FAMINE IN THE LAND
FAMINE IN THE LAND
AFM Will you tell us what is the object of famines in Scripture?
JT Famines are allowed to test us as to our dependence on God; it is significant that this famine appears as soon as Abram entered the land and built his altar.
AFM Do you think a famine has a voice governmentally, whether to the saint or the sinner?
JT I think it has. God would bring out what is in us of Himself, by famine circumstances; He would also allow what is not of Himself to show itself in us, so that we might learn what the flesh is.
BTF Are you speaking of a spiritual famine or of a material one?
JT We have to regard it, in a material sense, as an occasion of testing, but it has a spiritual sense, too, which will no doubt come before us in due course. Here it is a material famine; God employs such a thing to test us as to whether we carry our circumstances, or whether they carry us. If they carry us, they are like a flood which may take us out to sea; whereas, if we carry them, we are in control and can bring God into them. If my circumstances carry me, the enemy has vantage ground for an attack. Obviously the lesson to be learned is how to be in control of our circumstances.
WB-w Do you think Abram lost control when he went down to Egypt?
JT He did, absolutely. He was carried out to sea, so to speak, where he was at the mercy of the winds and waves, and so lost his bearings.
AP What is the object of the famine coming in [p. 128] at the point where Abram had built an altar to Jehovah, etc.? And then it says, “And Abram moved onward, going on still toward the south”.
JT The moving south is the key; why did he move away from the point where he had built an altar? The moving south would mean that he was going toward a more favourable position, but in doing so he was moving away from his altar!
JS He was moving according to sight, and not in faith.
JT I think that is the thought. He was governed by natural inclinations; for the south is more attractive, being warmer, and seems more favourable. On the voyage to Rome, the south wind blew gently, (Acts 27:13), but was deceptive. The south has other meanings, of course, but here it is a question of natural attractions, as the history of Abram shows.
WB-w The word in verse 7 should have been enough: “Unto thy seed will I give this land”.
JT Yes; that word ought to have sunk into his heart, and it did at the beginning, for “into the land of Canaan they came”; “and there he built an altar to Jehovah”. Moving away from this position was therefore not of faith.
ARS He built an altar, and called on the name of the Lord, notwithstanding, he went away to the south!
JT That change of position shows that Abram did not stand by his altar; he moved south, to what was apparently a more favourable land, but in doing so his sensibilities were not divinely controlled.
AFM The second location of the altar was good, being near Bethel. It says, “And he removed thence towards the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel toward the west, and Ai toward the east”.
HSD Going south would suggest that he ceased to call upon the name of [p. 129] the Lord.
JT As tested, our movements tell the tale as to where we are. It is noticeable that he moved onward, “going on still toward the south”. This movement certainly does not indicate that he was satisfied with, or that he was maintaining the point he had reached in faith.
JS Does it show that a young believer might take up a certain position which he was not morally equal to?
JT The position here was right, and Abram was right in taking it. The mistake was in surrendering it.
JS He was not equal to it in his soul.
JT It was a well-chosen position; his mistake was in leaving it. It says, “And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh” (verse 6), which, I think, would point to stability. The Canaanite was then in the land, and so had to be reckoned with. Next it says, “And Jehovah appeared to Abram”, this is the thing that ought to have governed him. It is in this position that the Lord appeared to him and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land”. There is no suggestion in Jehovah’s word that he is to move out of it.
JS That is the line that should have governed him.
JT Why should I move from the position in which Jehovah speaks to me? I certainly could not find a better. It says, “And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him”. This enhanced and confirmed the position in which Abram was.
ARS Would you say that he failed to keep the word of the Lord? To the church in Philadelphia it is said, “... and has kept my word”, (Revelation 3:8).
JT He seems to be moving out of the divine current, moving on toward the south. We have two altars alluded to. The second one is in an excellent position, typically, in relation to the house of God ([p. 130] Bethel), and yet he is moving on. I think that is where his weakness lay.
