GENESIS 12
Abram is the typical son of Eber; the call of God made him a stranger and sojourner on earth. He did not attempt to build a city, but he waited for one. “He waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and constructor”, Hebrews 11: 10. He had in view a city which would be filled with the glory of God, a perfect and divine contrast to Babel. It is very blessed to see the character in which God appeared to him: Stephen tells us it was “the God of glory”. It was that which threw the Babel world into the shade for Abram, and broke the chain of idolatry. There is no man in whom we ought to be more interested than in Abram, because he is our father, “the father of all them that believe”.
The God of glory appeared to him when he was in Mesopotamia, and said, “Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, to the land that I will show thee”. The call of God is a wonderful thing. A mighty and powerful voice from the unseen world reaches the heart, and it awakes to the consciousness that it has to do with God, who is securing its attention, and calling it from earth apart to have to do with a world where divine glory dwells. It is evident that such a call demands movement. Souls often receive the forgiveness of sins and stop in [p. 97] Mesopotamia; they do not answer to the divine call. Indeed, in Abram’s case he did not at once answer to the call; it would appear that it was his father who made the first move. Abram did not move, though the God of glory had appeared, and had spoken, to him; it was Terah who moved, and took Abram with him.
God sometimes uses providential circumstances to lead us in the right direction, yet they very often become eventually a hindrance. Providential circumstances and natural relationships never carry us into what is heavenly; Terah did not go beyond Haran, and Abram was detained there until he died. He left country and kindred, but he did not leave his father’s house until God brought death in. How often has God by some form of discipline to bring death in on the things that detain us, that He may free us to answer His call!
It may be noted that Abram was not called to leave bad things. The world was indeed a bad world; it was marked by imperialism in Nimrod — that is, usurpation of what is due to Christ — and by idolatry and the human glory of Babel. But Jehovah did not mention these things; He called Abram to go out from his land, his kindred, and his father’s house — things here in their best form — “to the land that I will show thee”.
The call of God is to the enjoyment of the proper portion of faith entirely outside seen and natural things. Are we prepared to leave in spirit the sphere of sight, that we may inherit a portion outside the whole system of seen and tangible things that would naturally attract and hold a man? God is calling His saints away from the visible and the material,
[p. 98] that His glory, and His land and city, may be in their view. Dr. Hawker, of Plymouth, was asked if he were going to see the Great Exhibition, and he answered, “I have seen the King in His beauty, and beheld the land that is very far off”. All the best that the world could produce was there, but a man who had seen something infinitely more glorious was not attracted by it. “The God of glory” had appeared to Abram; in the New Testament He is spoken of as “the Father of glory”. It suggests that He has given being to a whole system, or world, of glory, and in grace He is calling men to see it by faith, and to live in it, though yet unseen.
Stephen began his address in Acts 7 by speaking of the God of glory, and at the end he saw a Man in the glory. He was stoned to death, but Saul came in to continue his testimony, and he began with the light of glory and of Man in the glory. It was a light that surpassed the brightest light in nature; it was “a light above the brightness of the sun”. Ecclesiastes exposes the vanity of what is “under the sun”, but in Canticles we touch what is spiritually above the sun in One who is “the chiefest among ten thousand” and “altogether lovely”.
The land that Jehovah proposed to show Abram was figurative of a heavenly inheritance. And now what is heavenly has come fully into view, for Jesus is glorified in heaven. Stephen saw what has been called “the new metropolis”, something far greater than Jerusalem. And Paul saw the heavenly light and heard the heavenly voice that the Son of God might be revealed in him, and that he might preach the Son of God — a risen, ascended, heavenly Man — as glad tidings to the Gentiles. The acceptance, place,
[p. 99] and relationship of the Son of God, as glorified in heaven, are now being announced as glad tidings universally. God’s thought for men is nothing less than that they should have heavenly blessing in His Son, and be brought into sonship of a heavenly order. This is the land which He would show us; it is the full height and blessedness of the gospel. The Son of God in heaven is announced to men as glad tidings. It is not only that they may be forgiven and justified through the grace of a Saviour God, but He would bring them into the place and relationship set forth in His Son as the glorified Man in heaven, and send out the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, that there might be the cry of ‘Abba Father’ in free and glad response to such amazing love.
