University of California. 
 
NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BOOK or GENESIS. 
 
 BY C. H. M. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 " Thing 
 
 old: 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, % FOURTH AVENUE. 
 
 1880. 
 
 ALEX. W. H. MACEWE^T, 
 P. O. Box 2joi, 
 
 SAN FKANCLSCO, CAL. 
 

 - 
 
PEEFATOEY NOTE 
 
 TO THE AMERICAN EDITION 
 
 As several persons in America have, without any au- 
 thority whatever from me, undertaken to publish my 
 four volumes of -"Notes," I deem it my duty to inform 
 the reader that I have given full permission to Messrs. 
 LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books 
 in such form as they shall consider most suitable. 
 
 C. H. MACKINTOSH. 
 
 6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough. 
 May 1st, 1879. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 every divine requirement fully met, and a solid foundation 
 laid for present, settled peace in the presence of divine 
 holiness. Christ, ''delivered for our offences, and raised 
 again for our justification," settles everything. The mo- 
 ment we believe the gospel, we are saved, and ought to 
 be divinely happy. "He that believeth on the Son hath 
 everlasting life." (Rom. iv., v. ; John iii.) 
 
 We see the greatness of God's love to the sinner, in 
 His judgment of sin, in the Person of His own dear Son, 
 on the cross. There, God, in perfect grace to us, dealt 
 with sin according to His infinite holiness and justice. 
 He went down to the depths of our ruin, and all our sin, 
 measured it, judged it, and put it forever away root and 
 branch by shedding the precious blood of the spotless 
 victim. "He condemned sin in the flesh"; that is, He 
 there condemned the evil root of sin which is in our flesh 
 our carnal nature. But He also "made an end of sins" 
 of the actual sins of every believer. Thus, between 
 God and Christ alone, the entire question of sin was gone 
 into, and finally settled on the cross. "Simon Peter said 
 unto Him, * Lord, whither goest Thou ? ' Jesus answered 
 Him, 'Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now." 1 " Just 
 as Abraham and Isaac were alone on the top of the 
 mountain in the land of Moriah, so were God and Christ 
 alone, amidst the solemnities and solitudes of Calvary. 
 The only part we had in the cross was, that our sins were 
 there. Jesus alone bore the full weight of their judg- 
 ment. (Comp. Dan. ix. 24 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; 
 Heb. ix. 26, 28.) 
 
 Whenever this blessed trutli is learnt from God's own 
 Word, and maintained in the soul by faith, through the 
 power of the Holy Ghost, all is peace, joy and victory. 
 It takes the believer completely away from himself, from 
 his doubts, fears and questions ; and his eye now gazes 
 on ONE, who, by His finished work, has laid the founda- 
 tion of divine and everlasting righteousness, and who is 
 
PREFACE. Vii 
 
 now at the right hand of the Majesty in the highest, as 
 the perfect definition of every true believer. With Him 
 with Him alone the believer's heart is now to be oc- 
 cupied. 
 
 Faith is fully assured, that when God puts away sin, it 
 must be put away entirely that, when Jesus exclaimed, 
 "!T is FINISHED," the work was done, God was glorified, 
 the sinner saved, the whole power of Satan completely 
 destroyed, and peace established on the most solid basis. 
 Hence, we find, "The God of peace brought again from 
 the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
 sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." 
 He was the God of judgment at the cross ; He is the God 
 of peace at the opening grave. Every enemy has been 
 vanquished, and eternal peace proclaimed, through the 
 blood of His cross. "He w r as raised from the dead by 
 the glory of the Father." He rose "in the power of an 
 endless life," and associates every believer with Himself, 
 in the power of that life in resurrection. Having been 
 cleansed by His blood, they are accepted in His Person. 
 (See Eph. i. G; Col. ii. 10;'l John v. 20.) 
 
 Jesus, having thus fully accomplished the work that 
 was given Him to do, and gone up on high, the Holy 
 Ghost came down as a witness to us that redemption was 
 finished, the believer "perfected forever," and Christ 
 glorified in heaven. 
 
 The apostles then began to publish the glad tidings of 
 salvation to the chief of sinners. The subject of their 
 preaching was, "Jesus and the resurrection"; and all who 
 believed on Him as risen and glorified were immediately 
 and eternally saved. "And this is the record, that God 
 hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son: 
 he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the 
 Son of God hath not life." (1 John v. 11, 12.) There is 
 no blessing outside of, or apart from, the PERSON OF 
 CHRIST THE HEAVENLY MAN; "for in Him dwelleth all 
 
Viii PREFACE. 
 
 the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Ever since that 
 time, God has been placing before the sinner, in connec- 
 tion with His gospel, a risen living Christ, as the ALOXE 
 object of faith, and "the end of the law for righteousness 
 
 tO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH." (Rom. X.) 
 
 When the eye is kept on this heavenly Christ, all is 
 light, joy and peace ; but if it be turned in on self, and 
 occupied with what it finds there, and what it feels, or 
 with anything whatever that may come between the heart 
 and Christ, all \vill be darkness, uncertainty and unhappi- 
 ness in the soul. Oh ! how blessedly simple is the gospel 
 of the grace of God. 
 
 The burden of its message to the lost sinner is, "Come, 
 for all things are now ready" ; the question of sin is not 
 raised " Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal 
 life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Christ having perfectly 
 satisfied God about sin, the only question now, between 
 God and your heart, is this : Are you perfectly satisfied 
 with His Christ as the alone portion of your soul 1 ? This is 
 the one grand question of the gospel. Christ has settled 
 every other to the glory of God, and now the Father is 
 going to "make a marriage for His Son," to honor, exalt 
 and glorify Him. Is your heart in full harmony with 
 God's on this point ? Work is not required at your hands 
 strength is not needed fruit is not demanded God has 
 provided everything, and prepared everything. It is all 
 grace the pure grace of God "only believe." "Come, 
 for all things are now ready," the marriage supper, the 
 wedding garment, royal honors, the Father's presence, 
 fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore all are ready, 
 ready now "ready to be revealed." Dear reader, are 
 you ready ? Oh ! solemn question. Are you ready ? 
 Have you believed the message ? Have you embraced the 
 Sou ? Are you ready to "crown Him Lord of all " ? The 
 table is spread, the house is filling fast, "yet there is 
 room." Already you have heard the midnight cry, "Be- 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 hold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him," 
 "and they that were READY went in with Mm to the mar- 
 riage, AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT." "Be ye therefore 
 ready also ; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when 
 ye think not." (Matt, xxii., xxv. ; Luke xii., xiv.) 
 
 But I must now refer my reader to the "Notes" them- 
 selves, where he will find this most blessed subject fully, 
 frequently and pointedly stated, and many other subjects 
 of deep practical importance, such as the distinctive po- 
 sition and perfect unity of the Church of God, real saint- 
 ship, practical discipleship, sonship, etc., etc. 
 
 With the exception of the four gospels, I suppose there 
 is no book in the Bible more deeply interesting than the 
 Book of Genesis. It comes to us with all the freshness 
 of God's first book to His people. The contents are 
 varied, highly instructive, and most precious to the stu- 
 dent of God's entire book. 
 
 These "Notes" are again laid at the Master's feet, in 
 earnest prayer that He would take them up and send them 
 forth under the stamp of His own divine approval. Amen. 
 
 A.M. 
 
 London. 
 
NOTES 
 
 OX 
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 *f 
 
 ^ OF THE 
 
 TOIVERSITT: 
 
 THERE is something peculiarly striking in the 
 manner in which the Holy Ghost opens this 
 sublime book. He introduces us at once to God, 
 in the essential fullness of His Being, and the soli- 
 tariness of His acting. All prefatory matter is 
 omitted. It is to God we are brought. We hear 
 Him, as it were, breaking earth's silence, and shin- 
 ing in upon earth's darkness, for the purpose of 
 developing a sphere in which He might display His 
 eternal power and Godhead. 
 
 There is nothing here on which idle curiosity 'may 
 feed nothing on which the poor, human mind may 
 speculate. There is the sublimity and reality of 
 DIVINE TRUTH, in its moral power to act on the 
 heart and on the understanding. It could never 
 come within the range of the Spirit of God to 
 gratify idle curiosity, by the presentation of curious 
 theories. .Geologists may explore the bowels of the 
 earth, and draw forth from thence materials from 
 which to add to, and, in some instances, to contra- 
 
2 GENESIS. 
 
 diet, the divine record. They may speculate upon 
 fossil remains ; but the disciple hangs, with sacred 
 delight, over the page of inspiration. He reads, 
 believes and worships. In this spirit may we pur- 
 sue our study of the profound book which now lies 
 open before us. May we know what it is to "in- 
 quire in the temple." May our investigations of 
 the precious contents of holy scripture be ever 
 prosecuted in the true spirit of worship. 
 
 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and 
 the earth." The first sentence in the divine canon 
 sets us in the presence of Him who is the infinite 
 source of all true blessedness. There is no elabo- 
 rate argument in proof of the existence of God. 
 The Holy Ghost could not enter upon anything 'of 
 the kind. God reveals Himself. He makes Him- 
 self known by His works. "The heavens declare 
 the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His 
 handiwork." "All Thy works shall praise Thee, 
 OLord." "Great and marvelous are Thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty." None but an infidel or an 
 atheist would seek an argument in proof of the 
 Being of One who, by the word of 'His mouth, 
 called worlds into existence, and declared Himself 
 the All-wise, the Almighty, and the everlasting 
 God. Who but ' ' God ' ' could ' ' create ' ' anything ? 
 "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath 
 created these things, that bringeth out their host by 
 number; He calleth them all by names, b} r the 
 greatness of His might, for that He is strong in 
 power; not one faileth." (Is. xl. 2G.) "The gods 
 
CHAPTER I. 3 
 
 of the heathen are idols, but the Lord made the 
 heavens." In the Book of Job (chap, xxxviii.- 
 xli. ) we have an appeal of the very grandest de- 
 scription, on the part of Jehovah Himself, to the 
 work of creation, as an unanswerable argument in 
 proof of His infinite superiority ; and this appeal, 
 while it sets before the understanding the most 
 vivid and convincing demonstration of God's om- 
 nipotence, touches the heart also by its amazing 
 condescension. The majesty and the love, the 
 power and the tenderness, are all divine. 
 
 "And the earth was without form, and void; and 
 darkness was upon the face of the deep." Here 
 was, in good truth, a scene in which God alone 
 could act. Man, in the pride of his heart, has 
 since proved himself but too ready to interfere with 
 God in other and far higher spheres of action ; but, 
 in the scene before us, man had no place until, in- 
 deed, he became, like all the rest, the subject of 
 creative power. God was alone in creation. He 
 looked forth from His eternal dwelling-place of light 
 upon the wild waste, and there beheld the sphere in 
 which His wondrous plans and counsels were yet to 
 be unfolded and brought out where the Second 
 Person of the Eternal Trinity was yet to live and 
 labor and testify and bleed and die, in order to 
 display, in the view of wondering worlds, the glo- 
 rious perfections of the Godhead. All was dark- 
 ness and chaos ; but God is the God of light and 
 order. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness 
 at all." Darkness and confusion cannot live in His 
 
4 GENESIS. 
 
 presence, whether we look at it in a physical, moral, 
 intellectual, or spiritual point of view. 
 
 "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
 waters.' He sat brooding over the scene of His 
 future operations. A dark scene, truly ; and one 
 in which there was ample room for the God of light 
 and life to act. He alone could enlighten the 
 darkness, cause life to spring up, substitute order 
 for chaos, open an expanse between the waters, 
 where life might display itself without fear of death. 
 These were operations worthy of God. 
 
 "God said, 'Let there be light': and there was 
 light." How simple! and yet how Godlike ! "He 
 spake, and it was done: He commanded, and it 
 stood fast." Infidelity may ask, How ? where ? 
 when? The answer is, "By faith we understand 
 that the worlds were framed by the word of God, 
 so that things which are seen were not made of 
 things which do appear." (Heb. xi. 3.) This sat- 
 isfies the teachable spirit. Philosophy may smile 
 contemptuously at this, and pronounce it rude 
 ignorance, or blind credulity, suitable enough for 
 an age of semi-barbarism, but quite unworthy of 
 men living in an enlightened age of the world's 
 history, when the museum and the telescope have 
 put us in possession of facts of which the inspired 
 penman knew nothing. What wisdom ! What 
 learning ! Yea, rather, what folly ! What none- 
 sense ! What total inability to grasp the scope and 
 design of sacred scripture ! It assuredly is not 
 God's object to make us astronomers or geologists, 
 
CHAPTER I. 5 
 
 or to occupy us with details which the microscope 
 or the telescope lays before every school-boy. His 
 object is to lead us into His presence, as wor- 
 shipers, with hearts and understandings taught and 
 duly governed by His holy Word. But this would 
 never do for the so-called philosopher, who, despis- 
 ing what he terms the vulgar and narrow-minded 
 prejudices of the devout disciple of the Word, 
 boldly seizes his telescope, and therewith scans the 
 distant heavens, or travels into the deep recesses 
 of earth in search of strata, formations and fossils 
 all of which, according to his account, greatly 
 improve, if they do not flatly contradict, the in- 
 spired narrative. 
 
 With such "oppositions of science, falsely so 
 called," we have nothing to do. We believe that 
 all true discoveries, whether "in the heavens above, 
 in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the 
 earth," will harmonize with that which is written in 
 the Word of God ; and if they do not thus har- 
 monize, they are perfectly contemptible in the judg- 
 ment of every true lover of scripture. This gives 
 great rest to the heart in a day like the present, so 
 productive of learned speculations and high-sound- 
 ing theories, which, alas ! in too many instances, 
 savor of rationalism and positive infidelity. It is 
 most needful to have the heart thoroughly estab- 
 lished as to the fullness, the authority, the com- 
 pleteness, the majesty, the plenary inspiration of 
 the sacred volume. This will be found to be 
 the only effectual safeguard against the rationalism 
 
G GENESIS. 
 
 of Germany and the superstition of Rome. Accu- 
 rate acquaintance with, and profound subjection to, 
 the Word, are the great desiderata of the present 
 moment. May the Lord, in His great grace, abund- 
 antly increase in our midst both the one and the 
 other. 
 
 "And God saw the light, that it was good: and 
 God divided the light from the darkness. And 
 God called the light Day, and the darkness He 
 called Night." Here we have the two great sym- 
 bols so largely employed throughout the Word. 
 The presence of light makes the day ; the absence 
 thereof makes the night. Thus it is in the history 
 of souls. There are "the sons of light" and "the 
 sons of darkness." This is a most marked and 
 solemn distinction. All upon whom the light of Life 
 has shone all who have been effectually visited by 
 "the daj^spring from on high" all who have re- 
 ceived the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 God in the face of Jesus Christ all such, whoever 
 and wherever they may be, belong to the first class, 
 are "the sons of light, and the sons of the day." 
 
 On the other hand, all who are still in nature's 
 darkness, nature's blindness, nature's unbelief all 
 who have not yet received into their hearts, by faith, 
 the cheering beams of the Sun of Righteousness, 
 all such are still wrapped in the shades of spiritual 
 night, are "the sons of darkness," "the sons of 
 the night." 
 
 Reader, pause and ask yourself, in the presence 
 of the Searcher of hearts, to which of these two 
 
CHAPTER I. 7 
 
 classes do you, at this moment, belong. That you 
 belong to either the one or the other is beyond all 
 question. You may be poor, despised, unlettered ; 
 but if, through grace, there is a link connecting you 
 with the Son of God "the light of the world," 
 then you arc, in very deed, a son of the day, and 
 destined, ere long, to shine in that celestial sphere, 
 that region of glory, of which "the slain Lamb" 
 will be the central sun forever. This is not your 
 own doing. It is the result of the counsel and 
 operation of God Himself, who has given you light 
 and life, joy and peace, in Jesus and His accom- 
 plished sacrifice. But if you are a total stranger 
 to the hallowed action and influence of divine light, 
 if your eyes have not been opened to behold any 
 beauty in the Son of God, then, though you had all 
 the learning of a Newton, though you were enriched 
 with all the treasures of human philosophy, though 
 you had drunk in with avidity all the streams of 
 human science, though your name were adorned 
 with all the learned titles which the schools and 
 universities of this world could bestow, yet are you 
 "a son of the night," "a son of darkness" ; and, 
 if you die in your* present condition, you will be 
 involved in the blackness and horror of an eternal 
 night. Do not, therefore, my friend, read another 
 page until you have fully satisfied yourself as to 
 whether you belong to the "day" or the "night." 
 
 The next point on which I would dwell is the 
 creation of lights. "And God said, 'Let there be 
 lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide 'the 
 2 
 
8 GENESIS. 
 
 day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and 
 for seasons, and for days, and 3 r cars. And let them 
 be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give 
 light upon the earth ' : and it was so. And God 
 made two great lights : the greater light to rule the 
 day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He 
 made the stars also." 
 
 The sun is the great centre of light, and the 
 centre of our system. Round him the lesser orbs 
 revolve. From him, too, they derive their light. 
 Hence he may very legitimately be viewed as an apt 
 symbol of Him who is soon to arise, with healing in 
 His wings, to gladden the hearts of those that fear 
 the Lord. The aptness and beauty of the symbol 
 would fully appear to one who, having spent the 
 night in watching, beholds the rising sun gilding, 
 with his bright beams, the eastern sky. 
 
 The mists and shades .of night are all dispersed, 
 and the whole creation seems to hail the returning 
 orb of light. Thus will it be, by and by, when the 
 Sun of Righteousness arises. The shadows of night 
 shall flee away, and the whole creation shall be 
 gladdened by the dawning of " a morning without 
 clouds," the opening of a bright and never-ending 
 day of glory. 
 
 The moon, being in herself opaque, derives all 
 her light from the sun. She always reflects the 
 sun's light, save when earth and its influences inter- 
 vene.* No sooner has the sun sunk beneath our 
 
 * It is an intei'esting fact that the moon, as viewed through a 
 powerful telescope, presents the appearance of one vast ruin of 
 nature. 
 
CHAPTER I. 9 
 
 horizon than the moon presents herself to receive 
 his beams and reflect them back upon a dark world ; 
 or should she be visible during the day, she always 
 exhibits a pale light, the necessary result of appear- 
 ing in the presence of superior brightness. True it 
 is, as has been remarked, the world sometimes in- 
 tervenes ; dark clouds, thick mists, and chilling 
 vapors too, arise from earth's surface, and hide 
 from our view her silvery light. 
 
 Now, as the sun is a beautiful and an appropriate 
 symbol of Christ, so the moon strikingly reminds 
 us of the Church. The fountain of her light is 
 hidden from view. The world seeth Him not, but 
 she sees Him ; and she is responsible to reflect 
 His beams upon a benighted world. The world has 
 no other way in which to learn anything of Christ 
 but by the Church. "Ye," says the inspired apos- 
 tle, "are our epistle, . . . known and read of 
 all men." And again, "Forasmuch as ye are 
 manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ." 
 (2 Cor. iii. 2, 3.) 
 
 What a responsible place ! How earnestly should 
 she watch against everything that would hinder the 
 reflection of the heavenly light of Christ, in all her 
 ways ! But how is she to reflect this light ? By 
 allowing it to shine upon her, in its undimmed 
 brightness. If the Church only walked in the light 
 of Christ, she would assuredly reflect His light; 
 and this would ever keep her in her proper position. 
 The light of the moon is not her own. So is it 
 with the Church, She is not called to set herself 
 
10 GENESIS. 
 
 before the world. She is a simple debtor to reflect 
 the light which she herself receives. She is bound 
 to study, with holy diligence, the path which He 
 trod while down here, and, by the energy of the 
 Holy Ghost, who dwells in her, to follow in that 
 path. But, alas ! earth, with its mists, its clouds 
 and its vapors, intervenes, and hides the light and 
 blots the epistle. The world can see but little of 
 the traits of Christ's character in those who call 
 themselves by His name; yea, in many instances 
 they exhibit a humbling contrast rather than a re- 
 semblance. May we study Christ more prayerfully, 
 that so we may copy Him more faithfully. 
 
 The stars are distant lights. They shine in other 
 spheres, and have little connection with this system, 
 save that their twinkling can be seen. "One star 
 cliff ere th from another star in glory." Thus will it 
 be in the coming kingdom of the Son. He will 
 shine forth in living and everlasting lustre. His 
 body, the Church, will faithfully reflect His beams 
 on all around, while the saints individually shall 
 shine in those spheres which a righteous Judge shall 
 allot to them, as a reward of faithful service during 
 the dark night of His absence. This thought should 
 animate us to a more ardent and vigorous pursuit 
 after conformity to our absent Lord. (See Luke 
 xix. 12-19.) 
 
 The lower orders of creation are next introduced. 
 The sea and the earth are made to teem with life. 
 Some may feel warranted in regarding the opera- 
 tions of each successive day, as foreshadowing the 
 
CHAPTER I. 11 
 
 various dispensations, and their great characteristic 
 principles of action. I would only remark, as to 
 this, that there is a great need, when handling the 
 Word in this way, to watch, with holy jealousy, the 
 working of imagination ; and also to pay strict at- 
 tention to the general analogy of scripture, else we 
 may make sad mistakes. I do not feel at liberty to 
 enter upon such a line of interpretation ; I shall 
 therefore confine myself to what I believe to be the 
 plain sense of the sacred text. 
 
 We shall now consider man's place, as set over 
 the works of God's hands. All having been set in 
 order, one was needed to take the headship. "And 
 God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after 
 our likeness ; and let them have dominion over the 
 fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 
 over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over 
 every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' 
 So God created man in His own image, in the image 
 of God created He him ; male and female created 
 He them. And God blessed them, and God said 
 unto them, ' Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish 
 the earth, and subdue it ; and have dominion over 
 the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, 
 and over every living thing that moveth upon the 
 earth. ' ' My reader will observe the change from 
 ' ' him " to " them . ' ' We are not presented with the 
 actual fact of the formation of the woman until the 
 next chapter; though here we find God blessing 
 "them," and giving "them" jointly the place of 
 universal government. All the inferior orders of 
 
12 GENESIS. 
 
 creation were set under their joint dominion. Eve 
 received all her blessings in Adam : in him, too, she 
 got her dignity. Though not yet called into actual 
 existence, she was, in the purpose of God, looked 
 at as part of the man. ' ' In Thy book were all my 
 members written, which in continuance were fash- 
 ioned, when as yet there was none of them." 
 
 Thus it is with the Church the bride of the 
 Second Man. She was viewed from all eternity in 
 Christ, her Head and Lord ; as we read in the first 
 chapter of Ephesians, "According as He hath 
 chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the 
 world, that we should be holy and without blame 
 before Him in love." Before a single member of 
 the Church had yet breathed the breath of life, all 
 were, in God's eternal mind, "predestinated to be 
 conformed to the image of His Son." The coun- 
 sels of God render the Church necessary to com- 
 plete the mystic man. Hence the Church is called 
 "the fullness [ntypcojua] of Him that filleth all in 
 all." This is an amazing title, and it develops 
 much of the dignity, importance and glory of the 
 Church. 
 
 It is too common to view redemption as bearing 
 merely upon the blessedness and security of indi- 
 vidual souls. This is entirely too low a view to 
 take of the matter. That all which pertains in any 
 way to the individual is, in the fullest manner, se- 
 cured, is, blessed be God, most true. This is the 
 least part of redemption. But that Christ's glory 
 is involved in, and connected with, the Church's 
 
CHAPTER I. 13 
 
 existence, is a truth of far more dignity, depth and 
 power. If I am entitled, on the authority of Holy 
 Scripture, to regard myself as a constituent part of 
 that which is actually needful to Christ, I can no 
 longer entertain a doubt as to whether there is the 
 fullest provision for all my personal necessities. 
 And is not the Church thus needful to Christ ? Yes, 
 truly. "It is not good that the man should be 
 alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him." 
 And, again, "For the man is not of the- woman; 
 but the woman of the man. Neither was the man 
 created for the woman ; but the woman for the man. 
 . . . Nevertheless, neither is the man without 
 the woman, neither the woman without the man in 
 the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even 
 so is the man also by the woman ; but all things of 
 God." (1 Cor. xi. 8-12.) Hence, it is no longer 
 the mere question whether God can save a poor, 
 helpless sinner whether He can blot out his sins, 
 and receive him in the power of divine righteous- 
 ness. God has said, "It is not good that the man 
 should be alone." He left not "the first man" 
 without "an helpmeet"; neither would He leave 
 the "Second." As, in the case of the former, 
 there would have been a blank in the creation with- 
 out Eve, so, stupendous thought ! in the case of 
 the latter, there would be a blank in the new crea- 
 tion without the Bride the Church. 
 
 Let us now look at the manner in which Eve was 
 brought into being, though, in so doing, we shall 
 have to anticipate part of the contents of the next 
 
14 GENESIS. 
 
 chapter. Throughout all the orders of creation 
 there was not found a helpmeet for Adam. U A 
 deep sleep" must fall on him, and a partner be 
 formed, out of himself, to share his dominion and 
 his blessedness. "And the Lord God caused a 
 deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and 
 He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh 
 instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God 
 had taken from man, builded* He a woman, and 
 brought her unto the man. And Adam said, 4 This 
 is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh ; she 
 shall be called Woman, because she was taken out 
 of man.' " (Chap. ii. 21-23.) 
 
 Looking at Adam and Eve as a type of Christ 
 and the Church, as Scripture fully warrants us to 
 do, we see how that the death of Christ needed to 
 be an accomplished fact ere the Church could be 
 set up ; though, in the purpose of God, she was 
 looked at and chosen in Christ before the founda- 
 tion of the world. There is, however, a vast differ- 
 ence between the secret purpose of God and the 
 revelation and accomplishment thereof. Before the 
 divine purpose could be actualized in reference to 
 the constituent parts of the Church, it w r as neces- 
 sary that the Son should be rejected and crucified, 
 that He should take His seat on high, that He 
 
 *The Hebrew word which is rendered "builded "in the margin, 
 is j|j^ which the LXX render by osxoSof^EdKV, A reference to 
 the original of Eph. ii. 20, 22 will show the reader that the words 
 rendered "built" and "builded together" are inllections of the 
 verb. 
 
CHAPTER I. 15 
 
 should send down the Holy Ghost to baptize be- 
 lievers into one body. It is not that souls were 
 not quickened and saved previous to the death of 
 Christ. They assuredly were. Adam was saved, 
 and thousands of others, from age to age, in virtue 
 of the sacrifice of Christ, though that sacrifice was 
 not yet accomplished. But the salvation of indi- 
 vidual souls is one thing, and the formation of the 
 Church, as a distinctive thing, by the Holy Ghost, 
 is quite another. 
 
 This distinction is not sufficiently attended to ; 
 and even where it is in theory maintained, it is 
 accompanied with but little of those practical results 
 which might naturally be expected to flow from a 
 truth so stupendous. The Church's unique place 
 her special relationship to "the Second Man, the 
 Lord from heaven " her distinctive privileges and 
 dignities all these would, if entered into by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost, produce the richest, the 
 rarest and the most fragrant fruits. (See Eph. v. 
 23-32.) 
 
 When we look at the type before us, we may form 
 some idea of the results which ought to follow from 
 the understanding of the Church's position and 
 relationship. "What affection did not Eve owe to 
 Adam ! What nearness she enjoyed ! What inti- 
 macy of communion. What full participation in all 
 his thoughts ! In all his dignity, and in all his 
 glory, she was entirely one, lie did not rule over, 
 but with her. He was lord of the whole creation, 
 and she was one with him. Yea, as has already 
 
16 GENESIS. 
 
 been remarked, she was looked at and blessed in 
 him. "The man" was the object; and as to "the 
 woman," she was needful to him, and therefore she 
 was brought into being. Nothing can be more pro- 
 foundly interesting as a type. Man first set up, 
 and the woman viewed in, and then formed out of, 
 him, all this forms a type of the most striking and 
 instructive character. Not that a doctrine can ever 
 be founded upon a type ; but when we find the doc- 
 trine fully and clearly laid down in other parts of 
 the Word, we are then prepared to understand, 
 appreciate and admire the type. 
 
 The eighth psalm furnishes a fine view of man set 
 over the work of God's hands, "When I consider 
 Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers ; the moon 
 and the stars which Thou hast ordained: what is 
 man that Thou art mindful of him ? and the son of 
 man that Thou visitest him ? For Thou hast made 
 him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned 
 him with glory aud honor. Thou madest him to 
 have dominion over the works of Thy hands ; Thou 
 hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and 
 oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of 
 the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever 
 passeth through the paths of the sea." Here, man 
 is looked at without any distinctive mention of the 
 woman ; and this is quite in character, for the 
 woman is looked at in the man. 
 
 There is no direct revelation of the mystery of 
 the Church in any part of the Old Testament. The 
 apostle expressly says, "In other ages it was not 
 
CHAPTER I. 17 
 
 made known to the sons of men as it is now revealed 
 unto His holy apostles and prophets (of the New 
 Testament) by the Spirit." (Eph. iii. 1-11.) Hence, 
 in the psalm just quoted, we have only "the man" 
 presented to us ; but we know that the man and the 
 woman are looked at under one head. All this will 
 find its full antitype in the ages to come. Then 
 shall the True Man the Lord from heaven take 
 His seat on the throne, and, in companionship with 
 His bride the Church rule over a restored crea- 
 tion. This Church is quickened out of the grave of 
 Christ, is part "of His body, of His flesh, and of 
 His bones." He the Head and she the body, mak- 
 ing one Man, as we read in the fourth chapter of 
 Ephesfans, "Till we all come, in the unity of the 
 faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
 unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the staturo 
 of the fullness of Christ." The Church, being thus 
 part of Christ, will occupy a place in the glory 
 quite unique. There was no other creature so near 
 to Adam as Eve, because no other creature was part 
 of himself. So in reference to the Church, she will 
 hold the very nearest place to Christ in His coming 
 glory. 
 
 Nor is it merely what the Church will be that 
 commands our admiration, but what the Church is. 
 She is now the body of which Christ is the Head ; 
 she is now the temple of which God is the Inhabit- 
 ant. Oh ! what manner of people ought we to be ? 
 If such is the present, such the future dignity of 
 that of which we, through God's grace, form a part, 
 
18 GENESIS. 
 
 surely a holy, a devoted, a separated, an elevated 
 walk is what becomes us. 
 
 May the Holy' Ghost unfold these things more 
 fully and powerfully to our hearts, that so we may 
 have a deeper sense of the conduct and character 
 which are worthy of the high vocation wherewith 
 we are called. "The eyes of your understanding 
 being enlightened ; that ye may know what is the 
 hope of His calling, and what the riches of the 
 glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the 
 exceeding greatness of His power to nsward who 
 believe, according to the working of His mighty 
 power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised 
 Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right 
 hand in the heavenly 'places, far above all "princi- 
 pality and power and might and dominion and 
 every name that is named, not only in this world, 
 but also in that which is to come ; and hath put all 
 things under His feet, and gave Him to be the 
 Head over all things to the Church, which is His 
 body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." 
 (Eph. i. 18-23.) 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THIS chapter introduces to our notice two prom- 
 inent subjects, namely, "the seventh day" and 
 4 'the river." The first of these demands special 
 attention. 
 
 There are few subjects on which so much mis- 
 understanding and contradiction prevails as the 
 doctrine of "the Sabbath." Not that there is the 
 slightest foundation for either the one or the other ; 
 for the whole subject is laid down in the Word in the 
 simplest possible manner. The distinct command- 
 ment to "keep holy the Sabbath day" will come 
 before us, the Lord permitting, in our meditations 
 on the book of Exodus. In the chapter now before 
 us, there is no command given to man whatever, 
 but simply the record that "God rested on the 
 seventh day." "Thus the heavens and the earth 
 were finished, and all the host of them. And on 
 the seventh day God ended His work which He had 
 made ; and He rested on the seventh day from all 
 His work which He had made. And God blessed 
 the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in 
 it He had rested from all His work which God 
 created and made." There is no commandment 
 given to man here. We are simply told that God 
 enjoyed His rest, because all was done, so far as 
 the mere creation was concerned. There was no- 
 thing more to be done, and therefore the One who 
 
20 GENESIS. 
 
 had, during six days, been working, ceased to work, 
 and enjoyed His rest. All was complete ; all was 
 very good ; all was just as He Himself had made it ; 
 and He rested in it. "The morning stars sang to- 
 gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." 
 The work of creation was ended, and God was 
 celebrating a Sabbath. 
 
 And, be it observed, that this is the true charac- 
 ter of a Sabbath. This is the only Sabbath which 
 God ever celebrated, so far as the inspired record 
 instructs us. After this, we read of God's com- 
 manding man to keep the Sabbath, and man utterly 
 failing so to do ; but we never read again the words, 
 "God rested" ; on the contrary, the word is, "My 
 Father worketh hitherto, and I work." (John v. 17.) 
 The Sabbath, in the strict and proper sense of the 
 term, could only be celebrated when there really 
 was nothing to be done. It could only be celebra- 
 ted amid an undeh'led creation a creation on which 
 no spot of sin could be discerned. God can have 
 no rest where there is sin ; and one has only to look 
 around him in order to learn the total impossibility 
 of God's enjoying a rest in creation now. The 
 thorn and the thistle, together with the ten thousand 
 other melancholy and humiliating fruits of a groan- 
 ing creation, rise before us, and declare that God 
 must be at work and not at rest. Could God rest in 
 the midst of thorns and briars ? Could He rest 
 amid the sighs and tears, the groans and sorrows, 
 the sickness and death, the degradation and guilt of 
 a ruined world ! Could God sit down, as it were, 
 
CHAPTER II. 21 
 
 and celebrate a Sabbath in the midst of such cir- 
 cumstances ? 
 
 Whatever answer may be given to these questions, 
 the Word of God teaches us that God has had no 
 Sabbath as yet, save the one which the second of 
 Genesis records. "The seventh clay," and none 
 other, was the Sabbath. It showed forth the com- 
 pleteness of creation work ; but creation work is 
 marred, and the seventh day rest interrupted ; and 
 thus, from the fall to the incarnation, God was 
 working ; from the incarnation to the cross, God 
 the Son was working ; and from Pentecost until 
 now, God the Holy Ghost has been working. 
 
 Assuredly, Christ had no Sabbath when He was 
 upon this earth. True, He finished His work 
 blessedly, gloriously finished it but where did He 
 spend the Sabbath day ? In the tomb ! Yes, my 
 reader, the Lord Christ God manifest in the flesh, 
 the Lord of the Sabbath, the Maker and Sustainer 
 of heaven and earth spent the seventh day in the 
 dark and silent tomb. Has this no voice for us ? 
 Does it convey no teaching ? Could the Son of God 
 lie in the grave on the seventh clay if that day were 
 to be spent in rest and peace, and in the full sense 
 that nothing remained to be done ? Impossible ! 
 We want no further proof of the impossibility of 
 celebrating a Sabbath than that which is afforded at 
 the grave of Jesus. We may stand beside that 
 grave amazed to find it occupied by such an one on 
 the seventh day ; but, oh ! the reason is obvious. 
 Man is a fallen, ruined, guilty creature. His long 
 
22 GENESIS. 
 
 career of guilt has ended in crucifying the Lord of 
 glory ; and not only crucifying Him, but placing, a 
 great stone at the mouth of the tomb, to prevent, if 
 possible, His leaving it. 
 
 And what was man doing while the Son of God 
 was in the grave ? He was observing the Sabbath 
 day ! What a thought ! Christ in His grave to 
 repair a broken Sabbath, and yet man attempting 
 to keep the Sabbath as though it were not broken at 
 all ! It was man's Sabbath, and not God's. It 
 was a Sabbath without Christ an empty, powerless, 
 worthless, because Christless and Godless, form. 
 
 But some will say, The day has been changed, 
 while all the principles belonging to it remain the 
 same. I do not believe that Scripture furnishes 
 any foundation for such an idea. Where is the 
 divine warrant for such a statement ? Surely, if 
 there is Scripture authority, nothing can be easier 
 than to produce it. But the fact is, there is none ; 
 on the contrary, the distinction is most fully main- 
 tained in the New Testament. Take one remark- 
 able passage, in proof, "In the end of the Sabbath, 
 as it began to dawn towards the first day of the 
 week." (Matt, xxviii. 1.) There is, evidently, no 
 mention here of the seventh day being changed to 
 the first day ; nor yet of any transfer of the Sabbath 
 from the one to the other. The first day of the 
 week is not the Sabbath changed, but altogether a 
 new day. It is the first day of a new period, and 
 not the last day of an old. The seventh day stands 
 connected with earth and earthly rest ; the first 
 
CHAPTER II. 23 
 
 day of the week, on the contrary, introduces us to 
 heaven and heavenly rest. 
 
 This makes a vast difference in the principle ; 
 and when we look at the matter in a practical point 
 of view, the difference is most material. If I cele- 
 brate the seventh day, it marks me as an earthly 
 man, inasmuch as that day is clearly the rest of 
 earth creation rest ; but if I am taught by the 
 Word and Spirit of God to understand the meaning 
 of the first day of the week, I shall at once appre- 
 hend its immediate connection with that new and 
 heavenly order of things, of which the death and 
 resurrection of Christ form the everlasting founda- 
 tion. The seventh day appertained to Israel and to 
 earth : the first day of the week appertains to the 
 Church and to heaven. Further, Israel was com- 
 manded to observe the Sabbath day : the Church is 
 privileged to enjoy the first day of the week. The 
 former was the test of Israel's moral condition ; the 
 latter is the significant proof of the Church's eternal 
 acceptance. That made manifest what Israel could 
 do for God : this perfectly declares what God has 
 done for us. 
 
 It is quite impossible to over-estimate the value 
 and importance of the Lord's day [77 Hvpiau^ yjuepa'], 
 as the first day of the week is termed, in the first 
 chapter of the Apocalypse. Being the day on 
 which Christ rose from the dead, it sets forth, not 
 the completion of creation, but the full and glorious 
 triumph of redemption. Nor should we regard the 
 celebration of the first day of the week as a matter 
 3 
 
24 GENESIS. 
 
 of bondage, or as a yoke put on the neck of a 
 Christian. It is bis delight to celebrate that happy 
 day. Hence we find that the first day of the week 
 was pre-eminently the day on which the early Chris- 
 tians came together to break bread ; and at that 
 period of the Church's history, the distinction be- 
 tween the Sabbath and the first day of the week 
 was fully maintained. The Jews celebrated the 
 former by assembling in their synagogues to read 
 "the law and the prophets"; the Christians cele- 
 brated the latter by assembling to break bread. 
 There is not so much as a single passage of Scrip- 
 ture in which the first day of the week is called the 
 Sabbath day, whereas there is the most abundant 
 proof of their entire distinctness. 
 
 Why, therefore, contend for that which has no 
 foundation in the Word ? Love, honor and cele- 
 brate the Lord's day as much as possible ; seek, 
 like the apostle, to be "in the spirit" thereon; let 
 your retirement from secular matters be as profound 
 as ever 3-011 can make it ; but, while you do all this, 
 call it by its proper name ; give it its proper place ; 
 understand its proper principles ; attach to it its 
 proper characteristics ; and, above all, do not bind 
 down the Christian, as with an iron rule, to observe 
 the seventh day, when it is his high and holy privi- 
 lege to observe the first. Do not bring him down 
 from heaven, w r here he can rest, to a cursed and 
 blood-stained earth, where he cannot. Do not ask 
 him to keep a day which his Master spent in the 
 tomb, instead of that blessed day on which He left 
 
CHAPTER II. 25 
 
 it. (Sec, carefully, Matt, xxviii. 1-G ; Mark xvi. 
 1, 2; Luke xxiv. 1 ; John xx. 1, 19, 26; Acts xx. 
 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; Rev. i. 10 ; Acts xiii. 14 ; xvii. 
 2; Col. ii. 16.) 
 