BTF Would you not take account of his action in the point he has reached when he called on the name of Jehovah?
JT That was excellent so far. It is the moving on from the place of his altars that indicates the downward course.
TA If we miss our way in the path of faith, God in faithfulness will move to bring us back.
JT That is what you come to in the next chapter. He went on his journey from the south. Now he is on the right road; it says, “... as far as Bethel; as far as the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai; to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah”. It is between the two callings on the name of Jehovah that you have the deflection.
ABP Would you say that the place “where thou art” would indicate the point of departure, and also the point of full recovery? “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward”, (chapter 13:14).
JT Yes. Now he is in the centre of the inheritance (compare Ephesians 3:14 - 19).
JS Why do you think the points of the compass come in here?
JT They indicate the earthly inheritance; the heavenly involves depth and height as well as breadth and length. I think Abram was the centre of everything for God here, so that it is “from the place where thou art” he is told to look northward and southward and eastward and westward.
AJD The points of the compass here would indicate that God would hold nothing back from [p. 131] Abram.
JT Love would do its best for him in these circumstances. The points of the compass denote the area of the divine operations and its selections. We are to apprehend “the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ, which surpasses knowledge”, (Ephesians 3:18,19).
HSD It is clear that the whole land would be given to Abram.
WB-w The Lord said, “And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God”, (Luke 13:29).
JT Abram, in his day, was the centre of things; but when the Lord Jesus Christ was here He was the centre of everything, and is so now in heaven; so that we take our bearings from Him.
AFM You spoke of stability in connection with Abram at the oak of Moreh in chapter 12:6, then Abram’s position is given in chapter 13 as at the oaks of Mamre. Between these two points he evidently had gained considerably in his soul.
JT Yes; he is now at Hebron, which has great spiritual significance; it refers to what was before the world; thus Abram has moved spiritually.
AR Verse 17 reads: “Arise, walk through the land according to the length of it and according to the breadth of it; for I will give it to thee”.
JT Length and breadth give you the area, that is all you need for square measure. We should notice, that although Hebron was in the southern district of Canaan, Abram in going there is not said to have moved toward the south; it is now a question of the breadth and length of the land, and the purpose of God.
JS The depth and height properly belong to Ephesians, and could not be brought in until Christ’s death [p. 132] and resurrection.
JT Depth and height bring to light another thing; namely, love.
JEH Why do you say that?
JT Because a fourth dimension is introduced. The length and breadth and height, or thickness, are all that you can get in ordinary mathematics, and depth is a moral thing. It is Christ going down in love.
ANW I suppose a man must touch the depth and height before he could become available for service.
JT Christ had to go down; He only could do so. Geologists talk about going down, but how far do they go? Their calculations are guess-work at best; they cannot penetrate into the depth of the earth’s crust. The only One who has really gone down is Christ; He went down “into the lower parts of the earth”. (Ephesians 4:9) It is a question of a moral descent in love.
APT This great city in which we live is marked by height, there is depth, too, but no moral depth to it.
JT Its spirit is Babylonish; we read of those that built Babel, that they said, “Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens”, (Genesis 11:4). They had no idea of depth, either.
APT I suppose love in Christ that went down is the great thing to understand.
AAT Do we understand that Abram’s deflection was produced by famine conditions?
JT Well, it had begun before. It says, “And Abram moved onward, going on still toward the south. And there was a famine in the land”. The famine comes in subsequently, and serves to expose fully the state Abram was in. It is the opposite of: “I being in the way, Jehovah has led me”, (Genesis 24:27).
AAT [p. 133] His movement southward was before the famine.
ANW God brought in the famine to expose a certain state of soul in Abram. It says in Luke 15:14, “There arose a violent famine throughout that country”, which coincided with the state of the prodigal’s soul.
JS What is the spiritual significance of the famine here?