Faith’s portion is in that ‘land’, and as we live in the blessedness of it we are truly ‘great’. The Babel builders said, “Let us make ourselves a name”, but Jehovah said to the called-out man, “I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing”. God proposes to make us great by bringing us into the greatness and preciousness of Christ. How could there be anything greater than to have the knowledge and possession of the Son of God in heaven, and to know that His place and relationship are ours eternally, through the infinite grace and love of the blessed God? Mary was conscious of divine greatness conferred upon her when she said, “From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed”. Her greatness lay in the fact that God had chosen her to be the favoured vessel for the bringing in of Christ. God makes us great by bringing in Christ, and giving Him a place in our hearts, and giving us to know how we are blessed [p. 100] in Him. Every one of the spiritual seed of Abraham can truly say; “Thy condescending gentleness hath made me great”, Psalm 18: 35.
A principle on which all men can be blessed was found in Abram. “The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham: In thee all the nations shall be blessed”, Galatians 3: 8. Faith as a distinct principle of blessing was introduced in Abram, and it is a principle that holds good for every one, for all nations. Faith is the light of God and of unseen things brought through divine grace into the soul of man. In chapter 22: 18 blessing is in Abraham’s seed; that is, in Christ; but in chapter 12: 2, 3 the blessing is in Abram; that is, it is looked at as brought in on the principle of faith. At Babel the nations were scattered in judgment, but faith is a principle on which all nations can be gathered for blessing. “So that they who are on the principle of faith are blessed with believing Abraham”, Galatians 3: 9.
Then the beginning of verse 3 is important. “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee”. Men are tested by their attitude to that which is of God. We can see that perfectly in relation to the Lord Himself; He was the great test, and those who blessed Him were blessed. In principle it applies to the saints also, for if they are blessed of God in having faith they become a test to others. We see this in Matthew 25, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me”. The righteous had blessed His brethren and therefore they got blessing. Indeed, everything that is of God becomes a test to all who come in contact with it. It is important to take note [p. 101] of this. If God brings what is of Himself near to men, in principle they either bless or curse it. If God brings in light as to the truth it tests in the same way; it becomes a test of condition of soul. If God brings in a ministry that is of Himself, those who speak well of it, who bless it, get the blessing of it; but those who speak evil of it disclose their state in so doing, and under God’s holy government they may even lose what they have previously had. We can see this plainly in those who have refused and spoken evil of light which has been given in these last days for the church. The same principle applies to the gospel. A wonderful message comes, and people either bless or curse. One person says, It is just what my poor soul needs, and another refuses or despises it.
When Abram came into the land and reached Shechem, Jehovah appeared to him. He got what we might speak of in New Testament language as a manifestation. The Lord said, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”, John 14: 21. There should be more exercise and desire amongst saints in regard to manifestations; one cannot but feel that they are not enjoyed, or perhaps even looked for, by many. I think that every manifestation would give the soul some apprehension of the Lord it had not had before, and I do not suppose that anything could give the same kind of personal knowledge of Christ as a manifestation of Himself. It is probably one of the greatest causes of spiritual weakness in the present day that there is so little personal knowledge of Christ amongst those who have believed on Him.
[p. 102] It is a great encouragement to see that the effect of Jehovah’s first appearing to Abram was that, though delayed by natural influences for a time, he answered to the divine call, and really left country, kindred, and father’s house, and entered into the land of Canaan. That is, he entered into the character of blessing which God proposed to bestow upon him. The first appearing left such an impression on him that it finally overcame all the influences of Mesopotamia.
Then, when he entered and passed through the land, he found “the Canaanite was then in the land”. There was a hostile people occupying the territory of promise, figurative of those influences of evil (which really emanate from spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenlies, Ephesians 6: 12) by which Satan would seek to hinder God’s called ones from coming into spiritual possession of that which is in His purpose of love for them. In presence of this new difficulty he got another manifestation. “Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land”. He had moved in response to the first manifestation, and therefore he got another to encourage him in the face of another form of the enemy’s power.