 But let it not be supposed that we lose sight of 
 the important fact that the Sabbath will again be 
 celebrated in the land of Israel, and over the whole 
 creation. It assuredly will. " There remaineth a 
 rest [6afi/3aridtios] for the people of God." (Heb. 
 iv. 9.) When the Son of Abraham, Son of David, 
 and Son of Man, shall assume His position of gov- 
 ernment over the whole earth, there will be a glori- 
 ous Sabbath a rest which sin shall never interrupt. 
 But now, He is rejected, and all who know and love 
 Him are called to take their place with Him in His 
 rejection ; they are called to "go forth to Him with- 
 out the camp, bearing His reproach." (Heb. xiii. 
 13.) If earth could keep a Sabbath, there would be 
 no reproach ; but the very fact of the professing 
 church's seeking to make the first day of the week 
 the Sabbath, reveals a deep principle. It is but the 
 effort to get back to an earthly standing, and to an 
 earthly code of morals. 
 
 Many may not see this. Many true Christians 
 may, most conscientiously, observe the Sabbath 
 day, as such; and we are bound to honor their 
 consciences, though we are perfectly warranted in 
 asking them to furnish a scriptural basis for their 
 conscientious convictions. We would not stumble 
 or wound their conscience, but we would seek to 
 instruct it. However, we are not now occupied 
 
26 GENESIS. 
 
 with conscience or its convictions, but only with the 
 principle which lies at the root of what may be 
 termed the Sabbath question ; and I would only put 
 the question to the Christian reader, which is more 
 consonant with the entire scope and spirit of the 
 New Testament, The celebration of the seventh 
 day or Sabbath, or the celebration of the first day 
 of the week or the Lord's day.* 
 
 * This subject will, if the Lord permit, come before us again in 
 the twentieth chapter of Exodus; but I would here observe, that 
 very much of the offence and misunderstanding connected with 
 the important subject of the Sabbath, may be justly traced to the 
 inconsiderate and injudicious conduct of some who, in their zeal 
 for what they termed Christian liberty, in reference to the Sabbath, 
 rather lose sight of the claims of honest consciences, and also of 
 the place which the Lord's day occupies in the New Testament. 
 Some have been known to enter upon their weekly avocations, 
 simply to show their liberty, and thus they caused much needless 
 offence. Such acting could never have been suggested by the 
 Spirit of Christ. If I am ever so clear and free in my own mind, I 
 should respect the consciences of my brethren; and, moreover, I 
 do not believe that those who so carry themselves, really under- 
 stand the true and precious privileges connected with the Lord's 
 day. We should only be too thankful to be rid of all secular occu- 
 pation and distraction, to think of having recourse to them for the 
 purpose of showing our liberty. The good providence of our God 
 has so arranged for His people throughout the British Empire, that 
 they can, without pecuniary loss, enjoy the rest of the Lord's day, 
 inasmuch as all are obliged to abstain from business. This must 
 be regarded by every well-regulated mind, as a mercy; for, if it 
 were not thus ordered, we know how man's covetous heart would, 
 if possible, rob the Christian of the sweet privilege of attending 
 the assembly on the Lord's day. And who can tell what would be 
 the deadening effect of uninterrupted engagement with this world's 
 traffic ? Those Christians who, from Monday morning to Saturday 
 night, breathe the dense atmosphere of the mart, the market and 
 the manufactory, can form some idea of it.^ 
 
 It cannot be regarded as a good sign to find men introducing 
 measures for the public profanation of the Lord's day. It assur- 
 edly marks the progress of infidelity and French inlluence. 
 
CHAPTER II. 27 
 
 We shall now consider the connection between 
 the Sal >1 nitli and the river flowing out of Eden. 
 There is much interest in this. It is the first notice 
 we get of "the river of God," which is here intro- 
 duced in connection with God's rest. When God , 
 was resting in His works, the whole world felt the 
 blessing and refreshment thereof. It was impossible 
 for God to keep a Sabbath, and earth not to feel its 
 sacred influence. But, alas ! the streams which 
 flowed forth from Eden the scene of earthly rest 
 were speedily interrupted, because the rest of crea- 
 tion was marred by sin. 
 
 Yet, blessed be God, sin did not put a stop to 
 His activities, but only gave them a new sphere ; 
 and wherever He is seen acting, the river is seen 
 flowing. Thus, when we find Him, with a strong 
 hand and an outstretched arm, conducting His ran- 
 somed hosts across the sterile sand of the desert, 
 there we see the stream flowing forth, not from 
 Eden, but from the smitten Rock apt and beau- 
 tiful expression of the ground on which sovereign 
 
 But there are some who teach that the expression 77 
 7jf.L Epa, which is rightly enough translated, " the Lord's day," refers 
 to "the day of the Lord," and that the exiled apostle found him- 
 self can-led forward, as it were, into the spirit of the day of the 
 Lord. 1 do not believe the original would bear such an interpre- 
 tation; and, besides, we have in 1 Thess. v. 2, and 2 Peter iii. 10, 
 the exact woi-ds, "the day of the Lord," the original of which is 
 quite different from the expression above referred to, being, not 
 TJ Kvpiccxrf rj/.iEpa, but rj rjjJif.pa uvpiov. This entirely settles 
 the matter, so far as the mere criticism is concerned ; and as to 
 interpretation, it is plain that by far the greater portion of the 
 Apocalypse i s occupied, not with "the day of the Lord," but with 
 events prior thereto. 
 
28 GENESIS. 
 
 grace ministers to the need of sinners ! This was 
 redemption and not merely creation. "That rock 
 was Christ," Christ smitten to meet His people's 
 need. The smitten Rock was connected with Je- 
 hovah's place in the Tabernacle; and truly there 
 was moral beauty in the connection. God dwelling 
 in curtains, and Israel drinking from a smitten rock, 
 had a voice for every opened ear, and a deep lesson 
 for every circumcised heart. (Exod. xviit 6.) 
 
 Passing onward, in the history of God's ways, 
 we find the river flowing in another channel. "In 
 the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood 
 and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come 
 unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, 
 as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall 
 flow rivers of living water.'" (John vii. 37, 38.) 
 Here, then, we find the river emanating from an- 
 other source, and flowing through another channel ; 
 though, in one sense, the source of the river was 
 ever the same, being God Himself; but then it was 
 God known in a new relationship and upon a new 
 principle. Thus, in the passage just quoted, the 
 Lord Jesus was taking His place, in spirit, outside 
 of the whole existing order of things, and present- 
 ing Himself as the Source of the river of living 
 water, of which river the person of the believer was 
 to be the channel. Eden of old was constituted a 
 debtor to the whole earth to send forth the fertilizing 
 streams ; and in the desert, the rock, when smitten, 
 became a debtor to Israel's thirsty hosts. Just so 
 now, every one who believes in Jesus is a debtor to 
 
 
 
CHAPTER II. 29 
 
 the scene around him to allow the streams of re- 
 freshment to flow forth from him. 
 
 The Christian should regard himself as the chan- 
 nel through which the manifold grace of Christ may 
 flow out to a needy world ; and the more freely he 
 communicates, the more freely will he receive, "for 
 there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and 
 there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it 
 tendeth to poverty." This places the believer in a 
 place of sweetest privilege, and, at the same time, 
 of the most solemn responsibility. He is called to 
 be the constant witness and exhibiter of the grace 
 of Him on whom He believes. 
 
 Now, the more he enters into the privilege, the 
 more will he answer the responsibility. If he is 
 habitually feeding upon Christ, he cannot avoid ex- 
 hibiting Him. The more the Holy Spirit keeps the 
 Christian's eye fixed on Jesus, the more will his 
 heart be occupied with His adorable Person, and his 
 life and character bear unequivocal testimony to His 
 grace. Faith is at once the power of ministry, the 
 power of testimony, and the power of worship. If 
 we are not living u by the faith of the Son of God, 
 who loved us, and gave Himself for us," we shall 
 neither be effectual servants, faithful witnesses, nor 
 true worshipers. We may be doing a great deal, 
 but it will not be service to Christ: we may be say- 
 ing a great deal, but it will not be testimony for 
 Christ : we may exhibit a great deal of piety and 
 devotion, but it will not be spiritual and true wor- 
 ship. 
 
30 GENESIS. 
 
 Finally, we have the river of God presented to us 
 in the last chapter of the Apocalypse.* "And he 
 showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as 
 crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of 
 the Lamb." "There is a river, the streams whereof 
 shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of 
 the tabernacles of the Most High." This is the last 
 place in which we find the river. Its source can 
 never again be touched, its channel never again in- 
 terrupted. "The throne of God" is expressive of 
 eternal stability, and the presence of the Lamb 
 marks it as based upon the immediate ground of 
 accomplished redemption. It is not God's throne 
 in creation, nor in providence, but in redemption. 
 When I see the Lamb, I know its connection with 
 me as a sinner. "The throne of God," as such, 
 would but deter me ; but when God reveals Himself 
 in the Person of the Lamb, the heart is attracted, 
 and the conscience tranquilized. 
 
 The blood of the Lamb cleanses the conscience 
 from every speck and stain of sin, and sets it, in 
 perfect freedom, in the presence of a holiness which 
 cannot tolerate sin. In the cross, all the claims of 
 divine holiness were perfectly answered ; so that the 
 more I understand the latter, the more I appreciate 
 the former. The higher our estimate of holiness, 
 the higher will be our estimate of the work of the 
 cross. "Grace reigns, through righteousness, unto 
 eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Hence the 
 Psalmist calls on the saints to give thanks at the 
 * Compare, also, Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12, ami Zcch. xiv. 8. 
 
CHAPTER II. 31 
 
 remembrance of God's holiness. This is a precious 
 fruit of a perfect redemption. Before ever a sinner 
 can give thanks at the remembrance of God's holi- 
 ness, he must look at it by faith, from the resurrec- 
 tion side of the cross. 
 
 Having thus traced the river, from Genesis to 
 Revelation, we shall briefly look at Adam's position 
 in Eden. We have seen him as a type of Christ ; 
 but he is not merely to be viewed typically, but per- 
 sonally not merely as absolutely shadowing forth 
 "the second Man, the Lord from heaven," but also 
 as standing in the place of personal responsibility. 
 In flie midst of the fair scene of creation, the Lord 
 God set up a testimony, and this testimony was also 
 a test for the creature. It spoke of death in the 
 midst of life. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, 
 thou shalt surely die." Strange, solemn sound ! 
 Yet it was a needed sound. Adam's life was sus- 
 pended upon his strict obedience. The link which 
 connected him with the Lord God* was obedience, 
 
 * My reader will observe the change in the second chapter from 
 the expression " God " to " Lord God." There is much importance 
 in the distinction. When God is seen acting in relation Avith man, 
 lie takes the title "Lord God" (Jehovah Elohim) ; but until man 
 appears on the scene, the word "Lord" is not used. I shall just 
 point out three out of many passages in which the distinction is 
 very strikingly presented. "And they that went in, went in male 
 and female of all llesh, as God (Elohim) had commanded him; and 
 the Lord (Jehovah) shut him in." (Gen. vii. 3(>.) .Elohim was going 
 to destroy the world winch lie had made, but Jehovah took care of 
 the man with whom He stood in relation. Again, "That all the 
 earth may know that there is a God (Elohim) in Israel. And all 
 this assembly shall know that the Lord (Jehovah) saveth," etc. 
 (1 Sam. xvii. 46, 47.) All the earth was to recognize the JMVM'IU'C of 
 Elohim; but Israel was called to recogui/e the actings of Jehovah, 
 
32 GENESIS. 
 
 based on implicit confidence in the One who had set 
 him in his position of dignity confidence in His 
 truth confidence in His love. He could obey only 
 while he confided. We shall see the truth and force 
 of this more fully when we come to examine the 
 next chapter. 
 
 I would here suggest to my reader the remarkable 
 contrast between the testimony set up in Eden and 
 that which is set up now. Then, when all around 
 was life, God spoke of death; now, on the contrary, 
 when all around is death, God speaks of life: then, 
 the word was, "in the da}^ thou eatest thou shalt 
 die" ; now, the word is, "believe and live." And, 
 as in Eden the enemy sought to make void God's 
 testimony as to the result of eating the fruit, so now 
 he seeks to make void God's testimony as to the 
 result of believing the gospel. God had said, "In 
 the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
 die"; but the serpent? said, "Ye shall not surely 
 die." And now, when God's Word plainly declares 
 that "he that believe th on the Son hath everlasting 
 life" (John iii. 36.), the same serpent seeks to per- 
 suade people that they have not everlasting life, nor 
 should they presume to think of such a thing until 
 they have first done, felt and experienced all manner 
 of things. 
 
 My beloved reader, if you have not yet heartily 
 
 with whom they gtood in relation. Lastly, "Jehoshaphat cried 
 out, and the Lord (Jehovah) helped him; and God (Elohim) moved 
 them to depart from him." (2 Chron. xviil. 31.) Jehovah took care 
 of His poor erring servant; but Elohim, though unknown, acted 
 upon the hearts of the uncircumcised Syrians. 
 
CHAPTER III. 33 
 
 believed the divine record, let me beseech you to 
 allow "the voice of the Lord" to prevail above the 
 hiss of the serpent. "He that heareth My word, 
 and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting 
 life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is 
 passed from death unto life." (John v. 24.) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THIS section of our book sets before us the break- 
 ing up of the whole scene on which we have 
 been dwelling. It abounds in very weighty princi- 
 ples, and has very justly been, in all ages, resorted 
 to as a most fruitful theme for those who desired to 
 set forth the .truth as to man's ruin and God's 
 remedy. The serpent enters with a bold question 
 as to divine revelation terrible model and fore- 
 runner of all infidel questions since raised by those 
 who have, alas ! too faithfully served the serpent's 
 cause in the world questions which are only to be 
 met by the supreme authority and divine majesty of 
 Holy Scripture. 
 
 "Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every 
 tree of the garden ?" This was Satan's crafty in- 
 quiry ; and had the Word of God been dwelling 
 richly in Eve's heart, her answer might have been 
 direct, simple and conclusive. The true way in 
 
 * 
 
 which to meet Satan's questions and suggestions, is 
 
34 GENESIS. 
 
 to treat them as his, and repel them by the Word. 
 To let them near the heart for a moment is to lose 
 the only power by which to answer them. The devil 
 did not openly present himself and say, I am the 
 devil, the enemy of God, and I am come to traduce 
 Him and ruin you. This would not be serpent-like ; 
 and yet he really did all this by raising questions in 
 the mind of the creature. To admit the question, 
 "Hath God said?" when I know that God has 
 spoken, is positive infidelity ; and the very fact of 
 my admitting it, proves my total incapacity to meet 
 it. Hence, in Eve's case, the form of her reply 
 evidenced the fact that she had admitted to her 
 heart the serpent's crafty inquiry. Instead of ad- 
 hering strictly to the exact words of God, she, in 
 her reply, actually adds thereto. 
 
 Now, either to add to or take from God's Word, 
 proves ve^ clearly that His Word is not dwelling in 
 my heart or governing my conscience. If a man is 
 finding his enjoyment in obedience, if it is his meat 
 and his drink, if he is living by every word that 
 proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah, he will 
 assuredly be acquainted with, and fully alive to, His 
 Word. He could not be indifferent to it. The 
 Lord Jesus, in His conflict with Satan, accurately 
 applied the Word, because He lived upon it, and 
 esteemed it more than His necessary food. He 
 could not misquote or misapply the Word, neither 
 could He be indifferent about it. Not so Eve. She 
 added to what God had said. His command was 
 simple enough, "Thou shalt not eat of it." To 
 
CHAPTKIt III. 35 
 
 this Eve adds her own words, ''neither shall ye 
 touch it." These were Eve's words and not God's. 
 He had said nothing about touching ; so that whether 
 her misquotation proceeded from ignorance, or in- 
 difference, or a desire to represent God in an arbi- 
 trary light, or from all three together, it is plain 
 that she was entirely off the true ground of simple 
 confidence in, and subjection to, God's holy Word. 
 4 ' By the words of Thy mouth, I have kept me from 
 the paths of the destroyer." 
 
 Nothing can possess more commanding interest 
 than the way in which the Word is everywhere put 
 forward throughout the sacred canon, together with 
 the immense importance of strict obedience thereto* 
 Obedience is due from us to God's Word, simply 
 because it is His Word. To raise a question, when 
 He has spoken, is blasphemy. We are in the place 
 of a creature. He is the Creator ; He may, there- 
 fore, justly claim obedience from us. The infidel 
 may call this "blind obedience," but the Christian 
 calls this intelligent obedience, inasmuch as it is 
 based upon the knowledge that it is God's Word to 
 which he is obedient. If a man had not God's 
 Word, he might well be said to be in blindness and 
 darkness, for there is not so much as a single ra} r of 
 divine light within or around us but what emanates 
 from God's pure and eternal Word. All that we 
 want to know is that God has spoken, and then obe- 
 dience becomes the very highest order of intelligent 
 acting. When .the soul gets up to God, it has 
 reached the very highest source of authority. No 
 
36 GENESIS. 
 
 man, nor body of men, can claim obedience to their 
 word, because it is theirs ; and hence the claims of 
 the Church of Rome are arrogant and impious. In 
 her claiming obedience, she usurps the prerogative 
 of God ; and all who yield it, rob God of His right. 
 She presumes to place herself between God and the 
 conscience ; and who can do this with impunity ? 
 When God speaks, man is bound to obey. Happy 
 is he if he does so: woe be to him if he does 
 not. Infidelity may question if God has spoken ; 
 superstition may place human authority between 
 my conscience and what God has spoken ; by both 
 alike I am effectually robbed of the Word, and, 
 as a consequence, of the deep blessedness of obe- 
 dience. 
 
 There is blessing in every act of obedience ; but 
 the moment the soul hesitates, the enemy has the 
 advantage, and he will assuredly use it to thrust the 
 soul further and further from God. Thus, in the 
 chapter before us, the question, "Hath God said ?" 
 was followed b} r , "Ye shall not surely die." That 
 is to sa} r , there was first the question raised as to 
 whether God had spoken, and then followed the open 
 contradiction of what God had said. This solemn 
 fact is abundantly sufficient to show how dangerous 
 it is to admit near the heart a question as to divine 
 revelation in its fullness and integrity. A refined 
 rationalism is very near akin to bold infidelity, and 
 the infidelity that dares to judge God's Word is not 
 far from the atheism that denies His existence. Eve 
 would never have stood by to hear God contradicted 
 
 . 
 
CHAPTER III. 37 
 
 if she had not previously fallen into looseness and 
 indifference as to His Word. She, too, had her 
 "Phases of Faith," or, to speak more correctly, 
 her phases of infidelity: she suffered God to be 
 contradicted by a creature, simply because His 
 Word had lost its proper authority over her heart, 
 her conscience and her understanding. 
 
 This furnishes a most solemn warning to all who 
 are in danger of being ensnared by an unhallowed 
 rationalism. There is no true security save in a 
 profound faith in the plenary inspiration and su- 
 preme authority of "ALL SCRIPTURE." The soul 
 that is endowed with this has a triumphant answer 
 to eveiy objector, whether he issue from Rome or 
 Germany. "There is nothing new under the sun." 
 The self-same evil which is now corrupting the very 
 springs of religious thought and feeling throughout 
 the fairest portion of the continent of Europe, was 
 that which laid Eve's heart in ruin's in the garden 
 of Eden. The first step in her downward course 
 was her hearkening to the question, "Hath God 
 said"; and then onward she went, from stage to 
 stage, until at length she bowed before the serpent, 
 and owned him as her god and the fountain of truth. 
 Yes, my reader, the serpent displaced God, and the 
 serpent's lie God's truth. Thus it was with fallen, 
 man, and thus it is with fallen man's posterity. 
 God's Word has no place in the heart of the un- 
 regenerated man, but the lie of the serpent has. 
 Let the formation of man's heart be examined, and 
 it will be found that there is a place therein for 
 
38 GENESIS. 
 
 Satan's lie, but none whatever for the truth of God. 
 Hence the force, of the word to Nicodemus "Ye 
 must be born again." 
 
 But it is important to observe the mode in which 
 the serpent sought to shake Eve's confidence in 
 God's truth, and thus bring her under the power of 
 infidel "reason." It was by shaking her confidence 
 in God's love. He sought to shake her confidence 
 in what God had said by showing that the testimony 
 was not founded in love. "For," said he, "God 
 doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your 
 eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, know- 
 ing good and evil." (Ver. 5.) In other words, 
 There is positive advantage connected with the eat- 
 ing of that fruit of which God is seeking to deprive 
 you ; why, therefore, should you believe God's tes- 
 timony ? You cannot place confidence in one who 
 manifestly does not love you ; for if He loved you, 
 why should He prohibit your enjoying a positive 
 privilege ? 
 
 Eve's security against the influence of all this 
 reasoning would have been simple repose in the in- 
 finite goodness of God. She should have said to 
 the serpent, I have the fullest confidence in God's 
 goodness, and therefore I deem it impossible that 
 He could withhold any real good from me. If that 
 fruit were good for me, I should surely have it ; but 
 the fact of its being forbidden by God proves that I 
 would be no better, but much worse off by the cat- 
 ing of it. I am convinced of God's love, and I am 
 convinced of God's truth, and I believe, too, that 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 39 
 
 you arc an evil one come to draw my heart away 
 from the fountain of goodness and truth. Get thee 
 behind me, Satan. This would have been a noble 
 reply ; but it was not given. Her confidence in 
 truth and love gave way, and all was lost ; and so 
 we find that there is just as little place in the heart 
 of fallen man for God's love as there is for God's 
 truth. The heart of man is a stranger to both the 
 one and the other until renewed by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 Now, it is deeply interesting to turn from Satan's 
 lie in reference to the truth and love of God, to the 
 mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came from 
 the bosom of the Father in order to reveal what He 
 really is. "Grace and truth" the very things 
 which man lost in his fall "came by Jesus Christ." 
 (John i. 17.) He was "the faithful witness" of 
 what God was. (Rev. i. 5.) Truth reveals God as 
 He is, but this truth is connected with the revelation 
 of perfect grace ; and thus the sinner finds, to his 
 unspeakable joy, that the revelation of what God is, 
 instead of being his destruction, becomes the basis 
 of his eternal salvation. "This is life eternal, that 
 they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
 Christ whom Thou hast sent." (John xvii. 3.) I 
 cannot know God and not have life. The loss of 
 the knowledge of God was death ; but the knowl- 
 edge of God is life. This necessarily makes life a 
 thing entirely outside of ourselves, and dependent 
 upon what God is. Let me arrive at what amount 
 of self-knowledge I may, it is not said that this is 
 4 
 
40 GENESIS. 
 
 life eternal, to know themselves ; though, no doubt, 
 the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self 
 will go very much together; still, " eternal life " is 
 connected with the former, and not with the latter. 
 To know God as He is, is life ; and "all who know 
 not God" shall be "punished with everlasting de- 
 struction from His presence." 
 
 It is of the utmost importance to see that what 
 really stamps man's character and condition is his 
 ignorance or knowledge of God. This it is that 
 marks his character here, and fixes his destiny here- 
 after. Is he evil in his thoughts, evil in his words, 
 evil in his actions, it is all the result of his being 
 ignorant of God. On the other hand, is he pure in 
 thought, holy in conversation, gracious in action, 
 it is but the practical result of his knowledge of 
 God. So also as to the future. To know God, is 
 the solid ground of endless bliss everlasting glory : 
 to know Him not, is "everlasting destruction." 
 Thus the knowledge of God is everything. It 
 quickens the soul, purifies the heart, tranquilizes 
 the conscience, elevates the aifections, sanctifies the 
 entire character and conduct. 
 
 Need we wonder, therefore, that Satan's grand 
 design was to rob the creature of the true knowl- 
 edge of the only true God ? He misrepresented the 
 blessed God : he said He was not kind. This was 
 the secret spring of all the mischief. It matters not 
 what shape sin has since taken it matters not 
 through what channel it has flowed, under what 
 head it has ranged itself, or in what garb it has 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 41 
 
 clothed itself ; it is all to be traced to this one thing, 
 namely, ignorance of God. The most refined and 
 cultivated moralist, the most devout religionist, the 
 most benevolent philanthropist, if ignorant of God, 
 is as far from life and true holiness as the publican 
 and the harlot. The prodigal was just as much a 
 sinner, and as positively away from the Father, 
 when he had crossed the threshold as when he was 
 feeding swine in the far country (Luke xv. 13-15.). 
 So, in Eve's case, the moment she took herself out 
 of the hands of God out of the position of abso- 
 lute dependence upon, and subjection to, His Word, 
 she abandoned herself to the government of sense, 
 as used of Satan for her entire overthrow. 
 
 The sixth verse presents three things ; namely, 
 "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the 
 pride of life"; which three, as the apostle states, 
 comprehend "all that is in the world." These 
 things necessarily took the lead when God was shut 
 out. If I do not abide in the happy assurance of 
 God's love and truth His grace and faithfulness, I 
 shall surrender myself to the government of some 
 one or, it may be, all of the above principles ; and 
 this is only another name for the government of 
 Satan. There is, strictly speaking, no such thing 
 as man's free-will. If man be self-governed, he is 
 really governed by Satan ; and if not, he is gov- 
 erned by God. 
 
 Now, the three great agencies by which Satan 
 works are "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 and the pride of life." These were the things pre- 
 
42 GENESIS. 
 
 sented by Satan to the Lord Jesus in the temptation. 
 He began by tempting the Second Man to take Him- 
 self out of the position of absolute dependence upon 
 God. "Command these stones that they be made 
 bread." He asked Him to do this, not, as in the 
 case of the first man, to make Himself what He was 
 not, but to prove what He was. Then followed the 
 offer of the kingdoms of the world, with all their 
 glory. And, finally, conducting Him to a pinnacle 
 of the temple, he tempted Him to give Himself, 
 suddenly and miraculously, to the admiration of the 
 assembled people below. (Comp. Matt. iv. 1-11 with 
 Luke iv. 1-13.) The plain design of each tempta- 
 tion was to induce the blessed One to step from the 
 position of entire dependence upon God, and perfect 
 subjection to His will ; but all in vain. "It is writ- 
 ten" was the unvarying reply of the only dependent, 
 self-emptied, perfect man. Others might undertake 
 to manage for themselves ; none but God should 
 manage for Him. 
 
 What an example for the faithful, under all their 
 circumstances ! Jesus kept close to Scripture, and 
 thus conquered ; without any other weapon, save 
 the Sword of the Spirit, He stood in the conflict, 
 and gained a glorious triumph. What a contrast 
 with the first Adam ! The One had everything to 
 plead for God, the other had everything to plead 
 against Him. The garden, with all its delights, in 
 the one case ; the wilderness, with all its privations, 
 in the other: confidence in Satan, in the one case; 
 confidence in God in the other : complete defeat in 
 
CIIAPTEIl III. 43 
 
 the one case ; complete victory in the other. Blessed 
 forever be the God of all grace, who has laid our 
 help on One so mighty to conquer mighty to save! 
 Let us now inquire how far Adam and Eve realized 
 the serpent's promised advantage. This inquiry will 
 lead us to a deeply important point in 'connection 
 with the fall of man. The Lord God had so ordered 
 it, that in and by the fall, man should get what pre- 
 viously he had not, and that was, a conscience, a 
 knowledge of both good and evil. This, man evi- 
 dently could not have had before. He could not 
 have known aught about evil, inasmuch as evil was 
 was not there to be known. He was in a state of 
 innocence, which is a state of ignorance of evil. 
 Man got a conscience in and by the fall, and we 
 find that the very first effect of conscience was to 
 make him a coward. Satan had utterly deceived the 
 woman. He had said, "your ej^es shall be opened, 
 and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" ; 
 but he had left out a material part of the truth, 
 namely, that they should know good without the 
 power to do it, and that the}^ should know evil with- 
 out the power to avoid it. Their very attempt to 
 elevate themselves in the scale of moral existence 
 involved the loss of true elevation. They became 
 degraded, powerless, Satan-enslaved, conscience- 
 smitten, terrified creatures. "The eyes of them 
 both were opened," no doubt; but, alas ! to what a 
 sight ! it was only to discover their own naked- 
 ness. They opened their eyes upon their own con- 
 dition, which was "wretched and miserable and 
 
44 GENESIS. 
 
 
 poor and blind and naked." "They knew that they 
 were naked" sad fruit of the tree of knowledge ! 
 It was not any fresh knowledge of divine excellency 
 they had attained no fresh beams of divine light 
 from the pure and eternal fountain thereof alas ! 
 no ; the very earliest result of their disobedient 
 effort after knowledge, was the discovery that they 
 were naked. 
 
 Now, it is well to understand this ; well, too, to 
 know how conscience works, to see that it can only 
 make cowards of us, as being the consciousness of 
 what we are. Many are astray as to this ; they 
 think that conscience will bring us to God. Did it 
 operate thus in the case of Adam and Eve ? As- 
 suredly not. Nor will it in the case of any sinner. 
 How could it ? How could the sense of what I am 
 ever bring me to God, if not accompanied by the 
 faith of what God is ? Impossible. It will produce 
 shame, self-reproach, remorse, anguish. It may 
 also give birth to certain efforts on my part to 
 remedy the condition which it discloses ; but these 
 very efforts, so far from drawing us to God, rather act 
 as a blind to hide Him from our view. Thus, in the 
 case of Adam and Eve, the discQvery of their naked- 
 ness was followed by an effort of their own to cover 
 it, "they sewed fig-leaves together and made them- 
 selves aprons." This is the first record w r e have of 
 man's attempt to remedy, by his own device, his 
 condition, and the attentive consideration thereof 
 will afford us not a little instruction as to the real 
 character of human religiousness in all ages. In the 
 
CHAPTER III. 45 
 
 first place, we see, not only in Adam's case, but in 
 every case, that man's effort to remedy his condition 
 is based upon the sense of his nakedness. He is 
 confessedly naked, and all his works are the result 
 of his being so. This can never avail. I must 
 know that I am clothed, before I can do anything 
 acceptable in the sight of God. 
 
 And this, be it observed, is the difference between 
 true Christianity and human religiousness. The 
 former is founded upon the fact of a man's being 
 clothed ; the latter, upon the fact of his being naked. 
 The former has for its starting-post what the latter 
 has for its goal. All that a true Christian does, is 
 because he is clothed perfectly clothed; all that a 
 mere religionist does, is in order that he may be 
 clothed. This makes a vast difference. The more 
 we examine the genius of man's religion, in all its 
 phases, the more we shall see its thorough insuffici- 
 ency to remed}^ his state, or even to meet his own 
 sense thereof. It may do very well for a time, it 
 may avail so long as death, judgment and the wrath 
 of God are looked at from a distance, if looked at 
 at all ; but when a man comes to look these terrible 
 realities straight in the face, he will find, in good 
 truth, that his religion is a bed too short for him to 
 stretch himself upon, and a covering too narrow for 
 him to wrap himself in. 
 
 The moment Adam heard the voice of the Lord 
 God, in Eden, "7*e was afraid," because, as he him- 
 self confessed, "I was naked." Yes, naked, al- 
 though he had his apron on him. But it is plain 
 
46 GENESIS. 
 
 that that covering did not even satisfy his own con- 
 science. Had his conscience been divinely satisfied, 
 he would not have been afraid. "If our heart con- 
 demn us not, then have we confidence toward God." 
 (1 John iii. 20, 21.) But if even the human con- 
 science cannot find repose in man's religious efforts, 
 how much less can the holiness of God. Adam's 
 apron could not screen him from the eye of God, and 
 he could not stand in His presence naked ; therefore 
 he fled to hide himself. This is what conscience will 
 do at all times. It will cause man to hide himself 
 from God ; and, moreover, all that his own relig- 
 iousness offers him is a hiding-place from God. 
 This is a miserable provision, inasmuch as he must 
 meet God some time or other, and if he has naught 
 save the sad conscience of what he is, he must be 
 afraid yea, he must be wretched. Indeed, nothing 
 is needed, save hell itself, to complete the mise^ of 
 one who feels he has to meet God, and knows only 
 his own unfitness to meet Him. 
 
 Had Adam known God's perfect love, he would 
 not have been afraid. "There is no fear in love; 
 but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath 
 torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in 
 love." (1 John iv. 17, 18.) But Adam knew not 
 this, because he had believed the serpent's lie. He 
 thought that God was anything but love, and there- 
 fore the very last thought of his heart would have 
 been to venture into His presence. He could not do 
 it. Sin was there, and God and sin can never meet. 
 So long as there is sin on the conscience, there must 
 
CHAPTER III. 47 
 
 be the sense of distance from God. "He is of purer 
 eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon ini- 
 quity." (Hab. i. 13.) Holiness and sin cannot 
 dwell together. Sin, wherever it is found, can only 
 be met by the wrath of God. 
 
 But, blessed be God, there is something beside 
 the conscience of what I am. There is the revelation 
 of what He is; and this latter the fall of man really 
 brought out. God had not revealed Himself fully 
 in creation: He had shown u His eternal power and 
 Godhead [Oczon;?],*" but He had not told out all 
 the deep secrets of His nature and character. 
 Wherefore Satan made a grand mistake in coming 
 to meddle with God's creation. He only proved to 
 be the instrument of his own eternal defeat and 
 confusion, and u his violent dealing" shall forever 
 4 'come down upon his own pate." His lie only gave 
 occasion for the display of the full truth in reference 
 to God. Creation never could have brought out 
 what God was. There was infinitely more in Him 
 than power and wisdom: there was love, mercy, 
 holiness, righteousness, goodness, tenderness, long- 
 suffering. Where could these be displayed but in a 
 world of sinners ? God, at the first, came clown to 
 create; and then, when the serpent presurued to 
 
 * There is a profoundly interesting thought suggested by com- 
 paring the word OSIOTJ^ (Rom. i. 20.) Avith the word OOT??$ (Col. 
 ii. 9.) They aro*both rendered " Godhead," but they present a very 
 different thought. The heathen might have seen that there was 
 something superhuman something divine in creation ; but pure, 
 essential, incomprehensible Deity dwelt in the adorable Person of 
 the Son. 
 
48 GENESIS. 
 
 meddle with creation, God came down to save. 
 This is brought out in the first words uttered by the 
 Lord God after man's fall. "And the Lord God 
 called unto Adam, and said unto him, 'Where art 
 thou?'' This question proved two things, it 
 proved that man was lost, and that God had come 
 to seek, it proved man's sin and God's grace. 
 "Where art thou ? " Amazing faithfulness ! Amaz- 
 ing grace ! Faithfulness, to disclose, in the very 
 question itself, the truth as to man's condition: 
 grace, to bring out, in the very fact of God's asking 
 such a question, the truth as to His character and 
 attitude in reference to fallen man. Man was lost ; 
 but God had come down to look for him to bring 
 him out of his hiding-place behind the trees of the 
 garden, in order that, in the happy confidence of 
 faith, he might find a hiding-place in Himself. This 
 was grace. To create man out of the dust of the 
 ground was power; but to seek man in his lost 
 estate was grace. But who can utter all that is 
 wrapped up in the idea of God's being a seeker ? 
 God seeking a sinner ! What could the blessed One 
 have seen in man to lead Him to seek for him ? 
 Just what the shepherd saw in the lost sheep, or 
 what the woman saw in the lost piece of silver, or 
 what the father saw in the lost son. The sinner is 
 valuable to God ; but why he should be so, eternity 
 alone will unfold. 
 
 How, then, did the sinner reply to the faithful and 
 gracious inquiry of the blessed God ? Alas ! the 
 reply only reveals the awful depth of evil into which 
 
CHAPTER III. 49 
 
 he had fallen. "And he said, 'I heard Thy voice 
 in the garden and I was afraid, because I was 
 naked ; and I hid myself.' And He said, 'Who told 
 thee that thou wast naked ? Hast thou eaten of the 
 tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest 
 not eat ? ' And the man said, ' The woman whom 
 Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, 
 and I did eat. ' ' Here we find him actually laying 
 the blame of his shameful fall on the circumstances 
 in which God had placed him, and thus, indirectly, 
 upon God Himself. This has ever been the way 
 with fallen man, every one and everything is 
 blamed but self. In the case of true conviction, 
 the very reverse is exhibited. "Is it not I that 
 have sinned?" is the inquiry of a truly humbled 
 soul. Had Adam known himself, how different 
 would have been his style ! But he neither knew 
 himself nor God, and, therefore, instead of throw- 
 ing the blame entirely upon himself, he threw it 
 upon God. 
 
 Here, then, was- man's terrible position. He had 
 lost all. His dominion, his dignity, his hap'piness, 
 his innocence, his purity, his peace all was gone 
 from him ; and, what was still worse, he accused 
 God of being the cause of it.* There he stood, a 
 
 *Man not only accuses God of being the author of his fall, but 
 also blames Him for his non -recovery. How often do we hear 
 persons say that they cannot believe unless God gives them the 
 power to believe; and, further, that unless they are the subjects of 
 God's eternal decree, they cannot be saved. 
 
 Now, it is perfectly true that no man can believe the gospel ex- 
 cept by the power of the Holy Ghost, and it is also true that all 
 who so believe the gospel are the happy subjects of God's eternal 
 
50 GENESIS. 
 
 lost, ruined, guilt}*", and yet self -vindicating , and 
 therefore God-accusing sinner. 
 
 But, just at this point, God began to reveal Him- 
 self and His purposes of redeeming love ; and here- 
 in lay the true basis of man's peace and blessedness. 
 When man has come to the end of himself, God can 
 show what He is ; but not until then. The scene 
 must be entirely cleared of man and all his vain 
 pretensions, empty boastings and blasphemous rea- 
 sonings, ere God can or will reveal Himself. Thus 
 it was when man was hidden behind the trees of the 
 garden that God unfolded His wondrous plan of re- 
 counsels ; but does all this set aside man's responsibility to believe 
 a plain testimony set before him in God's Word ? It most certainly 
 does no such thing. But it does reveal the sad evil of man's heart, 
 which leads him to reject God's testimony which is plainly revealed, 
 and to give as a reason for so doing, God's decree, which is a pro- 
 found secret known only to Himself. However, it will not avail, 
 for we read in 1 Thess. i. 8, 9, that those " who obey not the gospel 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be punished with everlasting 
 destruction." 
 
 Men are responsible to believe the gospel, and they will be pun- 
 ished for not believing it. They are not responsible to know any- 
 thing about God's counsels, inasmuch asthey are not revealed, 
 and therefore there can be no guilt attached to ignorance concern- 
 ing them. The apostle could say to the Thessalonians, " Knowing, 
 brethren beloved, your election of God." How did he know it? 
 Was it by having access to the page of God's secret and eternal 
 decrees? By no means. How then ? "Because [orz] our gospel 
 came not unto you in word only, but also in power." (1 Thess. i. 4,5.) 
 This is the way to know the election of any. When the gospel 
 comes with power, it is a plain proof of God's election. 
 
 But, I doubt not, the people who draw a plea from the divine 
 counsels for rejecting the divine testimony, only want some flimsy 
 excuse to continue in sin. They really do not want God ; and it 
 would be far more honest in them to say so plainly, than to put 
 forward a plea which is not merely flimsy, but positively blasphe- 
 mous. Such a plea will not avail them much amid the terrors of 
 the day of judgment, now fast approaching. 
 
CHAPTER III. 51 
 
 demption through the instrumentality of the bruised 
 seed of the woman. Here we are taught a valuable 
 principle of truth as to .what it is which alone will 
 bring a man peacefully and confidingly into the 
 presence of God. 
 
 It has been already remarked that conscience will 
 never effect this. Conscience drove Adam behind 
 the trees of the garden ; revelation brought him 
 forth into the presence of God. The consciousness 
 of what he was terrified him ; the revelation of what 
 God was tranquilized him. This is truly consola- 
 tory for a poor sin-burdened heart. The reality of 
 what I am is met by the reality of what God is; 
 and this is salvation. 
 
 There is a point where God and man must meet, 
 whether in grace or judgment, and that point is 
 where both are revealed as they are. Happy are 
 they who reach that point in grace ! Woe be to 
 them who will have to reach it in judgment ! It is 
 with what we are that God deals ; and it is as He is 
 that He deals with us. In the cross, I see God de- 
 scending, iu grace, to the lowest depths, not merely 
 of my negative, but my positive condition as a sin- 
 ner. This gives perfect peace. If God has met me 
 in my actual condition, and Himself provided an 
 adequate remedy, all is eternally settled. But all 
 who do not thus by faith see God in the cross, will 
 have to meet Him by and by in judgment, when He 
 will have to deal, according to what He is, with 
 what they are. 
 