JT I think it is well to take notice of the fact that he was already on the way south; there was no indication of any spiritual attraction there, but simply that which appealed to the natural senses. That is what is clearly seen in the passage — he was already bent in that direction. It would mean, in our case, that some favourable opportunity to make money, or to better one’s circumstances, presented itself.
CAM Things of this kind would lead down to Egypt.
JT Yes. The term “south” here apparently signifies the region bordering on the desert in the south. Proximity to the desert is, no doubt, the spiritual meaning here; besides, the direction was toward Egypt. For us it would be some prospect that opens up satisfactorily to nature, and so is taken advantage of. God says, as it were, ‘I will test you, so that the full consequences of this may come to light for your own good’. Abram has set out already, and now God allows the famine, so that he is exposed by it.
AJD Are you referring to our daily occupations and material circumstances?
JT Anything like that, which holds out prospects of material advantage for the gratification of our natural desires.
AFM The passage would show that the famine was raised on Abram’s account. Of course, others [p. 134] felt it, although no one else is mentioned as suffering. Abram is evidently the object of the famine.
JT That is how it stands. We have to take the famine here as bearing on persons who have faith, but who have been deflected and controlled by their natural inclinations.
TA Is it always the case that where there is real faith, it is bound to be tested? Abram had several very severe tests, but by them God furthered His own work in him.
JT Yes; and God will bring to light what hinders faith, because if it is not judged now, it will reappear. Abram is to learn the lesson that he is never to go down to Egypt again.
AJD Would you say a little as to what is meant by his building an altar, and calling on the name of Jehovah?
JT It is to bring out that he was a worshipper of the true God. You will observe that in Genesis there is no instruction given about altars, it is left to the worshipper; what is stated is that Abram was a worshipper of the true God, and it was subsequently that deflection set in.
WB-w Having an altar is no guarantee that I am going on with God. I may have the altar, and yet go astray.
JT That is the point. We have to be always on our guard; even as having advanced in the truth, we are liable to be diverted from the path by natural propensities. It may be moving, for instance, into a more favourable place of living, so as to increase natural comforts, or for more display in living. Matthew says of the Lord, “Having heard that John was delivered up, he departed into Galilee: and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum” (Matthew 4:12,13). That is a lot of history in a few words. Nazareth, as compared with Capernaum, was elevated and a much more desirable place in [p. 135] which to live — Capernaum was 600 feet below sea level. The Lord did not consider for any natural comfort; He went down. It was on that principle He dwelt in Capernaum. Matthew alone tells us that He lived there. I think that Abram’s going to Egypt is the reverse of this; the Lord did not consider for any comfort, but, rather, thought of souls, having the testimony ever in view.
APT It was a question of sacrifice with the Lord.
Rem It says, “And thou, Capernaum, who hast been raised up to heaven, shalt be brought down even to hades”, (Matthew 11:23). Would that show how favoured those in Capernaum were?
JT It was an immense advantage to Capernaum that He dwelt there; hence the responsibility of the city was increased thereby.
ANW It is the only city called “His own city”, (Matthew 9:1).
JT In Nazareth “he was brought up” (Luke 4:16), but He dwelt in Capernaum by His own selection.
AR The famine is allowed to come in, and it causes Abram to go down.
JT That is what happened; he was not going down in the sense of humiliation, but in a moral sense, as losing spiritual caste, which is a very sorrowful thing.
CAM It is a sorrowful thing, not only because Abram lost, but it also has a bad effect on others when a man of faith is diverted.
JT Lot was evidently damaged in Egypt; then we have the terrible breakdown with regard to Sarai, and Hagar was taken into Abram’s household, causing great exercise and sorrow afterwards.
JS It was a complete breakdown in Egypt, on Abram’s part.
JT His going down was deliberate; it says,
“[p. 136] Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land”. His circumstances were more than he was, and he was weighed down by them; that is what comes out. If my business or other circumstances are more than I am, they carry me along, and I am as without rudder or compass, helplessly drifting. That is Abram’s position here.
GNG Is that why it is called a grievous famine?