In this connection we may remark that it is of the deepest interest to consider the seven instances in which Paul got manifestations of a peculiar and blessed character (Acts 9: 3; chapter 18: 9; chapter 22: 18; chapter 23: 11; 1 Corinthians 11: 23, 2 Corinthians 12: 9; 2 Timothy 4: 17). Each one of those manifestations had its own distinctiveness, and left its own peculiar impression on the beloved and honoured servant. And each (with the unique exception of 1 Corinthians 11: 23) had its special bearing on the circumstances and [p. 103] exercises in which the apostle was found at the time. In his case the appearances and communications were in relation to his apostolic service. But the Lord says to each one of us, You will be known as a lover by having My commandments and keeping them; and if you love Me you will want Me, and if you want Me I will manifest Myself to you. The Lord does not hide Himself from the heart that loves Him; it would not be like Him to do so.
Abram “built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him”. His approach and communion took character from the divine favour which he had experienced. Our altar must be according to the measure of our knowledge of God. Now the revelation of God in His Son is complete and immeasurable, but we have to take account of our capacity to appreciate it. No one can approach beyond his measure, but we should learn to think even of our side according to the measure of divine grace; that is, the Spirit given, priesthood, and sonship. So that, according to the truth, our altar is very great, and of a high and holy character.
It is very blessed to build an altar; it suggests taking a priestly place with God, and ministering to His pleasure. It has often been pointed out that all the offerings in Genesis are burnt offerings. Amongst believers, speaking generally, the Levite has been more thought of than the priest. That is, the thought of serving and ministering to man is greater in minds generally than the thought of priestly service Godward. It is said of Aaron, “that he may serve me as priest”, Exodus 28: 1, 4. The moment we think of taking a priestly place with God it raises the question of suitability, which is indicated in the priestly [p. 104] garments. Priestly service cannot be taken up without priestly state.
In Abram’s case the tent and the altar went together. If I am not a pilgrim outside, I cannot be a priest inside. Every believer is entitled to be a priest as being kindred with Christ; all Aaron’s sons had title to the priesthood, but they had to be invested with the priestly garments and to be consecrated before they could exercise priesthood. 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 2 shows the spiritual elements which are required to constitute a holy priesthood. It is interesting to note that there was a priesthood in Israel before anything official was set up. In Exodus 19: 22, priests are spoken of who were such morally. Aaron had not then been called; there had been no word spoken of the consecration of priests; but we read, “and the priests also, who come near to Jehovah, shall hallow themselves”. That gives us the essential idea of priesthood; it is to draw near to God. Christ suffered for sins “that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3: 18); that is, that He might set us in a priestly place. In building an altar Abraham took up a priestly place with God.
Then we find that Abram “called on the name of Jehovah”. This seems to be suggestive of that spirit of dependence in which one is cast upon God for everything, and particularly for all that is connected with His service and testimony. “Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name: they called unto Jehovah, and he answered them”, Psalm 99: 6. Prayer is the expression of weakness and dependence on man’s side, but also of confidence in God. So that we get here three things which are very characteristic of those identified with God’s testimony, and it should be an exercise with us to be preserved in pilgrim, priestly, and prayerful character.
It is striking that immediately after Abram takes a priestly place with God Bethel is mentioned for the first time — the thought of the house of God is introduced. The time had not yet come for the bringing out in detail of what Bethel meant; we see that more in Jacob’s history; but it was already the place where faith dwelt and worshipped.
We ought to think more of serving God in a priestly way. We often come together with hardly a further thought than to get comfort, or to be edified or refreshed, but the principal thing is the service of God. In relation to this it is essential to preserve the pilgrim character outside. If we do not walk in the pilgrim character individually there will not be much of a priestly character when we come together. The ‘tent’ suggests also a household thought. I often think when young Christians are married that it is the pitching of another tent, and one’s exercise is that it should be a ‘goodly’ tent. “How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel!” God connects His testimony very much with households; and it is a poor household where there is not a morning and evening sacrifice. Job took a priestly place on behalf of his household, and put everything on the ground of the burnt offering.