 The moment a man is brought to know his real 
 
52 GENESIS. 
 
 state, he can find no rest until he has found God in 
 the cross, and then he rests in God Himself. He, 
 blessed be His name, is the rest and hiding-place of 
 the believing soul. This at once puts human works 
 and human righteousness in their proper place. We 
 can say, with truth, that those who rest in such 
 things cannot possibly have arrived at the true 
 knowledge of themselves. It is quite impossible 
 that a divinely-quickened conscience can rest in 
 aught save the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God. 
 All effort to establish one's own righteousness must 
 proceed from ignorance of the righteousness of God. 
 Adam might learn, in the light of the divine testi- 
 mony about "the seed of the woman," the worth- 
 lessiless of his fig-leaf apron. The magnitude of 
 that which had to be done, proved the sinner's total 
 inability to do it. Sin had to be put away. Could 
 man do that ? Nay, it was by him it had come in. 
 The serpent's head had to be bruised. Could man 
 do that ? Nay, he had become the serpent's slave. 
 God's claims had to be met. Could man do that ? 
 Nay, he had already trampled them under foot. 
 Death had to be abolished. Could man do that ? 
 Nay, he had, by sin, introduced it, and imparted to 
 it its terrible sting. 
 
 Thus, in whatever way w r e view the matter, we see 
 the sinner's complete impotency, and, as a conse- 
 quence, the presumptuous folly of all who attempt 
 to assist God in the stupendous work of redemption, 
 as all assuredly do who think to be saved in any 
 other way but "by grace, through faith." 
 
CHAPTER III. 53 
 
 However, though Adam might, and, through grace, 
 did, see and feel that he could never accomplish all 
 that had to be done, yet God revealed Himself as 
 about to achieve every jot and tittle thereof by the 
 seed of the woman. In short, we see that He gra- 
 ciously took the entire matter into His own hands. 
 
 He made it altogether a question between Himself 
 and the serpent; for although the man and the 
 woman were called upon individually to reap, in 
 various ways, the bitter fruits of their sin, yet it was 
 to the serpent that the Lord God said, "Because 
 them hast done this." The serpent was the source 
 of the ruin, and the seed of the woman was to be 
 the source of the redemption. Adam heard all this 
 and believed it, and, in the power of that belief, 
 "he called his wife's name the mother of all living." 
 
 This was a precious fruit of faith in God's revela- 
 tion. Looking at the matter from nature's point of 
 view, Eve might be called, the mother of all dying ; 
 but, in the judgment of faith, she was the mother of 
 all living. "His mother called him Ben-oni (the 
 son of my sorrow) ; but his father called him Ben- 
 jamin (the son of my right hand)." 
 
 It was through the sustaining energy of faith that 
 Adam was enabled to endure the terrible results of 
 what he had done. It was God's wondrous mercy 
 to allow him to hear what He said to the serpent, 
 before he was called to listen to what He had to say 
 to himself. Had it not been so, he must have been 
 plunged in despair. It is despair to be called upon 
 to look at myself without being able to look at God 
 
54 GENESIS. 
 
 as revealed in the cross for my salvation. There is 
 no child of fallen Adam who could bear to have his 
 eyes opened to the reality of what he is and what he 
 has done, without being plunged in despair, unless 
 he could take refuge in the cross. Hence, in that 
 place to which all who reject Christ must finally be 
 consigned, hope cannot come. There, men's eyes 
 will be opened to the reality of what they are and 
 what they have done, but they will not be able to 
 find relief and refuge in God. What God is, will 
 then involve hopeless perdition, as truly as what 
 God is doth now involve eternal salvation. The 
 holiness of God will then be eternally against them, 
 as it is now that in which all who believe are called 
 to rejoice. The more I realize the holiness of God 
 now, the more I know my security ; but in the case 
 of the lost, that very holiness will be but the ratifi- 
 cation of their eternal doom. Solemn unspeakably 
 solemn reflection ! 
 
 We shall now briefly glance at the truth presented 
 to us in God's providing coats for Adam and Eve. 
 4 'Unto Adam, also, and to his wife, did the Lord 
 God make coats of skins, and clothed them." We 
 have here, in figure, the great doctrine of divine 
 righteousness set forth. The robe which God pro- 
 vided was an effectual covering, because He provided 
 it; just as the apron was an ineffectual covering, 
 because man had provided it. Moreover, God's 
 coat was founded upon blood-shedding ; Adam's 
 apron "was not. So also now, God's righteousness 
 is set forth in the cross ; man's righteousness is set 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 55 
 
 forth in the works the sin-stained works of his 
 own hands. When Adam stood clothed in the coat 
 of skin he could not say he was naked, nor had 
 he any occasion to hide himself. The sinner may 
 feel perfectly at rest when, by faith, he knows that 
 God has clothed him ; but to feel at rest till then, 
 can only be the result of presumption or ignorance. 
 To know that the dress I wear, and in which I ap- 
 pear before God, is of His own 
 my heart at perfect rest. Thei 
 permanent rest in aught else. 
 
 The closing verses of this clu 
 struction. Fallen man, in his fall 
 be allowed to eat of the fruit of 
 that would entail upon him endless wretcl 
 this world. To take of the tree of life, and eat, 
 and live forever in our present condition, would be 
 unmingled misery. The tree of life can only be 
 tasted in resurrection. To live forever in a frail 
 tabernacle, in a body of sin and death, would be in- 
 tolerable. Wherefore, the Lord God "drove out the 
 man." He drove him out into a world which every- 
 where exhibited the lamentable results of his fall. 
 The cherubim and the flaming sword, too, forbid 
 fallen man to pluck the fruit of the tree of life; 
 while God's revelation pointed him to the death and 
 resurrection of the seed of the woman, as that 
 wherein life was to be found beyond the power of 
 death. 
 
 Thus Adam was a happier and a safer man out- 
 side the bounds of paradise than he had been within, 
 5 
 
56 GENESIS. 
 
 for this reason: that within, his life depended upon 
 himself; whereas outside, it depended upon another, 
 even a promised Christ. And as he looked up and 
 beheld "the cherubim and the flaming sword," he 
 could bless the hand that had set them there, "to 
 keep the way of the tree of life," inasmuch as the 
 same hand had opened a better, a safer and a hap- 
 pier way to that tree. If the cherubim and flaming 
 sword stopped up the way to paradise, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ has opened "a new and living way" 
 into the holiest of all. "I am the way, the truth 
 and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father, but 
 by Me." (Compare John xiv. 6; Heb. x. 20.) In 
 the knowledge of this, the believer now moves on- 
 ward through a world which is under the curse - 
 where the traces of sin are visible on all hands. He 
 has found his way, by faith, to the bosom of the 
 Father ; and while he can secretly repose there, he 
 is cheered by the blessed assurance that the One 
 who has conducted him thither is gone to prepare a 
 place in the many mansions of the Father's house, 
 and that He will soon come again and receive him 
 unto Himself, amid the glory of the Father's king- 
 dom. Thus, in the bosom, the house and the king- 
 dom of the Father, the believer finds his present 
 portion, his future home and reward. 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 
 
 AS each section of the Book of Genesis opens 
 before us, we are furnished with fresh evidence 
 of the fact that we are traveling over, what a recent 
 writer has well termed, "the seed-plot of the whole 
 Bible" ; and not only so, but the seed-plot of man's 
 entire history. 
 
 Thus, in the fourth chapter, we have, in the per- 
 sons of Cain and Abel, the first examples of a re- 
 ligious man of the world and of a genuine man of 
 faith. Born, as they were, outside of Eden, and 
 being the sons of fallen Adam, they could have no- 
 thing, naturally, to distinguish them one from the 
 other. They were both sinners, both had a fallen 
 nature, neither was innocent. It is well to be clear 
 in reference to this, in order that the reality of di- 
 vine grace and the integrity of faith may be fully 
 and distinctly seen. If the distinction between Cain 
 and Abel were founded in 'nature, then it follows, as 
 an inevitable conclusion, that they were not the par- 
 takers of the fallen nature of their father, nor the 
 participators in the circumstances of his fall, and 
 hence there could be no room for the display of 
 grace and the exercise of faith. 
 
 Some would teach us that every man is born with 
 qualities and capacities which, if rightly used, will 
 enable him to work his way back to God. This is a 
 plain denial of the fact so clearly set forth in the 
 
58 GENESIS. 
 
 history now before us. Cain and Abel were born, 
 not inside, but outside of paradise, they were the 
 sons, not of innocent, but of fallen Adam. They 
 came into the world as the partakers of the nature 
 of their father ; and it mattered not in what phase 
 that nature might display itself, it was nature still 
 fallen, ruined, irremediable nature. "That which is 
 born of the flesh is [not merely fleshly, but] flesh, 
 and that which is born of the Spirit is [not merely 
 spiritual, but] spirit." (John iii.) 
 
 If ever there was a fair opportunity for the dis- 
 tinctive qualities, capacities, resources and tenden- 
 cies of nature to manifest themselves, the lifetime 
 of Cain and Abel furnished it. If there were aught 
 in nature whereby it could recover its lost innocence 
 and establish itself again within the bounds of Eden, 
 this was the moment for its display. But there was 
 nothing of the kind. They were both lost. They 
 were "flesh." They were not innocent. Adam lost 
 his innocence and never regained it. He can only 
 be looked at as the fallen head of a fallen race, 
 who, by his "disobedience," were made "sinners." 
 (Rom. v. 19.) He became, so far as he was person- 
 ally concerned, the corrupt source from whence have 
 emanated the corrupt streams of ruined and guilty 
 humanity the dead trunk from which have shot 
 forth the branches of a dead humanity, morally and 
 spiritually dead. 
 
 True, as we have already remarked, he himself 
 was made a subject of grace, and the possessor and 
 exhibitor of a lively faith in a promised Saviour; 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 59 
 
 but this was not anything natural, but something 
 entirely divine. And, inasmuch as it was not nat- 
 ural, neither was it within the range of nature's 
 capacity to communicate it. It was not, by any 
 means, hereditary. Adam could not bequeath nor 
 impart his faith to Cain or Abel. His possession, 
 thereof was simply the fruit of love divine. It was 
 implanted in his soul by divine power, and he had 
 not divine power to communicate it to another. 
 Whatever was natural, Adam- could, in the way of 
 nature, communicate ; but nothing more. And see- 
 ing that he, as a father, was in a condition of ruin, 
 his son could only be in the same. As is the beget- 
 ter, so are they also that are begotten of him. They 
 must, of necessity, partake of the nature of him 
 from whom they have sprung, "As is the earthy, 
 such are they also that are earthy." (1 Cor. xv. 48.) 
 Nothing can be more important, in its way, than 
 a correel understanding of the doctrine of federal 
 headship. If my reader will turn, for a moment, to 
 Rom. v. 12-21, he will find that the inspired apostle 
 looks at the whole human race as comprehended 
 under two heads. I do not attempt to dwell on the 
 passage, but merely refer to it in connection with 
 the subject in hand. The fifteenth chapter of first 
 Corinthians will also furnish instruction of a similar 
 character. In the first man, we have sin, disobedi- 
 ence and death : in the Second Man, we have right- 
 eousness, obedience and life. As we derive a nature 
 from the former, so do we also from the latter. No 
 doubt each nature will display, in each specific case, 
 
60 GENESIS. 
 
 its own peculiar energies ; it will manifest, in. each 
 individual possessor thereof, its own peculiar powers. 
 Still there is the absolute possession of a real, ab- 
 stract, positive nature. 
 
 Now, as the mode in which we derive a nature 
 from the first man is by birth, so the mode in which 
 we derive a nature from the Second Man is by new 
 birth. Being born, w r e partake of the nature of the 
 former; being "born again," we partake of the na- 
 ture of the latter. A newly born infant, though 
 entirely incapable of performing the act which re- 
 duced Adam to the condition of a fallen being, is, 
 nevertheless, a partaker of his nature ; and so, also, 
 a newly born child of God a newly regenerated 
 soul, though having nothing whatever to do with the 
 working out of the perfect obedience of "the man 
 Christ Jesus," is, nevertheless, a partaker of His 
 nature. True it is, that attached to the former na- 
 ture there is sin ; and attached to the latter, there 
 is righteousness, man's sin, in the former case; 
 God's righteousness in the latter: yet, all the while, 
 there is the actual, bona fide participation of a real 
 nature, let the adjuncts be what they may. The 
 child of Adam partakes of the human nature and 
 its adjuncts ; the child of God partakes of the divine 
 nature and its adjuncts. The former nature is ac- 
 cording to "the will of man" (John i.), the latter 
 is according to "the will of God," as James, by 
 the Holy Ghost, teaches us, "of His own will begat 
 He us by the Word of Truth." (James i. 18.) 
 
 From all that has been said, it follows, that Abel 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 61 
 
 was not distinguished from his brother Cain by any- 
 thing natural. The distinction between them was 
 not grounded upon aught in their nature or circum- 
 stances, for, as to these, "there was no difference." 
 What, therefore, made the vast difference ? The 
 answer is as simple as the gospel of the grace of 
 God can make it. The difference was not in them- 
 selves, in their nature or their circumstances ; it lay 
 entirely in their sacrifices. This makes the matter 
 most simple for any truly convicted sinner for smy 
 one who truly feels that he not only partakes of a 
 fallen nature, but is himself, also, a sinner. The 
 history of Abel opens, to such an one, the only true 
 ground of his approach to, his standing before, and 
 his relationship with, God. It teaches him, dis- 
 tinctly, that he cannot come to God on the ground 
 of anything in, of, or pertaining to, nature ; ami he 
 must seek, outside himself, and in the person and 
 work of another, the true and everlasting basis of 
 his connection with the holy, the just and only true 
 God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews sets the 
 whole subject before us in the most distinct and 
 comprehensive way, "By faith Abel offered unto 
 God a more excellent sacrifice [n^stora Ovdiav~] 
 than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was 
 righteous, God bearing witness [napTvpowros] to 
 his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh." 
 Here we are taught that it was in nowise a question 
 as to the men, but only as to their "sacrifice" it 
 was not a question as to the offerer, but as to his 
 offering. Here lay the grand distinction between 
 
62 GENESIS. 
 
 Cain and Abel. My reader cannot be too simple in 
 his apprehension of this point, for therein lies in- 
 volved the truth as to any sinner's standing before 
 God. 
 
 And now let vis inquire what the offerings were. 
 "And, in process of time, it came to pass that Cain 
 brought, of the fruit of the ground, an offering unto 
 Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the first- 
 lings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the 
 Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering ; but 
 unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect." 
 (Gen. iv. 3-5.) This passage sets the difference 
 clearly before us. Cain offered to Jehovah the 
 fruit of a cursed earth, and that, moreover, without 
 any blood to remove the curse. He presented 
 "an unbloody sacrifice," simply because he had 
 no faith. Had he possessed that divine principle, 
 it would have taught him, even at this early mo- 
 ment, that "without shedding of blood there is no 
 remission." (Heb. ix.) This is a great cardinal 
 truth. The penalty of sin is death. Cain was a 
 sinner, and, as such, death stood between him and 
 Jehovah ; but, in his offering, there was no recogni- 
 tion whatever of this fact, there was no prcsenta- 
 -tion of a sacrificed life, to meet the claims of divine 
 holiness, or to answer to his own true condition as a 
 sinner. He treated Jehovah as though He were al- 
 together such an one as himself, who could accept 
 the sin-stained fruit of a cursed earth. 
 
 All this, and much more, lay involved in Cain's 
 "unbloody sacrifice." He displayed entire igno- 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 63 
 
 ranee in reference to divine requirements, in refer- 
 ence to his own character and condition as a lost 
 and guilty sinner, and in reference to the true state 
 of that ground, the fruit of which he presumed to 
 offer. No doubt reason might say, What more ac- 
 ceptable offering could a man present than that 
 which he had produced by the labor of his hands 
 and the sweat of his brow ? Reason, and even 
 man's religious mind, may think thus, but God 
 thinks quite differently ; and faith is always sure to 
 agree with God's thoughts. God teaches, and faith 
 believes, that there must be a sacrificed life, else 
 there can be no approach to God. 
 
 Thus, when we look at the ministry of the Lord 
 Jesus, we see, at once, that, had He not died upon 
 the cross, all His services would have proved utterly 
 unavailing as regards the establishment of our rela- 
 tionship with God. True, "He went about doing 
 good" all His life; but it was His death that rent 
 the vail. (Matt, xxvii. 51.) Naught but His death 
 could have done so. Had He continued to the 
 present moment "going about doing good," the 
 vail would have remained entire, to bar the worship- 
 er's approach into "the holiest of all." Hence we 
 can see the false ground on which Cain stood as an 
 offerer and a worshiper. An unpardoned sinner 
 coming into the presence of Jehovah to present "an 
 unbloody sacrifice," could only be regarded as 
 guilty of the highest degree of presumption. True, 
 he had toiled to produce his offering; but what of 
 that ? Could a sinner's toil remove the curse and 
 
64 GENESIS. 
 
 stain of sin ? could it satisfy the claims of an infi- 
 nitely holy God ? could it furnish a proper ground 
 of acceptance for a sinner ? could it set aside the 
 penalty which was due to sin ? could it rob death 
 of its sting, or the grave of its victory ? could it 
 do any or all of these things ? Impossible. "With- 
 out shedding of blood is no remission." Cain's 
 "unbloody sacrifice," like every other unbloody 
 sacrifice, was not only worthless, but actually abom- 
 inable, in the divine estimation. It not only demon- 
 strated his entire ignorance of his own condition, 
 but also of the divine character. "God is not 
 worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed 
 anything" ; and yet Cain thought He could be thus 
 approached, and every mere religionist thinks the 
 same. Cain has had many millions of followers, 
 from age to age. Cain-worship has abounded all 
 over the world. It is the worship of every uncon- 
 verted soul, and is maintained by every false system 
 of religion under the sun. 
 
 Man would fain make God a receiver instead of a 
 giver; but this cannot be; for "it is more blessed 
 to give than to receive" ; and assuredly God must 
 have the more blessed place. "Without all contra- 
 diction, the less is blessed of the better." "Who 
 hath first given to Him ? ' ' God can accept the 
 smallest gift from a heart which has learnt the deep 
 truth contained in those words "Of Thine own 
 have we given Thee" ; but the moment a man pre- 
 sumes to take the place of the "first" giver, God's 
 reply is, " If I were hungry, I would not tell thee ' ' ; 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 65 
 
 for "He is not worshiped with men's hands, as 
 though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all 
 life and breath and all things." The great Giver 
 of "all things" cannot possibly "need anything." 
 Praise is all that we can offer to God ; but this can 
 only be offered in the full and clear intelligence that 
 our sins are all put away ; and this, again, can only 
 be known by faith in the virtue of an accomplished 
 atonement. 
 
 My reader may pause here, and read prayerfully 
 th following Scriptures ; namely, Psalm 1 ; Isaiah 
 i. 11-18, and Acts xvii. 22-34, in all of which he 
 will find distinctly laid down the truth as to man's 
 true position before God, as also the proper ground 
 of worship. 
 
 Let us now consider Abel's sacrifice. "And 
 Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, 
 and of the fat thereof." In other words, he entered, 
 by faith, into the glorious truth, that God could be 
 approached by sacrifice ; that there was such a thing 
 as a sinner's placing the death of another between 
 himself and the consequence of his sin ; that the 
 claims of God's nature and the attributes of His 
 character could be met by the blood of a spotless 
 victim a victim offered to meet God's demands 
 and the sinner's deep necessities. This is, in short, 
 the doctrine of the cross, in which alone the con- 
 science of a sinner can find repose, because therein 
 God is fully glorified. 
 
 Every divinely convicted sinner must feel that 
 death and judgment are before him, as "the due 
 
66 GENESIS. 
 
 reward of his deeds" ; nor can he, by aught that he 
 can accomplish, alter that destiny. He may toil and 
 labor ; he may, by the sweat of his brow, produce 
 an offering ; he may make vows and resolutions ; he 
 may alter his way of life ; he may reform his out- 
 ward character; he may be temperate, moral, up- 
 right, and, in the human acceptation of the w r ord, 
 religious ; he may, though entirely destitute of faith, 
 read, pray, and hear sermons. In short, he may do 
 anything or everything which lies within the range 
 of human competency; but, notwithstanding J^l, 
 41 death" and "judgment" are before him. He has 
 not been able to disperse those two heavy clouds 
 which have gathered upon the horizon. There they 
 stand ; and, so far from being able to remove them 
 by all his doings, he can only live in the gloomy an- 
 ticipation of the moment when they shall burst upon 
 his guilty head. It is impossible for a sinner, by 
 his own works, to place himself in life and triumph 
 at the other side of " death" and " judgment" 
 yea, his very works are only performed for the pur- 
 pose of preparing him, if possible, for those dreaded 
 realities. 
 
 Here, however, is exactly where the cross comes 
 in. In that cross, the convicted sinner can behold a 
 divine provision for all his guilt and all his need. 
 There, too, he can see death and judgment entirely 
 removed from the scene, and life and glory set in 
 their stead. Christ has cleared the prospect of 
 death and judgment, so far as the true believer is 
 concerned, and filled it with life, righteousness and 
 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. G7 
 
 glory. "He hath abolished death, and brought life 
 and incorruptibility to light through the gospel." 
 (2 Tim. i. 10.) He has glorified God in the putting 
 away of that which would have separated us forever 
 from His holy and blissful presence. "He has put 
 away sin," and hence it is gone. (Heb. ix. 26.) All 
 this is, in type, set forth in AbeFs "more excellent 
 sacrifice." There was no attempt, on Abel's part, 
 to set aside the truth as to his own condition and 
 proper place as a guilty sinner no attempt to turn 
 aside the edge of the flaming sword, and force his 
 way back to the tree of life no presumptuous offer- 
 ing of an "unbloody sacrifice" no presentation of 
 the fruit of a cursed earth to Jehovah he took the 
 real gr.pund of a sinner, and, as such, set the death 
 of a victim between him and his sins, and between 
 his sins and the holiness of a sin-hating God. This 
 was most simple. Abel deserved death and judg- 
 ment, but he found a substitute. 
 
 Thus is it with every poor, helpless, self-con- 
 demned, conscience-smitten sinner. Christ is his 
 substitute, his ransom, his most excellent sacrifice, 
 his ALL. Such an one will feel, like Abel, that the 
 fruit of the ground could never avail for him ; that 
 were he to present to God the fairest fruits of earth, 
 he would still have a sin-stained conscience, inas- 
 much as "without shedding of blood is no remis- 
 sion." The richest fruits and the most fragrant 
 flowers, in the greatest profusion, could not remove 
 a single stain from the conscience. Nothing but the 
 perfect sacrifice of the Son of God can give ease to 
 
08 GENESIS.. 
 
 the heart and conscience. All who by faith lay hold 
 of that divine reality, will enjoy a peace which the 
 world can neither give nor take awajr. It is faith 
 which puts the soul in present possession of this 
 peace. "Being justified by faith, we have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 
 v. 1.) "By faith Abel offered unto God a more 
 excellent sacrifice than Cain." 
 
 It is not a question of feeling, as so many would 
 make it : it is entirely a question of faith in an ac- 
 complished fact faith wrought in the soul of a sin- 
 ner, by the power of the Holy Ghost. This faith is 
 something quite different from a mere feeling of the 
 heart, or an assent of the intellect. Feeling is not 
 faith : intellectual assent is not faith. Some would 
 make faith to be the mere assent of the intellect to 
 a certain proposition. This is fearfully false. It 
 makes the question of faith human, whereas it is 
 really divine, it reduces it to the level of man, 
 whereas it really comes from God. Faith is not a 
 thing of to-day or to-morrow. It is an imperishable 
 principle, emanating from an eternal source, even 
 God Himself; it lays hold of God's truth, and sets 
 the soul in God's presence. 
 
 Mere feeling and sentimentality can never rise 
 above the source from whence they emanate, and 
 that source is self; but faith has to do with God 
 and His eternal Word, and is a living link, connect- 
 ing the heart that possesses it with God who gives it. 
 Human feelings, however intense ; human senti- 
 ments, however refined, could not connect the soul 
 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 69 
 
 with God. They are neither divine nor eternal, but 
 are human and evanescent. They are like Jonah's 
 gourd, which sprang up in a night and perished in a 
 night. Not so faith. That precious principle par- 
 takes of all the value, all the power, and all the 
 reality of the source from whence it emanates, and 
 the object with which it has to do. It justifies the 
 soul (Rom. v. 1.); it purifies the heart (Acts xv. 
 9.); it works by love (Gal. v. 6.); it overcomes 
 the world (1 John v. 4.). Feeling and sentiment 
 never could accomplish such results ; they belong 
 to nature and to earth, faith belongs to God and to 
 heaven ; they are occupied with self, faith is occu- 
 pied with Christ ; they look inward and downward, 
 faith looks outward and upward ; they leave the soul 
 in darkness and doubt, faith leads it into light and 
 peace ; they have to do with one's own fluctuating 
 condition, faith has to do with God's immutable 
 truth and Christ's eternally enduring sacrifice. 
 
 No doubt faith will produce feelings and senti- 
 ments spiritual feelings and truthful sentiments 
 but the fruits of faith must never be confounded 
 with faith itself. I am not justified by feelings, nor 
 yet by faith and feelings, but simply by faith. And 
 why ? Because faith believes God when He speaks 
 it takes Him at His word ; it apprehends Him as 
 He has revealed Himself in the Person and work of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. This is life, righteousness 
 and peace. To apprehend God as He is, is the sum 
 of all present and eternal blessedness. When the 
 soul finds out God, it has found out all it can possi- 
 
70 GENESIS. 
 
 bly need, here or hereafter; but lie can only be 
 known by His own revelation, and by the faith which 
 He Himself imparts, and which, moreover, always 
 seeks divine revelation as its proper object. 
 
 Thus, then, we can, in some measure, enter into 
 the meaning and power of the statement, "By faith 
 Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than Cain." Cain had no faith, and therefore he 
 offered an unbloody sacrifice : Abel had faith, and 
 therefore he offered both "blood" and "fat," which, 
 in type, set forth the presentation of the life, and 
 also the inherent excellency of the Person of Christ. 
 "The blood" set forth the former ; "the fat" shad- 
 owed forth the latter. Both blood and fat were 
 forbidden to be eaten, under the Mosaic economy. 
 The blood is the life ; and man, under law, had no 
 title to life. But, in the sixth of John, we are 
 taught, that unless we eat blood, we have no life in 
 us. Christ is the life. There is not a spark of life 
 outside of Him. All out of Christ is death. "In 
 Him was life," and in none else. 
 
 Now, He gave up His life on the cross ; and to 
 that life sin was, by imputation, attached, when the 
 blessed One was nailed to the cursed tree. Hence, 
 in giving up His life, He gave up also the sin at- 
 tached thereto, so that it is' effectually put away, 
 having been left in His grave, from which He rose 
 triumphant, in the power of a new life, to which 
 righteousness as distinctly attaches itself as did sin 
 to that life which He gave up on the cross. This 
 will help us to an understanding of an expression 
 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 71 
 
 used by our blessed Lord after His resurrection, 
 "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me 
 luive." He did not say, flesh and blood ; because, 
 in resurrection, He had not assumed into His sacred 
 person the blood which He had shed out upon the 
 cross as an atonement for sin. ^The life of the 
 flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon 
 the altar, to make an atonement for your souls : for 
 it is the blood which maketh an atonement for the 
 soul." (Lev. xvii. 11.) Close attention to this point 
 will have the effect of deepening in our souls the 
 sense of the completeness of the putting away of 
 sin by the death of Christ ; and we know that what- 
 ever tends to deepen our sense of that glorious 
 reality, must necessarily tend to the fuller establish- 
 ment of our peace, and to the more effectual pro- 
 motion of the glory of Christ, as connected with 
 our testimony and service. 
 
 We have already referred to a point of much 
 interest and value, in the history of Cain and Abel, 
 and that is, the entire identification of each with the 
 offering which he presented. My reader cannot 
 possibly bestow too much attention upon this. The 
 question, in each case, was not as to the person of 
 the offerer, but entirely as to the character of his 
 offering. Hence, of Abel we read that "God testi- 
 fied of his gifts." He did not bear witness to Abel, 
 but to Abel's sacrifice ; and this fixes, distinctly, the 
 proper ground of a believer's peace and acceptance 
 before God. 
 
 There is a constant tendency in the heart to 
 G 
 
72 GENESIS. 
 
 ground our peace and acceptance upon something 
 in or about ourselves, even though we admit that 
 that something is wrought by the Holy Ghost. 
 Hence arises the constant looking m, when the 
 Holy Ghost would ever have us looking out. The 
 question for every believer is not, What am I ? but, 
 What is Christ ? Having come to God ' ' in the name 
 of Jesus," he is wholly identified with Him, and 
 accepted in His name, and, moreover, can no more 
 be rejected than the One in whose name he has 
 come. Before ever a question can be raised as to 
 the feeblest believer, it must be raised as to Christ 
 Himself. But this latter is clearly impossible, and 
 thus the security of the believer is established upon 
 a foundation which nothing can possibly move. Be- 
 ing in himself a poor worthless sinner, he has come 
 in the name of Christ, he is identified with Christ, 
 accepted in and as Christ, bound up in the same 
 bundle of life with Christ. God testifies not of him, 
 but of his gift, and his gift is Christ. All this is 
 most tranquilizing and consolatory. It is our happy 
 privilege to be able, in the confidence of faith, to 
 refer every objection, and every objector, to Christ 
 and His finished atonement. All our springs are in 
 Him : in Him we boast all the day long. Our con- 
 fidence is not in ourselves, but in Him who hath 
 wrought everything for us. We hang on His name, 
 trust in His work, gaze on His Person, and wait for 
 His coming. 
 
 But the carnal mind at once displays its enmity 
 against all this truth which so gladdens and satisfies 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 73 
 
 the heart of a believer. Thus it was with Cain, 
 "He was very wroth, and his countenance fell." 
 That which filled Abel with peace, filled Cain with 
 wrath. Cain, in unbelief, despised the only way in 
 which a sinner could come to God. He refused to 
 offer blood, without which there can be no remis- 
 sion ; and then, because he was not received, in his 
 sins, and because Abel was accepted, in his gift, 
 "he w r as wroth, and his countenance fell." And 
 yet, how else could it be ? He should either be re- 
 ceived with his sins or without them ; but God could 
 not receive Him with them, and he would not bring 
 the blood which alone maketh atonement, and there- 
 fore he was rejected, and, being rejected, he mani- 
 fests, in his ways, the fruits of corrupt religion. He 
 persecutes and murders the true witness the ac- 
 cepted, justified man the man of faith ; and, in so 
 doing, he stands as the model and forerunner of all 
 false religionists, in every age. At all times, and in 
 all places, men have shown themselves more ready 
 to persecute on religious grounds than on any other. 
 This is Cain-like. Justification full, perfect, un- 
 qualified justification, by faith only makes God 
 everything, and man nothing; and man does not 
 like this it causes his countenance to fall, and 
 draws out his anger. Not that he can give any 
 reason for his anger ; for it is not, as we have seen, 
 a question of man at all, but only of the ground on 
 which he appears before God. Had Abel been ac- 
 cepted on the ground of aught in himself, then, 
 indeed, Cain's wrath, and his fallen countenance, 
 
74 GENESIS. 
 
 would have had some just foundation; but, inas- 
 much as he was accepted exclusively on the ground 
 of his offering, and inasmuch as it was not to him, 
 but to his gift, that Jehovah bore testimony, his 
 wrath was entirely without any proper basis. This 
 is brought out in Jehovah's word to Cain, "If thou 
 doest well, (or, as the LXX reads it, "if thou offer 
 correctly [opQoaS Kpo6eytyKijs]J J ) shalt thou not be 
 accepted ? ' ' The well-doing had reference to the 
 offering. Abel did well by hiding himself behind 
 an acceptable sacrifice : Cain did badly by bringing 
 an offering without blood ; and all his after-conduct 
 was but the legitimate result of his false worship. 
 
 "And Cain talked with his brother Abel: and it 
 came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain 
 rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." 
 Thus has it ever been, the Cains have persecuted 
 and murdered the Abels. At all times, man and his 
 religion are the same, faith and its religion are the 
 same ; and wherever they have met there has been 
 conflict. 
 
 However, it is well to see that Cain's act of mur- 
 der was the true consequence the proper fruit of 
 his false worship. His foundation was bad, and the 
 superstructure erected thereon was also bad. Nor 
 did he stop at the act of murder ; but having heard 
 the judgment of God thereon, despairing of forgive- 
 ness through ignorance of God, he went forth from 
 His blessed presence and built a city, and had in his 
 family the cultivators of the useful and ornamental 
 sciences agriculturists, musicians, and workers in 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 75 
 
 metals. Through ignorance of the divine character, 
 he pronounced his sin too great to be pardoned.* 
 It was not that he really knew his sin, but that he 
 knew not God. He fully exhibited the terrible fruit 
 of the fall in the very thought of God to which he 
 gave utterance. He did not want pardon, because 
 he did not want God. He had no true sense of his 
 own condition, no aspirations after God, no intelli- 
 gence as to the ground of a sinner's approach to 
 God. He was radically corrupt fundamentally 
 wrong; and all he wanted was to get out of the 
 presence of God, and lose himself in the world and 
 its pursuits. He thought he could live very well 
 without God, and he therefore set about decorating 
 the world as well as he could, for the purpose of 
 making it a respectable place, and himself a respect- 
 able man therein, though in God's view it was under 
 the curse, and he was a fugitive and a vagabond. 
 
 Such was "the way of Cain," in which way mill- 
 ions are, at this moment, rushing on. Such persons 
 are not, by any means, divested of the religious 
 element in their character. They would like to offer 
 something, to God to do something for Him. They 
 deem it right to present to Him the results of their 
 own toil. They are ignorant of themselves, ignorant 
 of God ; but with all this there is the diligent effort 
 to improve the world, to make life agreeable in vari- 
 ous ways, to deck the scene with the fairest colors. 
 
 *The word used by Cain is ^"1^3^ which occurs in Psalm 
 xxxii. 1, "whose transgression is forgiven." The LXX renders 
 it by otcpzQi'fvcti "to be remitted." 
 
76 GENESIS. 
 
 God's remedy to cleanse is rejected, and man's 
 effort to improve is put in its place. This is "the 
 way of Cain." (Jude 11.) 
 
 And, my reader, you have only to look around 
 you to see how this ' ' way ' ' prevails at the present 
 moment. Though the world is stained with the 
 blood of "a greater than" Abel, even with the 
 blood of Christ, yet see what an agreeable place 
 man seeks to make of it ! As in Cain's day, the 
 grateful sounds of "the harp and organ," no doubt, 
 completely drowned, to man's ear, the cry of Abel's 
 blood ; so now, man's ear is filled with other sounds 
 than those which issue from Calvary, and his eye 
 filled with other objects than a crucified Christ. 
 The resources of his genius, too, are put forth to 
 render this world a hot-house, in which are pro- 
 duced, in their rarest form, all the fruits for which 
 nature so eagerly longs. And not merely are the 
 real wants of man, as a creature, supplied, but the 
 inventive genius of the human mind has been set to 
 work for the purpose of devising things which, the 
 moment the eye sees, the heart desires, and not only 
 desires, but imagines that life would be intolerable 
 without them. Thus, for instance, some years ago, 
 people were content to devote three or four days to 
 the accomplishing of a journey of one hundred 
 miles ; but now they can accomplish it in three or 
 four hours ; and not only so, but they will complain 
 sadly if they happen to be five or ten minutes late. 
 In fact, man must be saved the trouble of living. 
 He must travel without fatigue, he must hear news 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 77 
 
 without having to exercise patience for it. He will 
 lay iron rails across the earth, and electric wires be- 
 neath the sea, as if to anticipate, in his own way, 
 that bright and blissful age, when ''there will be no 
 more sea." * 
 
 In addition to all this, there is abundance of re- 
 ligion, so called ; but, alas ! charity itself is com- 
 pelled to harbor the apprehension that very much of 
 what passes for religion is but a screw in the vast 
 machine which has been constructed for man's con- 
 venience and man's exaltation. Man would not be 
 without religion : it would not be respectable ; and 
 therefore he is content to devote one-seventh of his 
 time to religion, or, as he thinks and professes, to 
 his eternal interests, and then he has six-sevenths to 
 devote to his temporal interests ; but whether he 
 works for time or eternity, it is for himself, in reality. 
 Such is "the way of Cain." Let my reader ponder 
 it well. Let him see where this way begins, whither 
 it tends, and where it terminates. 
 
 How different the way of the man of faith ! Abel 
 felt and owned the curse ; he saw the stain of sin, 
 and, in the holy energy of faith, offered that which 
 met it, and met it thoroughly met it divinely. He 
 sought and found a refuge in God Himself; and in- 
 stead of building a city on the earth, he found but 
 a grave in its bosom. The earth, which on its sur- 
 
 * True, the Lord is using all those things for the furtherance of 
 His own gracious emits; and the Lord's servant can freely use 
 them also ; but this does not hinder our seeing the spirit Avhich 
 originates and characterizes them. 
 
78 GENESIS. 
 
 face displayed the genius and energy of Cain and 
 his family, was staine^ underneath with the blood of 
 a righteous man. Let the man of the world remem- 
 ber this ; let the man of God remember it ; let the 
 worldly-minded Christian remember it. The earth 
 which we tread upon is stained by the blood of the 
 Son of God. The very blood which justifies the 
 Church condemns the world. The dark shadow of 
 the cross of Jesus may be seen by the eye of faith, 
 looming over all the glitter and glare of this evanes- 
 cent world. "The fashion of this world passeth 
 away-" It will soon all be over, so far as the pres- 
 ent scene is concerned. "The way of Cain" will 
 be followed by "the error of Balaam," in its con- 
 summated form ; and then will come "the gainsay- 
 ing of Core"; and what then? "The pit" will 
 open its mouth to receive the wicked, and close it 
 again to shut them up in "blackness of darkness 
 forever." (Jude 13.) 
 
 In full confirmation of the foregoing lines, we 
 may run the eye over the contents of chapter v, and 
 find therein the humiliating record of man's weak- 
 ness, and subjection to the rule of death. He might 
 live for hundreds of years, and "beget sons and 
 daughters, but at last it must be recorded that "7te 
 died." "Death reigned from Adam to Moses." 
 And again, "It is appointed unto men once to die." 
 Man cannot get over this. He cannot, by steam, or 
 electricity, or anything else within the range of his 
 genius, disarm death of its terrible sting. He can- 
 not, by his energy, set aside the sentence of death, 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 79 
 
 although he may produce the comforts and luxuries 
 of life. 
 
 But whence came this strange and dreaded thing 
 death ? St. Paul gives us the answer, "By one 
 man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." 
 (Rom. v. 12.) Here we have the origin of death. 
 It came by sin. Sin snapped asunder the link which 
 bound the creature to the living God ; and, that be- 
 ing done, he was handed over to the dominion of 
 death, which dominion he had no power whatever to 
 shake off. And this, be it observed, is one of the 
 many proofs of the fact of man's total inability to 
 meet God. There can be no fellowship between 
 God and man, save in the power of life ; but man 
 is under the power of death; hence, on natural 
 grounds, there can be no fellowship. Life can have 
 no fellowship with death, no more than light with 
 darkness, or holiness with sin. Man must meet God 
 on an entirely new ground, and on a new principle, 
 even faith ; and this faith enables him to recognize 
 his own position as "sold under sin," and therefore 
 subject to death ; while, at the same time, it enables 
 him to apprehend God's character, as the dispenser 
 of a new life life beyond the power of death a 
 life which can never be touched by the enemy, nor 
 forfeited by us. 
 
 This it is which marks the security of the believ- 
 er's life. Christ is his life a risen, glorified Christ 
 a Christ victorious over everything that could be 
 against us. Adam's life was founded upon his own 
 obedience ; and, therefore, when he disobeyed, life: 
 
80 GENESIS. 
 
 was forfeited. But Christ, having life in Himself, 
 came down into this world, and fully met all the 
 circumstances of man's sin, in every possible form ; 
 and, by submitting to death, destroyed him who had 
 the power thereof, and, in resurrection, becomes the 
 life and righteousness of all who believe in His most 
 excellent name. 
 