JT The test is severe because this hidden state has to be exposed; so that it goes on to say, “And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a woman fair to look upon. And it will come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that they will say, She is his wife; and 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 thinking of himself only and accordingly making arrangements which lead to disaster. Think of what his proposal meant to Sarai! But that does not seem to concern him. It shows that when we are on the downgrade, we lose conscience and right feelings, and expose ourselves to the corrupting influences of the world.
APT Would it be suggestive of throwing over assembly truth?
JT That is what is meant; as applied to us it would be the denial of the relation of the church to Christ.
ANW “As the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it”, (Ephesians 5:25).
AJD Here it is exactly opposite to Ephesians 5, and would show Abram’s low state of soul, inasmuch as his conscience did not seem to trouble him.
ANW The Lord was not thinking of Himself, as Abram was doing, but of [p. 137] the church.
BTF Would you say that he was no longer true to his altar?
JT He is without rudder and compass, as was remarked. He is drifting along before the wind of his circumstances. It is a terrible breakdown.
AJD Morally, Abram is like the Egyptians.
JT Quite, he was resorting in a worldly way to a subterfuge to protect himself.
APT “If therefore ye seek me, let these go away”, (John 18:8). The Lord would go into the danger Himself. He thought of the church, as our brother remarked.
WB-w Had Abram sought the Lord he would have been saved from drifting.
JT Surely; but there was enough in what had already been said to steady and keep him, for he was in the place of God’s choice.
AFM What do you think was the secret of all this departure?
JT There must have been a steady allowance of the flesh; a feature of natural desire which he would regard as legitimate. According to the facts already given, he cannot be regarded as a young believer. He was over seventy-five years old, and Jehovah had appeared to him twice, also Abram had obeyed His word, and had built two altars, and called upon His name. Thus what is before us points to a danger to which we all are exposed.
AFM The famine was intended to arrest Abram, but he pursues this down-grade course right into Egypt.
AP Are we not liable, as amongst the people of God, to think that there is not sufficient for us there, and so we look elsewhere? We may not admit it publicly, but our very movements indicate it. God directed Abram into Canaan, and surely it would be sufficient for him.
JT He was in quest of something in the [p. 138] distance.
AR He turns his back upon God, and then upon his wife. First there is a breach with God, and then, typically, with the assembly.
JT That is what has happened in the history of the church — a denial of the marital relations, by substituting the sister for the wife. The full thought of Christianity involves union; this is the first thing given up and people go back to the idea of the family, but the sister is not in the same position as the wife.
ANW What does the sister relationship suggest to you?
JT It is the family idea — simply that we are all brethren.
ANW That relationship does not call for so much self-sacrifice as the other.
JT You are not as obligated to your sister as you are to your wife.
HSD There was some truth in what Abram said to Pharaoh about Sarai, because she was his half-sister.
JT There was. We recognise our brethren, although they may be in denominations around us, but church affection is not there, because the marital relation is absent; it is a lower position.
JS The marital relation was the first thing given up.
JT Yes; union. To the assembly at Ephesus, it is said, “But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love”, (Revelation 2:4). This difference between the sister and wife is very instructive, because the family idea runs along with love. Every true Christian belongs to the family, and must be regarded as a brother or sister, but if he is in worldly associations, religious or otherwise, he cannot be owned as in the marital relations and affections of Christ and the church.
ANW It is one thing to remove from a sisterly [p. 139] relation to that of a wife, but another thing to move from wife to sister.
JT It is abandonment of marriage relations. Think of what that means with regard to Christ and the church! Of course, the family link is right and great in its place, but how serious the state that would use it to deny the marital!
JS Sarai is fully exposed, and left to the mercy of the Egyptians. So the church has been left to the mercy of the world.
WGT Abram is really taking issue with God in this matter.
JT What God has joined together, he is separating.
AJD Does Abram in this connection represent the responsible element?
JT Yes. Man, as in relation with woman represents the side of responsibility.