It is a great thing not to leave the neighbourhood of Bethel; Abram’s history warns us of the danger of leaving it. “Abram moved onward, going on still toward the south”. Satan will seek to hinder any movement at all as long as he can, but when he can no longer do that he seeks to allure the saint to go too [p. 106] far. Souls sometimes begin with earnest desire after spiritual good, but not learning to judge themselves, they go beyond what is spiritual and get occupied with themselves and not with Christ. This is the way to get into famine, and eventually to Egypt!
Satan first tried to detain Abram from entering the land, and then when he was there he moved him to go on further to the south, and then to Egypt. But in leaving Bethel Abram departed from the place of blessing, and it is at that point the thought of famine is introduced. There could be no famine in the house of God; there is always bread there; the prodigal knew that even the hired servants in that house had “bread enough and to spare”. God said in another day that if His people had hearkened to Him and walked in His ways He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and satisfied them with honey out of the rock; Psalm 81. If you find a shortage of spiritual food you may be sure that you have been moving in the wrong direction. There is hardly any better test of where you are than the food test.
The shortage of food is a very serious matter, because it leads to souls going down to Egypt; it is hungry people who go there. If you are nourished by spiritual food you do not want the world’s food, but if you do not get the former you will soon crave the latter. If you are conscious of a shortage let it wake you up as to where you are moving, and get back to the neighbourhood of Bethel. Every step in the wrong direction is not only lost time, but it leads to all true testimony being given up.
I think the Lord has been using the circumstances and difficulties of the last few years to get His saints more into the pilgrim and priestly spirit. Many [p. 107] trying exercises have had to be faced and accepted, and the divine intent in these things has been the formation and strengthening of that three-fold cord of which we have spoken — the pilgrim, priestly, and prayerful spirit. Probably things will not get better, but rather worse, and the Lord will continue to use them in this way. This spirit will either be developed or there will be a going down to Egypt.
The effect of going in that direction is that we become afraid to be true to our spiritual relationships. As soon as Abram got near Egypt he began to be afraid; the very shadow of Egypt before he got there made him afraid to be true to the relationship in which he and Sarai stood. He thought only of himself; it is like “all seek their own things”. His proper place surely was to protect Sarai, but he was prepared to sacrifice Sarai to protect himself! Abram represents the responsible side, and in Sarai we see a type of the relationship in which the church stands to Christ. Abram ought to have had the most jealous care that she should remain true to her relationship and the confession of it. But instead of that he was full of himself — “They will slay me, and save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me on thy account, and my soul may live because of thee”. Here is a man seeking his own things; that is the effect of the shadow of Egypt. You will find that if you come down to the level of the world — if you get on to terms with the men of the world — you become very shy of confessing your true relationship to Christ. The result of this denial of relationship was that Sarai got into Pharaoh’s house. What a contrast to God’s house! “The princes of Pharaoh saw her and praised her to [p. 108] Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house”. The way to get admiration from the world is to deny your relationship to Christ; they will praise you if you are untrue to Christ. Paul was jealous over the Corinthians with godly jealousy, and said, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ”. That is the spirit Abram should have been in — longing that Sarai should in no way compromise her true relationship. “He treated Abram well”. This is just what happened to the church publicly and historically when she was unfaithful to Christ. People say, You must mix with the world, and then you will do them good. No, you do no good, you bring plagues on them! “Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues”. I believe that many troubles come upon the world through the unfaithfulness of God’s people. When Christians are unfaithful God has to plague the world to get His people out of it, to free them from their link with it. Unfaithfulness can never be a blessing to anybody, and we do not really get esteem from the world by going down to it. It ended in Abram and Sarai being, as it were, thrust out of Egypt. It often happens when God’s people get into the world, that something comes in to drive them out.