 Now, it is impossible that Satan can touch this 
 life, either in its source, its channel, its power, its 
 sphere, or its duration. God is its source ; a risen 
 Christ, its channel; the Holy Ghost, its power; 
 heaven, its sphere ; and eternity, its duration. 
 Hence, therefore, as might be expected, to one 
 possessing this wondrous life, the whole scene is 
 changed ; and while, in one sense, it must be said, 
 "in the midst of life we are in death," yet, in 
 another sense, it can be said, "in the midst of death 
 we are in life." There is no death in the sphere 
 into which a risen Christ introduces His people. 
 How could there be ? Has not He abolished it ? It 
 cannot be an abolished and an existing thing at the 
 same time and to the same people ; but God's Word 
 tells us it is abolished. Christ emptied the scene of 
 death, and filled it with life ; and therefore it is not 
 death, but glory that lies before the believer. Death 
 is behind him, and behind him forever. As to the 
 future, it is all glory cloudless glory. True, it may 
 be his lot to "fall asleep" to "sleep in Jesus" 
 but that is not death, but "life in earnest." The 
 mere matter of departing to be with Christ cannot 
 alter the specific hope of the believer, which is, to 
 
CHAPTERS IV & V. 81 
 
 meet Christ in the air, to be with Him and like Him 
 forever. 
 
 Of this we have a very beautiful exemplification 
 in Enoch, who forms the only exception to the rule 
 of chapter v. The rule is, "he died" ; the excep- 
 tion is, "he should not see death." u By faith 
 Enoch was translated that he should not see death ; 
 and was not found, because God had translated him ; 
 for before his translation he had this testimony, that 
 he pleased God." (Heb. xi. 5.) Enoch was "the 
 seventh from Adam" ; and it is deeply interesting 
 to find that death Avas not suffered to triumph over 
 "the seventh" ; but that, in his case, God inter- 
 fered, and made him a trophy of His own glorious 
 victory over all the power of death. The heart re- 
 joices, after reading, six times, the sad record, "he 
 died," to find that the seventh did not die; and 
 when we ask, How w r as this? the answer is, "By 
 faith." Enoch lived in the faith of his translation, 
 and walked with God three hundred years. This 
 separated him, practically, from all around. To 
 walk with God must necessarily put one outside the 
 sphere of this world's thoughts. Enoch realized 
 this ; for, in his da}^, the spirit of the world was 
 manifested ; and then, too, as now, it was opposed 
 to all that was of God. The man of faith felt he 
 had naught to do with the world, save to be a patient 
 witness therein of the grace of God, and of coming 
 judgment. The sons of Cain might spend their 
 energies in the vain attempt to improve a cursed 
 world, but Enoch found a better world, and lived in 
 
82 GENESIS. 
 
 the power of it.* His faith was not given him to 
 improve the world, but to walk with God. 
 
 And, oh ! how much is involved in these three 
 words ' ' walked with God ' ' ! What separation and 
 self-denial ! what holiness and moral purity ! what 
 grace and gentleness ! what humility and tender- 
 ness ! and yet what zeal and energy ! What pa- 
 tience and long-suffering ! and yet what faithfulness 
 and uncompromising decision ! To walk with God 
 comprehends everything within the range of the 
 divine life, whether active or passive. It involves 
 the knowledge of God's character as He has revealed 
 it. It involves, too, the intelligence of the relation- 
 ship in which we stand to Him. It is not a mere 
 living by rules and regulations ; nor laying down 
 plans of action ; nor in resolutions to go hither and 
 thither, to do this or that. To walk with God is far 
 more than any or all of these things. Moreover, it 
 will sometimes carry us right athwart the thoughts 
 of men, and even of our brethren, if they are not 
 themselves walking with God. It may sometimes 
 bring against us the charge of doing too much ; at 
 other times, of doing too little ; but the faith that 
 enables one to "walk with God," enables him also 
 to attach the proper value to the thoughts of man. 
 
 Thus we have, in Abel and Enoch, most valuable 
 instruction as to the sacrifice on which faith rests, 
 and as to the prospect which hope now anticipates ; 
 
 * It is very evident that Enoch knew nothing whatever about 
 the mode of "making the best of both worlds." To him there 
 was but one world. Thus it should be with us. 
 
CHAPTEHS IV & V. 83 
 
 while, at the same time, the "walk with God" takes 
 in all the details of actual life which lie between 
 those two points. ' ' The Lord will give grace and 
 glory" ; and between the grace that has been, and 
 the glory that is to be, revealed, theue is the happy 
 assurance that "no good thing will He withhold 
 from them that walk uprightly." (Psalm Ixxxiv. 11.) 
 
 It has been remarked that "the cross and the 
 coming of the Lord form the termini of the Church's 
 existence," and these termini are prefigured in the 
 sacrifice of Abel and the translation of Enoch. The 
 Church knows her entire justification through the 
 death and resurrection of Christ, and she waits for 
 the day when He shall come and receive her to 
 Himself. She, "through the Spirit, waits for the 
 hope of righteousness by faith." (Gal. v. 5.) She 
 does not wait for righteousness, inasmuch as she, 
 by grace, has that already; but she waits for the 
 hope which properly belongs to the condition into 
 which she has been introduced. 
 
 My reader should seek to be clear as to this. 
 Some expositors of prophetic truth, from not seeing 
 the Church's specific place, portion and hope, have 
 made sad mistakes. They have, in effect, cast so 
 many dark clouds and thick mists around "the 
 bright and morning star," which is the proper hope 
 of the Church, that many saints, at the present 
 moment, seem unable to rise above the hope of the 
 God-fearing remnant of Israel, which is, to see 
 "the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His 
 wings." (Mai. iv.) Nor is this all. Very many 
 
84 GENESIS. 
 
 have been deprived of the moral power of the hope 
 of Christ's appearing, by being taught to look for 
 various events and circumstances previous to the 
 moment of His manifestation to the Church. The 
 restoration of the Jews, the development of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's image, the revelation of the man of 
 sin, all these things, it is maintained, must take 
 place ere Christ comes. That this is not true, might 
 be proved from numerous passages of New Testa- 
 ment scripture, were this the fitting place to adduce 
 them. 
 
 The Church, like Enoch, will be taken away from 
 the evil around and the evil to come. Enoch was 
 not left to see the world's evil rise to a head, and 
 the judgment of God poured forth upon it. He saw 
 not "the fountains of the great deep broken up," 
 nor "the windows of heaven opened." He was 
 taken away before any of these things occurred; 
 and he stands before the eye of faith as a beautiful 
 figure of those "who shall not all sleep, but shall all 
 be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
 eye." (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.) Translation, not death, 
 was the hope of Enoch; and as to the Church's 
 hope, it is thus briefly expressed by the apostle : 
 "To wait for His Son from heaven." (1 Thess. 1. 
 10.) This, the simplest and most unlettered Chris- 
 tian can understand and enjoy. Its power, too, he 
 can, in some measure, experience and manifest. 
 He may not be able to study prophecy very deeply, 
 but he can, blessed be God, taste the blessedness, 
 the reality, the comfort, the* power, the elevating 
 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 85 
 
 and separating virtue, of that celestial hope which 
 properly belongs to him as a member of that heav- 
 enly bod}- the Church ; which hope is not merely 
 to see "the Sun of Righteousness," how blessed 
 soever that may be in its place, but to see "the 
 bright and morning star." (Rev. ii. 28.) And as, 
 in the natural world, the morning star is seen, by 
 those who watch for it, before the sun rises, so 
 Christ, as the morning star, will be seen by the 
 Church before the remnant of Israel can behold the 
 beams of the Sun. 
 
 CHAPTERS VI IX. 
 
 TTTE have now arrived at a deeply-important and 
 strongly-marked division of our book. Enoch 
 has passed off the scene. His walk, as a stranger 
 on earth, has terminated in his translation to heaven. 
 He was taken away before human evil had risen to a 
 head, and, therefore, before the divine judgment 
 had been poured out. How little influence his 
 course and translation had upon the world, is mani- 
 fest from the first two verses of chapter^vi. "And 
 it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the 
 face of the earth, and daughters were born unto 
 them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of 
 men that they were fair ; and they took them wives 
 of all which they chose." 
 
86 GENESIS. 
 
 The mingling of that which is of God with that 
 which is of man, is a special form of evil, and a 
 very effectual engine, in Satan's hand, for marring 
 the testimony of Christ on the earth. This mingling 
 may frequently wear the appearance of something 
 very desirable ; it may often look like a wider pro- 
 mulgation of that which is of God a fuller and a 
 more vigorous outgoing of a divine influence a 
 something to be rejoiced in rather than to be de- 
 plored: but our judgment as to this will depend 
 entirely upon the point of view from which we con- 
 template it. If we look at it in the light of God's 
 presence, we cannot possibly imagine that an ad- 
 vantage is gained when the people of God mingle 
 themselves with the children of this world, or when 
 the truth of God is corrupted by human admixture. 
 Such is not the divine method of promulgating truth, 
 or of advancing the interests of those who ought to 
 occupy the place of witnesses for Him on the earth. 
 Separation from all evil is God's principle ; and this 
 principle can never be infringed without serious 
 damage to the truth. 
 
 In the narrative now before us, we see that the 
 union of the sons of God with the daughters of men 
 led to the most disastrous consequences. True, the 
 fruit of that union seemed exceedingly fair, in man's 
 judgment, as we read, "The same became mighty 
 men, which were of old, men of renown"; yet 
 God's judgment was quite different. He seeth not 
 as man seeth. His thoughts are not as ours. "God 
 saw that the wickedness of man was great in the/ 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 87 
 
 earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of 
 his heart was only evil continually." Such was 
 man's condition before God "evil only" "evil 
 continually." So much for the mingling of the holy 
 with the profane. Thus it must ever be. If the 
 holy seed will not maintain its purity, all must be 
 forfeited, as regards testimony on the earth. Satan's 
 first effort was, to frustrate God's purpose, by put- 
 ting the holy seed to death ; and when that failed, 
 he sought to gain his end by corrupting it. 
 
 Now, it is of the deepest moment that my reader 
 should clearly understand the aim, the character, 
 and the result of this union between ' ' the sons of 
 God" and "the daughters of men." There is 
 great danger, at the present day, of compromising 
 truth for the sake of union. This should be care- 
 fully guarded against. There can be no true union 
 attained at the expense of truth. The true Chris- 
 tian's motto should ever be, "Maintain truth at all 
 cost; if union can be promoted in this way, so 
 much the better, but maintain the truth." The 
 principle of expediency, on the contrary, may be 
 thus enunciated: "Promote union at all cost; if 
 truth can be maintained as well, so much the better, 
 but promote union." This latter principle can only 
 be carried out at the expense of all that is divine in 
 the way of testimony.* There can, evidently, be 
 
 * We should ever bear in mind, that "the wisdom which is from 
 above is first pure, then peaceable." (James iii. 17.) The wisdom 
 which is from beneath would put "peaceable" iirst, and there- 
 fore it can never be pure. 
 
 7 
 
88 GENESIS. 
 
 no true testimony where truth is forfeited ; and 
 hence, in the ease of the antidiluvian world, we see 
 that the unhallowed union between the holy and the 
 profane between that which was divine and that 
 which was human, only had the effect of bringing 
 the evil to a head, and then God's judgment was 
 poured out. 
 
 "The Lord said, 'I will destroy man.' " Nothing 
 less would do. There must be the entire destruction 
 of that which had corrupted God's way on the 
 earth. "The mighty men, and men of renown," 
 must all be swept away, without distinction. "All 
 flesh" must be set aside, as utterly unfit for God. 
 "The end of all flesh is come before Me." It was 
 not merely the end of some flesh ; no, it was all 
 corrupt in the sight of Jehovah all irrecoverably 
 bad. It had been tried, and found wanting; and 
 the Lord announces His remedy to Noah in these 
 words, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood." 
 
 Thus was Noah put in possession of God's thoughts 
 about the scene around him. The effect of the word 
 of God was, to lay bare the roots of all that which 
 man's eye might rest upon with complacency and 
 pride. The human heart might swell with pride, 
 and the bosom heave with emotion, as the eye ran 
 down along the brilliant ranks of men of art, men 
 of skill, "men of might," and "men of renown." 
 The sound of the harp and the organ might send a 
 thrill through the whole soul, while, at the same 
 time, the ground was cultivated, and man's necessi- 
 ties were provided for in such a way as to contradict 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 89 
 
 every thought in reference to approaching judgment. 
 But, oh! those solemn words, "7 will destroy"! 
 What a heavy gloom they would necessarily cast 
 over the glittering scene ! Could not man's genius 
 invent some way of escape? Could not "the mighty 
 man deliver himself by his much strength" ? Alas ! 
 no. There was one way of escape, but it was re- 
 vealed to faith, not to sight, not to reason, not to 
 imagination. 
 
 ' ' By faith Noah, being warned of God of things 
 not seen as yet, moved with fear \_svXa prjQsts], pre- 
 pared an ark to the saving of his house ; by the 
 which he condemned the world, and became heir of 
 the righteousness which is by faith." (Heb. xi. 7.) 
 The Word of God brings His light to shine upon all 
 that by which man's heart is deceived. It removes, 
 completely, the gilding with which the serpent covers 
 a vain, deceitful, passing world, over which hangs 
 the sword of divine judgment. But it is only 
 "faith" that will be "warned of God," when the 
 things of which He speaks are "not seen as yet." 
 Nature is governed by what it sees, it is governed 
 by its senses. Faith is governed by the pure Word 
 of God ; (inestimable treasure in this dark world !) 
 this gives stability, let outward appearances be what 
 they may. When God spoke to Noah of judgment 
 impending, there was no sign of it, it was "not 
 seen as yet" ; but the Word of God made it a 
 present reality to the heart that was enabled to 
 mix that Word with faith. Faith does not wait 
 to see a thing ere it believes, for "faith cometh 
 
90 GENESTS. 
 
 by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." 
 All that the man of faith needs, is to know that 
 God has spoken ; this imparts perfect certainty to 
 his soul. "Thus saith the Lord," settles everything. 
 A single line of sacred Scripture is an abundant 
 answer to all the reasonings and all the imaginations 
 of the human mind ; and when one has the Word of 
 God as the basis of his convictions, he may calmly 
 stand against the full tide of human opinion and 
 prejudice. It was the Word of God which sustained 
 the heart of Noah during his long course of service ; 
 and the same Word has sustained the millions of 
 God's saints from that day to this, in the face of 
 the world's contradiction. Hence, we cannot set too 
 high a value upon the Word of God. Without it, 
 all is dark uncertainty; with it, all is light and 
 peace. Where it shines, it marks out for the man of 
 God a sure and a blessed path ; where it shines not, 
 one is left to wander amid the bewildering mazes of 
 human tradition. How could Noah have "preached 
 righteousness," for one hundred and twenty years, 
 if he had not had the Word of God as the ground of 
 his preaching ? How could he have withstood the 
 scoffs and sneers of an infidel world ? How could 
 he have persevered in testifying of "judgment to 
 come," when not a cloud appeared on the world's 
 horizon ? Impossible. The Word of God was the 
 ground on which he stood, and "the Spirit of 
 Christ" enabled him to occupy, with holy decision, 
 that elevated and immovable ground. 
 
 And now, my beloved Christian reader, what else 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 91 
 
 have we wherewith to stand, in service for Christ, in 
 an evil day like the present ? Surely, nothing ; nor 
 do we want aught else. The Word of God, and the 
 Holy Ghost, by whom alone that Word can be un- 
 derstood, applied, or used, are all we want to equip 
 us perfectly to furnish us thoroughly "to all good 
 works," under whatever head those works may range 
 themselves. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) What rest for the 
 heart ! What relief from all Satan's imager}^, and 
 man's imaginations ! God's pure, incorruptible, 
 eternal Word ! May our hearts adore Him for the 
 inestimable treasure ! "Every imagination of the 
 thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually" ; 
 but God's Word was the simple resting-place of 
 Noah's heart. 
 
 "God said unto Noah, 'The end of all flesh is 
 come before Me. . . . Make thee an ark of gopher 
 wood.' ' Here was man's ruin and God's remedy. 
 Man had been allowed to pursue his career to the 
 utmost limit, to bring his principles and his wa} 7 s 
 to maturity. The leaven had worked and filled the 
 mass, the evil had reached its climax. "All flesh" 
 had become so bad that it could not be worse; 
 wherefore nothing remained but for God to destroy 
 it totally ; and, at the same time, to save all those 
 who should be found, according to His eternal coun- 
 sels, linked with "the eighth person" the only 
 righteous man then existing. This brings out the 
 doctrine of the cross in a very vivid manner. There 
 we find, at once, God's judgment of nature with all 
 its evil ; and, at the same time, the revelation of His 
 
92 GENESIS. 
 
 saving grace, in all its fullness, and in all its perfect 
 adaptation to those who have really reached the 
 lowest point of their moral condition, us judged by 
 Himself. "The day-spring from on high hath visited 
 us." (Luke i. 78.) Where? Just where ive are, as 
 sinners. God has come down to the very deepest 
 depths of our ruin. There is not a point in all the 
 sinner's state to which the light of that blessed day- 
 spring has not penetrated ; but if it has thus pene- 
 trated, it must, by virtue of what it is, reveal our 
 true character. The light must judge everything 
 contrary to itself; but, while it does so, it also 
 4 ' gives the knowledge of salvation through the re- 
 mission of sins." The cross, while it reveals God's 
 judgment upon "all flesh," reveals His salvation for 
 the lost and guilty sinner. Sin is perfectly judged 
 the sinner perfectly saved God perfectly revealed, 
 and perfectly glorified, in the cross. 
 
 If my reader will turn, for a moment, to the first 
 epistle of Peter, he will find much light thrown upon 
 this entire subject. At the third chapter, verse 18, 
 we read, "For Christ also hath once suffered for 
 sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us 
 to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quick- 
 ened by the Spirit : by which [Spirit] He went and 
 preached [through Noah] to the spirits [now] in 
 prison ; which once were disobedient, when the 
 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, 
 while the ark was being prepared, wherein few, that 
 is, eight souls, were saved through water [Sz vSaro?"] ; 
 to which the antitype \_avi -n -vTtor] baptism doth also 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 93 
 
 now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the 
 flesh, [as by water,]* but the answer of a good 
 conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ, who, having gone into heaven, is at the right 
 hand of God, angels and authorities and powers 
 being made subject to Him." 
 
 This is a most important passage. It sets the 
 doctrine of the ark and its connection with the death 
 of Christ very distinctly before us. As in the del- 
 uge, so in the death of Christ, all the billows and 
 waves of divine judgment passed over that which, 
 in itself, was without sin. The creation was buried 
 beneath the flood of Jehovah's righteous wrath ; and 
 the Spirit of Christ exclaims, "All Thy billows and 
 Thy waves have gone over Me." (Psalm xlii. 7.) 
 Here is a profound truth for the heart and con- 
 
 *It is impossible to over- estimate the wisdom of the Holy 
 Ghost, as seen in the way in which He treats the ordinance of 
 baptism, in the above remarkable passage. We know the evil use 
 which has been made of baptism, we know the false place it has 
 gotten in the thoughts of many, AVC know how that the efficacy, 
 which belongs only to the blood of Christ, has been attributed to 
 the water of baptism, we know how the regenerating grace of the 
 Holy Ghost has been transferred to water-baptism; and, with the 
 knowledge of all this, we cannot but be struck with the way in 
 which the Spirit of God guards the subject, by stating. that it is not 
 the mere washing away of the filth of the flesh, as by water, "but 
 the answer of a good conscience toward God," which "answer" 
 we get, not by baptism, how important soever it may be as an 
 ordinance of the kingdom, but "by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ," "who was delivei-ed for our ofl'ences, and raised again for 
 our justification." 
 
 Baptism, I need hardly say, as an ordinance of divine institution, 
 and in its divinely-appointed place, is most important and deeply 
 significant; but when we find men, in one way or another, putting 
 the figure in place of the substance, we are bound to expose the 
 work of Satan by the light of the Word of God. 
 
94 . GENESIS. 
 
 science of a believer. "All God's billows and 
 waves" passed over the spotless Person of the Lord 
 Jesus, when He hung upon the cross ; and, as a 
 most blessed consequence, not one of them remains 
 to pass over the person of the believer. At Calvary, 
 we see, in good truth, "the fountains of the great 
 deep broken up, and the windows of heaven opened." 
 "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy water- 
 spouts." Christ drank the cup, and endured the 
 wrath perfectly. He put Himself, judicially, under 
 the full weight of all His people's liabilities, and 
 gloriously discharged them. The belief of this gives 
 settled peace to the soul. If the Lord Jesus has 
 met all that could be against us, if He has removed 
 out of the way every hindrance, if He has put away 
 sin, if He has exhausted the cup of wrath and judg- 
 ment on our behalf, if He has cleared the prospect 
 of every cloud, should we not enjoy settled peace ? 
 Unquestionably. Peace is our unalienable portion. 
 To us belong the deep and untold blessedness, and 
 holy security, which redeeming love can bestow on 
 the righteous ground of Christ's absolutely accom- 
 plished work. 
 
 Had Noah any anxiety about the billows of divine 
 j udgment ? None whatever. How could he ? He 
 knew that tt dll tt had been poured forth, while he 
 himself was raised, by those very outpoured billows, 
 into a region of cloudless peace. He floated in 
 peace on that very water by which ' ' all flesh ' ' was 
 judged. He was put beyond the reach of judgment ; 
 and put there, too, by God Himself. He might 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 95 
 
 have said, in the triumphant language of Romans 
 viii, "If God be for us, who can be against us ?" 
 lie had been invited in by Jehovah Himself, as we 
 read, in chapter vii. 1, "Come thou and all thy 
 house into the ark" ; and when he had taken his 
 place there, we read, "the Lord shut him in." 
 Here, assuredly, was full and perfect security for all 
 within. Jehovah kept the door, and no one could 
 go in or out without Him. There was both a win- 
 dow and a door to the ark. The Lord secured, with 
 His own omnipotent hand, the door, and left Noah 
 the window from which he might look upward to the 
 place from whence all the judgment had emanated, 
 and see that no judgment remained for him. The 
 saved family could only look upward, because the 
 window was "above." (Chap. vi. 16.) They could 
 not see the waters of judgment, nor the death and 
 desolation which those waters had caused. God's 
 salvation the "gopher wood," stood between them 
 and all these things. They had only to gaze upward 
 into a cloudless heaven, the eternal dwelling-place 
 of the One who had condemned the world, and 
 saved them. 
 
 Nothing can more fully express the believer's per- 
 fect security in Christ than those words, "the Lord 
 shut him in." Who could open what God had shut? 
 None. The family of Noah were as safe as God 
 could make them. There was no power angelic, 
 human, or diabolical which could possibly burst 
 open the door of the ark, and let the waters in. 
 That door was shut by the self-same hand that had 
 
96 GENESIS. 
 
 opened the windows of heaven, and broken up the 
 fountains of the great deep. Thus Christ is spoken 
 of as the One ''that hath the key of David, He that 
 openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no 
 man openeth." (Rev. iii. 7.) He also holds in His 
 hand "the keys of hell and of death." (Rev. i. 18.) 
 None can enter the portals of the grave, nor go 
 forth therefrom, without Him. He has "all power 
 in heaven and on earth." He is "head over all 
 things to the Church," and in Him the believer is 
 perfectly secure. (Matt, xxviii. 18; Eph. i. 22.) 
 Who could touch Noah ? What wave could pene- 
 trate that ark which was ' ' pitched within and with- 
 out with pitch ' ' ? Just so now, who can touch those 
 who have, by faith, retreated into the shadow of the 
 cross ? Every enemy has been met and silenced 
 yes, silenced forever. The death of Christ has tri- 
 umphantly answered every demur; while, at the 
 same time, His resurrection is the satisfactory dec- 
 laration of God's infinite complacency in that work 
 which is, at once, the basis of His righteousness in 
 receiving us, and of our confidence in drawing nigh 
 unto Him. 
 
 Hence, therefore, the door of our Ark being se- 
 cured, by the hand of God Himself, nothing remains 
 for us but to enjoy the window ; or, in other words, 
 to walk in happy and holy communion with Him 
 who has saved us from coming wrath, and made us 
 heirs and expectants of coming glory. Peter speaks 
 of those who "are blind, and cannot see afar off, 
 and have forgotten that they were purged from their 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 97 
 
 old sins." (2 Peter i. 9.) This is a lamentable con- 
 dition for any to be in, and it is the sure result of 
 not cultivating diligent, prayerful communion with 
 Him who has eternally shut us in in Christ. 
 
 Let us, now, ere we proceed further with Noah's 
 history, glance, for a little, at the condition of those 
 to whom he had so long preached righteousness. 
 We have been looking at the saved, let us now look 
 at the lost, we have been thinking of those within 
 the ark, let us now look at those without. No doubt, 
 many an anxious look would be cast after the vessel 
 of mercy, as it rose with the water ; but, alas ! "the 
 door was shut" the day of grace was over the 
 time of testimony closed, and that forever, so far as 
 they were concerned. The same hand which had 
 shut Noah in had shut them out, and it was as im- 
 possible for those without to get in as it was for 
 those within to get out. The former were irrecover- 
 ably lost; the latter, effectually saved. The long- 
 suffering of God, and the testimony of His servant, 
 had both been slighted. Present things had en- 
 grossed them. "They did eat, they drank, they 
 married wives, and were given in marriage, until the 
 day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood 
 came and destroyed them all." (Luke xvii. 26, 27.) 
 There was nothing wrong in any of these things, 
 abstractedly looked at. The wrong was not in the 
 things done, but in the doers of them. Every one 
 of them might be done in the fear of the Lord, and 
 to the glory of His holy name, were they only done 
 in faith. But, alas ! they were not so done. The 
 
98 GENESIS. 
 
 Word of God was rejected. He told of judgment, 
 but they did not believe ; He spoke of sin and ruin, 
 but they were not convinced ; He spoke of a rem- 
 edy, but they would not give heed. They went on 
 with their own plans and speculations, and had no 
 room for God. They acted as if the earth belonged 
 to them, by a lease, forever. They forgot that there 
 was a clause of surrender. They thought not of 
 that solemn "until." God was shut out. "Every 
 imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only 
 evil continually," and hence, they could do nothing 
 right. They thought, spake and acted for themselves. 
 They did their own pleasure, and forgot God. 
 
 And, my reader, remember the words of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, how He said, "As it was in the days 
 of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of 
 Man." Some would have us to believe, that ere the 
 Son of Man appears in the clouds of heaven, this 
 earth shall be covered, from pole to pole, with a fair 
 mantle of righteousness. They would teach us to 
 look for a reign of righteousness and peace, as the 
 result of agencies now in operation ; but the brief 
 passage just quoted cuts up by the roots, in a mo- 
 ment, all such vain and delusive expectations. How 
 was it in the days of Noah ? Did righteousness 
 cover the earth as the waters cover the sea ? was 
 God's truth dominant ? was the earth filled with 
 the knowledge of the Lord ? Scripture replies, 
 "The earth was filled with violence." "All flesh 
 had corrupted His way on the earth." "The earth 
 also was corrupt before God." Well, then, "so shall 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 99 
 
 it be in the days of the Son of Man." This is plain 
 enough. "Righteousness" and "violence" are not 
 very much like each other ; neither is there any sim- 
 ilarity between universal wickedness and universal 
 peace. It only needs a heart subject to the Word, 
 and freed from the influence of preconceived opin- 
 ions, in order to understand the true character of 
 the days immediately preceding "the coming of the 
 Son of Man." Let not my reader be led astray. 
 Let him reverently bow to Scripture. Let him look 
 at the condition of the world "in the days before 
 the flood" ; and let him bear in mind, that "as" it 
 was then, "so" shall it be at the close of this pres- 
 ent period. This is most simple most conclusive. 
 There was nothing like a state of universal right- 
 eousness and peace then, neither shall there be any- 
 thing like it by and by. 
 
 No doubt, man displayed abundant energy in 
 making the world a comfortable and an agreeable 
 place for himself; but that was a very different thing 
 from making it a suitable place for God. So, also, 
 at this present time ; man is as busy as he can be 
 in clearing the stones off the pathway of human life, 
 and making it as smooth as possible ; but this is not 
 "making straight in the desert a highway for our 
 God" ; nor is it making "the rough places smooth" 
 that all flesh may see the salvation of Jehovah. 
 Civilization prevails; but civilization is not right- 
 eousness. The sweeping and garnishing are going 
 forward ; but it is not in order to fit the house for 
 Christ, but for Antichrist. The wisdom of man is 
 
100 GENESIS. 
 
 put forth in order to cover, with the folds of his own 
 drapery, the blots and blemishes of humanity ; but, 
 though covered, they are not removed ! they are 
 underneath, and will, ere long, break out in more 
 hideous deformity than ever. The painting of ver- 
 milion will soon be obliterated, and the carved cedar 
 wood destroyed. The dams by which man sedu- 
 lously seeks to stem the torrent of human wretched- 
 ness must soon give way before the overwhelming 
 force thereof. All the efforts to confine the physical, 
 the mental, and the moral degredation of Adam's 
 posterity within those inclosures which human be- 
 nevolence, if 3'ou please, has devised, must, in the 
 sequel, prove abortive. The testimony has gone 
 forth, "The end of all flesh has come before Me." 
 It has not come before man, but it has come before 
 God ; and, albeit, the voice of the scoffers may be 
 heard, saying, u Where is the promise of His com- 
 ing? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things con- 
 tinue as they were from the beginning of creation" ; 
 yet the moment is rapidly hastening on, when those 
 scoffers will get their answer. u The day of the 
 Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which 
 the heavens shall pass away with a great noise-, and 
 the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
 also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt 
 up." (2 Peter iii. 4-10.) This, my reader, is the 
 answer to the intellectual scoffs of the children of 
 this world, but not to the spiritual affections and 
 expectations of the children of God. These latter, 
 thank God, have a totally different prospect, even to 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 101 
 
 meet the Bridegroom in the air, before evil shall 
 have reached its culminating point, and therefore 
 before the divine judgment shall be poured forth 
 thereon. The Church of God looks not for the 
 burning up of the world, but for the arising of "the 
 bright and morning Star." 
 
 Now, in whatever way we look at the future from 
 whatever point of view we contemplate it, whether 
 the object which presents itself to the soul's vision 
 be the Church in glory, or the world in flames the 
 coming of the Bridegroom, or the breaking in of the 
 thief the morning Star, or the scorching sun the 
 translation, or the deluge, we must feel the unspeak- 
 able importance of attending to God's present testi- 
 mony in grace to lost sinners. "Now is the accepted 
 time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 
 vi. 2.) "God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
 unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
 them." (2 Cor. v. 19.) He is reconciling now; He 
 will be judging by and by: it is all grace now; it 
 will be all wrath then: He is pardoning sin now, 
 through the cross ; He will punish it then, in hell, 
 and that forever. He is sending out a message of 
 purest, richest, freest grace. He is telling sinners 
 of an accomplished redemption through the precious 
 sacrifice of Christ. He is declaring that all is done. 
 He is waiting to be gracious. "The long-suffering 
 of our Lord is salvation." "The Lord is not slack 
 concerning His promise, as some men count slack- 
 ness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing 
 that any should perish, but that all should come to 
 
102 GENESIS. 
 
 repentance." (2 Peter iii.) All this makes the pres- 
 ent moment one of peculiar solemnity. Unrningled 
 grace declared ! unmingled wrath impending ! How 
 solemn ! how deeply solemn ! 
 
 And, then, with what profound interest should we 
 mark the unfolding of the divine purposes ! Scrip- 
 ture sheds its light upon these things ; and such a 
 light too, that W T C need not, as another has said, 
 "vacantly stare on passing events, as those who 
 know not where they are and whither they are go- 
 ing." We should accurately know our bearings. 
 We should fully understand the direct tendency of 
 all the principles now at work. We should be well 
 aware of the vortex toward which all the tributary 
 streams are rapidly flowing on. Men dream of a 
 golden age ; they promise themselves a millennium 
 of the arts and sciences ; they feed upon the thought 
 that "to-morrow shall be as this day, and more 
 abundant." But, oh! how utterly vain are all those 
 thoughts, dreams and promises. Faith can see the 
 clouds gathering thickly around the world's horizon. 
 Judgment is coming, the day of wrath is at hand. 
 The door will soon be shut. The "strong delusion" 
 will soon set in, with terrible intensity. How need- 
 ful, then, it is to raise a warning voice to seek, by 
 faithful testimony, to counteract man's pitiable self- 
 complacency. True, in so doing, we shall be ex- 
 posed to the charge which Ahab brought against 
 Micaiah, of always prophesying evil ; but no matter 
 for that. Let us prophesy what the Word of God 
 prophesies, and let us do this simply for the purpose 
 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 103 
 
 of "persuading men." The Word of God only 
 removes from beneath our feet a hollow foundation, 
 for the purpose of placing instead thereof a founda- 
 tion which can never be moved. It only takes away 
 from us a delusive hope, to give us, instead, "a 
 hope which makcth not ashamed." It takes away 
 "a broken reed," to give us "the rock of ages." 
 It sets aside "a broken cistern, which can hold no 
 water," to set in its place "the fountain of living 
 waters." This is true love, it is God's love. He 
 will not cry, " peace, peace, when there is no peace," 
 nor "daub with untempered mortar." He would 
 have the sinner's heart resting sweetly in His own 
 eternal Ark of safety, enjoying present communion 
 with Himself, and fondly cherishing the hope, that, 
 when all the ruin, the desolation, and the judgment, 
 have passed away, it shall rest with Him in a re- 
 stored creation. 
 
 We shall now turn to Noah, and contemplate him 
 in a new position. We have seen him building the 
 ark, we have seen him in the ark, and we shall now 
 view him going forth of the ark, and taking his place 
 in the new world.* "And God remembered Noah." 
 
 * I would here mention, for my reader's prayerful consideration, 
 a thought very familiar to the minds of those who have specially 
 given themselves to the study of what is called " dispensational 
 truth " It has reference to Enoch and Noah. The former was 
 taken away, as we have seen, before the judgment came ; whereas 
 the latter was carried through the judgment. Now, it is thought 
 that Enoch is a ligure of the Church, who shall be taken away be- 
 fore human evil reaches its climax, and before the divine judgment 
 falls thereon. Noah, on the other hand, is a ligure of the remnant 
 of Israel, who shall be brought through the deep waters of afflic- 
 tion, and through the fire of judgment, and led into the full enjoy- 
 
104 GENESIS. 
 
 The strange work of judgment being over, the saved 
 family, and all in association with them, come into 
 remembrance. " God made a wind to pass over the 
 earth ; and the waters assuaged ; the fountains also 
 of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, 
 and the rain from heaven was restrained." The 
 beams of the sun now begin to act upon a world 
 that had been baptized with a baptism of judgment. 
 Judgment is God's ''strange work." He delights 
 not in, though He is glorified by, it. Blessed be His 
 name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judg- 
 ment, and enter that of mercy, because He delights 
 in mercy. 
 
 "And it came to pass, at the end of forty days, 
 that Noah opened the window of the ark which he 
 had made : and he sent forth a raven, which went 
 forth, to and fro, until the waters were dried up from 
 off the earth." The unclean bird made its escape, 
 and found, no doubt, a resting-place on some float- 
 ing carcass. It sought not the ark again. Not so 
 the dove, "She found no rest for the sole of her 
 foot, and she returned unto him into the ark . . . 
 and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark : 
 and the dove came in to him in the evening ; and, 
 lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf, plucked off." 
 Sweet emblem of the renewed mind, which, amid 
 the surrounding desolation, seeks and finds its rest 
 and portion in Christ ; and not only so, but also lays 
 
 mciit of millennial bliss, in virtue of God's everlasting covenant. 
 I may add, that I quite receive this thought in reference to those 
 two Old Testament fathers. I consider that it has the full support 
 of the general scope and analogy of holy Scripture. 
 
 . 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 105 
 
 hold of the earnest of the inheritance, and furnishes 
 the blessed proof that judgment has passed away, 
 and that a renewed earth is coming fully into view. 
 The carnal mind, on the contrary, can rest in any- 
 thing and everything but Christ. It can feed upon 
 all uncleanness. "The olive leaf" has no attraction 
 for it. It can find all it needs in a scene of death, 
 and hence is not occupied with the thought of a new 
 world and its glories ; but the heart that is taught 
 and exercised by the Spirit of God, can only rest 
 and rejoice in that in which He rests and rejoices. 
 It rests in the Ark of His salvation "until the times 
 of the restitution of all things." May it be thus 
 with you and me, beloved reader, may Jesus be 
 the abiding rest and portion of our hearts, that so 
 we may not seek them in a world which is under the 
 judgment of God. The dove went back to Noah, 
 and waited for his time of rest : and we should ever 
 find our place with Christ, until the time of His ex- 
 altation and glory in the ages to come. "He that 
 shall come will come, and will not tarry." All we 
 want, as to this, is a little patience. May God 
 direct our hearts into His love, and into "the pa- 
 tience of Christ." 
 
 "And God spake unto Noah, saying, 'Go forth 
 of the ark.' " The same God that had said, "Make 
 thee an ark," and "Come thou into the ark," now 
 says, ' 'Go forth of the ark. " " And Noah went forth 
 .... and builded an altar unto the Lord." All 
 is simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith 
 and the worship of faith: both go together. The 
 
106 GENESIS. 
 
 altar is erected where, just before, all had been a 
 scene of death and judgment. The ark had borne 
 Noah and his family safely over the waters of judg- 
 ment. It had carried him from the old into the new 
 world, where he now takes his place as a worshiper.* 
 And, be it observed, it was "unto the Lord" he 
 erected his altar. Superstition would have wor- 
 shiped the ark, as being the means of salvation. It 
 is ever the tendency of the heart to displace God by 
 His ordinances. Now, the ark was a very marked 
 
 *It is interesting to look at this entire subject of the ark and 
 deluge, in connection with that most important and deeply signifi- 
 cant ordinance of baptism. A truly baptized person, that is, one 
 who, as the apostle says, "obeys from the heart that type of doc- 
 trine to which he is delivered," is one who has passed from the old 
 world into the new, in spirit and principle, and by faith. The water 
 rolls over his person, signifying that his old man is buried, that his 
 place in nature is ignored that his old nature is entirely set aside, 
 in short, that he is a dead man. When he is plunged beneath the 
 water, expression is given to the fact that his name, place and ex- 
 istence in nature are put out of sight, that the flesh, with all that 
 pertained thereto its sins, its iniquities, its liabilities is buried in 
 the grave of Christ, and never can come into God's sight again. 
 
 Again, when he rises up out of the water, expression is given to 
 the truth, that he only comes up as the possessor of a new life, 
 even the resurrection-life of Christ. If Christ had not been raised 
 from the dead, the believer could not come up out of the water, 
 but should remain buried beneath its surface, as the simple expres- 
 sion of the place which righteously belongs to nature. But, inas- 
 much as Christ rose from the dead, in the power of a new life, 
 having entirely put away our sins, we also come up out of the 
 water; and, in so doing, set forth the fact that we are put, by the 
 grace of God, and through the death of Christ, in full possession 
 of a new life, to which divine righteousness inseparably attaches. 
 " We are buried with Him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ 
 was raised fi'om the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we 
 also should walk in newness of life." (See Rom. vi. and Col. ii. 
 passim. Comp. also 1 Peter iii. 18-22.) All this makes the institu- 
 tion of baptism one of immense importance, and pregnant with 
 meaning. 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 107 
 
 and manifest ordinance ; but Noah's faith passed 
 beyond the ark to the God of the ark ; and hence, 
 when he stepped out of it, instead of casting back a 
 lingering look at it, or regarding it as an object of 
 worship or veneration, he built an altar unto the 
 Lord, and worshiped Him ; and the ark is never 
 heard of again. 
 