AFM Do you think there is a suggestion of what is Laodicean in the riches that Abram acquired?
JT I think so. Much is made of his riches as following his denial of his wife; Pharaoh “treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels”. But he had lost his wife! This world’s Laodicean riches are not equal to the gain of the truth of the assembly.
AR The princes of Pharaoh took account of Sarai first, that she was fair, and they spoke to Pharaoh about her.
JT It is, typically, the beauty that Christ has put on the church that the world can take account of and mar.
AJD Our position, as of the assembly, should not be given up for the sake of prosperity in the world.
JT In the early history of the church, those responsible, called the “early fathers”, gave up the truth of the church for worldly [p. 140] advantage.
AP You are looking at Abram as responsible; it is he that tells the lie.
JT See where he placed his wife! That is what should come home to us. Am I moving in relation to the church? Or am I exposing it to the world?
APT Our brother’s remark as to Abram telling some of the truth is worthy of consideration: people say that the radio is useful because certain good things come through it; that is only half the truth, the whole truth shows that it is an abomination.
CAM On entering Egypt, there seems to be a series of questions in Abram’s mind as to the position he had assumed, which results in complicity with Sarai.
JT The nearer you get to the world the more you feel that you have to make terms, because you have no divine protection.
AP The Spirit of God says to Pergamos, “I know where thou dwellest, where the throne of Satan is”, (Revelation 2:13).
AFM The plagues here, are of great value.
JT They bring out that God is faithful; He is looking on and knows that both Abram and Sarai have faith, and He is not going to lose those precious gems, or allow such jewels to remain in swine’s snouts; but is going to have them in their proper setting. He, therefore, plagues Pharaoh.
CAM It is wonderful that despite Abram’s breakdown, and the influence of the world, God recovers Sarai, we may say, without damage.
JT Were it not for this sovereign action of God, how dreadful the consequence of Abram’s descent into Egypt would have been! But He is faithful; He can deal with the world’s system, on behalf of His people; and is doing so today. We can reckon on that.
Ques Do you think the present depression is making the world’s system lose its hold on the saints?
JT Yes, I do. God is making the world’s system release its hold. Many are coming to see the hollowness and instability of the current order of things.
AJD Is it not the faithfulness of God we have to reckon on today?
JT If we have any privileges, as we have in being here tonight, it is a faithful God that we have to thank for them.
ABP There is a word for us here, that we should not be puffed up because we have received light from God. Abram had received light from Jehovah, but he seems to have been self-centred.
JT As in 1 Corinthians 14:36: “Did the word of God go out from you, or did it come to you only?” We are apt to think of ourselves in this way.
BTF Would you say that God ever kept His eye on Abram, and came in at the right moment to effect his deliverance, although Abram had deflected from the path of faith?
JT Yes; that is most assuring, as we have been saying; so that Pharaoh says to Abram, “What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why didst thou say, she is my sister, so that I took her as my wife. And now, behold, there is thy wife: take her, and go away”. That is how God effected their release. He plagued Pharaoh and his house.
AP Was it not humbling that Pharaoh had to tell Abram to move?
JT It was very humbling, and was intended to be that.
JS But Pharaoh is compelled to act, God plagues him to that, end.
AP I would like to know how this works out in the church’s history.
JT God operates in the world to cause it to [p. 142] relax its hold, as in the release of Peter from the prison which represents the power of the world in holding God’s people. One detail after another is given — the angel comes inside and tells Peter what to do in every detail, even to following him; and when he gets to the outer gate it opens “of itself”. That is the way God worked, and Peter was released. And so in the history of the church — the great revivals experienced by it have been preceded or accompanied by certain governmental dealings of God; the ministry has been released, so that we see it now in its full setting. Pharaoh says, “And now, behold, there is thy wife: take her, and go away”.
AP In early days, on account of persecution, many true Christians were forced to leave their respective countries, or were allowed to do so; and they went to reside in other countries; thus the truth has spread.
