrews 10: “Though it (or ‘He’) tarry, wait for it (or ‘Him’). He will surely come; He will not delay.” The coming of Christ has ever been God’s grand promise, and at the same time the believer’s hope ever since the scene in Genesis 3, even up to this day. Only in the case of these patriarchs of old, they were looking for a Christ who had not yet come; but we look for One who has already come and put away our sins, and now in human form and in resurrection appears in God’s presence on our behalf. There, by faith, we behold Him. Hence that word of Him, oJ ercomeno”—the coming One. Of old, in Adam, or in Abraham’s time, He was coming. And now, though He has been and gone, He is still nearer to us, even than when on earth He stood among His little apostolic band. For now we are already one with Himself in spirit, so as they certainly were not until He had died and risen (John 12:24). Now His promise is, “I am coming again” (John 14:3, Greek).

Of this coming One, the Heir, the Son, Isaac became at once, at his birth, the type. Whilst yet a child in his parents’ house in this chapter 21; and, again, when at a later period, Abraham had died, he may in some respects more resemble the Christ that is formed in us—in other words, the sons in their state of childhood as here; or in the life of training and discipline as in chapters. 25-27. On the other hand, in the intermediate chapters, to wit, chapters. 22-24, when Isaac is fully grown, whilst yet his father is still alive, he appears rather to resemble the eternal Son, the second Man who is the Lord from heaven.

At all events, the Lord did keep His promise to Abraham. He kept it at the set time too. The emphatic style of the language in it may probably be designed as a glance at Abraham’s and Sarah’s former incredulity. What a fine mode of rebuke of this is the keeping His promise exactly and in all respects. In this way, too, does He oft convince us where we had failed, and manifest to us that we might have trusted in Him. And this the more readily, seeing that this present period is characterized by many “haths “of what God has already done for us, perhaps even more so than by promises awaiting fulfilment. In fact, we have little to look for now but His return, which is termed “The promise” in Hebrews 10:36, 37. And as to this there is certainly a “set time,” though it has not been so set as for us to know. And if this be true of His great promise, let us rest assured that His time for the fulfilment of any minor promise is the right time. Shall not the promises which He has already fulfilled shame us out of our unbelief, and strengthen us implicitly to believe Him for the future?

Legalism is natural to fallen men. Ishmael could only be a bondman from his birth, for partus sequitur ventrem—as is the mother, so is the child. Then Isaac born draws out Ishmael’s latent hostility to what is of God. Here we see again, as in the respective cases of Cain and Abel, the antagonism of the two seeds (Genesis 3.) These must be diverse, as flesh and spirit are opposed to each other. It has been inferred from the names of his children that Ishmael was a religious man. Three of these, Mishma, Dumah. Massa, may be rendered, “hearing,” “silence,” and “patiently bearing;” equivalent to the words in James 1:19, “Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” This only deepens the lesson. No hostility is there to grace comparable with fleshly piety and religiousness. All this was abundantly evident in Christ’s own time here, and is still everywhere observable even now. Ishmael “mocked” Isaac, or “laughed” at him (Hebrew). Strange that this curl of the lip is regarded as “persecution “in Galatians 4:29. Yet not strange when we call to mind how much of malignity there may be in a suppressed sneer, and of pain to him at whom it is directed. The Lord knows all the wickedness in the heart of man, and forgets nothing of what His people suffer for His sake. No sorrow of theirs is beneath His notice. But as Hagar’s seed represents not only all those “born after the flesh,” but specially those “under law,” as the old nation of Israel was; therefore it, as well as flesh in general, is set aside when grace reigns. Hence, as it is true that the flesh profiteth nothing, so, likewise, has the sentence gone forth on that nation, “Lo Ammi” (see Romans 9:6-8). To this day Israel is a wanderer among the nations of the earth, though preserved distinct from all. For there are deep counsels of love to be fulfilled towards the remnant of Israel—the nation bringing forth fruit, as Christ terms it in Matthew 21:43. But then these people, like all others, can only come into blessing on the ground of sovereign grace, and as if they were Gentiles (Acts 15:11). This is the special line of teaching in the book of Ruth. And Sarah was so far conversant in the ways of grace as to be able to interpret the will of God, and that, too, to Abraham. Thus, by the fulfilment of God’s promise to her, her soul also had grown in divine knowledge, and was established. For her words to Abraham at this time are called Scripture in Galatians 4:30, and shown in chapter 5 to be applicable in all directions.

This was the second time that Hagar found herself alone, yet not alone, in the wilderness. It is worthy of notice that, on each occasion, her eyes beheld a well of water. Surely the frequency of this reference to a well where grace is acting—as, when law has done its work, grace loves to display its resources—all this suggests a designed symbol. It was at a well that the wife for Isaac, the typical son, and again a wife for Jacob, the typical servant, were found (Genesis 24:13 and 29:2). Likewise it was at a well that Moses, the typical prophet, found a bride, and a home, and a flock (Exodus 2.) Passing over such hints as we find in Joshua 15:19, with Judges 1:15, there is the case of that wretched woman who was found by the Lord whilst on His way from Jewish rejection to Gentile mercy in John 4. To her He speaks not of the kingdom, but about the worship of the Father, and of the water of life. For it is His wont, when rejected in a lower glory, to retire into a higher (John 6.);^{See not 12} wherefore does she much resemble in type the Church of God. But she, too, was found at a well. Hagar, like the rest of us, by nature unprepared for sovereign grace, eventually triumphing over flesh, works, sin, and law, is in despair for her seed, counting only on death; then she descries a well, when God opens her eyes. Yet we only read of her filling a bottle. It is true that God is here in the wilderness, and the Holy Ghost is so present as He has never been before. Through Him there is even a well of water in the believer, so that rivers of living water flow out from him (John 4 and 7.) Alas! how little contents us when God would have us reckon on Him; not according to our need, as we often hear Christians in prayer request to be supplied, but according to His own riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He eyes our need, truly, but in supplying it He deals with us according to what He is, not according to the narrowness of our hearts. But how little are we prepared for this abundance! Do “rivers of living water” flow out from us? Alas! no. “Where is our faith? For the promise is to him that “believeth.” The word is in the present tense in John 7:38, to signify that faith should be in daily, present operation. A bottleful of this water suffices us; yet what a blessing we might be in a land barren and dry, if our faith were simpler. The chapter, and the entire section,^{See not 13} closes with a glance at the Gentile seeking Abraham. And why? Because the son is born. A similar scene is found in John 12, where, first, you see the Church represented by the family at Bethany; next, the Jew, in verse 12; and, next, the Gentile, in verse 20. In like manner, the same concentric circles are beheld here. For here we have Christ and the Church—the Man-child of Revelation 12, represented by Isaac, born after the Spirit; next we see Israel after the flesh, as symbolized by Hagar and Ishmael, the bondwoman and her offspring—for we are the true circumcision, and not they; and, lastly, in Abimelech and Phichol we see the Gentile world seeking the friendship of Abraham the Hebrew, yet reproved by him, who in proper season claims his rights, which had been for a while allowed to remain in abeyance. For yet God will gather together and head up all things in heaven and on earth under Christ His Son.

¹¹ See explanation of this word “perfect,” in Remarks on the Epistles of John, p. 127.

¹² See some instances of this His way cited in my Lectures on Revelation, volume 2, page 107, note 2.