 This teaches us a very simple, but, at the same 
 time, a very seasonable lesson. The moment the 
 heart lets slip the reality of God Himself, there is 
 no placing a limit to its declension ; it is on the 
 highway to the grossest forms of idolatry. In the 
 judgment of faith, an ordinance is only valuable as 
 it conveys God, in living power, to the soul, that is 
 to say, so long as faith can enjoy Christ therein, ac- 
 cording to His own appointment. Beyond this, it is 
 worth just nothing; and if it, in the smallest de- 
 gree, comes between the heart and His precious 
 work and His glorious Person, it ceases to be an 
 ordinance of God, and becomes an instrument of 
 the devil. In the judgment of superstition, the or- 
 dinance is everything, and God is shut out ; and the 
 name of God is only made use of to exalt the ordi- 
 nance, and give it a deep hold of the human heart, 
 and a mighty influence over the human mind. Thus 
 it was that the children of Israel worshiped the bra- 
 zen serpent. That which had once been a channel 
 of blessing to them, because used of God, became, 
 when their hearts had departed from the Lord, an 
 object of superstitious veneration ; and Hezekiak 
 had to break it in pieces, and call it "a piece of 
 
108 GENESIS. 
 
 brass." In itself, it was only a "Nehushtan," but 
 when used of God, it was a means of rich blessing. 
 Now, faith owned it to be what divine revelation said 
 it was ; but superstition, throwing, as it ever does, 
 divine revelation overboard, lost the real purpose of 
 God in the thing, and actually made a god of the 
 thing itself. (See 2 Kings xviii. 4.) 
 
 And, my reader, is there not a deep lesson in all 
 this for the present age ? I am convinced there is. 
 We live in an age of ordinances. The atmosphere 
 which enwraps the professing church, is impregnated 
 with the elements of a traditionary religion, which 
 robs the soul of Christ and His divinely full salva- 
 tion. It is not that human traditions boldly deny 
 that there is such a person as Christ, or such a thing 
 as the cross of Christ : w r ere they to do so, the eyes 
 of many might be opened. However, it is not thus. 
 The evil is of a far more insidious and dangerous 
 character. Ordinances are added to Christ and the 
 work of Christ. The sinner is not saved by Christ 
 alone, but by Christ and ordinances. Thus he is 
 robbed of Christ altogether ; for it will assuredly be 
 found that Christ and ordinances wall prove, in the 
 sequel, to be ordinances and not Christ. This is a 
 solemn consideration for all who stand up for a re- 
 ligion of ordinances. "If ye be circumcised, Christ 
 shall profit you nothing." It must be Christ wholly, 
 or not at all. The devil persuades men that they are 
 honoring Christ when they make much of His ordi- 
 nances ; whereas, all the while, he knows full well 
 that they are, in reality, setting Christ entirely aside, 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 109 
 
 and deifying the ordinance. I would only repeat 
 here a remark which I have made elsewhere, namely, 
 that superstition makes everything of the ordinance ; 
 infidelity, profanity, and mysticism, make nothing of 
 it ; faith uses it according to divine appointment. 
 
 But I have already extended this section far be- 
 yond the limit which I had prescribed for it. I shall 
 therefore close it with a hasty glance at the contents 
 of chapter ix. In it we have the new covenant, 
 under which creation was set, after the deluge, to- 
 gether with the token of that covenant. " And God 
 blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, 4 Be 
 fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.' ' 
 Observe, God's command to man, on his entrance 
 into the restored earth, was to re-fill that earth, not 
 parts of the earth, but the earth. He desired to 
 have men dispersed abroad, over the face of the 
 world, and not relying upon their own concentrated 
 energies. We shall see, in chapter xi, how man 
 neglected all this. 
 
 The fear of man is now lodged in the heart of 
 every other creature. Henceforth, the service ren- 
 dered by the inferior orders of creation to man, 
 must be the constrained result of "fear and dread.'' 
 
 In life and in death, the lower animals were to be 
 at the service of man. All creation is delivered, by 
 God's everlasting covenant, from the fear of a sec- 
 ond deluge. Judgment is never again to take that 
 shape. "The world that then was, being overflowed 
 with water, perished ; but the heavens and the earth, 
 which are now, by the same word are kept in store, 
 
110 GENESIS. 
 
 reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and 
 perdition of ungodly men." The earth was once 
 purged with water ; and it will be again purged by 
 fire ; and in this second purgation none will escape, 
 save those who have fled for refuge to Him who has 
 passed through the deep waters of death, and met 
 the fire of divine j udgment. 
 
 "And God said, 'This is the token of the cove- 
 nant .... I do set My bow in the cloud . . . 
 and I will remember My covenant.' " The whole 
 creation rests, as to its exemption from a second 
 deluge, on the eternal stability of God's covenant, 
 of which the bow is the token ; and it is happy to 
 bear .in mind, that when the bow appears, the eye of 
 God rests upon it ; and man is cast not upon his 
 own imperfect and most uncertain memory, but upon 
 God's. "I," says God, "will remember." How 
 sweet to think of what God will, and what He will 
 not, remember ! He will remember His covenant, 
 but He will not remember His people's sins. The 
 cross, which ratifies the former, puts away the latter. 
 The belief of this gives peace to the troubled heart 
 and uneasy conscience. 
 
 "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud 
 over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the 
 cloud.'' 1 Beautiful and most expressive emblem ! 
 The beams of the sun, reflected from that which 
 threatens judgment, tranquilize the heart, as telling 
 of God's covenant, God's salvation, and God's re- 
 membrance. Precious, most precious sunbeams ! 
 deriving additional beauty from the very cloud 
 
CHAPTERS VI IX. 1 1 1 
 
 which reflects them. How forcibly does this bow in 
 the cloud remind us of Calvary. There we see a 
 cloud indeed a dark, thick, heavy cloud of judg- 
 ment, discharging itself upon the sacred head of the 
 Lamb of God a cloud so dark, that even at mid- 
 day ''there was darkness over all the. earth." But, 
 blessed be God, faith discerns, in that heaviest cloud 
 that ever gathered, the most brilliant and beauteous 
 bow that ever appeared ; for it sees the bright beams 
 of God's eternal love darting through the awful 
 gloom and reflected in the cloud. It hears, too, the 
 words, "It is finished," issuing from amid the dark- 
 ness ; and in those words it recognizes the perfect 
 ratification of God's everlasting covenant, not only 
 with creation, but with the tribes of Israel and the 
 Church of God. 
 
 The last paragraph of this chapter presents a hu- 
 miliating spectacle. The lord of creation fails to 
 govern himself, "And Noah began to be a hus- 
 bandman, and he planted a vineyard ; and he drank 
 of the wine, and was drunken ; and he was un- 
 covered within his tent." What a condition for 
 Noah, the only righteous man, the preacher of right- 
 eousness, to be found in ! Alas ! what is man ? 
 Look at him where you will, and you see only fail- 
 ure. In Eden, he fails; in the restored earth, he 
 fails ; in Canaan, he fails ; in the Church, he fails ; 
 in the presence of millennial bliss and glory, ho 
 fails ; he fails everywhere, and in all things : there 
 is no good thing in him. Let his advantages be 
 ever so great, his privileges ever so vast, his position 
 
112 GENESIS.* 
 
 ever so desirable, he can only exhibit failure and sin. 
 We must, however, look at Noah in two ways, 
 namely, as a type, and as a man ; and while the 
 type is full of beauty and meaning, the man is full 
 of sin and foil}' ; yet the Holy Ghost has written 
 these words: "Noah was a just man, and perfect 
 in his generation; and Noah walked with God." 
 Divine grace had covered all his sins, and clothed 
 his person with a spotless robe of righteousness. 
 Though Noah exposed his nakedness, God did not 
 see it, for He looked not at him in the weakness of 
 his own condition, but in the full power of divine 
 and everlasting righteousness. Hence we may see 
 how entirely astray how totally alienated from God 
 and His thoughts Ham was, in the course he 
 adopted ; he evidently knew nothing of the blessed- 
 ness of the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and his 
 sin covered. On the contra^, Shem and Japheth 
 exhibit, in their conduct, a fine specimen of the 
 divine method of dealing with human nakedness ; 
 wherefore they inherit a blessing, whereas Ham 
 inherits a curse. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THIS section of our book records the generations 
 of Noah's three sons, noticing, especially, 
 Nirnrod, the founder of the kingdom of Babel, or 
 Babylon, a name which occupies a very prominent 
 place on the page of inspiration. Babylon is a well- 
 
 
CHAPTER X. 113 
 
 known name a well-known influence. From the 
 tenth chapter of Genesis, clown to the eighteenth 
 chapter of Revelation, Babylon again and again 
 appears before us, and always as something decid- 
 edly hostile to those who occupy, for the time being, 
 the position of public testimony for God. Not that 
 we are to look upon the Babylon of Old Testament 
 scripture as identical with the Babylon of the Apoc- 
 alypse. By no means. I believe the former is a 
 city ; the latter, a system ; but both the city and 
 the system exert a powerful influence against God's 
 people. Hardly had Israel entered upon the wars of 
 Canaan, when "a Babylonish garment" brought de- 
 filement and sorrow, defeat and confusion, into the 
 host. This is the earliest record of Babylon's perni- 
 cious influence upon the people of God ; but every 
 student of Scripture is aware of the place which 
 Babylon gets throughout the entire history of Israel. 
 This would not be the place to notice, in detail, 
 the various passages in which this cit}^ is intro- 
 duced. I -would only remark here, that whenever 
 God has a corporate witness on the earth, Satan has 
 a Babylon to mar and corrupt that witness. When 
 God connects His name with a city on the earth, 
 then Babylon takes the form of a city ; and when 
 God connects His name with the Church, then Bab- 
 ylon takes the form of a corrupt religious system, 
 called "the great whore," "the mother of abomina- 
 tions," etc. In a word, Satan's Babylon is always 
 seen as the instrument moulded and fashioned by 
 his hand, for the purpose of counteracting the divine 
 
1 14 GENESIS. 
 
 operations, whether in Israel of old, or the Church 
 now. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel and 
 Babylon are seen, as it were, in opposite scales, 
 when Israel is up, Babylon is down ; and when 
 Babylon is up, Israel is down. Thus, when Israel 
 had utterly failed as Jehovah's witness, "the king 
 of Babylon broke his bones," and swallowed him 
 up. The vessels of the house of God, w r hich ought 
 to have remained in the city of Jerusalem, were 
 carried away to the city of Babylon. But Isaiah, 
 in his sublime prophecy, leads us onward to the 
 opposite of all this. He presents, in most magnifi- 
 cent strains, a picture, in which Israel's star is in 
 the ascendant, and Babylon entirely sunk. u And 
 it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall 
 give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, 
 and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made 
 to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against 
 the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the op- 
 pressors ceased ! the golden city ceased ! . . . . 
 since thou art laid down, no feller is come up 
 against us." (Isaiah xiv. 3-8.) 
 
 Thus much as to the Babylon of the Old Testa- 
 ment. Then, as to the Babylon of Revelation, my 
 reader has only to turn to the seventeenth and eight- 
 eenth chapters of that book to' see her character and 
 end. She is presented in marked contrast with the 
 bride, the Lamb's wife ; and as to her end, she is 
 cast as a great millstone into the sea ; after which 
 we have the marriage of the Lamb, with all its ac- 
 companying bliss and glory. 
 
CHAPTER X. 115 
 
 However, I could not attempt to pursue this most 
 interesting subject here : I have merely glanced at it 
 in connection with the name of Nimrod. I feel as- 
 sured that my reader will find himself amply repaid 
 for any trouble he may take in the close examination 
 of all those scriptures in which the name of Babylon 
 is introduced. We shall now return to our chapter. 
 
 "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a 
 mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter 
 before the Lord : wherefore it is said. ' Even as 
 Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.' And 
 the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, 
 and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." 
 Here, then, we have the character of the founder of 
 Babylon. He was "a mighty one in the earth" 
 "a mighty hunter before the Lord." Such was the 
 origin of Babylon ; and its character, throughout 
 the entire book of God, remarkably corresponds 
 therewith. It is always seen as a mighty influence 
 in the earth, acting in positive antagonism to every- 
 thing which owes its origin to heaven ; and it is not 
 until this Babylon has been totally abolished that 
 the cry is heard, amid the hosts above, "Alleluia ! 
 for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Then, all 
 Babylon's mighty hunting will be over forever, 
 whether it be its hunting of wild beasts to subdue 
 them, or its hunting of souls to destroy them. All 
 its might and all its glory, all its pomp and pride, 
 its wealth and luxury, its light and joy, its glitter 
 and glare, its powerful attractions and wide-spread 
 influence, shall have passed away forever. She shall 
 
116 GENESIS. 
 
 be swept with the besom of destruction, and plunged 
 in the darkness, the horror and desolation, of an 
 everlasting night. "How long, O Lord?" 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THIS is a chapter of very deep interest to the 
 spiritual mind. It records two great facts, 
 namely, the building of Babel, and the call of Abra- 
 ham ; or, in other words, man's effort to provide 
 for himself, and God's 'provision made known to 
 faith, man's attempt to establish himself in the 
 earth, and God's calling a man out of it, to find his 
 portion and his home in heaven. 
 
 "And the whole earth was of one language and 
 of one speech. And it came to pass, as they jour- 
 neyed from the east, that they found a plain in the 
 land of Shinar ; and they dwelt there. . . . And 
 they said, 4 Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower 
 whose top may reach unto heaven ; and let us make 
 us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the 
 face of the whole earth.' ' The human heart ever 
 seeks a name, a portion, and a centre in the earth. 
 It knows nothing of aspirations after heaven, heav- 
 en's God, or heaven's glory. Left to itself, it will 
 ever find its objects in this lower world, it will ever 
 "build beneath the skies." It needs God's call, 
 God's revelation, and God's power, to lift the heart 
 of man above this present world, for man is a grov- 
 
 
CHAPTER XI. 117 
 
 eling creature alienated from heaven, and allied to 
 earth. In the scene now before us, there is no ac- 
 knowledgment of God, no looking up to, or wait- 
 ing on, Him ; nor was it the thought of the human 
 heart to set up a place in which God might dwell- 
 to gather materials for the purpose of building a 
 habitation for Him alas ! no ; His name is never 
 once mentioned. To make a name for himself was 
 man's object on the plain of Shinar; and such has 
 been his object ever since. Whether we contemplate 
 man on the plain of Shinar, or on the banks of the 
 Tiber, we find him to be the same self-seeking, self- 
 exulting, God-excluding creature throughout. There 
 is a melancholy consistency in all his purposes, his 
 principles and his ways, he ever seeks to shut out 
 God and exalt himself. 
 
 Now, in what light soever we view this Babel con- 
 federacy, it is most instructive to see in it the early 
 display of man's genius and energies, regardless of 
 God. In looking down along the stream of human 
 history, we may easily perceive a marked tendency 
 to confederacy, or association. Man seeks, for the 
 most part, to compass his great ends in this way. 
 Whether it be in the way of philanthropy, religion, 
 or politics, nothing can be done without an associa- 
 tion of men regularly organized. It is well to see 
 this principle, well to mark its incipient working 
 to see the earliest model which the page of inspira- 
 tion affords of a human association, as exhibited on 
 the plain of Shinar, in its design, its object, its at- 
 tempt, its overthrow. If we look around us at the 
 
118 GENESIS. 
 
 present moment, we see the whole scene filled with 
 associations. To name them were useless, for they 
 are as numerous as are the purposes of the human 
 heart. But it is important to mark, that the first of 
 all these was the Shinar association, for the estab- 
 lishment of the human interests, and the exaltation 
 of the human name, objects which may well be set 
 in competition with any that engage the attention 
 of this enlightened and civilized age. But, in the 
 judgment of faith, there is one grand defect, namely, 
 God is shut out ; and to attempt to exalt man with- 
 out God, is to exalt him to a dizzy height, only that 
 he may be dashed down into hopeless confusion and 
 irretrievable ruin. The Christian should only know 
 one association, and that is, the Church of the living 
 God, incorporated by the Holy Ghost, who came 
 down from heaven as the witness of Christ's glorifi- 
 cation, to baptize believers into one body, and con- 
 stitute them God's dwelling-place. Babylon is the 
 very opposite of this, in every particular ; and she 
 becomes at the close, as we know, "the habitation 
 of devils." (See Rev. xviii.) 
 
 u And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, 
 and the}' have all one language ; and this they begin 
 to do: and now nothing will be restrained from 
 them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let 
 us go down, and there confound their language, that 
 they may not understand one another's speech.* So 
 the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon 
 the face of all the earth ; and they left off to build 
 the city." Such was the end of man's first associa- 
 
CHAPTER XI. "119 
 
 tion. Thus it will be to the end. " Associate your- 
 selves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces 
 .... gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in 
 pieces ; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in 
 pieces." (Isaiah viii. 9.) How different it is when 
 God associates men ! In the second chapter of 
 Acts, we see the blessed One coming down, in infi- 
 nite grace, to meet man, in the veiy circumstances 
 in which his sin had set him. The Holy Ghost 
 enabled the messengers of grace to deliver their 
 message in the very tongue wherein each was born. 
 Precious proof this, that God desired to reach man's 
 heart with the sweet story of grace ! The law from 
 the fiery mount was not thus promulgated. When 
 .God was telling what m'an ought to be, He spoke in 
 one tongue ; but when He was telling what He Him- 
 self was, He spoke in many. Grace broke through 
 the barrier which man's pride and folly had caused 
 to be erected, in order that every man might hear 
 and understand the glad tidings of salvation "the 
 wonderful works of God." And to what end was 
 this ? Just to associate men on God's ground, 
 round God's centre, and on God's principles. It 
 was to give them, in reality, one language, one 
 centre, one object, one hope, one life. It was to 
 gather them in such a way as that they never should 
 be scattered or confounded again ; to give them a 
 name and a place which should endure forever ; to 
 build for them a tower and a city which should not 
 only have their top reaching to heaven, but their 
 imperishable foundation laid in heaven by the om- 
 9 
 
120- GENESIS. 
 
 nipotent hand of God Himself. It was to gather 
 them around the glorious Person of a risen and 
 highly exalted Christ, and unite them all in one 
 grand design of magnifying and adoring Him. 
 
 If my reader will turn to the seventh chapter of 
 Revelation, he will find, at the close thereof, "All 
 nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," 
 standing round the Lamb, and, with one voice, as- 
 cribing all praise to Him. Thus the three scriptures 
 may be read in most interesting and profitable con- 
 nection. In Genesis xi, God gives various tongues 
 as an expression of His judgment ; in Acts ii, He 
 gives various tongues as an expression of grace ; 
 and in Rev. vii, we see all those tongues gathered 
 round the Lamb in glory. How much better it is, 
 therefore, to find our place in God's association than 
 in man's ! The former ends in glory, the latter in 
 confusion ; the former is carried forward by the 
 energy of the Holy Ghost, the latter by the unhal- 
 lowed energy of fallen man ; the former has for its 
 object the exaltation of Christ, the latter has for its 
 object the exaltation of man, in some way or other. 
 
 Finally, I would say, that all who sincerely desire 
 to know the true character, object and issue of hu- 
 man associations, should read the opening verses of 
 Genesis xi ; and, on the other hand, all who desire 
 to know the excellency, the beauty, the power, the 
 enduring character of divine association, should look 
 at that hoty, living, heavenly corporation, which is 
 called, in the New Testament, the Church of the liv- 
 ing God the body of Christ the bride of the Lamb. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 121 
 
 May the Lord enable us to look at and apprehend 
 all these things, in the power of faith ; for only in 
 this way can they profit our souls. Points of truth 
 however interesting, scriptural knowledge however 
 profound and extensive, biblical criticism however 
 accurate and valuable, may all leave the heart bar- 
 ren and the affections cold. We want to find Christ 
 in the Word ; and, having found Him, to feed on 
 Him by faith. This would impart freshness, unction, 
 power, vitality, energy and intensity, all of which 
 we deeply stand in need of in this day of freezing 
 formalism. What is the value of a chilling ortho- 
 doxy without a living Christ, known in all His 
 powerful, personal attractions ? No doubt, sound 
 doctrine is immensely important, every faithful 
 servant of Christ will feel himself imperatively called 
 upon to "hold fast the form of sound words" ; 
 but, after all, a living Christ is the very soul and 
 life the joints and marrow the sinews and arter- 
 ies the essence and substance of sound doctrine. 
 May we, by the power of the Holy Ghost, see more 
 beauty and preciousness in Christ, and thus be 
 weaned from the spirit and principles of Babylon. 
 
 We shall, God willing, consider the remainder of 
 chapter xi in the next section. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE book of Genesis is, for the most part, taken 
 up with the history of seven men, namely, 
 Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and 
 Joseph. There is, I doubt not, a specific line of 
 truth brought out in connection with each of those 
 men. Thus, for example, in Abel we have the great 
 foundation- truth of man's coming to God, in the 
 way of atonement atonement apprehended by faith. 
 In Enoch, we have the proper portion and hope of 
 the heavenly family ; while Noah presents to us the 
 destiny of the earthly family. Enoch was taken to 
 heaven before the judgment came ; Noah was carried 
 through the judgment into a restored earth. Thus, 
 in each, w^e have a distinct character of truth, and, 
 as a consequence, a distinct phase of faith. My 
 reader can pursue the subject fully in connection 
 with the eleventh of Hebrews ; and I feel assured 
 he will find much interest and profit in so doing. 
 We shall now proceed with our immediate theme, 
 namely, the call of Abraham. 
 
 By comparing chapter xii. 1, chapter xi. 31, with 
 Acts vii. 2-4, we learn a truth of immense practical 
 value to the soul. u The Lord had said unto Abram, 
 4 Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
 and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will 
 show thee.'" (Chap. xii. 1.) Such was the com- 
 munication made to Abraham a communication of 
 
CHAPTER XII. 123 
 
 the most definite character, designed of God to act 
 upon Abraham's heart and conscience. "The God 
 of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when 
 lie was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 
 and said unto him, 'Get thee out of thy country, 
 and from thy kindred, and come into a land that I 
 shall show thee.' Then went he forth out of the 
 land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran (or 
 Haran) ; and from 'thence, ivhen his father was dead, 
 he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell.'* 
 (Acts vii. 2-4.) The result of this communication 
 is given in chapter xi. 31, "And Terah took Abram 
 his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, 
 and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife ; 
 and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chal- 
 dees, to go into the land of Canaan : and they came 
 
 unto Haran, and dwelt there and Terah 
 
 died in Haran." 
 
 From all 'these passages taken together, w r e learn 
 that the ties of nature hindered the full response of 
 Abraham's soul to the call of God. Though called 
 to Canaan, he nevertheless tarried at Haran till na- 
 ture's tie was snapped by death, and then, With un- 
 impeded step, he made his way to the place to which 
 "the God of glory" had called him. This is full of 
 meaning. The influences of nature are ever hostile 
 to the full realization and practical power of "the 
 calling of God." We are sadly prone to take lower 
 ground than that which the divine call would set 
 before us. It needs great simplicity and integrity 
 of faith to enable the soul to rise to the height of 
 
124 GENESIS. 
 
 God's thoughts, and to make our own of that which 
 He reveals. 
 
 The apostle's prayer (Eph.i. 15-22.) demonstrates 
 how fully he, by the Holy Ghost, entered into the 
 difficulty with which the Church would ever have to 
 contend, in seeking to apprehend "the hope of God's 
 catting, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance 
 in the saints;" because, evidently, if we fail to 
 apprehend the calling, we cannot "walk worthy" 
 thereof. I must know where I am called to go, be- 
 fore I can go thither. Had Abraham's soul been 
 fully under the power of the truth that "God's call- 
 ing" was to Canaan, and that there, too, lay "his 
 inheritance," he could not have remained in Charran. 
 And so with us. If we are led by the Holy Ghost 
 into the understanding of the truth, that we are 
 called with a heavenly calling, that our home, our 
 portion, our hope, our inheritance, are all above, 
 "where Christ sitteth at God's right hand," we 
 could never be satisfied to maintain a standing, seek 
 a name, or lay up an inheritance, on the earth. 
 The two things are incompatible: this is the true 
 way to look at the matter. TJie heavenly calling is 
 not an empty dogma, a powerless theory, nor a crude 
 speculation. It is either a divine reality, or it is ab- 
 solutely nothing. Was Abraham's call to Canaan a 
 speculation ? was it a mere theory about which he 
 might talk or argue, while, at the same time, he con- 
 tinued in Charran ? Assuredly not. It was a truth 
 a divine truth a powerfully practical truth. He 
 was called to Canaan, and God could not possibly 
 
CHAPTER XII. 125 
 
 sanction his stopping short thereof. Thus it was 
 with Abraham, and thus it is with us. If we would 
 enjoy the divine sanction and the divine presence, 
 we must be seeking, by faith, to act upon the divine 
 call. That is to say, we must seek to reach, in ex- 
 perience, in practice, and moral character, the point 
 to which God has called us, and that point is, full 
 fellowship with His own Son fellowship with Him 
 in His rejection below, fellowship with Him in His 
 acceptance above. , 
 
 But as, in Abraham's case, it was death that broke 
 the link by which nature bound him to Charran, so, 
 in our case, it is death which breaks the link by 
 which nature ties us down to this present world. 
 We must realize the truth that we have died in 
 Christ, our Head and Representative, that our 
 place in nature, and in the world, is amongst the 
 things that were, that the cross of Christ is to us 
 what the Red Sea was to Israel, namely, that which 
 separates us forever from the land of death and 
 judgment. Thus only shall we be able to walk, in 
 any measure, "worthy of the calling wherewith w r e 
 are called" our high, our holy, our heavenly call- 
 ing our "calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 And here I would dwell, for a little, on the cross 
 of Christ, in its two grand, fundamental phases ; or, 
 in other words, the cross as the basis of our worship 
 and our discipleship, our peace and our testimony, 
 our relation with God and our relation with the 
 world. If, as a convicted sinner, I look at the cross 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, I behold in it the everlast- 
 
126 GENESIS. 
 
 ing foundation of my peace. I see my "sin" put 
 away, as to the root or principle thereof, and I see 
 my "sins" borne. I see God to be, in very deed, 
 "for me," and that, moreover, in the very condition 
 in. which my convicted conscience tells me I am. 
 The cross unfolds God as the sinner's Friend, it 
 reveals Him in that most wondrous character, as the 
 Righteous Justifier of the most ungodly sinner. 
 Creation never could do this: providence never 
 could do this. Therein I may se God's power, His 
 majesty, and His wisdom: but what if all these 
 things should be ranged against me ? Looked at in 
 themselves, abstractedly, they w T ould be so, for I am 
 a sinner; and power, majesty, and wisdom, could 
 not put away my sin, nor justify God in receiving me. 
 The introduction of the cross, however, changes 
 the aspect of things entirely. There I find God 
 dealing with sin in such a manner as to glorify Him- 
 self infinitely. There I see the magnificent display 
 and perfect harmony of all the divine attributes. I 
 see love, and such love as captivates and assures my 
 heart, and weans it, in proportion as I realize it, 
 from every other object. I see wisdom, and such 
 wisdom as baffles devils and astonishes angels. I 
 see power, and such power as bears down all oppo- 
 sition. I see holiness, and such holiness as repulses 
 sin to the very furthest point of the moral universe, 
 and gives the most intense expression of God's ab- 
 horrence thereof that could possibly be given. I see 
 grace, and such grace as sets the sinner in the very 
 presence of God yea, puts him into His bosom. 
 
CHAPTKR 
 
 Where could I see all these thift^^tyijta^tbe cross 
 Nowhere else. Look where you please, and y>i 
 cannot find aught* that so blessedly combines those 
 two great points, namely, " glory to God in the 
 highest," and "on earth peace." 
 
 How precious, therefore, is the cross, in this its 
 first phase, as the basis of the sinner's peace, the 
 basis of his worship, and the basis of his eternal 
 relationship with the God who is there so blessedly 
 and so gloriously revealed ? How precious to God, 
 as furnishing Him with a righteous ground on which 
 to go in the full display of all His matchless perfec- 
 tions, and in His most gracious dealings with the 
 sinner ! So precious is it to God, that, as a recent 
 writer has well remarked, "All that Pie has said all 
 that He has done, from the very beginning, indicates 
 that it was ever uppermost in His heart. And no 
 wonder ! His dear and well-beloved Son was to 
 hang there, between heaven and earth, the object of 
 all the shame and suffering that men and devils 
 could heap upon Him, because He loved to do His 
 Father's will, and redeem the children of His grace. 
 It will be the grand centre of attraction, as the full- 
 est expression of His love, throughout eternity." 
 
 Then, as the basis of our practical discipleship 
 and testimony, the cross demands our most profound 
 consideration. In this aspect of it, I need hardly 
 say, it is as perfect as in the former. The same 
 cross which connects me with God, has separated 
 me from the world. A dead man is, evidently, done 
 with the world ; and hence, the believer, having died 
 
128 GENESIS. 
 
 in Christ, is done with the world ; and, having risen 
 with Christ, is connected with God, in the power of 
 a new life a new nature. Beingf thus inseparably 
 linked with Christ, he, of necessity, participates in 
 His acceptance with God, and in His rejection by 
 the world. The two things go together. The for- 
 mer makes him a worshiper and a citizen in heaven, 
 the latter makes him a witness and a stranger on 
 .earth. That brings him inside the veil: this puts 
 him outside the camp. The one is as perfect as the 
 other. If the cross has come between me and my 
 sins, it has just.as really come between me and the 
 world. In the former case, it puts me into the place 
 of peace with God ; in the latter, it puts me into the 
 place of hostility with the world, i. e., in a moral 
 point of view ; though, in another sense, it makes 
 me the patient, humble witness of that precious, 
 unfathomable, eternal grace which is set forth in the 
 cross. 
 
 Now the believer should clearly understand, and 
 rightly distinguish between, both the above phases 
 of the cross of Christ. He should not profess to 
 enjoy the one, .while he refuses to enter into the 
 other. If his ear is open to hear Christ's voice 
 within the vail, it should be open also to hear His 
 voice outside the camp; if he enters into the 
 atonement which the cross has accomplished, he 
 should also realize the rejection which it necessarily 
 involves. The former flows out of the part which 
 God had in the cross ; the latter, out of the part 
 which man had therein. It is our happy privilege, 
 
CHAPTER XII. 129 
 
 not only to be done with our sins, but to be done 
 with tlTe world also. All this is involved in the doc- 
 trine of the cross. Well, therefore, might the apostle 
 say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world 
 is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Paul 
 looked upon the world as a thing which ought to be 
 nailed to the cross ; and the world, in having cruci- 
 fied Christ, had crucified all who belonged to Him. 
 Hence there is a double crucifixion, as regards the 
 believer and the world ; and were this fully entered 
 into, it would prove the utter impossibility of ever 
 amalgamating the two. Beloved reader, let us 
 deeply, honestly, and prayerfully ponder these 
 things ; and may the Holy Ghost give us the ability 
 to enter into the full practical power of both the 
 phases of the cross of Christ. 
 
 We shall now return to our theme. 
 
 We are not told how long Abraham tarried at 
 Haran ; yet God graciously waited on His servant 
 until, freed from nature's clog, he could fully obey 
 His command. There was, however, no accommo- 
 dation of that command to the circumstances of 
 nature. This would never do. God loves His serv- 
 ants too well to deprive them of the full blessedness 
 of entire obedience. There was no fresh revelation 
 to Abraham's soul during the time of his sojourn in 
 Htiran. It is well to see this. We must act up to 
 the light already communicated, and then God will 
 give us more. "To him that hath shall more be 
 given," this is God's principle. Still, we must re- 
 
130 GENESIS. 
 
 member that God will never drag us along the path 
 of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly 
 lack the moral excellency which characterizes all 
 the ways of God. He does not drag, but draw, us 
 along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness 
 in Himself; and if we do not see that it is for our 
 real advantage to break through all the barriers of 
 nature, in order to respond to God's call, we forsake 
 our own mercies. But, alas ! our hearts little enter 
 into this. We begin to calculate about the sacri- 
 fices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of 
 bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as 
 knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded 
 in our ears. 
 
 There is much true blessing to the soul in every 
 step of obedience ; for obedience is the fruit of faith, 
 and faith puts us into living association and com- 
 munion with God Himself. Looking at obedience 
 in this light, we can easily sec how distinctly it is 
 marked off, in every feature of it, from legality. 
 This latter sets a man, with the entire burden of his 
 sins on him, to serve God by keeping the law ; 
 hence, the soul is kept in constant torture, and, so 
 far from running in the path of obedience, it has not 
 even taken the very first step. True obedience, on 
 the contrary, is simply the manifestation or outflow 
 of a new nature, communicated in grace. To this 
 new nature God graciously imparts precepts for its 
 guidance ; and it is perfectly certain that the divine 
 nature, guided by the divine precepts, can never, by 
 any possibility, resolve itself into legality. What 
 
CHAPTER XII. 131 
 
 constitutes legality, is, the old nature taking up 
 God's precepts and assaying to carry them out. To 
 attempt to regulate man's fallen nature, by God's 
 pure and holy law, is as useless and absurd as any- 
 thing can be. How could fallen nature breathe an 
 atmosphere so pure ? Impossible. Both the atmos- 
 phere and the nature must be divine. 
 
 But not only does the blessed God impart a divine 
 nature to the believer, and guide that nature by His 
 heavenly precepts, He also sets before it suited hopes 
 and expectations. Thus, in Abraham's case, "the 
 God of glory appeared unto him." And for what 
 purpose ? To set before his soul's vision an attract- 
 ive object "a land that / will show thee." This 
 was not compulsion, but attraction. God's land 
 was, in the judgment of the new nature the judg- 
 ment of faith far better than Ur, or Charran : and 
 albeit, he had not seen the land, yet, inasmuch as it 
 was God's land, faith judged it to be worth having, 
 and not only worth having, but also fully worth the 
 surrender of present things. Hence, we read, "by 
 faith Abraham, when he was called to go put into a 
 place which he should after receive as an inheritance, 
 obeyed ; and he went out, not knowing whither he 
 went." That is to say, "he walked by faith, not by 
 sight." Though he had not seen with his eyes, he 
 believed with his heart, and faith became the great 
 moving spring in his soul. Faith rests on a far more 
 solid ground than the evidence of our senses, and 
 that is, the Word of God. Our senses may deceive 
 us, but God's Word never can, 
 
132 GENESIS. 
 
 Now, the entire truth of the divine nature, to- 
 gether with the precepts which guide, and the hopes 
 which animate, it the whole of the divine doctrine 
 respecting these things, is completely thrown over- 
 board by the system of legalism. The legalist 
 teaches that we must surrender earth in order to 
 get heaven. But how can fallen nature surrender 
 that to which it is allied ? How can it be attracted 
 by that in which it sees no charms ? Heaven has 
 no charms for nature ; yea, it is the very last place 
 it would like to be found in. Nature has no taste 
 for heaven, its occupations, or its occupants. Were 
 it possible for nature to find itself there, it would be 
 miserable. Thus, then, nature has no ability to 
 surrender earth, and no desire to get heaven. True, 
 it would be glad to escape hell and its ineffable tor- 
 ment, gloom and misery ; but the desire to escape 
 hell, and the desire to get heaven, spring from two 
 very different sources. The former may exist in the 
 old nature ; the latter can only be found in the new. 
 Were there no "lake of fire," and no "worm" in 
 hell, nature would not so shrink from it. The same 
 principle holds good in reference to all of nature's 
 pursuits and desires. The legalist teaches that we 
 must give up sin before we can get righteousness. 
 But nature cannot give up sin ; and as to righteous- 
 ness, it absolutely hates it. True, it would like a 
 certain amount of religion ; but it is onl} r with the 
 idea that religion will preserve it from hell fire. It 
 does not love religion because of its introducing the 
 soul to the present enjoyment of God and His ways. 
 
 
CHAPTER XII. 133 
 
 How different from all this miserable system of 
 legalism, in every phase thereof, is "the gospel of 
 the glory of the blessed God ' ' ! This gospel reveals 
 God Himself coming down in perfect grace, and 
 putting away sin by the sacrifice of the cross ; put- 
 ting it away, in the most absolute manner, on the 
 ground of eternal righteousness, inasmuch as Christ 
 suffered for it, having been made sin for us. And 
 not only is God seen putting away sin, but also im- 
 parting a new life, even the risen life of His own 
 risen, exalted, and glorified Son ; which life every 
 true believer possesses, in virtue of being linked, in 
 God's eternal counsels, with Him who was nailed to 
 the cross, but is now on the throne of the Majesty 
 in the heavens. This nature, as we have remarked, 
 He graciously guides by the precepts of His holy 
 Word, applied in power by the Holy Ghost. He 
 also animates it by the presentation of indestructible 
 hopes. He reveals, in the distance, "the hope of 
 glory ' ' " a city which hath foundations ' ' ' ' a bet- 
 ter country, that is, a heavenly" the "many man- 
 sions" of the Father's house on high "golden 
 harps" "green palms" and "white robes" "a 
 kingdom which cannot be moved" everlasting as- 
 sociation with Himself, in those regions of bliss and 
 light, where sorrow and darkness can never enter 
 the unspeakable privilege of being led, throughout 
 the countless ages of eternity, "beside the still 
 waters, and through the green pastures" of redeem- 
 ing love. How different is all this from the legalist's 
 notion ! Instead of calling upon me to educate and 
 
134 GENESIS. 
 
 manage, by the dogmas of systematic religion, an 
 irremediably corrupt nature, in order that thereby I 
 may surrender an earth that I love, and attain to a 
 heaven which I hate, He, in infinite grace, and on 
 the ground of Christ's accomplished sacrifice, be- 
 stows upon me a nature which can enjoy heaven, 
 and a heaven for that nature to enjoy ; and not only 
 a heaven, but Himself the unfailing spring of all 
 heaven's joy. 
 
 Such is God's most excellent way. Thus He dealt 
 with Abraham, thus He dealt with Saul of Tarsus, 
 thus He deals with us. The God of glory showed 
 Abraham a better country than Ur or Charran. He 
 showed Saul of Tarsus a glory so bright, that it 
 closed his eyes to all earth's brightest glories, and 
 caused him to count them all "but dung," that He 
 might win that blessed One w r ho had appeared to 
 him, and whose voice had spoken to his inmost soul. 
 He saw a heavenly Christ in glory ; and, throughout 
 the remainder of his course, notwithstanding the 
 weakness of the earthen vessel, that heavenly Christ 
 and that heavenly glory engrossed his whole soul. 
 
 "And Abram passed through the land unto the 
 place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the 
 Canaanite was then in the land." The presence of 
 the Canaanite in God's land would necessarily prove 
 a trial to Abraham. It would be a demand upon 
 his faith and hope, an exercise of heart, a trial of 
 patience. He had left Ur and Charran behind, and 
 come into the country of which ' ' the God of glory ' ' 
 had spoken to him, and there he finds "the Canaan- 
 
CHAPTER XII. l.'>5 
 
 itc." But there, too, he finds the Lord, "And 
 the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, 'Unto 
 thy seed will I give this land.' ' The connection 
 between the two statements is beautiful and touch- 
 ing. 
 
 "The Canaanite was then in the land," and lest 
 Abraham's eye should rest upon the Canaanite, the 
 present possessor of the land, Jehovah appears to 
 him as the One who was going to give the land to 
 him and to his seed forever. Thus Abraham was 
 taken up with the Lord, and not with the Canaanite. 
 This is full of instruction for us. The Canaanite in 
 the land is the expression of the power of Satan ; 
 but, instead of being occupied with Satan's power 
 to keep us out of the inheritance, we are called to 
 apprehend Christ's power to bring us in. "We 
 wrestle not with flesh and blood, .... but with 
 spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies." The very 
 sphere into which we are called is the sphere of our 
 conflict. Should this terrify us ? By no means. 
 We have Christ there a victorious Christ, in whom 
 we are "more than conquerors." Hence, instead 
 of indulging "a spirit of fear," we cultivate a spirit 
 of worship. "And there builded he an altar unto 
 the Lord, who appeared unto him." "And he re- 
 moved from thence unto a mountain on the east of 
 Bethel, and pitched his tent." The altar and the 
 tent give us the two great features of Abraham's 
 character. A worshiper of God, a stranger in the 
 world most blessed characteristics ! Having no- 
 thing on earth having our all in God. Abraham 
 10 
 
136 GENESIS. 
 
 had "not so much as to set his foot upon ; " but he 
 had God to enjoy, and that was enough. 
 
