[ Summary thoughts on Chapter 20; Abraham, for fear of his own life, did not tell king Abimelech that Sarah was not only his 'sister,' but his wife! ]
Reader! let not the greatness of Abraham's character tempt you to overlook Abraham's infirmity.
Alas! what is man in his highest attainments!
Had not the Patriarch lost sight that Jehovah Himself was his shield and his exceeding great reward, he need not have condescended to such a pitiful resource for the safety of his wife.
God forbid that this weakness of the Patriarch should ever be made a pretence for the sins of others, when we see how it displeased the Lord.
Surely the Holy Ghost causeth in infirmities of the faithful to be recorded:
• in order to teach His people that most unquestionable truth that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;
• and to constrain the heart into the love of Jesus, whose perfect righteousness is the alone cause of justification before God.
Dearest Lord! how increasingly sweet and interesting, in every renewed instance of human infirmity which I feel in myself or meet with in others, is Thy finished salvation to my view.
Oh! do Thou establish my soul in it more and more. Give me to see and know that I am Thine in an everlasting Covenant which cannot be broken: that from having committed my soul-concerns in Thy hands, all my earthly interests I may safely leave at Thy disposal; and that the fear of man, as in the case of the Patriarch, may not bring a snare.
"And he pressed up them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house: and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat" (Genesis 19:3).
Doth not the reader call to mind Him, who in the days of His flesh was constrained in like manner, cf. Luke 24:28-29.
And is not the reader's heart prompted by the view of both scriptures to constrain Jesus also, to enter and tarry with him.
Oh! for a spirit of heart-wrestling with God our Saviour, not to be refused!
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"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed" (Genesis 19:17).1 Kings 19:3.And what is the cry of God in the soul of every truly awakened believer, but the same:Escape for thy life from sin: look not back with any hankering after the world!Neither stay thyself upon any creature-righteousness, or creature-enjoyments: but flee unto the rock Christ Jesus, lest thou be consumed!_________________________________________________"The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar" (Genesis 19:23).Jesus the Sun of righteousness may be said to be arisen on the soul when the faithful enter within His shelter; cf. Malachi 4:2, Isaiah 32:2._________________________________________________Reader! what various views ...
• of men and things,
• of mercy and judgment,
• of grace and nature,
• and the very different terminations between the righteous and the wicked, doth this chapter furnish.Gracious God! let it be my mercy to be called out of Sodom; to disregard the reproaches of the ungodly, and resolutely, like Lot, to bear an open testimony against them.And when in tenderness to my lingering footsteps, Thou layest Thy gracious hand upon me, oh! for Thy quickening power in my soul also, that I may hasten to the Zoar of safety, even to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone delivereth from the wrath to come!
"And said, 'My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant" (Genesis 18:3).
I beg the reader to remark with me the change of person in this verse to the former.
• There the appearance was spoken of as three men.
• Here Abraham addresses but one, and calls him Lord.
Compare this with the 12th verse, then read the 15th [the Lord knew that Sarah laughed inwardly], and compare that again with the 22nd verse of the 5th chapter of John's Gospel.
Let the reader duly consider that feature of character peculiarly belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ; and let him determine (for I don't presume) whether this be not the Christ?
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"Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" (Genesis 18:18).
Reader! do not overlook what the Holy Ghost hath caused to be marked so often, the cause why so much grace was shewn to Abraham; even for that promised seed, the Lord Jesus.
The letter "H" added to both names, Abram and Sarai, has been thought not only to imply this wonderful increase but also, being a radical letter in the sacred name JAH, or Jehovah, it has been thought to intimate a nearer relation in the covenant of grace.
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"And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD" (Genesis 18:22).
A striking verse to point out the immense distinction of character between two of the men which accompanied the third, and the Lord of whom it is said that Abraham stood yet before him; cf. Genesis 19:1.
The following [Genesis 18:23-33] is the first form of prayer recorded in the Bible, and observe it is all along in the style of intercession.
Was not Abraham here a type of the blessed Jesus? cf. Luke 13:9.
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[ Genesis 18:23-33 ]
I would not interrupt the reader with either references or remarks through the whole of this sweet prayer, and now only at the end of it beg the reader to determine how it was the communion broke off [verse 33], since God was so gracious, and Abraham so successful:
• Did the Patriarch conclude that, if less than 10 righteousness persons were in Sodom, the place ought not to have been saved;
• or was it that the decree having gone forth, God restrained prayer in His servant? See Jeremiah 7:16 and 11:14.
But what a delightful consideration it is that, though Abraham gave over interceding, Jesus never doth.
And though Abraham could not find ten, nor even one righteous man in Sodom to save that city from destruction; yet Jehovah Himself hath found one in the Sodom of our earth for whose sake He hath spared, and will everlastingly spare, His redeemed.
