This call was twofold. It was a call "out of," and a call "in to." Out of home and family and religious antecedent. In to a new environment geographically, socially, religiously.
This call he obeyed at once, and forth he went, not knowing his ultimate destination. At Haran he paused until the death of his father. Then on he went. How he knew what direction to take we are not told. It may have been that he pushed forward as the migrating bird pushes ahead, driven by a kind of inward impulse, blindly but surely. This at least is my idea.
17. Abraham and the Land.—At last Abraham comes to Shechem, and there for the first time God tells him that this is the land of which he had spoken. There, for the first time in that land, an altar was raised to the true God. From that day to this, and to the end of time, that land and the Chosen People have been and will be identified.
18. Abraham and Egypt.—Driven by famine, the Patriarch goes down to Egypt. There is no record that he was divinely guided in this, and from the fact that there he gets into trouble, and that God does not appear to him at all in Egypt, we may infer that this was not any part of the divine plan. God does not appear to his servant again until he returns to the Land, and builds his altar "where it was at the first" (Gen. 13:1-18).
19. Abraham and Lot.—Lot was Abraham's nephew. His character differs widely from that of his uncle. Mark, in his dealings with his greedy nephew, the grandeur of the Patriarch's character. As the land cannot "bear" the two sets of flocks, Abraham gives Lot the first choice of the land, and declares that he will take what Lot leaves. This is not after the manner of the "natural man." Decency would have led Lot to decline his uncle's generous offer. But Lot was not decent, and so seized all that he could. In the end this led to Lot's ruin. It is most suggestive to note the steps in Lot's career. First he pitched his tent "towards" Sodom. Then we find him "in" Sodom. Then he sits in "the gate" of Sodom—that is, he has become a prominent man in that accursed city. Soon we see him involved in the overthrow of Sodom by the four kings. Still he returns to that city, after his rescue by his uncle. And at last he has to escape from its final ruin, penniless. We read in 2 Peter 2:7 that Lot was vexed with the wicked life of the Sodomites. It has always seemed a pity that he was not sufficiently vexed to get out from the city, bag and baggage, long before he did.
Again look at Abraham when he had gained the victory over the kings as told in Genesis 14. How grandly he stands, refusing to touch what comes from Sodom from a thread to a shoe latchet. By the laws of war in that time all the "loot" was his. But he would not touch it. Bear in mind that this was 2000 years before the Golden Rule was given, yet here we have a man exemplifying it grandly. What a contrast between Abraham and some of the troops in modern sieges, where they have seized all that they could lay their hands on. This was nearly 2000 years after Jesus uttered the Golden Rule. Who was more truly Christ-like, Abraham 2000 years B. C. or we, 2000 years A. D.?
20. Abraham and Hagar.—The Patriarch was not a perfect man. He sinned in Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20), and again, as told in Genesis 20:1-16. Again, his faith in God's promise that he should have a son seems to have grown dim. So he yields to Sarah's suggestion, and takes Hagar. (Gen. 16). In judging him for this, bear in mind that he had not the light that came in later days, through the further revelation of God's will. Then Ishmael was born. It is most suggestive that from Ishmael, who was not a "child of faith," sprang in later days Muhammad the great antagonist of Jesus Christ, who came from Abraham through Isaac, the "child of faith."
21. Abraham and Isaac.—To understand the command of God in relation to the sacrifice of Isaac, we must bear in mind the customs of those days in Canaan. As we now know, through excavations in that land, human sacrifices were common. Remembering this, my own impression is that God intended to teach his servant two things by this command. First, that all human sacrifices were abhorrent to God; and second, that his obedience must be unquestioning. God never intended that Isaac should be sacrificed. This is apparent from the whole narrative. His command was a "test" of the utter obedience of the Patriarch. This test Abraham met grandly. He was willing to trust God to the last, though he could not see the reason why. Then God showed him that his son was not to be sacrificed, and provided in Isaac's place a ram for an offering.
The story of procuring a wife for Isaac is truly oriental in its setting. But bear in mind, it was accompanied with prayer. Though it is not in accord with Western methods of courtship, it turned out quite as well as many modern marriages made after the custom of twentieth century "society."
22. Abraham and Sodom.—Here again we have this man in a grand light. He pleads for Sodom, and that, in spite of its utter worthlessness. But there are not in all of Sodom twenty righteous men to be found. Lot's family even, merely scoff at him, and refuse to believe his warning. It is most suggestive in this connection, that "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow." (Gen. 19:29.) Lot's best asset in his life was not his real estate in Sodom, but his godly uncle far from that wicked city. Just so the best asset that any modern city has, is not its stocks and bonds, or real estate, but the truly godly people who live in its midst.