 However, faith has its trials, as well as its answers. 
 It is not to be imagined that the man of faith, hav- 
 ing pushed out from the shore of circumstances, 
 finds it all smooth and easy sailing. By no means. 
 Again and again, he is called to encounter rough 
 seas and stormy skies ; but it is all graciously de- 
 signed to lead him into deeper and more matured 
 experience of what God is to the heart that confides 
 in Him. Were the sky always without a cloud, and 
 the ocean without a ripple, the believer would not 
 know so well the God with whom he has to do ; 
 for, alas ! we know how prone the heart is to mis- 
 take the peace of circumstances for the peace of 
 God. When everything is going on smoothly and 
 pleasantry, our property safe, our business pros- 
 perous, our children and servants cariying them- 
 selves agreeably, our residence comfortable, our 
 health excellent, everything, in short, just to our 
 mind, how apt we are to mistake the peace which 
 reposes upon such circumstances, for that peace 
 which flows from the realized presence of Christ. 
 The Lord knows this ; and therefore He comes in, 
 in one way or another, and stirs up the nest, that is, 
 if we are found nestling in circumstances, instead 
 of in Himself. 
 
 But, again, we are frequently led to judge of the 
 Tightness of a path by its exemption from trial, and 
 vise versa. This is a great mistake. The path of 
 obedience may often be found most trying to flesh 
 
CHAPTER XII. 137 
 
 and blood. Thus, in Abraham's ease, he was not 
 only called to encounter the Canaanite, in the place 
 to which God had called him, but there was also "a 
 famine in the land." Should he, therefore, have 
 concluded that he was not in his right place ? As- 
 suredly not. That would have been to judge accord- 
 ing to the sight of his eyes, the very thing which 
 faith never does. No doubt it was a deep trial to 
 the heart, an inexplicable puzzle to nature ; but to 
 faith it was all plain and eas}\ When Paul was 
 called into Macedonia, almost the first thing he had 
 to encounter was the prison at Philippi. This, to 
 a heart out of communion, would have seemed a 
 death-blow to the entire mission. But Paul never 
 questioned the rightness of his position ; he was 
 enabled to "sing praises" in the midst of it all, as- 
 sured that everything was just as it should be : and 
 so it was ; for in the prison of Philippi was one of 
 God's vessels of mercy, who could not, humanly 
 speaking, have heard the gospel, had not the preach- 
 ers of it been thrust into the very place where he 
 was. The devil was made, in spite of himself, the 
 instrument of sending the gospel to the ears of one 
 of God's elect. 
 
 Now, Abraham should have reasoned in the same 
 way in reference to the famine. He was in the very 
 place in which God had set him ; and, evidently, he 
 received no direction to leave it. True, the famine 
 was there ; and, moreover, Egypt was at hand, offer- 
 ing deliverance from pressure ; still the path of 
 God's servant was plain. It is better to starve in 
 
138 GENESIS. . 
 
 Canaan, if it should be so, than live in luxury in 
 Egypt, it is better far to suffer in God's path, than 
 be at ease in Satan's, it is better to be poor with 
 Christ, than rich without Him. "Abraham had 
 sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, 
 and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels." 
 Substantial proofs, the natural heart would doubt- 
 less say, of the Tightness of his step in going down 
 to Egypt. But, ah ! he had no altar no commun- 
 ion. Egypt was not the place of God's presence. 
 He lost more than he gained by going thither. This 
 is ever the case. Nothing can ever make up for the 
 loss of our communion with God. Exemption from 
 temporary pressure, and the accession of the great- 
 est wealth, are but poor equivalents for what one 
 loses by diverging a hair's breadth from the straight 
 path of obedience. How many of us can add our 
 amen to this ! How many, in order to avoid the 
 trial and exercise connected with God's path, have 
 slipped aside into the current of this present evil 
 world, and thereby brought leanness and barrenness, 
 heaviness and gloom, into their souls ! It may be 
 they have, to use the common expression, "made 
 money," increased their store, obtained the world's 
 favor, been "entreated well" by its Pharaohs, got- 
 ten a name and a position amongst men;, but are 
 these a proper equivalent for joy in God, commun- 
 ion, liberty of heart, a pure, uncondemning con- 
 science, a thankful, worshiping spirit, vigorous 
 testimony, and effectual service ? Alas ! for the 
 man that can think so. And yet all the above in- 
 
CHAPTER XII. 139 
 
 comparable blessings have been often sold for a 
 little ease, a little influence, a little mone}'. 
 
 Christian reader, let us watch against the ten- 
 dency to slip aside from the narrow, yet safe, the 
 sawe^'mes-rough, yet aZ;a?/s-pleasant, path of sim- 
 ple, whole-hearted obedience. Let ns keep guard 
 jealous, careful guard over "faith and a pure 
 conscience," for which nothing can compensate. 
 Should trial come, let us, instead of turning aside 
 into Egypt, wait on God ; and thus the trial, instead 
 of proving an occasion of stumbling, will prove an 
 opportunity for obedience. Let us, when tempted 
 to slip into the course of the world, remember Him 
 "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might 
 deliver us from this present evil world, according to 
 the will of God and our Father." (Gal. i. 4.) If 
 such was His love for us, and such His sense of the 
 true character of this present world, that He gave 
 Himself in order to deliver us from it. shall we deny 
 Him by plunging again into that from which His 
 cross has forever delivered us ? May God Almighty 
 forbid ! May He keep us in the hollow of His hand, 
 and under the shadow of His wings, until we see 
 Jesus as He is, and be like Him, and with Him 
 forever. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE opening of this chapter presents to us a sub- 
 ject of immense interest to the heart, namely, 
 the true character of divine restoration. When the 
 child of God has, in any way, declined in his spirit- 
 ual condition, and lost his communion, he is in great 
 clanger, when conscience begins to work, of failing 
 in the apprehension of divine grace, and of stopping 
 short of the proper mark of divine restoration. 
 Now, we know that God does everything in a way 
 entirely worthy of Himself. Whether He creates, 
 redeems, converts, restores, or provides, He can 
 only act like Himself. What is worthy of Himself 
 is, ever and only, His standard of action. This is 
 unspeakably happy for us, inasmuch as we would 
 ever seek to "limit the Holy One of Israel;" and 
 in nothing are we so prone to limit Him as in His 
 restoring grace. In the case now before us, we see 
 that Abraham was not only delivered out of Egypt, 
 but brought back "unto the place where his tent 
 had been at the beginning, .... unto the place 
 of the altar which he had made there at the first : 
 and there Abraham called on the name of the Lord." 
 Nothing can satisfy God, in reference to a wanderer 
 or backslider, but his being entirely restored. We, 
 in the self-righteousness of our hearts, might imag- 
 ine that such an one should take a lower place than 
 that which he had formerly occupied ; and so he 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 141 
 
 should, were it a question of his merit or his char- 
 acter ; but inasmuch as it is altogether a question 
 of grace, it is God's prerogative to fix the standard 
 of restoration ; and His standard is set forth in the 
 following passage: "If thou wilt return, O Israel, 
 return to Me." It is thus that God restores, and it 
 would be unworthy of Himself to do anything else. 
 He will either not restore at all, or else restore in 
 such a way as to magnify and glorify the riches of 
 His grace. Thus, when the leper was brought back, 
 he was actually conducted "to the door of the tab- 
 ernacle of the congregation;" when the prodigal 
 returned, he was set down at the table with his 
 father ; when Peter was restored, he was able to 
 stand before the men of Israel and say, "Ye denied 
 the Holy One and the Just" the very thing which 
 he had done himself, under the most aggravated 
 circumstances. In all these cases, and many more 
 which might be adduced, we see the perfectness of 
 God's restoration. He always brings the soul back 
 to Himself, in the full power of grace, and the full 
 confidence of faith. "If thou wilt return, return 
 to Me." "Abraham came unto the place where his 
 tent had been at the beginning." 
 
 Then, as to the moral effect of divine restoration, 
 it is most deeply practical. If legalism gets its 
 answer in the character of the restoration, antinomi- 
 anism gets its answer in the effect thereof. The re- 
 stored soul will have a very deep and keen sense of 
 the evil from which it has been delivered, and this 
 will be evidenced by a jealous, prayerful, holy, and 
 
142 GENESIS. 
 
 circumspect spirit. We are not restored in order 
 that we may the more lightly go and sin again, but 
 rather that we may "go and sin no more." The 
 deeper my sense of the grace of divine restoration, ' 
 the deeper will be my sense of the holiness of it also. 
 This principle is taught and established throughout 
 all Scripture, but especially in two well-known pas- 
 sages, namely, Psalms xxiii. 3, and 1 John i. 9, 
 "He restoreth my soul : He leadetli me in the paths 
 of righteousness for His name's sake." And, again, 
 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to 
 forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
 righteousness." The proper path for a divinely- 
 restored, soul, is "the path of righteousness." In 
 Other 'words, having tasted divine grace, \ve walk in 
 righteousness. To talk of grace while walking in 
 unrighteousness, is, as the apostle says, to turn 
 "the grace of our God into lasciviousness." If 
 "grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal 
 life," it also manifests itself in righteousness, in the 
 outflow of that life. The grace that forgives us our 
 sins, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Those 
 things must never be separated. When taken to- 
 gether, they furnish a triumphant answer to the 
 legalism and antinomianism of the human heart. 
 
 But there was a deeper trial for Abraham's heart 
 than even the famine, namely, that arising from the 
 company of one who evidently was not walking in 
 the energy of personal faith, nor in the realization 
 of personal responsibility. It seems plain that Lot 
 was, from the very beginning, borne onward rather 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 143 
 
 by Abraham's influence and example, than by his 
 own faith in God. This is a very common case. If 
 we look down along the history of the people of 
 God, we can easily see how that in every great 
 movement produced by the Spirit of God, certain 
 individuals have attached themselves thereto who 
 were not personally participators of the power which 
 had produced the movement. Such persons go on 
 for a time, either as a dead weight upon the testi- 
 mony, or an active hindrance to it. Thus, in Abra- 
 ham's case, the Lord called him to leave his kindred ; 
 but he brought his kindred with him. Terah re- 
 tarded him in his movement, until death took him 
 out of the way : Lot followed him somewhat further, 
 until "the lusts of other things" overpowered him, 
 and he entirely broke down. 
 
 The same thing is observable in the great move- 
 ment of Israel out of Egypt. U A mixed multitude" 
 followed them, and caused much defilement, weak- 
 ness and sorrow ; for we read, in Numbers xi, "The 
 mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: 
 and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, 
 'Who shall give us flesh to eat.' " So, also, in the 
 early days of the Church, and not only so, but in 
 every revival which has taken place therein down to 
 the present day, many have been acted upon by 
 various influences, which, not being divine, proved 
 evanescent ; and the persons so acted upon, sooner 
 or later gave way, and found their proper level. 
 Nothing will endure but that which is of God. I 
 must realize the link between me and the living God ; 
 
144: GENESIS. 
 
 I must know myself as one called of Him into the 
 position which I occupy, else I shall have no stabil- 
 it}^, and exhibit no consistency therein. It will not 
 do to follow in the track of other people merely be- 
 cause it is their track. God will graciously give 
 each a path to walk in, a sphere to move in, and a 
 responsibility to fulfill ; and we are bound to know 
 our calling and the functions thereof, that, by His 
 grace ministered to our souls daily, we may work 
 therein effectually, to His glory. It matters not 
 what our measure may be, provided it be what God 
 hath dealt to us. We may have "five talents," or 
 we may have but "one ; " still, if we use the "one," 
 with our eye fixed on the Master, we shall just be 
 as sure to hear from His gracious lips the words, 
 "Well done," as if we had used the "five." This 
 is encouraging. Paul, Peter, James, and John had 
 each his peculiar measure his specific ministry; 
 and so with all : none needs to interfere with another. 
 A carpenter has a saw and a plane, a hammer and a 
 chisel, and he uses each as he needs it. Nothing 
 can be more worthless than imitation. If, in the 
 natural world, we look at the various orders of crea- 
 tion, we see no imitation. All have their proper 
 sphere, their proper functions. And if it be thus in 
 the natural world, how much more in the spiritual. 
 The field is wide enough for all. In every house 
 there are vessels of various sizes and various shapes : 
 the master wants them all. 
 
 Let us, therefore, my beloved reader, search and 
 see whether we are walking under a divine or a hu- 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 145 
 
 man influence ; whether our faith stands in the wis- 
 dom of man, or in the power of God ; whether we 
 are doing things because others have done them, or 
 because the Lord has called us to do them ; whether 
 we are merely propped up by the example and influ- 
 ence of our fellow, or sustained by personal faith in 
 God. These are serious inquiries. It is, no doubt, 
 a happy privilege to enjoy the fellowship of our 
 brethren ; but if we are propped up by them, we 
 shall soon make shipwreck. So also, if we go be- 
 yond our measure, our action will be strained and 
 unsightly, uneasy and unnatural. It is very easy to 
 see when a man is working in his place, and accord- 
 ing to his measure. All affectation, assumption, and 
 imitation is contemptible in the extreme. Hence, 
 though we cannot be great, let vis be honest ; and 
 though we cannot be brilliant, let us be genuine. If 
 a person goes beyond his depth without knowing 
 how to swim, he will surely flounder: if a vessel 
 put out to sea without being sea- worthy and in trim, 
 it will surely be beaten back into harbor, or lost. 
 Lot left "Ur of the Chaldees," but he fell in the 
 plains of Sodom. The call of God had not reached 
 his heart, nor the inheritance of God filled his vi- 
 sion. Solemn thought ! may we ponder it deeply ! 
 Blessed be God, there is a path for each of His 
 servants, along which shines the light of His approv- 
 ing countenance, and to walk therein should be our 
 chief joy. His approval is enough for the heart 
 that knows Him. True, we may not always be able 
 to command the approval and concurrence of our 
 
146 GENESIS. 
 
 brethren; we may frequently be misunderstood; 
 but we cannot help these things. "The day" will 
 set all this to rights, and the loyal heart can content- 
 edly wait for that day, knowing that then "every 
 man shall have praise of God." 
 
 But it may be well to examine more particularly 
 what it was that caused Lot to turn aside off the 
 path of public testimony. There is a crisis in every 
 man's history, at which it will assuredly be made 
 manifest on what ground he is resting, by what mo- 
 tives he is actuated, and by what objects he is ani- 
 mated. Thus it was with Lot. He did not die at 
 Charran, but he fell at Sodom. The ostensible cause 
 of his fall was the strife between his herdmen and 
 those of Abraham ; but the fact is, when one is not 
 really walking with a single eye and purified affec- 
 tions, he will easily find a stone to stumble over. If 
 he does not find it at one time, he will at another, 
 if he does not find it here, he will find it there. In 
 one sense, it makes little matter as to what may be 
 the apparent cause of turning aside ; the real cause 
 lies underneath, far away, it may be, from common 
 observation, in the hidden chambers of the heart's 
 affections and desires, where the world, in some 
 shape or form, has been sought after. The strife 
 between the herdmen might have been easily settled 
 without spiritual damage to either Abraham or Lot. 
 To the former, indeed, it only afforded an occasion 
 for exhibiting the beautiful power of faith, and the 
 moral elevation the heavenly vantage-ground on 
 which faith ever sets the possessor thereof. But to 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 147 
 
 the latter, it was an occasion for exhibiting the 
 thorough worldliness of his heart. The strife no 
 more produced the worldliness in Lot than it pro- 
 duced the faith in Abraham ; it only manifested, in 
 the case of each, what was really there. 
 
 Thus it is always : controversies and divisions 
 arise in the Church of God, and many are stumbled 
 thereb3 T , and driven back into the world in one way 
 or another. They then lay the blame on the contro- 
 versy and division, whereas the truth is, that these 
 things were only the means of developing the real 
 condition of the soul, and the bent of the heart. 
 The world was in the heart, and would be reached 
 by some route or another; nor is there much of 
 moral excellency exhibited in blaming men and 
 things, when the root of the matter lies within. It 
 is not that controversy and division are not to be 
 deeply deplored : assuredly they are. To see breth- 
 ren contending, in the very presence of "the Ca- 
 naanite and the Perizzite," is truly lamentable and 
 humiliating. Our language should ever be, "Let 
 there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, 
 
 for we are brethren." Still, why did not 
 
 Abraham make choice of Sodom ? why did not the 
 strife drive him into the world ? why was it not an 
 occasion of stumbling to him ? Because he looked 
 at it from God's point of view. No doubt he had a 
 heart that could be attracted by "well-watered 
 plains" just as powerfully as Lot's heart, but then 
 he did not allow his own heart to choose. He first 
 let Lot take his choice, and then left God to choose 
 
148 GENESIS. 
 
 for him. This was heavenly wisdom. This is what 
 faith ever does : it allows God to fix its inheritance, 
 as it also allows Him to make it good. It is always 
 satisfied with the portion which God gives. It can 
 say, "The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places ; 
 yea, I have a goodly heritage." It matters not 
 where "the lines" fall; for, in the judgment of 
 faith, they always fall "in pleasant places," just 
 because God casts them there. 
 
 The man of faith can easily afford to allow the 
 man of sight to take his choice. He can say, "If 
 thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the 
 right ; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I 
 will go to the left." What beautiful disinterested- 
 ness 'and moral elevation we have here ! and yet 
 what security ! It is certain that, let nature range 
 where it will, let it take its most comprehensive 
 grasp its boldest and highest flight, there is never 
 the slightest danger of its laying its hand upon 
 faith's treasure. It will seek its portion in quite an 
 opposite direction. Faith lays up its treasure in a 
 place which nature would never dream of examin- 
 ing ; and as to its approaching thereto, it could not 
 if it would, and it would not if it could. Hence, 
 therefore, faith is perfectly safe, as well as beautifully 
 disinterested, in allowing nature to take its choice. 
 
 What, then, did Lot choose, when he got his 
 choice ? He chose Sodom, the very place that was 
 about to be judged. But how was this ? Why select 
 such a spot ? Because he looked at the outward 
 appearance, and not at the intrinsic character and 
 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 149 
 
 future destinj^. The intrinsic character was "wick- 
 ed:'" its future destiny was '''judgment" to be de- 
 stroyed by "fire and brimstone out of heaven." 
 But. it may be said, Lot knew nothing of all this. 
 Perhaps not, nor Abraham either ; but God did ; 
 and had Lot allowed God to "choose his inheritance 
 for him," He certainly would not have chosen a 
 spot that He Himself was about to destroy. He did 
 not, however: he judged for himself. Sodom suited 
 him, though it did not suit God. His eye rested on 
 the " well- watered plains," and his heart was at- 
 tracted by them. "He pitched his tent toward 
 Sodom." Such is nature's choice ! "Demas hath 
 forsaken me, having loved this present world." Lot 
 forsook Abraham for the same reason. He left the 
 place of testimony, and got into the place of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot 
 was separated from him, 'Lift up thine eyes, and 
 look from the place where thou art, northward, and 
 southward, and eastward, and westward ; for all the 
 land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to 
 thy seed forever.'" The "strife" and "separa- 
 tion," so far from damaging Abraham's spiritual 
 condition, rather brought out, in full relief, his 
 heavenly principles, and strengthened, in his soul, 
 the life of faith. Moreover, it cleared the prospect 
 for him, and delivered him from the company of 
 one who could only prove a dead weight. Thus it 
 worked for good, and yielded a harvest of blessing. 
 It is, at once, most solemn, and yet most cncourag- 
 
150 GENESIS. 
 
 ing, to bear in mind that, in the long run, men find 
 their proper level. Men who run unsent, break 
 down, in one way or another, and find their way 
 back to that which they profess to have left. On the 
 other hand, those who are called of God, and lean 
 on Him, are, by His grace, sustained. ''Their path 
 is as the shining light, which shineth more and more 
 unto the perfect day." The thought of this should 
 keep us humble, watchful, and prayerful. "Let him 
 that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," 
 for, truly, " there are first that shall be last, and 
 there are last that shall be first." "He that endur- 
 eth to the end, the same shall be saved," is a prin- 
 ciple which, whatever be its specific application, has 
 a wide moral bearing. Many a vessel has sailed out 
 of harbor in gallant style, with all its canvass spread, 
 amid cheering and shouting, and with many fair 
 promises of a first-rate passage ; but, alas ! storms, 
 waves, shoals, rocks, and quicksands have changed 
 the aspect of things ; and the voyage that com- 
 menced with hope has ended in disaster. I am here 
 only referring to the path of service and testimony, 
 and by no means to the question of a man's eternal 
 acceptance in Christ. This latter, blessed be God, 
 does not, in any wise, rest with ourselves, but with 
 Him who has said, "I give unto My sheep eternal 
 life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any 
 pluck them out of My hand." But do we not know 
 that many Christians set out on some special course 
 of service or testimon3 r , under the impression that 
 they are called of God thereto, and, after a 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 151 
 
 they break down ? Unquestionably. And, further, 
 very many set out in the profession of some special 
 principle of action, respecting which they have not 
 been divinely taught, or the consequences of which 
 they have not maturely considered in the presence 
 of God, and, as a necessary result, they themselves 
 have been found, after a time, in the open violation 
 of those very principles. All this is deplorable, and 
 should be carefully avoided. It tends to weaken the 
 faith of God's elect, and causes the enemies of the 
 truth to speak reproachfully. Each one should re- 
 ceive his call and his commission directly from the 
 Master Himself. All whom Christ calls into any 
 special service, He will infallibly maintain therein, 
 for He never sent any one a warfare at his own 
 charges. But if we run unsent, we shall not only 
 be left to learn our folly, but to exhibit it. 
 
 Yet, it is not that any one should set himself up 
 as the impersonation of any principle, or as an ex- 
 ample of any special character of service or testi- 
 mony. God forbid. This would be the most egre- 
 gious folly, and empty conceit. It is a teacher's 
 business to set forth God's Word, and it is a serv- 
 ant's business to set forth the Master's will ; but 
 while all this is fully understood and admitted, we 
 must ever remember the deep need there is of 
 counting the cost ere we undertake to build a tower 
 or go forth to war. Were this most seriously at- 
 tended to, there would be far less confusion and 
 failure in our midst. Abraham was called of God 
 from Ur to Canaan, and hence God led him forth on 
 11 
 
152 GENESIS. 
 
 the way. When Abraham tarried at Charran, God 
 waited for him ; when he went down into Egypt, He 
 restored him ; when he needed guidance, He guided 
 him ; when there was a strife and a separation, He 
 took care of him ; so that Abraham had only to say, 
 4 'Oh, how great is Thy goodness which Thou hast 
 laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast 
 wrought for them that trust in Thee, before the sons 
 of men!" He lost nothing by the strife. He had 
 his tent and his altar before, and he had his tent 
 and his altar afterwards. " Then Abram removed 
 his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, 
 .which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto 
 the Lord." Lot might choose Sodom; but as for 
 Abraham, he sought and found his all in God. 
 There was no altar in Sodom. Alas ! all who travel 
 in that direction are in quest of something quite 
 different from that. It is never the worship of God, 
 but the love of the world, that leads them thither. 
 And even though they should attain their object, 
 what is it? how does it end? Just thus : "He 
 gave them their request, but sent leanness into their 
 souls." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WE are here presented with a historic record of 
 the revolt of five kings from under the hand 
 of Chederlaomer, and a battle consequent thereon. 
 The Spirit of God can occupy Himself with the 
 movements of "kings and their armies," when such 
 movements are in anywise connected with the people 
 of God. In the present case, Abraham personally 
 had nothing whatever to do with the revolt or its 
 consequences. His "tent" and "altar" were not 
 likely to furnish an occasion for the declaration of 
 war, nor yet to be much affected by the outbreak or 
 issue thereof. The proper portion of a heavenly 
 man could never, by any possibility, tempt the cu- 
 pidity nor excite the ambition of the kings and 
 conquerors of this world. 
 
 However, although Abraham was not affected by 
 the battle of "four kings with five," yet Lot was. 
 His position was such as to involve him in the whole 
 affair. So long as we are enabled, through grace, to 
 pursue the path of simple faith, we shall be thrown 
 completely outside the range of this world's circum- 
 stances ; but if we abandon our high and holy posi- 
 tion as those whose "citizenship is in heaven," and 
 seek a name, a place, and a portion in the earth, we 
 must expect to participate in earth's convulsions 
 and vicissitudes. Lot had taken up his abode in the 
 plains of Sodom, and was therefore deeply and sens- 
 
154 GENESIS. 
 
 ibly affected by the wars of Sodom. It must ever be 
 tljus. It is a bitter and a painful thing for the child 
 of God to mingle himself with the children of this. 
 world. He can never do so without serious damage 
 to his own soul, as well as to the testimony with 
 which he is intrusted. What testimony was Lot in 
 Sodom ? A very feeble one indeed, if one at all. 
 The very fact of his settling himself there was the 
 death-blow to his testimony. To have spoken a 
 word against Sodom and its ways, would have been 
 to condemn himself, for why was he there ? But, in 
 truth, it does not by any means appear that to tes- 
 tify for God formed any part of his object in "pitch- 
 ing his tent toward Sodom." Personal and family 
 interests seem to have been the leading springs of 
 action in his heart ; and though, as Peter tells us, 
 4 ' his righteous soul was vexed with the filthy con- 
 versation of the wicked, from day to day," yet had 
 he but little power to act against it, even if inclined 
 so to do. 
 
 It is important, in a practical point of view, to 
 see that we cannot be governed by two objects at 
 the same time. For example, I cannot have before 
 my mind, as objects, my worldly interests and the 
 interests of the gospel of Christ. If I go to a town 
 for the purpose of setting up in business, then, 
 clearly, business is my object, and not the gospel. 
 I may, no doubt, propose to myself both to attend 
 to business and to preach the gospel as well ; but, 
 all the while, either one or the other must be my ob- 
 ject. It is not that a servant of Christ may not most 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 155 
 
 blessedly and effectually preach the gospel and at- 
 tend to business also ; he assuredly may ; but, in 
 such a case, the gospel will be his object, and not 
 business. Paul preached the gospel and made tents ; 
 but the gospel was his object, and not tent-making. 
 If I make business my object, the gospel-preaching 
 will speedily prove to be formal and unprofitable 
 work ; yea, it will be well if it be not made use of 
 to sanctify my covetousness. The heart is very 
 treacherous ; and it is often truly astonishing to see 
 how it deceives us when we desire to gain some 
 special point. It will furnish, in abundance, the 
 most plausible reasons ; while the eyes of our under- 
 standing are so blinded by self-interest, or unjudged 
 willfulness, as to be incapable of detecting their 
 plausibility. How frequently do we hear persons 
 defending a continuance in a position which they 
 admit to be wrong, on the plea that they thereby 
 enjoy a wider sphere of usefulness. To all such 
 reasoning, Samuel furnishes a pointed and powerful 
 reply, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to 
 hearken than the fat of rams." Which was able to 
 do the more good ? Abraham, or Lot ? Does not 
 the history of those two men prove, beyond a ques- 
 tion, that the most effectual way to serve the world 
 is to be faithful to it by separating from, and testi- 
 fying against, it ? 
 
 But be it remembered, that genuine separation 
 from the world can only be the result of communion 
 with God. I may seclude myself from the world, 
 and constitute myself the centre of my being, like a 
 
156 GENESIS. 
 
 monk or a cynic ; but separation to God is a totally 
 different thing. The one chills and contracts, the 
 other warms and expands. That drives us in upon 
 ourselves ; this draws us out in love and interest for 
 others. That makes self and its interests our cen- 
 tre ; this makes God and His glory our centre. 
 Thus, in Abraham's case, we see that the very fact 
 of his separation enabled him to render effectual 
 service to one who had involved himself in trouble 
 by his worldly ways. "When Abram heard that 
 his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained 
 servants, born in his own house, three hundred and 
 eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan . . , . and 
 he brought back all the goods, and also brought 
 again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women 
 also, and the people." Lot was Abraham's brother 
 after all, and brotherly love must act. "A brother 
 is born for adversity ; " and it often happens that a 
 season of adversity softens the heart, and renders it 
 susceptible of kindness, even from one with whom 
 we have had to part company ; and it is remarkable 
 that while in verse 12 we read, "They took Lot, 
 Abram 9 s brother's son," yet in verse 14 we read, 
 "When Abram heard that his brother was taken 
 captive." The claims of a brother's trouble are 
 answered by the affections of a brother's heart. 
 This is divine. Genuine faith, while it always ren- 
 ders us independent, never renders us indifferent ; 
 it will never wrap itself up in its fleece while a 
 brother shivers in the cold. There are three things 
 which faith does, it "purifies the heart," it "works 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 157 
 
 by love," and it "overcomes the world;" and all 
 these results of faith are beautifully exhibited in 
 Abraham on this occasion. His heart was purified 
 from Sodom's pollutions ; he manifested genuine 
 love to Lot, his brother ; and, finally, he was com- 
 pletely victorious over the kings. Such are the 
 precious fruits of faith, that heavenly, Christ-honor- 
 ing principle. 
 
 However, the man of faith is not exempt from the 
 assaults of the enemy ; and it frequently happens 
 that immediately after a victory, one has to encoun- 
 ter a fresh temptation. Thus it was with Abraham. 
 "The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after 
 his return from the slaughter of Chederlaomer, and 
 of the kings that were with him." There was evi- 
 dently a very deep and insidious design of the enemy 
 in this movement. "The king of Sodom" presents 
 a very different thought, and exhibits a very different 
 phase of the enemy's power, from what we have in 
 "Chederlaomer and the kings that were with him." 
 In the former, we have rather the hiss of the ser- 
 pent ; in the latter, the roar of the lion. But 
 whether it were the serpent or the lion, the Lord's 
 grace was amply sufficient ; and most seasonably 
 was this grace ministered to the Lord's servant, at 
 the exact moment of need. "And Melchisedek, 
 king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and 
 he was the priest of the most high God. And he 
 blessed him, and said, 'Blessed be Abram of the 
 most high God, possessor of heaven and earth ; and 
 blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered 
 
158 GENESIS. 
 
 thine enemies into thy hand.' ' We have here to 
 remark, first, the peculiar point at which Melchise- 
 clek enters the scene ; and, secondly, the double 
 effect of his ministry. He did not come forth when 
 Abraham was in pursuit of Chederlaomer, but when 
 the king of Sodom was in pursuit of Abraham. This 
 makes a great moral difference. A deeper character 
 of communion was needed to meet the deeper char- 
 acter of conflict. 
 
 And then, as to the ministry, the "bread and 
 wine" refreshed Abraham's spirit, after his conflict 
 with Chederlaomer ; while the benediction prepared 
 his heart for his conflict with the king of Sodom. 
 Abraham was a conqueror, and yet he was about to 
 be a combatant, and the ro} T al priest refreshed the 
 conqueror's spirit, and fortified the combatant's 
 heart. 
 
 It is peculiarly sweet to observe the manner in 
 which Melchisedek introduces God to the thoughts 
 of Abraham. He calls Him "the most high God, 
 possessor of heaven and earth;" and not only so, 
 but pronounces Abraham "blessed" of that same 
 God. This was effectually preparing him for the 
 king of Sodom. A man who was "blessed " of God 
 did not need to take aught from the enemy ; and if 
 "the possessor of heaven and earth" filled his 
 vision, "the goods" of Sodom could have but little 
 attraction. Hence, as might be expected, when the 
 king of Sodom made his proposal "Give me the 
 persons, and take the goods to thyself," Abraham 
 replies, "I have lift up my hand unto the Lord, the 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 159 
 
 most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 
 that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe- 
 latchet, and that I will not take anything that is 
 thine, lest thou shonldest say, I have made Abram 
 rich." Abraham refuses to be enriched by the king 
 of Sodom. How could he think of delivering Lot 
 from the power of the world if he himself were 
 governed thereby ? The only true way in which to 
 deliver another is to be thoroughly delivered myself. 
 So long as I am in the fire, it is quite impossible I 
 can pluck another out of it. The path of separa- 
 tion is the path of power, as it is also the path of 
 peace and blessedness. 
 
 The world, in all its various forms, is the great 
 instrument of which Satan makes use in order to 
 weaken the hands and alienate the affections of the 
 servants of Christ. But, blessed be God, when the 
 heart is true to Him, He alwa}-s comes in to cheer, 
 to strengthen, and to fortify at the right time. "The 
 eyes of the Lord run to and fro, throughout the 
 whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of 
 them whose heart is perfect toward Him." (2 Chron. 
 xvi. 9.) This is an encouraging truth for our poor, 
 timid, doubting, faltering hearts. Christ will be our 
 strength and shield. He will "cover our heads in 
 the day of battle ; " He will ' ' teach our hands to 
 war, and our fingers to fight;" and finally, "He 
 will bruise Satan under our feet shortly." All this 
 is unspeakably comforting to a heart sincerely de- 
 sirous of making way against "the world, the flesh 
 and the devil." May the Lord keep our hearts true 
 
160 GENESIS. 
 
 to Himself, in the midst of the ensnaring scene 
 around us. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ** A FTER 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.' ' The Lord would not suffer His servant 
 to be a loser, by rejecting the offers of the world. 
 It was infinitely better for Abraham to find himself 
 hidden behind Jehovah's shield than to take refuge 
 beneath the patronage of the king of Sodom, and 
 to be anticipating his "exceeding great reward" 
 than to accept "the goods" of Sodom. The posi- 
 tion into which Abraham is put, in the opening 
 verse of our chapter, is beautifully expressive of the 
 position into which every soul is introduced by the 
 faith of Christ. Jehovah was his "shield," that he 
 might rest in Him ; Jehovah was his "reward," that 
 he might wait for Him. So with the believer now: 
 he finds his present rest, his present peace, his pres- 
 ent security, all in Christ. No dart of the enemy 
 can possibly penetrate the shield which covers the 
 weakest believer in Jesus. 
 
 And then, as to the future, Christ fills it. Pre- 
 cious portion ! Precious hope ! A portion which 
 can never be exhausted : a hope which will never 
 make ashamed. Both are infallibly secured by the 
 
CHAPTER XV. 161 
 
 counsels of God and the accomplished atonement of 
 Christ. The present enjoyment thereof is by the 
 ministry of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us. This 
 being the case, it is manifest that if the believer is 
 pursuing a worldly career, or indulging in worldly 
 or carnal desires, he cannot be enjoying either the 
 "shield" or the "reward." If the Holy Ghost is 
 grieved, He will not minister the enjoyment of that 
 which is our proper portion our proper hope. 
 Hence, in the section of Abraham's history now 
 before us, we see that when he had returned from 
 the slaughter of the kings, and rejected the offer of 
 the king of Sodom, Jehovah rose before his soul in 
 the double character, as his "shield" and his "ex- 
 ceeding great reward." Let the heart ponder this, 
 for it contains a volume of deeply practical truth. 
 We shall now examine the remainder of this chapter^ 
 In it we have unfolded to us the two great princi- 
 ples of sonship and heirship. "And Abram said, 
 'Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go 
 childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer 
 of Damascus ? ' And Abram said, ' Behold, to me 
 Thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my 
 house is mine heir. 9 " Abraham desired a son, for 
 he knew, upon divine authorit}', that his "seed" 
 should inherit the land. (Chap. xiii. 15.) Sonship 
 and heirship are inseparably connected in the 
 thoughts of God, "He that shall come forth out of 
 thine own bbwels shall be thine heir. ' ' Sonship is 
 the proper basis of everything; and, moreover, it is 
 the result of God's sovereign counsel and operation, 
 
162 GENESIS. 
 
 as we read in James, "Of His own will begat He 
 us." Finall}', it is founded upon God's eternal 
 principle of resurrection. How else could it be ? 
 Abraham's body was "dead;" wherefore, in his 
 case, as in every other, sonship must be in the power 
 of resurrection. Nature is dead, and can neither 
 beget nor conceive aught for God. There lay the 
 inheritance stretching out before the patriarch's eye, 
 in all its magnificent dimensions ; but where was 
 the heir ? Abraham's body and Sarah's womb alike 
 answered "death." But Jehovah is the God of 
 resurrection, and therefore a "dead body" was the 
 very thing for Him to act upon. Had nature not 
 been dead, God should have put it to death ere He 
 could fully show Himself. The most suitable theatre 
 for the living God is that from which nature, with all 
 its boasted powers and empty pretensions, has been 
 totally expelled by the sentence of death. Where- 
 fore, God's word to Abraham was, "'Look now 
 toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to 
 number them ; ' and He said unto him, 'So shall thy 
 seed be." When the God of resurrection fills the 
 vision, there is no limit to the soul's blessing ; for He 
 who can quicken the dead, can do anything. 
 
 "And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it 
 unto him for righteousness." The imputation of 
 righteousness to Abraham is here founded upon his 
 believing in the Lord as the Quickener of the dead. 
 It is in this character that He reveals Himself in a 
 world where death reigns ; and when a soul believes 
 in Him as such, it is counted righteous in His sight. 
 
 
CHAPTER XV. 163 
 
 This necessarily shuts man out, as regards his co- 
 operation, for what can he do in the midst of a scene 
 of death ? Can he raise the dead ? Can he open 
 the gates of the grave ? Can he deliver himself from 
 the power of death, and walk forth, in life and 
 liberty, beyond. the limits of its dreary domain? 
 Assuredly not. Well, then, if he cannot do so, he 
 cannot work out righteousness, nor establish himself 
 in the relation of sonship. ' ' God is not the God of 
 the dead, but of the living," and therefore, so long 
 as a man is under the power of death, and under the 
 dominion of sin, he can neither know the position of 
 a son, nor the condition of righteousness. Thus, 
 God alone can bestow the adoption of sons, and He 
 alone can impute righteousness, and both are con- 
 nected with faith in Him as the One who raised up 
 Christ from the dead. 
 
 It is in this way that the apostle handles the ques- 
 tion of Abraham's faith, in Romans iv, where he 
 says, "It was not written for his sake alone, that it 
 was imputed unto him ; but for us also, to whom it 
 shall be imputed, if we, believe on Him that raised up 
 Jesus our Lord from the dead.'' Here, the God of 
 resurrection is presented "to us also" as the object 
 of faith, and our faith in Him as the alone ground 
 of our righteousness. If Abraham had looked up 
 into heaven's vault, spangled with innumerable stars, 
 and then looked at "his own body now dead," how 
 could he ever grasp the idea of a seed as numerous 
 as those stars ? Impossible. But he did not look 
 at his own body, but at the resurrection-power of 
 
164 GENESIS. 
 
 God ; and inasmuch as that was the power which 
 was to produce the seed, we can easily see that the 
 stars of heaven and the sand on the sea-shore are 
 but feeble figures indeed ; for what natural object 
 could possibly illustrate the effect of that power 
 which can raise the dead ? 
 
 So also, when a sinner hearkens to the glad tidings 
 of the gospel, were he to look up to the unsullied 
 light of the divine presence, and then look down 
 into the unexplored depths of his own evil nature, 
 he might well exclaim, How can I ever get thither ? 
 how can I ever be fit to dwell in that light ? 
 Where is the answer ? In himself ? Nay, blessed 
 be God, but in that blessed One who traveled from 
 the bosom to the cross and the grave, and from 
 thence to the throne, thus filling up, in His Person 
 and work, all the space between those extreme 
 points. There can be nothing higher than the 
 bosom of God the eternal dwelling-place of the 
 Son, and there can be nothing lower than the cross 
 and the grave ; but, amazing truth ! I find Christ 
 in both. I find Him in the bosom, and I find Him 
 in the grave. He went down into death in order 
 that He might leave behind Him, in the dust thereof, 
 the full weight of His people's sins and iniquities. 
 Christ in the grave exhibits the end of everything 
 human the end of sin the full limit of Satan's 
 power. The grave of Jesus forms the grand ter- 
 minus of all. But resurrection takes us beyond this 
 terminus, and constitutes the imperishable basis on 
 which God's glory and man's blessing repose for- 
 
CHAPTER XV. 165 
 
 ever. The moment the eye of faith rests on a 
 risen Christ, there is a, triumphant answer to every 
 question as to sin, judgment, death, and the grave. 
 The One who divinely met all these is alive from the 
 dead, and has taken His seat at the right hand of 
 the Majesty in the heavens ; and not only so, but 
 the Spirit of that risen and glorified One, in the be- 
 liever, constitutes him a son. He is quickened out 
 of the grave of Christ: as we read, "And you, be- 
 ing dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of 
 your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, 
 having forgiven you all trespasses." (Col. ii. 13.) 
 