Yes! the Lord hath laid help upon One that is mighty, whose name is Wonderful.
Jesus hath been found tabernacling in our nature, by whose perfect obedience and death He hath magnified the divine law, and made it honourable, and hath brought in an everlasting righteousness, which is unto all, and upon all, that believe.
Oh! blessed be God for Jesus Christ!
This chapter is rendered the more memorable in that it contains the substance of the Covenant of Grace which, though here represented as made between God and Abram, yet in reality forms the outline of that everlasting Covenant made with the Lord Jesus Christ for all the spiritual seed of Abram.
"As for Me, behold My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations" (Genesis 17:4).
Reader! do not overlook the expression. God calls it His Covenant.
Yes! a Covenant ordered in all things and sure must be God's.
And it is the happiness of His people that He who hath made it, undertakes for its accomplishment; Jeremiah 22:40; Isaiah 54:10.
Under this verse it may not be remiss to remark that Abram had more children naturally considered than any of the other Patriarchs; and spiritually, who shall number them? cf. Romans 4:16; Revelation 7:9.
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"Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee" (Genesis 17:5).
The name Abram signifies a great Father: and Abraham, the Father of a multitude.
It is pleasing to observe that the Gospel Church when married to the Bridegroom hath her name changed: cf. Isaiah 62:2-4.
And is not every individual believer the same? cf. Revelation 2:17.
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"And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee" (Genesis 17:7).
Reader! pause over that very precious word in this place, everlasting, and then read it afresh; and beg the Holy Ghost to write it on your heart.
An everlasting Covenant founded in divine love, established in divine mercy, and secured in everlasting faithfulness.
Oh! how delightful to the view of a poor perishing sinner; cf. Isaiah 54:10.
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My Christian Brother! Are you included in this blessed Covenant?
Have you the marks and characters of it?
Can you say as Paul did, We are the true circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh?
Pause over the question!
And oh! that a gracious God may grant you an answer of peace.
If this be your portion, then you need nothing more to make you happy.
For God saith to you as to the Patriarch: I will give you the land wherein you are a stranger.
And where is that but Heaven?
Dearest Jesus! hast Thou not taken possession of it in the name of Thy people?
And hast Thou not promised that Thou wilt come again and receive them to Thyself, that where Thou art, there they may be also?
"And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur" (Genesis 16:7).
I pause here to remark that this is the first account we meet with in the Bible of the ministry of an Angel.
Reader! Observe how kind his ministry. And then call to mind how very precious the services of those celestial guardians have been, upon innumerable occasions, in the Church!
And if so, how very gracious must He be who hath appointed them! cf. Hebrews 1:14; Matthew 18:10.
Reader, do you know anything of wilderness mercies, like Hagar? cf. Hosea 2:14; 1 Samuel 15:7; Exodus 15:22.
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"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, 'I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude" (Genesis 16:10).
Reader! I entreat you to remark with me, the peculiarity of the expression.
The angel doth not promise in another's name, as would certainly have been the case had he been a created angel, but in his own.
He saith, 'I will multiply thy seed ...'
And who then could this be but the Angel of the Covenant, even the Lord Jesus Christ. cf. Malachi 3:1.
It is very gratifying to the true believer in Jesus, to discover the Lord in places where we least expected Him.
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"And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, 'Thou God seest me': for she said, 'Have I also here looked after Him that seeth me?'" (Genesis 16:13).
It is but just to set up tokens of praise, where God hath set up banners of love.
Reader! pray pause over this verse.
Then remember that the same eye which looked on Hagar looks on you, on me, on all.
An all-present God must be an all-seeing God.
And is the eye of Jesus indeed upon me? Surely then it is upon me for good. For though my secret sins are in the light of His countenance; yet doth He not also see my sorrow for them, my trouble under them, and my desire to be freed from the guilt and dominion of them?
Precious Redeemer! how ought a sense of these things to endear Thy blood and righteousness to my soul.
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Let us again remark, how very sweet and refreshing to the soul are wilderness visits from Jesus, when for the exercise of faith and patience, His people are at any time brought there.
Dearest Lord! do Thou visit me when there, and then the wilderness will rejoice and blossom as the rose.
Let me in every dispensation, and in every place, carry with me this memorial: Thou God, my Saviour, seest me; and the consciousness of Thy presence will comfort my heart in the most solitary desert.
In the two former chapters we find many tokens of God's gracious intention towards Abram.
In this chapter God confirms the same by the solemn treaty of a Covenant.
Abram had the most delightful assurances given to him by a faithful God; and all folded up within a covenant of promise. A bountiful God not only pledged Himself to give the Patriarch an extensive estate, but an extensive issue to enjoy it.
And as these blessings of the promised seed and the promised land, spiritually considered, were types of better things to come, even the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed of the woman and the heavenly possession through Him which Canaan represented; they serve to teach us, under the Gospel estate, the greater privilege of those who are blessed with faithful Abram.
