THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON IV, THIRD QUARTER, INTERNATIONAL SERIES, JULY 28.
Text of the lesson, Gen. xii, 1-9, Memory Verses—Golden Text Gen. xii, 2—Commentary Prepared by the Rev. D. M. Stearns.
[Copyright, 1901, by American Press Association.]
In chapter x we have 70 descendants of Noah among whom the earth was divided, and Deut. xxxii, 8, says that God met the bounds of the people with reference to the number of the children of Israel, although such people were not then in existence except before God. From before the world was made both the church and Israel were real to God, and He clearly saw the end when through them He would rule the world in righteousness (Isa. xlvi, 9, 10). Chapter xi tells of man’s degeneracy and union against God to make them a name. This is the beginning of the story of Babylon, the end of which is found in Rev. xvii and xviii, and the great feature of which is self glorification. “Let us make us a name.” Here we have the beginning of languages because of this rebellion. Then follow the ten generations from Shem to Abram inclusive. In chapter v we had the ten generations from Adam to Noah inclusive, these 20 generations being on the line of the righteous and leading on to Christ. Man apart from God ever degenerates. Sin turned Adam and Eve from Eden, sin brought the deluge and destroyed all except those in the ark, sin brought the confusion of tongues, and now after 2,000 years sin again prevails, and from the idol worshipers beyond the river the Lord takes Abram that He may bless him and make him a blessing to all people on earth (Joshua xxiv, 2, 3).
1-3. I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. These are some of the words of the Lord to Abram while yet in Ur of the Chaldees, by which He would draw him from country and kindred and perform through him all His pleasure by separating him unto Himself and placing him in a land which He would in due time give him as an inheritance. Stephen said in his discourse that the God of glory appeared to Abram, and it is evident from another record that something more than the earthly inheritance was set before him, for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God (Acts vii, 2; Heb. xi, 10). Notice in these opening verses of our lesson the fourfold “I will” of the Lord—“I will shew,” “I will make” and the double “I will bless.” The promises and assurances are all from God. Abram hears, believes, obeys. He died in faith, not having received the promise, for God gave him none inheritance in it, yet He promised that He would (Heb. xi, 13; Acts vii. 5).
4, 5. “Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” In chapter xi, 31, 32, we read that his father, Terah, who served other gods (Joshua xxiv, 2), accompanied him so far as Haran. Abram tarried there until his father died, and then, taking with him Lot, his brother’s son, they came into Canaan. Did Terah hinder Abram? Might he have gone on into Canaan if he had been willing? These are not as important questions as such personal ones as the following: Am I by a lack of faith or by an unwillingness to be separate from this present evil world, hindering any dear one whose heart is longing for a closer walk with God? Am I a Terah, saying that Haran is far enough?
6, 7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land, and there builded he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him.” We do not read of any appearance of the Lord to Abram at Haran, for the first verse of our lesson refers to the Lord’s appearance and message in Mesopotamia (Acts vii, 2, 3), but now, Abram having obeyed fully, the Lord appears to him a second time and confirms His promise. Until we obey fully up to the light we have we cannot expect further light or revelation. This is Abram’s first altar in the land. By sacrifice he worships God in His appointed way. At this place Jacob afterward bought a piece of ground. There Joshua gathered Israel for his farewell address. There he buried the body of Joseph, and there Jesus talked with the woman at the well (Gen. xxxiii. Joshua xxiv. John iv). The land was already occupied by the Canaanites, and Abram must be content with his tent and altar and to be a pilgrim and a stranger until God’s time should come to give him the land.
8. “There he builded an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.” This is his second altar in the land, and it is between Bethel and Hai. The margin says the Ai of Joshua vii. 2. Bethel suggests Gen. xxviii. 19, and the story of God’s gracious loving kindness to Jacob. But the principal truth and practical lesson are associated with the altar and the sacrifice. Happy is the man who, whatever be his home or dwelling place or surroundings if it be a hut or a palace, in some heathen wilderness or in some great city, never fails to have his altar unto the Lord! Redemption by the blood of Christ and constant communion with Him—these are the two greatest things that any mortal can have, and they are possible to all who have ever heard of Christ and of His redemption. He is calling all who have heard His voice to separate themselves from this present world and live wholly for Him.
9. “And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.” It is good to be always going on in the way of the Lord. We read of David that he went on and grew great (margin, going and growing), and the Lord God of hosts was with him (II Sam, v. 10). An enlarging and a winding about is not out of place, if it be “still upward, still upward, still upward, by the midst” (Ezek. xii, 7). Peter would call it growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (II Pet. iii, 18). But while on this present earth we are in an enemy’s country, for even our Lord said that the devil is the prince of this world (John xiv, 30), and we need to watch and pray lest we fall into temptation. If there is one thing that the devil seems to hate specially it is to see a believer wholly separated unto God and walking humbly with God, living for and relying upon Him alone. The rest of this chapter tells of some sad wandering and stumbling on the part of Abram, even a compact between himself and his wife to lie in order to save his life, and a consequent rebuke from a heathen king. Abram’s faith was a matter of growth, and it had not at this time reached to that implicit trust in God of later years.