 Hence, therefore, sonship, being founded on res- 
 urrection, stands connected with perfect justifica- 
 tion perfect righteousness perfect freedom from 
 everything which could in anywise be against us. 
 God could not have us in His presence with sin upon 
 us. He could not suffer a single speck or stain of sin 
 upon His sons and daughters. The father could not 
 have the prodigal at his table with the rags of the 
 far country upon him. He could go forth to meet 
 him in those rags, he could fall upon his neck and 
 kiss him in those rags, it was worthy and beauti- 
 fully characteristic of his grace so to do ; but then 
 to seat him at his table in the rags would never do. 
 The grace that brought the father out to the prodigal, 
 reigns through the righteousness which brought the 
 prodigal in to the father. It would not have been 
 grace had the father waited for the son to deck him- 
 self in robes of his own providing, and it would not 
 have been righteous to bring him in in his rags ; but 
 
166 GENESIS. 
 
 both grace and righteousness shone forth in all their 
 respective brightness and beauty when the father 
 went out and fell on the prodigal's neck, but yet did 
 not give him a seat at his table until he was clad and 
 decked in a manner suited to that elevated and 
 happy position. God, in Christ, has stooped to the 
 very lowest point of man's moral condition, that, by 
 stooping, He might raise man to the very highest 
 point of blessedness, in fellowship with Himself. 
 From all this, it follows, that our sonship, with all 
 its consequent dignities and privileges, is entirely 
 independent of us. We have just as little to do 
 with it as Abraham's dead body and Sarah's dead 
 womb had to do with a seed as numerous as the 
 stars which garnish the heavens, or as the sand on 
 the sea-shore. It is all of God. God the Father 
 drew the plan, God the Son laid the foundation, 
 and God the Holy Ghost raises the superstructure ; 
 and on this superstructure appears the inscription, 
 4 'THROUGH GRACE, BY FAITH, WITHOUT WORKS OF 
 LAW." 
 
 But then our chapter opens another most import- 
 ant subject to our view, namely, heirship. The 
 question of sonship and righteousness being fully 
 settled divinely and unconditionally settled, the 
 Lord said unto Abraham, "I am the Lord that 
 brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee 
 this land to inherit it. ' ' Here comes out the great 
 question of heirship, and the peculiar path along 
 which the chosen heirs are to travel ere they reach 
 the promised inheritance. "If children, then heirs, 
 
CHAPTEB XV. 107 
 
 heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be 
 that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glori- 
 fied together. ' ' Our way to the kingdom lies through 
 suffering, affliction and tribulation ; but, thank God, 
 we can, by faith, say, "the sufferings of this present 
 time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
 which shall be revealed in us." And further, we 
 know that "our light affliction, which is but for a 
 moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory." Finally, "we glory 
 in tribulation ; knowing that tribulation worketh pa- 
 tience ; and patience, experience ; and experience, 
 hope. " It is a high honor and a real privilege to be 
 allowed to drink of our blessed Master's cup, and 
 be baptized with His baptism, to travel in blest 
 companionship with Him along the road which leads 
 directly to the glorious inheritance. The Heir and 
 the joint- heirs reach that inheritance by the path- 
 way of suffering. 
 
 But let it be remembered that the suffering of 
 which the joint-heirs participate has no penal ele- 
 ment in it. It is not suffering from 'the hand of 
 infinite justice, because of sin; all that was fully 
 met on the cross, when the divine victim bowed His 
 sacred head beneath the stroke. "Christ also hath 
 once suffered for sins," and that "once" was on the 
 tree, and noivhere else. He never suffered for sins 
 before, and He never can suffer for sins again. 
 "Once, in the end of the world (the end of all flesh), , 
 hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice, 
 of Himself. ' ' " Christ was once offered. ' ' 
 12 
 
168 GENESIS. 
 
 There are two ways in which to view a suffering 
 Christ, first, as bruised of Jehovah ; secondly, as 
 rejected of men. In the former, He stood alone ; 
 in the latter, we have the honor of being associated 
 with Him. In the former, I say, He stood alone, 
 for who could have stood with Him ? He bore the 
 wrath of God alone ; He traveled in solitude down 
 into ' ' the rough valley that had neither been eared 
 nor sown," and there He settled forever the question 
 of our sins. With this we had nothing to do, though 
 to this we are eternally indebted for everything. He 
 fought the fight and gained the victory alone, but 
 He divides the spoils with us. He was in solitude 
 "in the horrible pit and miry clay;" but directly 
 He planted His foot on the everlasting "rock" of 
 resurrection, He associates us with Him. He utter- 
 ed the cry alone ; He sings the ' ' new song ' ' in com- 
 pany. (Psalm xl. 2, 3.) 
 
 Now the question is, shall w r e refuse to suffer from 
 the hand of man with Him who suffered from the 
 hand of God for us ? That it is, in a certain sense, 
 a question, is evident, from the Spirit's constant use 
 of the word "if," in connection with it. "If so 
 be we suffer with Him." "If we suffer, we shall 
 reign." There is no such question as to sonship. 
 We do not reach the high dignity of sons through 
 suffering, but through the quickening power of the 
 Holy Ghost, founded on the accomplished work of 
 Christ, according to God's eternal counsel. This 
 can never be touched. We do not reach the family 
 through suffering. The apostle does not say, That 
 
CHAPTER XV. 160 
 
 ye may be counted worthy of the family of God for 
 which ye also suffer. They were in tne family al- 
 ready ; but they were bound for the kingdom, and 
 their road to that kingdom lay through suffering; 
 and not only so, but the measure of suffering for the 
 kingdom would be according to their devotedness 
 and conformity to the King. The more like we are 
 to Him, the more we shall suffer with Him ; and the 
 deeper our fellowship with Him in the suffering, the 
 deeper will be our fellowship in the glory. There is 
 a difference between the house of the Father and 
 the kingdom of the Son : in the former, it will be a 
 question of capacity; in the latter, a question of 
 assigned position. All my children may be around 
 my table, but their enjoyment of my company and 
 conversation will entirely depend on their capacity. 
 One may be seated on my knee, in the full enjoy- 
 ment of his relationship, as a child, yet perfectly 
 unable to comprehend a word I say ; another may 
 exhibit uncommon intelligence in conversation, yet 
 not be a whit happier in his relationship than the 
 infant on my knee. But when it becomes a question 
 of service for me, or public identification with me, 
 it is evidently quite another thing. This is but a 
 feeble illustration of the idea of capacity in the 
 Father's house, and assigned position in the king- 
 dom of the Son. 
 
 But let it be remembered that our suffering with 
 Christ is not a yoke of bondage, but a matter of 
 privilege ; not an iron rule, but a gracious gift ; not 
 constrained servitude, but voluntary devotedness. 
 
170 GENESIS. 
 
 "Unto you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not 
 only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His 
 sake." (Phil. i. 29.) Moreover, there can be little 
 doubt but that the real secret of suffering for Christ 
 is to have the heart's affections centred in Him. 
 The more I love Jesus, the closer I shall walk with 
 Him, and the closer I walk with Him, the more 
 faithfully I shall imitate Him, and the more faithfully 
 I imitate Him, the more I shall suffer with Him. 
 Thus it all flows from love to Christ ; and then it is 
 a fundamental truth that "we love Him because He 
 first loved us." In this, as in everything else, let 
 us beware of a legal spirit ; for it must not be im- 
 agined that a man with the yoke of legality round 
 his neck is suffering for Christ ; alas ! it is much to 
 be feared that such' an one does not know Christ, 
 does not know the blessedness- of sonship, has not 
 yet been established in grace, is rather seeking to 
 reach the family by works of law than to reach the 
 kingdom by the path of suffering. 
 
 On the other hand, let us see that we are not 
 shrinking from our Master's cup and baptism. Let 
 us not profess to enjoy the benefits which His cross 
 secures, while we refuse the rejection which that 
 cross involves. We may rest assured that the road 
 to the kingdom is not enlightened by the sunshine 
 of this world's favor, nor strewed with the roses of 
 its prosperity. If a Christian is advancing in the 
 world, he has much reason to apprehend that he is 
 not walking in company with Christ. "If any man 
 serve Me, let him follow Me ; and where I am, there 
 
CHAPTER XV. 171 
 
 shall also My servant be." What was the goal of 
 Christ's earthly career ? Was it ari elevated, influ- 
 ential position in this world ? By no means. What 
 then ? He found His place on the cross, between 
 two condemned malefactors. But, it will be said, 
 God was in this. True ; yet man was in it likewise ; 
 and this latter truth is what must inevitably secure 
 our rejection by the world, if only we keep in com- 
 pany with Christ. The companionship of Christ, 
 which lets me into heaven, casts me out of earth ; 
 and to talk of the former, while I am ignorant of 
 the latter, proves there is something wrong. If 
 Christ were on earth now, what would His path be ? 
 whither would it tend ? where would it terminate ? 
 Would we like to walk with Him ? Let vis answer 
 those inquiries under the edge of the Word, and 
 under the eye of the Almighty ; and may the Holy 
 Ghost make us faithful to an absent, a rejected, a 
 crucified Master. The man who walks in the Spirit 
 will be filled with Christ ; and, being filled with Him, 
 he will not be occupied with suffering, but with Him 
 for whom he suffers. If the eye is fixed on Christ, 
 the suffering will be as nothing in comparison with 
 the present joy and future glory. 
 
 The subject of heirship has led me much further 
 than I intended ; but I do not regret it, as it is of 
 considerable importance. Let us now briefly glance 
 at the deeply significant vision of Abraham as set 
 forth in the closing verses of our chapter. "And 
 when the sun was going doivn, a deep sleep fell upon 
 Abram ; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell 
 
172 GENESIS. 
 
 upon him. And He said unto Abram, 'Know of a 
 surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land 
 that is not theirs, and shall serve them ; and they 
 shall afflict them four hundred } T ears ; and also that 
 nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and 
 afterward shall they come out with great substance. 
 
 ' 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." 
 
 The entire of Israel's history is summed up in 
 those two figures the "furnace" and the "lamp." 
 The former presents to us those periods of their 
 history in which they were brought into suffering 
 and trial ; such, for example, as the long period of 
 Egyptian bondage, their subjection to the kings of 
 Canaan, the Babylonish captivity, their present dis- 
 persed and degraded condition. During all these 
 periods they may be considered as passing through 
 the smoking furnace. (See Deut. iv. 20 ; 1 Kings 
 viii. 51; Isaiah xlviii. 10.) 
 
 Then, in the burning lamp, we have those points 
 in Israel's eventful history at which Jehovah gra- 
 ciously appeared for their relief, such as, their deliv- 
 erance from Egypt by the hand of Moses, their 
 deliverance from under the power of the kings of 
 Canaan by the ministry of the various judges, their 
 return from Babylon by the decree of Cyrus, and 
 their final deliverance when Christ shall appear in 
 His glory. The inheritance must be reached through 
 the furnace ; and the darker the smoke of the fur- 
 
 
CHAPTER XV. 173 
 
 nace, the brighter and more cheering will be the 
 lamp of God's salvation. 
 
 Nor is this principle confined merely to the people 
 of God as a whole, it applies just as fnlly to indi- 
 viduals. All who have ever reached a position of 
 eminence as servants, have endured the furnace be- 
 fore they enjoyed the lamp. "A horror of great 
 darkness ' ' passed across the spirit of Abraham : 
 Jacob bad to endure twenty-one years of sore hard- 
 ship 'in the house of Laban : Joseph found his fur- 
 nace of affliction in the dungeons of Egypt : Moses 
 spent forty years in the desert. Thus it must be 
 with all God's servants. They must be ''tried" 
 first, that, being found "faithful," they may be "put 
 into the ministry." God's principle, in reference to 
 those who serve Him, is expressed in those words 
 of St. Paul, "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with 
 pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." 
 (1 Tim. iii. 6.) 
 
 It is one thing to be a child of God; it is quite 
 another to be a servant of Christ. I may love my 
 child very much, yet, if I set him to work in my 
 garden, he may do more harm than good. Why ? 
 Is it because he is not a dear child ? No ; but be- 
 cause he is not a practiced servant. This makes all 
 the difference. Relationship and office are distinct 
 things. Not one of the Queen's children is at pres- 
 ent capable of being her prime minister. It is not 
 that all God's children have not something to do, 
 something to suffer, something to learn. Undoubt- 
 edly they have ; yet it ever holds good, that public 
 
174 GENESIS. 
 
 service and private discipline are intimately connect- 
 ed in the wa} T s of God. One who comes forward 
 much in public will need that chastened spirit, that 
 matured judgment, that subdued and mortified mind, 
 that broken will, that mellow tone, which are the 
 sure and beautiful result of God's secret discipline ; 
 and it will generally be found that those who take a 
 prominent place without more or less of the above 
 moral qualifications, will sooner or later brea^: down. 
 Lord Jesus, keep Thy feeble servants very -near 
 unto Thine own most blessed Person, and in the 
 hollow of Thine hand ! 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HERE we find unbelief casting its dark shadow 
 across the spirit of Abraham, and again turn- 
 ing him aside, for a season, from the path of simple, 
 happy confidence in God. "And Sarai said unto 
 Abram, ' Behold the Lord hath restrained me from 
 bearing.' ' These words bespeak the usual impa- 
 tience of unbelief ; and Abraham should have 
 treated them accordingly, and waited patiently on 
 the Lord for the accomplishment of His gracious 
 promise. The poor heart naturally prefers anything 
 to the attitude of tvaiting. It will turn to any ex- 
 pedient, any scheme, any resource, rather than be 
 kept in that posture. It is one thing to believe a 
 promise at the first, and quite another tiling to wait 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 175 
 
 quietly for the accomplishment thereof. We can see 
 this distinction constantly exemplified in a child. 
 If I promise my child anything, he has no idea of 
 doubting my word ; but yet I can detect the greatest 
 possible restlessness and impatience in reference to 
 the time and manner of accomplishment. And can- 
 not the wisest sage find a true mirror in which to 
 see himself reflected, in the conduct of a child ? 
 Truly so. Abraham exhibits faith in chapter xv, 
 and yet he fails in patience in chapter xvi. Hence 
 the force and beauty of the apostle's word in He- 
 brews vi, "Followers of them who through faith 
 and patience inherit the promises." God makes a 
 promise ; faith believes it, hope anticipates it, pa- 
 tience waits quietly for it. 
 
 There is such a thing, in the commercial world, as 
 "the present worth" of a bill or promissory note ; 
 for if men are called upon to wait for their money, 
 they must be paid for waiting. Now, in faith's 
 world there is such a thing as the present worth of 
 God's promise ; and the scale by which that worth 
 is regulated, is the heart's experimental knowledge 
 of God ; for according to my estimate of God, will 
 be my estimate of His promise ; and, moreover, the 
 subdued and patient spirit finds its rich and full 
 reward in waiting upon Him for the accomplishment 
 of all that He has promised. 
 
 However, as to Sarah, the real amount of her 
 word to Abraham is this : The Lord has failed me ; 
 it may be, my Egyptian maid will prove a resource 
 for me. Anything but God for a heart under the 
 
176 GENESIS. 
 
 influence of unbelief. It is often truly marvelous to 
 observe the trifles to which we will betake ourselves 
 when once we have lost the sense of God's nearness, 
 His infallible faithfulness and unfailing sufficiency. 
 We lose that calm and well-balanced condition of 
 soul so essential to the proper testimony of the man 
 of faith, and, just like other people, betake ourselves 
 to any or every expedient in order to reach the 
 wished-for end, and call that "a laudable use of 
 means." 
 
 But it. is a bitter thing to take ourselves out of 
 the place of absolute dependence upon God : the 
 consequences must be disastrous. Had Sarah said, 
 Nature has failed me, but God is my resource, how 
 different it would have been ! This would have been 
 her proper ground, for nature really had failed her. 
 But then it was nature in one shape, and therefore 
 she wished to try nature in another. She had not 
 learnt to look away from nature in every shape. In 
 the judgment of God and of faith, nature in Hagar 
 was no better than nature in Sarah. Nature whether 
 old or young is alike to God, and, therefore, alike 
 to faith ; but, ah ! we are only in the power of this 
 truth when we are experimentally finding our living 
 centre in God Himself. When the eye is taken off 
 that glorious Being, we are ready for the meanest 
 device of unbelief. It is only when we are con- 
 sciously leaning on the only true, the only wise, the 
 living God, that we are enabled to look away from 
 every creature stream. It is not that we shall de- 
 spise God's instrumentality. By no means. To do 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 177 
 
 so would be recklessness and not faith. Faith values 
 the instrument, not because of itself, but because of 
 Him who uses it. Unbelief looks only at the instru- 
 ment, and judges of the success of a matter by the 
 apparent efficiency thereof, instead of by the suffi- 
 ciency of Him who, in grace, uses it. Like Saul, 
 who, when he looked at David and then looked at 
 the Philistine, said, "Thou art not able to go against 
 this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a 
 youth." Yet the question in David's heart was not 
 as to whether he was able, but whether Jehovah 
 was able. 
 
 The path of faith is a very simple and a very nar- 
 row one. It neither deifies the means on the one 
 hand, nor despises it on the other ; it simply values 
 it so far as it is evidently God's means, and no 
 further. There is a vast difference between God's 
 using the creature to minister to me, and my using 
 it to shut Him out. This difference is not suffi- 
 ciently attended to. God used the ravens to minis- 
 ter to Elijah, but Elijah did not use them to exclude 
 God. If the heart be really trusting in God, it will 
 not trouble itself about His means. It waits on 
 Him, in the sweet assurance that by what means so- 
 ever He pleases, He will bless, He will minister, He 
 will provide. 
 
 Now, in the case before us in this chapter, it is 
 evident that Hagar was not God's instrument for the 
 accomplishment of His promise to Abraham. He 
 Imd promised a son, no doubt, but He had not said 
 that this son should be Hagar' s ; and, in point of 
 
178 GENESIS. 
 
 fact, we find, from the narrative, that both Abraham 
 and Sarah "multiplied their sorrow" by having re- 
 course to Hagar ; for ' ' when she saw that she had 
 conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes." 
 This was but the beginning of those multiplied sor- 
 rows, which flowed from hastening after nature's 
 resources. Sarah's dignity was trampled down by 
 an Egyptian bondwoman, and she found herself in 
 the place of weakness and contempt. The only true 
 place of dignity and power is the place of felt weak- 
 ness and dependence. There is no one so entirely 
 independent of all around as the man who is really 
 walking by faith, and waiting only upon God ; but 
 the moment a child of God makes himself a debtor 
 to nature or the world, he loses his dignity, and will 
 speedily be made to feel his loss. It is no easy task 
 to estimate the loss sustained by diverging, in the 
 smallest measure, from the path of faith. No doubt, 
 all those who walk in that path will find trial and 
 exercise ; but one thing is certain, that the blessings 
 and joys which peculiarly belong to them are infi- 
 nitely more than a counterpoise ; whereas, when 
 they turn aside, they have to encounter far deeper 
 trial, and naught but that. 
 
 "And Sarai said, 'My wrong be upon thee.' ' 
 When we act wrong, we are ofttimes prone to lay 
 the blame on some one else. Sarah was only reap- 
 ing the fruit of her own proposal, and yet she says 
 to Abraham, "My wrong be upon thee ; " and then, 
 with Abraham's permission, she seeks to get rid of 
 the trial which her own impatience had brought upon 
 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 179 
 
 her. "But Abram said unto Sarai, 'Behold thy 
 maid is in thy hand ; do to her as it pleaseth thee.' 
 And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from 
 her face." This will not do. "The bondwoman" 
 cannot be got rid of by hard treatment. When we 
 make mistakes, and find ourselves called upon to 
 encounter the results thereof, we cannot counteract 
 those results by carrying ourselves with a high hand. 
 We frequently try this method, but we are sure to 
 make matters worse thereby.- If we have done 
 wrong, we should humble ourselves and confess the 
 wrong, and wait on God for deliverance. But there 
 was nothing like this manifested in Sarah's case. 
 Quite the reverse. There is no sense of having done 
 wrong ; and, so far from waiting on G.od for deliver- 
 ance, she seeks to deliver herself in her own way. 
 However, it will always be found that every effort 
 which we make to rectify our errors, previous to the 
 full confession thereof, only tends to render our path 
 more difficult. Thus Hagar had to return, and give 
 birth to her son, which son proved to be not the child 
 of promise at all, but a very great trial to Abraham 
 and his house, as we shall see in the sequel. 
 
 Now, we should view all this in a double aspect : 
 first, as teaching us a direct practical principle of 
 much value ; and secondly, in a doctrinal point of 
 view. And, first, as to the direct, practical teach- 
 ing, we may learn that when, through the unbelief 
 of our hearts, we make mistakes, it is not all in a 
 moment, nor yet by our own devices, we can remedy 
 them. Tilings must take their course. "Whatso- 
 
180 GENESIS. 
 
 ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he 
 that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- 
 ruption ; hut he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the 
 Spirit reap life everlasting." This is an unalterable 
 principle, meeting us again and again on the page 
 of inspiration, and also on the page of our personal 
 history. Grace forgives the sin and restores the 
 soul, but that which is sown must he reaped. Abra- 
 ham and Sarah had to endure the presence of the 
 bondwoman and her son for a number of years, and 
 then get rid of them in God's way. There is pecu- 
 liar blessedness in leaving ourselves in God's hands. 
 Had Abraham and Sarah done so, on the present 
 occasion, they would never have been troubled with 
 the presence of the bondwoman and her son ; but, 
 having made themselves debtors to nature, they had 
 to endure the consequences. But, alas ! we are 
 often "like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke," 
 when it would be our exceeding comfort to " behave 
 and quiet ourselves as a child that is weaned of his 
 mother." No two figures can be more opposite than 
 a stubborn bullock and a weaned child. The former 
 represents a person senselessly struggling under the 
 yoke of circumstances, and rendering his yoke all 
 the more galling by his efforts to get rid of it ; the 
 latter represents one meekly bowing his head to 
 everything, and rendering his portion all the sweeter 
 by entire subjection of spirit. 
 
 And now as to the doctrinal view of this chapter. 
 We arc authorized to look at Hagar and her son as 
 figures of the covenant of works, and alt who are 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 181 
 
 thereby brought into bondage. (See Gal. iv. 22-25.) 
 44 The flesh" is, in this important passage, contrasted 
 with "promise;" and thus we not only get the di- 
 vine idea as to what the term "flesh" implies, but 
 also as to Abraham's effort to obtain the seed by 
 means of Hagar, instead of resting in God's "prom- 
 ise." The two covenants are allegorized by Hagar 
 and Sarah, and are diametrically opposite the one to 
 the other. The one gendering to bondage, inasmuch 
 as it raised the question as to man's competency 
 "to do" and "not to do," and made life entirely de- 
 pendent upon that competency. "The man that 
 doeth these things shall live in them." This was the 
 Hagar-covenant. But the Sarah-covenant reveals 
 God as the God of promise, which promise is en- 
 tirely independent of man, and founded upon God's 
 willingness and ability to fulfill it. When God makes 
 a promise, there is no "if" attached thereto. He 
 makes it unconditionally, and is resolved to fulfill it ; 
 and faith rests in Him, in perfect liberty of heart. 
 It needs no effort of nature to reach the accomplish- 
 ment of a divine promise. Here was precisely where 
 Abraham and Sarah failed. They made an effort of 
 nature to reach a certain end, which end was abso- 
 lutely secured by a promise of God. This is the 
 grand mistake of unbelief. By its restless activity, 
 it raises a hazy mist around the soul, which hinders 
 the beams of the divine glory from reaching it. ' ' He 
 could there do no mighty works, because of their un- 
 belief." One great characteristic virtue of faith is, 
 that it ever leaves the platform clear for God to show 
 
182 GENESIS. 
 
 Himself; and truly, when He shows Himself, man 
 must take the place of a happy worshiper. ' 
 
 The error into which the Galatians allowed them- 
 selves to be drawn, was the addition of something of 
 nature to what Christ had already accomplished for 
 them by the cross. The gospel which had been 
 preached to them, and which they had received, was 
 the simple presentation of God's absolute, unquali- 
 fied and unconditional grace. "Jesus Christ had 
 been evidently set forth crucified among them." 
 This was not merely promise divinely made, but 
 promise divinely and most gloriously accomplished. 
 A crucified Christ settled everything, in reference 
 both to God's claims and man's necessities. But 
 the false teachers upset all this, or sought to upset 
 it, by saying, "Except ye be circumcised after the 
 manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." This, as 
 the apostle teaches them, was, in reality, "making 
 Christ of none effect." Christ must either be a 
 whole Saviour, or no Saviour at all. The moment a 
 man says, Except ye be this or that, ye cannot be 
 saved, he totally subverts Christianity ; for in Chris- 
 tianity I find God coming down to me, just as I am 
 a lost, guilty, self- destroyed sinner ; and coming, 
 moreover, with a full remission of all my sins, and 
 a full salvation from my lost estate, all perfectly 
 wrought by Himself on the cross. 
 
 Hence, therefore, a man who tells me, You must 
 be so and so, in order to bo saved, robs the cross of 
 all its glory, and robs me of all my peace. If sal- 
 vation depends upon our being or doing aught, we 
 
 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 183 
 
 shall inevitably be lost. Thank God, it does not; 
 for the great fundamental principle of the gospel is, 
 that God is ALL : man is NOTHING. It is not a 
 mixture of God and man, it is all of God. The 
 peace of the gospel does not repose in part on 
 Christ's work and in part on man's work ; it reposes 
 wholly on Christ's work, because that work is perfect 
 perfect forever ; and it renders all who put their 
 trust in it as perfect as itself. 
 
 Under the law, God, as it were, stood still to see 
 what man could do ; but in the gospel, God is seen 
 acting, and as for man, he has but to "standstill 
 and see the salvation of God." This being so, the 
 inspired apostle hesitates not to say to the Galatians, 
 "Christ is become of no effect unto you ; whosoever 
 of you are justified by law \_F.V KO//&}], ye are fallen 
 from grace." If man has anything to do in the 
 matter, God is shut out ; and if God is shut out, 
 there can be no salvation, for it is impossible that 
 man can work out a salvation by that which proves 
 him a lost creature ; and then if it be a question of 
 grace, it must be all grace. It cannot be half grace, 
 half law. The two covenants are perfectly distinct. 
 It cannot be half Sarah and half Hagar : it must be 
 either the one or the other. If it be Hagar, God has 
 nothing to do with it ; and if it be Sarah, man lias 
 nothing to do with it. Thus it stands throughout. 
 The law addresses man, tests him, sees what lie is 
 really worth, proves him a ruin, and puts him under 
 the curse ; and not only puts him under it, but keeps 
 him there, so long as he is occupied with it so long 
 13 
 
184 GENESIS. 
 
 as he is alive. "The law hath dominion over a man 
 so long as he liveth ; ' ' but when he is dead, its do- 
 minion necessarily ceases, so far as he is concerned, 
 though it still remains in full force to curse every 
 living man. 
 
 The gospel, on the contrary, assuming man to be 
 lost, ruined, dead, reveals God as He is the Saviour 
 of the lost, the Pardoner of the guilty, the Quickener 
 of the dead. It reveals Him, not as exacting aught 
 from man, (for what could be expected from one 
 who has died a bankrupt ?) but as exhibiting His 
 own independent grace in redemption. This makes 
 a material difference, and will account for the extra- 
 ordinary strength of the language employed in the 
 epistle to the Galatians, "I marvel," "Who hath 
 bewitched you?" "I am afraid of you," U I 
 stand in doubt of you," "I would they were even 
 cut off that trouble you." This is the language of 
 the Holy Ghost, who knows the value of a full Christ 
 and a full salvation, and who also knows how essen- 
 tial the knowledge of both is to a lost sinner. We 
 have no such language as this in any other epistle, 
 not even in that to the Corinthians, although there 
 were some of the grossest disorders to be corrected 
 amongst them. All human failure and error can be 
 corrected by bringing in God's grace ; but the Gala- 
 tians, like Abraham in this chapter, were going away 
 from God and returning to the flesh. What remedy 
 could be devised for this ? How can you correct an 
 error which consists in departing from that which 
 alone can correct anything ? To fall from grace is 
 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 185 
 
 to get back under the law, from which nothing can 
 ever be reaped but "THE CURSE." May the Lord 
 establish our hearts in His own most excellent 
 grace ! 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HERE we have God's remedy for Abraham's fail- 
 ure set before us. "And when Abram was 
 ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto 
 Abram, and said unto him, 1 1 am the Almighty God: 
 walk before Me, and be thou perfect. 9 "* This is a 
 
 *I would here offer a remark as to the word "perfect." When 
 Abraham was called upon to be " perfect," it did not mean perfect 
 in himself; for this he never was, and never could be. It simply 
 meant .that he should be perfect as regards the object before his 
 heart that his hopes and expectations were to be perfectly and 
 undividedly centred in the "Almighty God." 
 
 In looking through the New Testament, we find the word "per- 
 fect" used in at least four distinct senses. In Matt. v. 48 we read, 
 " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 
 perfect." Here we learn from the context that the word "perfect" 
 refers to the principle of our walk. At verse 44 we read, "Love 
 
 your enemies, that ye may be the sons of your Father 
 
 Avhieh is in heaven ; for He inaketh the sun to rise upon the evil 
 and the good, and sendeth.rain upon the just and the unjust." 
 Hence, to be "perfect" in the sense of Matt. v. 48 is to act on a 
 principle of grace toward all, even toward those who are injurious 
 and hostile. A Christian going to law, and asserting or contending 
 for his rights, is not "perfect as his Father;' 1 for his Father is deal- 
 ing in grace, whereas he is dealing in righteousness. 
 
 The question here is not as to the right or wrong of going to law 
 with worldly people (as to brethren, 1 Cor. vi is conclusive). All I 
 contend for is, that a Christian so doing is acting in a character the 
 direct opposite to that of his Father; for assuredly He is not going- 
 to law with the world. He is not now on a judgment-seat, but on a 
 mercy-seat a throne of grace. He showers His blessings upon. 
 
186 GENESIS. 
 
 most comprehensive verse. It is very evident that 
 Abraham had not been walking before the Almighty 
 God when he adopted Sarah's expedient in reference 
 to Hagar. It is faith alone that can enable a man to 
 walk up and down before an Almighty One. Unbe- 
 lief will ever be thrusting in something of self, some- 
 thing of circumstances, second causes, and the like, 
 and thus the soul is robbed of the joy and peace, 
 the calm elevation and holy independence, which 
 flow from leaning upon the arm of One who can do 
 everything. I believe we deeply need to ponder 
 
 those who, were He to go to law Avith them, should be in hell. 
 Wherefore it is plain that a Christian, when he brings a man before 
 the judgYnent-scat, is not " perfect as his Father which is in heaven 
 is pei'fect." 
 
 At the close of Matt, xviii we have a parable which teaches us 
 that a man who asserts his rights is ignorant of the true character 
 and proper effect of grace. The servant was not unrighteous in de- 
 manding what was due to him, but he was ungracious. He was to- 
 tally unlike his master. He had been forgiven ten thousand talents, 
 and yet lie could seize his fellow by the throat for a paltry hundred 
 pence. What was the consequence ? He was delivered to the tor- 
 mentors. He lost the happy sense of grace, and was left to reap the 
 bitter fruits of having asserted his rights, while being himself a 
 subject of grace. And, observe further, he was called a. "wicked 
 servant," not because of having owed "ten thousand talents," but 
 because of not having forgiven the " hundred pence." The master 
 had ample grace to settle the former, but he had not grace to settle 
 the latter. This parable has a solemn voice for all Christians going 
 to law; for although, in the application of it, it is said, "So shall 
 My heavenly Father do to you, if you, from your heart, forgive not 
 every one his brother their trespasses," yet is the principle of 
 general application, that a man acting in righteousness will lose 
 the sense of grace. 
 
 In Hebrews ix we have another sense of the term "perfect." 
 Here, too, the context settles the import of the word. It is " per- 
 fect, as pertaining to the conscience." This is a deeply important 
 use of the term. The worshiper under the law never could have a 
 perfect conscience, for the simplest reason possible, because ho 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 187 
 
 this. God is not such an abiding reality to onr 
 souls as He ought to be, or as He would be, were 
 we walking in more simple faith and dependence. 
 
 4 ' Walk before Me. ' ' This is true power. To walk 
 thus, implies our having nothing whatever before 
 our hearts save God Himself. If I am founding 
 my expectation upon men and .things, I am not 
 walking before God, but before men and things. It 
 is of the utmost importance to ascertain who or 
 what I have before me as an object. To what am I 
 looking ? On whom or what am I leaning, at this 
 
 never had a perfect sacrifice. The blood of a bullock and a goat did 
 well enough for a lime, but it could not do forever, and therefore 
 could not give a perfect conscience. Now, however, the weakest 
 believer in Jesus is privileged to have a perfect conscience. Why ? 
 Is it because he is a better man than the worshiper under the law ? 
 Nay ; but because he has gotten a better sacrifice. If Christ's sacri- 
 lice is perfect forever, the believer's conscience is perfect forever. 
 The two things necessarily go together. For the Christian not to 
 have a perfect conscience is a dishonor to the sacrifice of Christ. 
 It is tantamount to saying that His sacrifice is only temporary, and 
 not eternal, in its effect; and what is this but to bring it down to 
 the level of the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy. 
 
 It is very needful to distinguish between perfection in the flesh 
 and perfection as to conscience. To pi-etend to the former, is to 
 exalt self; to refuse the latter, is to dishonor Clvrist. The babe in 
 Christ should have a perfect conscience ; whereas St. Paul had not, 
 nor could have, perfect flesh. The flesh is not presented in the 
 Word as a thing which is to be perfected, but as a thing which has 
 been cruciiied. This makes a wide difference. The Christian has 
 sin in him, but not on him. Why ? Because Christ, who had no 
 sin in Him ever, had sin on Him when He was nailed to the cross. 
 
 Finally, in Phil, iii AVO have two other senses of the word "per- 
 fect." The apostle BUYS, "Not ns though I had already attained, 
 cither were already perfect; " and yet a little further on ho says, 
 " Let ns many as be perfect be thus minded." The former refers to 
 the apostle's full and everlasting conformity to Christ in glory: the 
 latter refers to our having Christ as the all-engrossing object 
 before the heart's afl'eetions, 
 
188 GENESIS. 
 
 moment ? Does God entirely fill my future ? Have 
 men .or circumstances aught to do therein ? Is there 
 any space allotted to the creature ? The only way 
 in which to get above the world is to walk by faith, 
 because faith so completely fills the scene with God 
 that there is no room for the creature no room for 
 the world. If God fills up my entire range of vision, 
 I can see nothing else ; and then I am able to say, 
 with the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thou only upon 
 God ; for my expectation is from Him. He only is 
 my rock and my salvation : He is my defence, I 
 shall not be moved." (Ps. Ixii. 5, 6.) This word 
 "only" is deeply searching. Nature cannot say 
 this. Not that it will, save when under the direct 
 influence of a daring and blasphemous scepticism, 
 formally shut out God altogether ; but it assuredly 
 cannot say, "lie only." 
 
 Now, it is well to see that as in the matter of sal- 
 vation, so in all the details of actual life from day to 
 day, God will not share His glory with the creature. 
 From first to last, it must be "He only," and this, 
 too, in realitjr. It will not do to have the language 
 of dependence upon God on our lips, while our 
 hearts are really leaning on some creature resource. 
 God will make all this fully manifest ; He will test 
 the heart ; He will put faith into the furnace. "Walk 
 before Me, and be thou perfect." Thus it is we 
 reach the proper point. When the soul is enabled, 
 by grace, to get rid of all its' fondly-cherished crea- 
 ture expectations, then, and only then, it is prepared 
 to let God act ; and when He acts, all must be welh 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 189 
 
 He will not leave anything undone. He will per- 
 fectly settle everything on behalf of those who sim- 
 ply put their trust in Him. When unerring wisdom, 
 omnipotent power, and infinite love combine, the 
 confiding heart may enjoy unruffled repose. Unless 
 we can find some circumstance too big or too little 
 for "the Almighty God," we have no proper base 
 on which to found a single anxious thought. This 
 is an amazing truth, and one eminently calculated 
 to put all who believe it into the blessed position in 
 which we find Abraham in this chapter. When God 
 had, in effect, said to him, Leave all to Me, and I 
 will settle it for you, beyond your utmost desires 
 and expectations : the seed and the inheritance, and 
 everything pertaining thereto, will be fully and ever- 
 lastingly settled, according to the covenant of the 
 Almighty God, then "Abram fell on his face." 
 Truly blessed attitude ! the only proper one for a 
 thoroughly empty, feeble, and unprofitable sinner to 
 occupy in the presence of the living God the Crea- 
 tor of heaven and earth the Possessor of all things 
 "the Almighty God." 
 
 u And God talked with him." It is when man is 
 in the dust that God can talk to him in grace. 
 Abraham's posture here is the beautiful expression 
 of entire prostration, in the presence of God, in the 
 sense of utter weakness and nothingness. And this, 
 be it observed, is the sure precursor of God's reve- 
 lation of Himself. It is when the creature is laid 
 low that God can show Himself in the unclouded 
 effulgence of what He is. He will not give His glory 
 
190 GENESIS. 
 
 to another. He can reveal Himself, and allow man 
 to worship in view of that revelation ; but until the 
 sinner takes his proper place, there can be no un- 
 folding of the divine character. How different is 
 Abraham's attitude in this and the preceding chap- 
 ter ! There, he had nature before him ; here, he 
 has the Almighty God : there, he is an actor ; here, 
 he is a worshiper : there, he was betaking himself to 
 his own and Sarah's contrivance ; here, he leaves 
 himself and his circumstances, his present and his 
 future, in God's hands, and allows Him to act in 
 him, for him and through him. Hence God can say, 
 4 ' I will make, " ' ' I will establish, " ' ' I will give, ' ' 
 "I will bless." In a word, it is all God and His 
 actings ; and this is real rest for the poor heart that 
 has learnt anything of itself. 
 
 The covenant of circumcision is now introduced. 
 Every member of the household of faith must bear 
 in his body the seal of that covenant. There must 
 be no exception. "He that is born in thy house, 
 and he that is bought with thy money, must needs 
 be circumcised : and My covenant shall be in your 
 flesh, for an everlasting covenant. And the nncir- 
 cumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is 
 not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his 
 people, he hath broken My covenant." We are 
 taught, in Romans iv, that circumcision was "a seal 
 of the righteousness of faith." "Abraham believed 
 God, and it was counted unto him for righteous- 
 ness." Being thus counted righteous, God set His 
 "seal" upon him. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 191 
 
 The seal with which the believer is now sealed is 
 not a mark in the flesh, but "that Holy Spirit of 
 promise, whereby he is sealed unto the day of re- 
 demption." This is founded upon his everlasting 
 connection with Christ, and his perfect identification 
 with Him, in death and resurrection ; as we read, in 
 Colossians, "And ye are complete in Him, which 
 is the head of all principality and power : in whom 
 also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made 
 without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of 
 the flesh by the circumcision of Christ : buried with 
 Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him 
 through the faith of the operation of God, who hath 
 raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in 
 your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath 
 He quickened together with Him, having forgiven 
 you all trespasses." This is a most glorious pas- 
 sage, unfolding to us the true idea of what circum- 
 cision was meant to typify. Every believer belongs 
 to "the circumcision" in virtue of his living asso- 
 ciation with Him who, by His cross, has forever 
 abolished everything that stood in the way of His 
 Church's perfect justification. There was not a 
 speck of sin on the conscience, nor a principle of 
 sin in the nature of His people, for which Christ was 
 not judged on the cross; and they are now looked 
 upon as having died with Christ, lain in the grave 
 with Christ, been raised with Christ, perfectly ac- 
 cepted in Him, their sins, their iniquities, their 
 transgressions, their enmity, their uncircumcision, 
 having been entirely put away by the cross. The 
 
192 GENESIS. 
 
 sentence of death has been written on the flesh ; but 
 the believer is in possession of a new life, in union 
 with his risen Head in glory. 
 