WB-w Paul would not leave the prison, but would have the authorities come and bring him out, (Acts 16:37). Here Pharaoh tells Abram to go.
JT It is God acting on the holding powers. It says, “Woe to the world because of offences?” (Matthew 18:7). The world will either persecute or corrupt the church. In recent times God has come in and released its hold, and the church in its relation to Christ has been brought into evidence.
AFM Is there not a Philadelphian principle in this chapter? We read that “Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, towards the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold”.
TA He is taking advantage now of the “opened door”.
JT That is the thing. God causes the world to release its hold, so that His people may take advantage of it, and be free.
[p. 143] AJD When did the world begin to relax its hold on the church?
JT It has been a gradual process. After the reformation certain things happened, one after another, until free preaching was allowed, and then gatherings where saints were free to meet together without anyone lawfully forbidding or interfering with them. Three hundred years ago we could not have met together as we are doing tonight. But God opened the door and keeps it open: “Behold, I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut”, (Revelation 3:8).
HSD Abram went towards the south in leaving Egypt.
JT He had to go that way to get out.
HSD You have to travel the same road back.
JT That is it. But he is now meaning to go back. Note, he went up out of Egypt.
AS And Lot went with him.
JT I think you see in Lot and Hagar the aftermath of the failure; Lot had Egyptian sensibilities and desires. Later he looked on the well-watered plains; but the connection with them of “the garden of Jehovah” and “the land of Egypt” shows that his sight is illusory — that he had Egypt in his mind. Lot was never recovered; he was taken captive a little later, and his history, to the end is a sad one. Hagar’s case is another sad one; the after effects of these things remained in Abram’s house, in the government of God.
AFM Should not all that we have passed through this last year or two have a recovering effect on us, so as to disengage us from what is Egyptian?
JT That is God’s thought in it. There has been a spreading out, and a moving towards what seemed to be a more favourable position which, in truth, was the world, or nearly so, and we have to learn now to judge the motives that misled [p. 144] us.
GMcP This is the second time it says Lot was with him.
JT It was a natural link, like that which existed between Barnabas and John Mark. The recognition of the natural in divine things, as seen here ends in disaster.
WB-w Why did the Lord not take away all this wealth which Abram and Lot had acquired?
JT It remained; the Holy Spirit gives us the facts about it. “And the land could not support them, that they might dwell together, for their property was great; and they could not dwell together”. That is the result of excessive possessions; they prevent brethren from dwelling together, which is a governmental sorrow.
Rem No earthly possessions were ever intended to separate brethren.
JT It is better to give them away than that they should separate us.
BTF An earthly-minded man and a heavenly-minded man cannot long remain together.
JT That is true, but the sorrowful thing is that they had so much property that they could not dwell together.
ANW Say a word about the silver and gold. It says in verse 2, “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold”. Is there spoil in all this?
JT I think they are just stated as they are. It is a question as to whether they are properly regarded as spoil. Riches may be valuable in a true sense, for I may use them to express love; but if they hinder me from dwelling with the brethren they are not an expression of love, they are a curse — the riches here were such, for they forbade brethren dwelling together. What a great moral victory it would have been if Abram had stayed in the land in spite of the famine! He would have proved God, and have come to know Him in a new [p. 145] way.
AP He would not have had this accumulation of wealth that divided them.
JT They would have had much better times in the famine as brethren than they had with the accumulation of wealth which they got in Egypt; besides, they would have been drawn closer together as in a common affliction.
AAT Are you saying that a poor man is better off than a rich man?
JT It is a question of the way the truth stands. There can be no doubt that accumulation of wealth tends to hinder fellowship.
AFM Both Abram and Lot could have proved that “a brother is born for adversity”, (Proverbs 17:17).
JT What a moral triumph it would have been if Abram and Lot had stayed in the land and said, “God will provide for us”, as David said, “I have been young, and now am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread”, (Psalm 37:25). With smaller herds and flocks they would have had more time for the consideration of the things of God.