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"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram: I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward'." (Genesis 15:1).
Several precious things are contained in this verse.
• Observe the expression how the Lord communed with Abram.
Is not Jesus the uncreated Word? Might not this vision be some manifestation of the Shekinah?
• Observe also, the Lord called Abram by name: so Jesus speaks to His sheep; cf. John 10:3.
• Observe also, the sweetness of divine communications, "Fear not."
God's people are peculiarly exposed to fears. And if they had no fears to encounter, many precious promises in the covenant would have no place for exercise.
• Observe also, what the Lord promiseth - not only to defend, but to bless; not simply to reward, but Himself to be the reward, and that exceeding great; Psalm 16:5; 84:11.
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"And he said, 'LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?' And He said unto him, 'Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.' And he took unto Him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece once against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away" (Genesis 15:8-11).
It is not altogether fanciful to trace even the minute circumstances of sacrifice, somewhat referring to Him unto whom all the sacrifices referred?
• Is not the three years of age a type of the Redeemer's three years ministry?
• And what do those birds of prey which came down upon Abram's sacrifice intimate, but the vain thoughts which hover over our minds in our holy seasons?
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"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" (Genesis 15:17).
• Smoking furnace; cf. Deuteronomy 4:20; Isaiah 48:10.
• Burning lamp; cf. Isaiah 62:1; Exodus 3:2.
The former intimating affliction; the latter comfort.
But do not both mean, in passing between the pieces of sacrifices, that Jesus is the one all-sufficient offering by which acceptance is found? cf. Psalm 50:5; Judges 13:23.
Passing between the parts of the sacrifice was an ancient form of confirming the most solemn covenants; Jeremiah 34:18-19.
The burning lamp (or lamp of fire) was a symbol of the Divine Presence, and by this probably the sacrifice was consumed; Leviticus 9:24, Judges 6:21; 13:20, 1 Kings 18:38.
Oh! Thou Almighty giver of faith, increase our faith, and enable us to walk by faith, and not by sight, until we realise the Divine Presence in all the glories of eternity, and receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls.
"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the Priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, 'Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.' And he gave him tithes of all" (Genesis 14:18-20).
I bed the reader, very particularly, in entering upon the perusal of these verses to call to mind our motto: Moses wrote of Christ.
And with this impression to turn to the 7th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews and diligently compare both Scriptures: and may the same Almighty Teacher, who guided the apostle's pen in that chapter to explain this Old Testament Scripture, lead the reader into a clear apprehension of the whole.
• Of this Melchisedek it is said that he was 'without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.'
Of whom could this be said, but of Him of whom the prophet speaks; Isaiah 53:8. Proverbs 8:23, compared with Acts 8:33-35?
• Again. Of Melchisedek it is said that he is a priest for ever.
But who is a priest for ever, excepting Him described in Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17-21?
• So once more. Of Melchisedek it is said that he abideth continually like the Son of God, and that it is witnessed of him that he liveth; Hebrews 7:3-8.
But that no question of doubt might arise to whom these things referred, the apostle points out by many infallible marks to Him of whom these things were spoken. See Hebrews 7 throughout.
Reader? Who think you was this Melchisedek?
Can you bear testimony as Nathaniel did upon a similar occasion; John 1:49: 'Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel'?
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Leave, I charge thee, every other consideration as trifling and unimportant to attend to what is related in this chapter concerning this Melchisedek, priest of the Most High God.
Surely I behold in Him Jesus the Son of God, who was indeed set up as the Covenant-head from everlasting, in the Eternal Councils? and whose delights were with the sons of men before He made the earth or the highest part of the dust of the world.
• He was indeed, in the truest sense of the word, without father as Man, and without mother as God; having neither beginning of days nor end of life: for He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
• And is He not also King of Righteousness?
Yes! Even the Lord our Righteousness.
And, blessings to His holy name! He hath wrought out and brought in an everlasting righteousness, which is unto all and upon all that believe.
• And He is no less King of peace; for He hath made our peace in the blood of His cross.
Hail Thou Great Almighty Melchisedek! Be Thou a priest upon Thy throne for me; since Thou hast an unchangeable priesthood, and ever livest to make intercession for sinners, and art able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Thee.
Son of God! Help me by Thy Holy Spirit to go forth in the spiritual warfare, against all the enemies of my salvation, as Abram did to the slaughter of the kings.
And do Thou bring forth Thy bread and Thy wine, even Thy precious body and blood, which is meat indeed, and drink indeed, and refresh my soul by the way.
And since I have nothing, Lord, to offer Thee but what is Thine, accept of Thine own which Thou hast given me.
By Thee, blessed Lord, would I desire grace, to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, the fruit both of my lips and of my heart, giving thanks to Thy name.