 The apostle, in the above passage, teaches that 
 the Church was quickened out of the grave of Christ ; 
 and, moreover, that the forgiveness of all her tres- 
 passes is as complete, and as entirely the work of 
 God, as was the raising of Christ from the dead ; 
 and this latter, we know, was the result of "God's 
 mighty power," or, as it maybe rendered, "accord- 
 to the energy of the might of His power" (Eph. i. 
 19.) a truly wonderful expression, calculated to 
 set forth the magnitude and glory of redemption, as 
 well as the solid basis on which it rests. 
 
 What rest perfect rest for the heart and con- 
 science is here ! What full relief for the burdened 
 spirit ! All our sins buried in the grave of Christ, 
 not one even the smallest left out ! God did 
 this for us ! All that His searching eye could de- 
 tect in us, He laid on the head of Christ when He 
 hung upon the cross ! He judged Him there and 
 then, instead of judging us in hell forever ! Pre- 
 cious fruit, this, of the admirable, the profound, the 
 eternal counsels of redeeming love ! And we are 
 "sealed," not with a certain mark cut in our flesh, 
 but with the Holy Ghost. The entire household of 
 faith is sealed thus. Such is the dignity, the value, 
 the changeless efficacy of the blood of Christ, that 
 the Holy Ghost the Third Person of the eternal 
 Trinity can take up His abode in all those who 
 have put their trust therein. 
 
CHAPTEIl XVIII. 193 
 
 And now what remains for those who know these 
 things, save to "be steadfast, immovable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord." Thus may it 
 be, O Lord, through the grace of Thy Holy Spirit ! 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THIS chapter affords a beautiful exemplification 
 of the results of an obedient, separated walk. 
 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any 
 man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come 
 in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." 
 (Rev. iii. 20.) Again, we read, "Jesus answered 
 and said unto him, 'If a man love Me, he will keep 
 My words ; and My Father will love him, and We 
 will come unto him, and make our abode with him.' ' 
 (John xiv. 23.) From these passages, taken in con- 
 nection with our chapter, we learn that an obedient 
 soul enjoys a character of communion entirely un- 
 known to one who moves in a worldly atmosphere. 
 
 This does not touch, in the most remote manner, 
 the question of forgiveness or justification. All 
 believers are clothed in the same spotless robe of 
 righteousness, all stand in one common justifica- 
 tion, under the eye of God. The one life flows down 
 from the Head in heaven ih rough all the members 
 on earth. This is plain. The doctrine in reference 
 to the above important points is fully established in 
 the Word, and has been again and again unfolded 
 
194 GENESIS. 
 
 through the foregoing pages of this volume. But 
 we should remember that justification is one thing, 
 and the fruit thereof quite another : to be a child is 
 one thing, to be an obedient child is quite another. 
 Now, a father loves an obedient child, and will make 
 such a child more the depositary of his thoughts and 
 plans. And is this not true in reference to our 
 heavenly Father ? Unquestionably. John xiv. 23 
 puts this quite beyond dispute ; and, moreover, it 
 proves that for one to speak of loving Christ, and 
 not to "keep His words," is hypocrisy. "If a man 
 love Me, he will keep My words." Hence, if we 
 are not keeping Christ's words, it is a sure proof we 
 are not walking in the love of His name. Love to 
 Christ is proved by doing the things which He com- 
 mands, and not by merely saying, "Lord, Lord." 
 It is of very little avail to say, "I go, sir," while 
 the heart has no idea of going. 
 
 However, in Abraham we see one who, however 
 lie may have failed in detail, was nevertheless char- 
 acterized in the main by a close, simple and elevated 
 walk with God ; and in the interesting section of his 
 history now before us, we find him in the enjoyment 
 of three special privileges, namely, providing re- 
 freshment for the Lord, enjoying full communion 
 with the Lord, and interceding for others before the 
 Lord. These are high distinctions ; and yet are 
 they only such as ever result from an obedient, sepa- 
 rated, holy walk. Obedience refreshes the Lord, as 
 being the fruit of His own grace in our hearts. We 
 see in the only perfect Man that ever lived, how 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 11)5 
 
 He constantly refreshed and delighted the Father. 
 Again and again God bore testimony to Him from 
 heaven, as His "beloved Son," in whom He was 
 "well pleased." The path of Christ furnished a 
 continual feast to heaven. His ways were ever send- 
 ing up a fragrant incense to the throne of God. 
 From the manger to the cross, He did always the 
 things which pleased His Father. There was no in- 
 terruption, no variation, no salient point. He was 
 the only perfect One. 
 
 "There only can the Spirit trace 
 A perfect life below." 
 
 Here and there, as we look along the current of in- 
 spiration, we find one and another who occasionally 
 refreshed the mind of heaven. Thus, in the chapter 
 before us, we find the tent of the stranger at Mamre 
 affording refreshment to the Lord Himself, refresh- 
 ment lovingly offered, and willingly accepted. (Ver. 
 1-8.) 
 
 Then we find Abraham enjoying high communion 
 with the Lord, first, in reference to his own personal 
 interests (ver. 9-15), and secondly, in reference to 
 the destinies of Sodom (ver. 1G-21). What con- 
 firmation to Abraham's heart in the absolute promise 
 "Sarah shall have a son"! Yet this promise 
 only elicited a laugh from Sarah, as it had elicited 
 one from Abraham in the preceding chapter. 
 
 There are two kinds of laughter spoken of in 
 Scripture. There is, first, the laughter with which 
 the Lord fills our mouth, when, at some trying 
 crisis, He appears in a signal manner for our relief. 
 
19G GENESIS. 
 
 "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, 
 we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth 
 filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: 
 then said they among the heathen, 'The Lord hath 
 done great things for them ; ' the Lord hath done 
 great things for us, whereof we are glad." (Psalm 
 cxxvi. 1, 2.) Again, there is the laughter with which 
 unbelief fills our mouths, when God's promises are 
 too magnificent for our narrow hearts to take in, or 
 the visible agency too small, in our judgment, for 
 the accomplishment of His grand designs. The first 
 of these we are never ashamed or afraid to avow. 
 Zion's sons are not ashamed to say, "Then was our 
 mouth filled with laughter." (Psalm cxxvi. 2.) 
 When Jehovah makes us to laugh, we may laugh 
 heartily. "But Sarah denied, saying, 4 I laughed 
 not ; ' for she was afraid." Unbelief makes us cow- 
 ards and liars : faith makes us bold and truthful, 
 it enables us to "come boldly," and to "draw near 
 with true hearts." 
 
 But further, Abraham is made the depositary of 
 God's thoughts and counsels sdbout Sodom. Though 
 having nothing to do with it personally, yet he was 
 so near the Lord that he was let into His mind in 
 reference to it. The way to know the divine pur- 
 poses about this present evil world, is not to be 
 mixed up with it, in its schemes and speculations, 
 but to be entirely separated from it. The more 
 closely we walk with God, and the more subject we 
 are to His Word, the more we shall know of His 
 mind about everything. I do not need to study tho 
 
CHAPTEU XVIII. 197 
 
 newspaper in order to know what is going to happen 
 in the world: God's Word reveals all I want to 
 know. In its pure and sanctifying pages I learn ail- 
 about the character, the course, and the destiny of 
 the world ; whereas, if I go to the men of the world 
 for news, I may expect that the devil will use them 
 to cast dust in my eyes. 
 
 Had Abraham visited Sodom in order to obtain 
 information about its facts, had he applied to some 
 of its leading intelligent men, to know what they 
 thought of Sodom's present condition and future 
 prospects, how would he have been answered ? 
 Doubtless, they would have called his attention to 
 their agricultural and architectural schemes, the 
 vast resources of the country; they would have 
 placed before his eyes one vast, mingled scene of 
 buying and selling, building and planting, eating 
 and drinking, marrying and gwing in marriage. 
 Doubtless, too, they would never dream of judg- 
 ment, and if any one had made mention thereof, 
 their mouths would have been filled with infidel 
 laughter. Hence, then, it is plain that Sodom was 
 not the place in which to learn about Sodom's end. 
 No ; the place where ' ' Abraham stood before tho 
 Lord," afforded the only proper point from whence 
 to take in the whole prospect. There he could stand 
 entirely above the fogs and mists which had gathered 
 upon Sodom's horizon. There, in the clearness and 
 calmness of the divine presence, he could under- 
 stand it all. And what use did he make of his 
 knowledge and his elevated position ? how was he 
 
198 GENESIS. 
 
 occupied in the Lord's presence ? The answer to 
 these inquiries leads us to the third special privilege 
 enjoyed by our patriarch in this chapter, namely, 
 
 Intercession for others before the Lord. He was 
 enabled to plead for those who were mixed up in 
 Sodom's defilement, and in danger of being involved 
 in Sodom's judgment. This was a happy and a 
 holy use to make of his place of nearness to God. 
 Thus it is ever. The soul that can 4 ' draw near to 
 God," in the assurance of faith, having the heart 
 and conscience perfectly at rest, being able to repose 
 in God as to the past, the present, and the future 
 that soul will be able and willing to intercede for 
 others. The man who has on "the whole armor of 
 God," will be able to pray "for all saints." And, 
 oh ! what a view this gives us of the intercession of 
 our Great High Priest, who has passed into the 
 heavens ! What infinite repose He enjoys in all the 
 divine counsels ! With what conscious acceptance 
 He sits enthroned amid the brightness of the Maj- 
 esty in the heavens ! and with what efficacy He 
 pleads before that Majesty for those who are toiling 
 along amid the defilement of this present scene ! 
 Happy ineffably happy they who are the subjects 
 of such all-prevailing intercession ! At once happy 
 and secure. Would that we had hearts to enter into 
 all this, hearts enlarged, by personal communion 
 with God, to take in more of the infinite fullness of 
 His grace, and the suitability of His provision for 
 all our need. 
 
 We see, in this scripture, that how blessed soever 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 199 
 
 Abraham's intercession might be, yet it was limited, 
 because the intercessor was but a man. It did not 
 reach the need. lie said, "I will speak yet but this 
 once," and there he stopped short, as if afraid of 
 having presented too large a draft at the treasury of 
 infinite grace, or forgetting that faith's check was 
 never yet dishonored at God's bank. It was not 
 that he was straitened in God. By no means. There 
 was abundance of grace and patience in Him to have 
 hearkened to His dear servant had he proceeded 
 even to three or one ; but the servant was limited. 
 He was afraid of overdrawing his account : he 
 ceased to ask, and God ceased to give. Not so our 
 blessed Intercessor. Of Him it can be said, "He is 
 
 able to save to the uttermost, seeing he 
 
 ever liveth to make intercession." May our hearts 
 cling to Him, in all our need, our weakness, and 
 our conflict. 
 
 Before closing this section, I would offer a remark, 
 which, whether it may be regarded as properly flow- 
 ing out of the truth contained therein, or not, is 
 nevertheless worthy of consideration. It is of the 
 uttnost importance, in the study of Scripture, to 
 distinguish between God's moral government of the 
 world, and the specific hope of the Church. The 
 entire body of Old Testament prophecy, and much 
 of the New, treats of the former, and, in so doing, 
 presents, I need hardly say, a subject of command- 
 ing interest to every Christian. It is interesting to 
 know what God is doing, and will do, with all the 
 nations of the earth, interesting to read God's 
 H 
 
200 GENESIS. 
 
 thoughts about Tyre, Babylon, Nineveh, and Jeru- 
 salem ; about Egypt, Assyria, and the land of Is- 
 rael. In short, the entire range of Old Testament 
 prophecy demands the prayerful attention of every 
 true believer. But, 1st it be remembered, we do not 
 find therein contained the proper hope of the Church. 
 How could we ? If we have not therein the Church's 
 existence directly revealed, how could we have the 
 Church's hope ? Impossible. It is not that the 
 Church cannot find there a rich harvest of divine 
 moral principles, which she may most happily and 
 profitably use. She undoubtedly can ; but this is 
 quite another thing from finding there her proper 
 existence and specific hope. And yet a large por- 
 tion of the Old Testament prophecies has been 
 applied to the Church; and this application has 
 involved the whole subject in such mist and confu- 
 sion, that simple minds are scared away from the 
 study, and in neglecting the study of prophecy, they 
 have also neglected that which is quite distinct from 
 prophecy, properly so called even the hope of the 
 Church ; which hope, be it well remembered, is not 
 anything which God is going to do with the nations 
 of the earth, but to meet the Lord Jesus in the 
 clouds of heaven, to be forever with Him and for- 
 ever like Him. 
 
 Many may say, I have no head for prophecy. 
 Perhaps not, but have you a heart for Christ ? 
 Surely, if you love Christ you will love His appear- 
 ing, though you may have no capacity for prophetic 
 investigation. An affectionate wife may not have a 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 201 
 
 head to enter into her husband's affairs, but she has 
 a heart for her husband's return ; she might not be 
 able to understand his ledger and day-book, but she 
 knows his footstep and recognizes his voice. The 
 most unlettered saint, if only he has affection for the 
 Person of the Lord Jesus, can entertain the most 
 intense desire to see Him ; and this is the Church's 
 hope. The apostle could say to the Thessalonians, 
 "Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living 
 and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven." 
 (1 Thess. i. 9, 10.) Now, evidently, those Thessa- 
 lonian saints could, at the moment of their conver- 
 sion, have known little, if anything, of prophecy, 
 or the special subject thereof; and yet they were, 
 at that very moment, put into the full possession 
 and power of the specific hope of the Church even 
 the coming of the Son. Thus is it throughout the 
 entire New Testament. There, no doubt, we have 
 prophecy, there, too, we have God's moral govern- 
 ment; but, at the same time, numberless passages 
 might be adduced in proof of the fact, that the 
 common hope of Christians in apostolic times the 
 simple, unimpeded, and unencumbered hope was, 
 THE RETURN OF THE BRIDEGROOM. May 
 the Holy Ghost revive "that blessed hope" in the 
 Church ; may He gather in the number of the elect, 
 and "make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 
 
CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 HHHERE are two methods which the Lord graciously 
 -L adopts, in order to draw the heart away from 
 this present world. The first is, by setting before it 
 the attractiveness and stability of "things above:" 
 the second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent 
 and shakable nature of "things on the earth." The 
 close of Hebrews xii furnishes a beautiful example 
 of each of these methods. After stating the truth, 
 that we are come unto mount Zion, with all its 
 attendant joys and privileges, the apostle goes on to 
 say, "See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh ; for 
 if they escaped not who refused him that spake on 
 earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn 
 away from Him that speaketh from heaven ; whose 
 voice then shook the earth, but now He hath prom- 
 ised, saying, 4 Yet once I shake, not only the earth, 
 but also heaven.' Now this 4 once' signifieth the 
 removal of the shakable things, as of things that 
 are made, that the unshakable things may remain." 
 Now it is much better to be drawn by the joys of 
 heaven, than driven by the sorrows of earth. The 
 believer should not wait to be shaken out of present 
 things. He should not wait for the world to give 
 him up, before he gives up the world: he should 
 give it up in the power of communion with heavenly 
 things. There is no difficulty in giving up the world 
 when we have, by faith, laid hold of Christ; the 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 203 
 
 difficulty would then be to hold it. If a scavenger 
 were left an estate of ten thousand a year, he would 
 not long continue to sweep the streets. Thus, if we 
 arc realizing our portion amid the unshakable realities 
 of heaven, we shall find little difficulty in resigning 
 the delusive joys of earth. Let us now look at the 
 solemn section of inspired history here set before us. 
 In it we find Lot "sitting in the gate of Sodom," 
 the place of authority. He has evidently made pro- 
 gress, he has "got on in the world." Looked at 
 from a worldly point of view, his course has been a 
 successful one. He at first "pitched his tent toward 
 Sodom ;" then, no doubt, he found his w r ay into it ; 
 and now we find him sitting in the gate a promi- 
 nent, influential post. How different is all this from 
 the scene with which the preceding chapter opens ! 
 But, ah! my reader, the reason is obvious. "By 
 faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as 
 in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles." AVe 
 have no such statement in reference to Lot.* It 
 could not be said, By faith Lot sat in the gate of 
 Sodom. Alas ! no ; he gets no place among the 
 noble army of confessors the great cloud of wit- 
 nesses to the power of faith. The world was his 
 snare, present things his bane. He did not "endure 
 as seeing Him who is invisible." He looked at "the 
 things which are seen, and temporal;" whereas 
 Abraham looked at "the things which are unseen 
 
 *It would furnish a very searching question for the heart, in ref- 
 erence to every undertaking, were we to ask, Am I doing this by 
 faith? " Whatever is not of faith is sin ; " and " without faith, it is 
 impossible to please God." 
 
204 GENESIS. 
 
 and eternal." There was a most material difference 
 between those two men, who, though they started 
 together on their course, reached a very different 
 goal, so far as their public testimony was concerned. 
 No doubt Lot was saved, yet it was "so as by fire," 
 for, truly, "his work was burned up." On the other 
 hand, Abraham had "an abundant entrance minis- 
 tered unto him into the everlasting kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 Further, we do not find that Lot is permitted to 
 enjoy any of the high distinctions and privileges 
 with which Abraham was favored. Instead of re- 
 freshing the Lord, Lot gets his righteous soul vexed ; 
 instead of enjoying communion with the Lord, he is 
 at a lamentable distance from the Lord ; and, lastly, 
 instead of interceding for others, he finds enough to 
 do to intercede for himself. The Lord remained to 
 commune with Abraham, and merely sent His angels 
 to Sodom ; and these angels could with difficulty 
 be induced to enter into Lot's house, or partake of 
 his hospitality: "they said, 'Nay, but we will abide 
 in the street all night.' " What a rebuke ! How 
 different from the willing acceptance of Abraham's 
 invitation, as expressed in the words, "So do as 
 thou hast said." 
 
 There is a great deal involved in the act of par- 
 taking of any one's hospitality. It expresses, when 
 intelligently looked at, full fellowship with him. "I 
 will come in unto him, and sup with him, and he 
 with Me." "If ye have judged me to be faithful to 
 the Lord, come. into my house and abide." If they 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 205 
 
 had not so judged her, they would not have accepted 
 her invitation. 
 
 Hence, the angels' word to Lot contains a most 
 unqualified condemnation of his position in Sodom. 
 They would rather abide in the street all night than 
 enter under the roof of one in a wrong position. 
 Indeed, their only object in coming to Sodom seems 
 to have been to deliver 'Lot, and that, too, because 
 of Abraham ; as we read, "And it came to pass, 
 when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God 
 remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst 
 of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in 
 which Lot dwelt." This is strongly marked. It 
 was simply for Abraham's sake that Lot was suffered 
 to escape. The Lord has no sympathy with a worldly 
 mind ; and such a mind it was that had led Lot to 
 settle down amid the -defilement of that guilty city. 
 Faith never put him there ; a spiritual mind never 
 put him there ; "his righteous soul" never put him 
 there : it was simple love for this present evil world 
 that led him first to "c/wose," then to "pitch his 
 tent toward," and finally to "sit in the gate of Sod- 
 om." And, oh, what a portion he chose! Truly, 
 it was a broken cistern which could hold no water, 
 a broken reed which pierced his hand. It is a 
 bitter thing to seek, in any wise, to manage for 
 ourselves: we are sure to make the most grievous 
 mistakes. It is infinitely better to allow God to 
 order all our ways for us, to commit them all, in 
 the spirit of a little child, to Him who is so willing 
 and so able to manage for us, to put the pen, as it 
 
206 GENESIS. 
 
 were, into His blessed hand, and allow Him to sketch 
 out our entire course, according to His own unerring 
 wisdom and infinite love. 
 
 No doubt Lot thought he was doing well for him- 
 self and his family when he moved to Sodom, but 
 the sequel shows how entirely he erred ; and it also 
 sounds in our ears a voice of deepest solemnity a 
 voice telling us to beware how we yield to the incip- 
 ient workings of a worldly spirit. ' ' Be content with 
 such things as } r e have." Why? Is it because you 
 are so well off in the world ? because you have all 
 that your poor rambling hearts would seek after ? 
 because there is not so much as a single chink in 
 your circumstances through which a vain desire 
 might make its escape ? Is this to be the ground 
 of our contentment ? By no means. What then ? 
 "For He hath said, 'I will never leave thee nor 
 forsake thee.' ' Blessed portion ! Had Lot been 
 content therewith, he never would have sought the 
 well-watered plains of Sodom. 
 
 And then, if we need any further ground of in- 
 ducement to the exercise of a contented spirit, truly 
 we have it in this chapter. What did Lot gain in 
 the way of happiness and contentment ? Little in- 
 deed. The people of Sodom surround his house, and 
 threaten to break into it ; he seeks to appease them 
 by a most humiliating proposition, but all in vain. 
 If a man will mingle with the world, for the purpose 
 of self-aggrandizement, he must make up his mind 
 to endure the sad consequences. We cannot profit 
 by the world, and, at the same time, bear effectual 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 207 
 
 testimony against its wickedness. "This one fellow 
 came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge." 
 This will never do. The true way to judge is to 
 stand apart, in the moral power of grace, not in the 
 supercilious spirit of pharisaism. To attempt to re- 
 prove the world's ways, while we profit by associa- 
 tion with it, is vanity ; the world will attach very 
 little weight to such reproof and such testimony. 
 Thus it was, too, with Lot's testimony to his sons-in- 
 law; "he seemed as one that mocked." It is vain 
 to speak of approaching judgment while finding our 
 place, our portion, and our enjoyment in the very 
 scene which is to be judged. 
 
 Abraham was in a far better position to speak of 
 j udgmcnt, inasmuch as he was entirely outside of the 
 sphere thereof. The tent of the stranger at Mamre 
 was in no danger, though Sodom were in flames. 
 O, that our hearts longed more after the precious 
 fruits of a realized strangership, so that instead of 
 havipg, like poor Lot, to be dragged by main force 
 out of the world, and casting a lingering look be- 
 hind, we might, with holy alacrity, bound forward, 
 like a racer, towards the goal. 
 
 Lot evidently longed after the scene which he was 
 forced, by angelic power, to abandon ; for not only 
 had the angels to lay hold of him, and hasten him 
 away from the impending judgment, but even when 
 exhorted to escape for his life, (which was all he 
 could save from the wreck, ) and flee to the mountain, 
 he replies, "Oh, not so, my Lord: behold, now, thy 
 servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast 
 
208 GENESIS. 
 
 magnified thy mercy which thou hast showed unto 
 me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the 
 mountain, lest some evil take me and I die : behold, 
 now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little 
 one: oh! let me escape thither, (is it not a little 
 one?) and my soul shall live." What a picture ! 
 He seems like a drowning man, ready to catch even 
 at a floating feather. Though commanded by the 
 angel to flee to the mountain, he refuses, and still 
 fondly clings to the idea of "a little city," some 
 little shred of the world. He feared death in the 
 place to which God was mercifully directing him, 
 yea, he feared all manner of evil, and could only 
 hope for safety in some little city some spot of his 
 own devising. " Oh ! let me escape thither, and my 
 soid shall live." How sad ! There is no casting 
 himself wholly upon God. Alas ! he had too long 
 walked at a distance from Him, too long breathed 
 the dense atmosphere of a "city," to be able to 
 appreciate the pure air of the divine presence, or 
 lean on the arm of the Almighty. His soul seemed 
 completely unhinged; his worldly nest had been 
 abruptly broken up, and he was not quite able to 
 nestle himself, by faith, in the bosom of God. He 
 had not been cultivating communion with the invisi- 
 ble world, and now the visible was passing away 
 from beneath his feet with tremendous rapidity. 
 The "fire and brimstone from heaven" were about 
 to fall upon that in which all his hopes and all his 
 affections were centred. The thief had broken in 
 upon him, and he seems entirely divested of spiritual 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 209 
 
 nerve and self-possession. He is at his wits' end; 
 but the worldly element, being strong in his heart, 
 prevails, and he seeks his only refuge in "a little 
 city." Yet he is not at ease even there, for he leaves 
 it and gets up to the mountain. He does through 
 fear what he would not do at the command of God's 
 messenger. 
 
 And then see his end ! His own children make 
 him drunk, and in his drunkenness he becomes the 
 instrument of bringing into existence the Ammonites 
 and the Moabites the determined enemies of the 
 people of God. What a volume of solemn instruc- 
 tion is here ! Oh, my reader, see here what the 
 world is ! see what a fatal thing it is to allow the 
 heart to go out after it ! What a commentary is 
 Lot's history upon that brief but comprehensive ad- 
 monition, "Love not the world"! This world's 
 Sodoms and its Zoars are all alike. There is no 
 security, no peace, no rest, no solid satisfaction for 
 the heart therein. The judgment of God hangs over 
 the whole scene ; and He only holds back the sword 
 in long-suffering mercy, not willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance. 
 
 Let us, then, seek to pursue a path of holy sepa- 
 ration from the world. Let us, while standing out- 
 side its entire range, be found cherishing the hope 
 of the Master's return. May its well- watered plains 
 have no charms for our hearts. May its honors, its 
 distinctions, and its riches be all surveyed by us in 
 the light of the coming glory of Christ. May we be 
 enabled, like the holy patriarch Abraham, to get up 
 
210 GENESIS. 
 
 into the presence of the Lord, and, from that ele- 
 vated ground, look forth upon the scene of wide- 
 spread ruin and desolation tb see it all, by faith's 
 anticipative glance, a smoking ruin. Such it will be. 
 "The earth also, and the things that are therein, shall 
 be burned up. ' ' All that about which the children of 
 this world are so intensely anxious after which they 
 are so eagerly grasping for which they are so fiercely 
 contending, all all will be burned up. And who 
 can tell how soon ? Where is Sodom ? Where is 
 Gomorrha ? Where are the cities of the plain those 
 cities which were once all life and stir and bustle ? 
 Where are they now ? All gone ! swept away by the 
 j udgment of God ! consumed by His fire and brim- 
 stone ! Well, His judgments now hang over this 
 guilty world. The day is at hand ; and while judg- 
 ments impend, the sweet story of grace is being told 
 out to many an ear. Happy they who hear and be- 
 lieve that story ! Happy they who flee to the strong 
 mountain of God's salvation ! who take refuge be- 
 hind the cross of the Son of God, and therein find 
 pardon and peace ! 
 
 God grant that the reader of these lines may know 
 what it is (with a conscience purged from sin, and 
 his heart's affections purged from the defiling influ- 
 ence of the world, ) to wait for the Son from heaven. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WE have two distinct points in this chapter : first, 
 the moral degradation to which the child of 
 God sometimes subjects himself, in the view of the 
 world ; and secondly, the moral dignity which always 
 belongs to him in the view of God. Abraham again 
 exhibits the dread of circumstances, which the heart 
 can so easily understand. He sojourns in Gerar, 
 and fears the men of that place. Judging that God 
 was not there, he forgets that He is always with him. 
 He seems to be more occupied with the men of Gerar 
 than with the One who was stronger than they. 
 Forgetting God's ability to protect his wife, he has 
 recourse to the same stratagem which, years before, 
 he had adopted in Egypt. This is very admonitory. 
 The father of the faithful was carried away by taking 
 his eye off God. He lost, for a little, his centre in 
 God, and therefore gave way. How true it is, that 
 we are only strong as we cling to God in the sense 
 of our perfect weakness. So long as we are in the 
 path of His appointment, nothing can harm us. Had 
 Abraham simply leaned on God, the men of Gerar 
 would not have meddled with him ; and it was his 
 privilege to have vindicated God's faithfulness in the 
 midst of the most appalling difficulties. Thus, too, 
 he would have maintained his own dignity as a man 
 of faith. 
 
 It is often a source of sorrow to the heart to mark 
 
212 GENESIS. 
 
 how the children of God dishonor Him, and, as a 
 consequence, lower themselves before the world by 
 losing the sense of His sufficiency for every emerg- 
 ency. So long as we live in the realization of the 
 truth that all our springs are in God, so long shall 
 we be above the world in every shape and form. 
 There is nothing so elevating to the whole moral be- 
 ing as faith : it carries one entirely beyond the reach 
 of this world's thoughts ; for how can the men of 
 the world, or even worldly-minded Christians, under- 
 stand the life of faith ? Impossible. The springs 
 on which it draws lie far away beyond their compre- 
 hension. They live on the surface of present things. 
 So long as they can see what they deem a proper 
 foundation for hope and confidence, so long they are 
 hopeful and confident ; but the idea of resting solely 
 on the promise of an unseen God, they understand 
 not. But the man of faith is calm in the midst of 
 scenes in which nature can see nothing. Hence it is 
 that faith ever seems, in the judgment of nature, 
 such a reckless, improvident, visionary thing. None 
 but those who know God can ever approve the act- 
 ings of faith ; for none but they really understand the 
 solid and truly-reasonable ground of such actings. 
 
 In this chapter we find the man of God actually 
 exposing himself to the rebuke and reproach of the 
 men of the w r orld, by reason of his actings when 
 under the power of unbelief. Thus it must ever be. 
 Nothing but faith can impart true elevation to a 
 man's course and character. We ma}', it is true, 
 see some who are naturally upright and honorable in 
 
CHAPTER XX. 213 
 
 their ways, yet nature's uprightness and honor can- 
 not be trusted ; they rest on a bad foundation, and 
 are liable to give way at any moment. It is only 
 faith which can impart a truly elevated moral tone, 
 because it connects the soul in living power with 
 God, the only source of true morality. And it is a 
 remarkable fact, that in the case of all those whom 
 God has graciously taken up, we see that, when off 
 the path of faith, they sank even lower than other 
 men. This will account for Abraham's conduct in 
 this part of his history. 
 
 But there is another point of much interest and 
 value brought out here. We find that Abraham had 
 harbored an evil thing for a number of years ; he 
 had, it seems, started upon his course with a certain 
 reserve in his soul, which reserve was the result of 
 his want of full, unqualified confidence in God. Had 
 he been able fully to trust God in reference to Sarah, 
 there would have been no need of any reserve or 
 subterfuge whatever. God would have fenced her 
 round about from every ill ; and who can harm those 
 who are the happy subjects of His unsl umbering 
 guardianship ? However, through mercy, Abraham 
 is enabled to bring out the root of the whole matter 
 to confess and judge it thoroughly, and get rid of 
 it. This is the true way to act. There can be no 
 real blessing and power till every particle of leaven 
 is brought forth into the light and there trampled 
 under foot. God's patience is exhaustless. He can 
 wait, He can bear with us ; but He never will con- 
 duct a soul to the culminating point of blessing and 
 
214 GENESIS. 
 
 power while leaven remains known and unjnclged. 
 Thus much as to Abimeleeh and Abraham. Let us 
 now look at the moral dignity of the latter in the 
 view of God. 
 
 In the history of God's people, whether we look 
 at them as a whole, or as individuals, we are often 
 struck with the amazing difference between what 
 they are in God's view, and what they are in the 
 view of the world. God sees His people in Christ. 
 He looks at them through Christ; and hence He 
 sees them "without spot or wrinkle or any such 
 thing." They are as Christ is before God. They 
 are perfected forever, as to their standing in Christ. 
 "They are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." 
 
 But in themselves, they are poor, feeble, imperfect, 
 stumbling, inconsistent creatures ; and, inasmuch as 
 it is what they are in themselves, and that alone, 
 that the world takes knowledge of, therefore it is 
 that the difference seems so great between the divine 
 and the human estimate. 
 
 Yet it is God's prerogative to set forth the beauty, 
 the dignity, and the perfection of His people. It is 
 His exclusive prerogative, inasmuch as it is He Him- 
 self who has bestowed those things. They are only 
 comely through the comeliness which He has put 
 upon them, and it is therefore due to Him to declare 
 what that comeliness is ; and, truly, He does it in a 
 manner worthy of Himself, and never more blessedly 
 than when the enemy comes forth to injure, to curse, 
 or accuse. Thus, when Balak seeks to curse the 
 seed of Abraham, Jehovah's word is, "I have not 
 
CHAPTER XX. 215 
 
 beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither have I seen per- 
 vcrseness in. Israel." " How goodly are thy tents, 
 O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel." Again, 
 when Satan stands forth to resist Joshua, the word 
 is, " The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, ... is not 
 this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Thus He 
 ever puts Himself between His people and every 
 tongue that would accuse them. He does not an- 
 swer the accusation by a reference to what His peo- 
 ple are in themselves, or to what they are in the view 
 of the men of this world, but to what He Himself 
 has made them, and where He set them. 
 
 Thus, in Abraham's case, he might lower himself 
 in the view of Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Ab- 
 imelech might have to rebuke him, yet when God 
 comes to deal with the case, He says to Abimelech, 
 ' ' Behold, thou art but a dead man ; ' ' and of Abra- 
 ham He says, "He is a prophet, and he shall pray 
 for thee." Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart 
 and the innocency of his hands," the king of Gerar 
 was "but a dead man ; " and, moreover, he must be 
 a debtor to the prayers of the erring and inconsist- 
 ent stranger for the restoration of the health of his 
 household. Such is the manner of God. He may 
 have many a secret controversy with His child, on 
 the ground of his practical ways, but directly the 
 enemy enters a suit against him, Jehovah ever pleads 
 His servant's cause. "Touch not Mine anointed, 
 and do My prophets no harm." "He that toucheth 
 you, toucheth the apple of Mine eye." "It is God 
 that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" No 
 15 
 
216 GENESIS. 
 
 dart of the enemy can ever penetrate the shield be- 
 hind which the Lord has hidden the very feeblest 
 lamb of His blood-bought flock. He hides Plis peo- 
 ple in His pavilion, sets their feet upon the Rock of 
 Ages, lifts their heads above their enemies round 
 about, and fills their hearts with the everlasting joy 
 of His salvation. 
 
 His name be praised for evermore ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ND the Lord visited Sarah, as He had said, 
 and He did unto Sarah as He had spoken." 
 Here we have accomplished promise the blessed 
 fruit of patient waiting upon God. None ever 
 waited in vain. The soul that takes hold of God's 
 promise by faith, has gotten a stable reality which 
 will never fail him. Thus was it with Abraham; 
 thus was it with all the faithful from age to age ; and 
 thus will it be with all those who are enabled, in any 
 measure, to trust in the living God. Oh ! it is a 
 wonderful blessing to have God Himself as our por- 
 tion and resting-place, amid the unsatisfying shad- 
 ows of this scene through which we are passing, 
 to have our anchor cast within the vail, to have the 
 word and oath of God the two immutable things 
 to lean upon, for the comfort and tranquility of our 
 souls. 
 
 When God's promise stood before the soul of 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 217 
 
 Abraham as an accomplished fact, he might well 
 have learnt the futility of his own effort to reach that 
 accomplishment. Ishmael was of no use whatever, 
 so far as God's promise was concerned. He might, 
 and did, aiford something for nature's affections to 
 entwine themselves around, thus furnishing a more 
 difficult task for Abraham to perform afterwards ; 
 but he was in no wise conducive to the development 
 of the purpose of God, or to the establishment of 
 Abraham's faith quite the reverse. Nature can 
 never do aught for God. The Lord must "visit," 
 and the Lord must "do," and faith must wait, and 
 nature must be still, yea, must be entirely set aside 
 as a dead, worthless thing, and then the divine glory 
 can shine out, and faith find in that outshining all its 
 rich and sweet reward. "Sarah conceived and bare 
 Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which 
 God had spoken to him." There is such a thing as 
 God's "set time" His "due season," and for this 
 the faithful must be content to wait. The time may 
 seem long, and hope deferred may make the heart 
 sick ; but the spiritual mind will ever find its relief 
 in the assurance that all is for the ultimate display 
 of God's glory. "For the vision is for an appointed 
 time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie ; though 
 it tarry, wait for it ; because it will assuredly come, 
 it will not tarry . . . but the just shall live by his 
 faith." (Hab. ii. 3, 4.) This wondrous faith ! It 
 brings into our present all the power of God's future, 
 and feeds upon God's promise as a present reality. 
 By its power, the soul is kept hanging upon God 
 
218 GENESIS. 
 
 when every outward thing seems to be against it, 
 and, "at the set time," the mouth is filled with 
 laughter. "Abraham was a hundred } T ears old when 
 his son Isaac was born unto him." Thus nature had 
 nothing to glory in. "Man's extremity was God's 
 opportunity ; " and Sarah said, " God hath made me 
 to laugh. ' ' All is triumph when God is allowed to 
 show Himself. 
 
 Now, while the birth of Isaac filled Sarah's mouth 
 with laughter, it introduced an entirely new element 
 into Abraham's house. The son of the free-woman 
 very speedily developed the true character of the 
 son of the bondwoman. Indeed, Isaac proved, in 
 principle, to be to the household of Abraham what 
 the implantation of the new nature is in the soul of 
 a sinner. It was not Ishmael changed, but it was 
 Isaac born. The son of the bondwoman could never 
 be anything else but that. He might become a great 
 nation, he might dwell in the wilderness and become 
 an archer, he might become the father of twelve 
 princes, but he was the son of the bondwoman all 
 the while. On the contrary, no matter how weak 
 and despised Isaac might be, he was the son of the 
 free-woman. His position and character, his stand- 
 ing and prospects, were all from the Lord. "That 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is 
 born of the Spirit is spirit. ' ' 
 
 Regeneration is not a change of the old nature, 
 "but the introduction of a new ; it is the implanta- 
 tion of the nature or life of the Second Adam, by 
 the operation of the Holy Ghost, founded upon the 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 219 
 
 accomplished redemption of Christ, and in full keep- 
 ing with the sovereign will or counsel of God. The 
 moment a sinner believes in his heart, and confesses 
 with his mouth, the Lord Jesus, he becomes the 
 possessor of a new life, and that life is Christ. He 
 is born of God, is a child of God, is a son of the 
 free- woman. (See Rom. x. 9 ; Col. iii. 4 ; 1 John 
 iii. 1, 2; Gal. iii. 26; iv. 31.) 
 
 Nor does the introduction of this new nature alter, 
 in the slightest degree, the true, essential character 
 of the old. This latter continues what it was, and 
 is made in no respect better ; yea, rather, there is 
 the full display of its evil character in opposition to 
 the new element. "The flesh lusteth against the 
 Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; and these 
 are contrary the one to the other. ' ' There they are 
 in all their distinctness, and the one is only thrown 
 into relief by the other. 
 
 I believe this doctrine of the two natures in the 
 believer is not generally understood; and yet, so 
 long as there is ignorance of it, the mind must be 
 utterly at sea in reference to the true standing and 
 privileges of the child of God. Some there are who 
 think that regeneration is a certain change which 
 the old nature undergoes ; and, moreover, that this 
 change is gradual in its operation, until, at length, 
 the whole man becomes transformed. That this idea 
 is unsound, can be proved by various quotations 
 from the New Testament. For example, "The car- 
 nal mind is* enmity against God." How can that 
 which is thus spoken of ever undergo any improve- 
 
220 GENESIS. 
 
 ment ? The apostle goes on to say, "It is not sub- 
 ject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." If it 
 cannot be subject to the law of God, how can it be 
 improved ? how can it undergo any change ? Again, 
 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." Do what 
 3^ou will with flesh, and it is flesh all the while. As 
 Solomon says, "Though thoti shouldest bray a fool 
 in a mortar, among wheat with a pestle, yet will not 
 his foolishness depart from him." (Prov. xxvii. 22.) 
 There is no use in seeking to make foolishness wise : 
 you must introduce heavenly wisdom into the heart 
 that has been heretofore only governed by folh 7 . 
 Again, "Ye have put off the old man." (Col. iii. 9.) 
 He does not say, Ye have improved, or are seeking 
 to improve, "the old man," but, Ye have put it off. 
 This gives us a totally different idea. There is a 
 very great difference between seeking to mend an 
 old garment, and casting it aside altogether and 
 putting on a new one. This is the idea of the lm,t- 
 quoted passage. It is a putting off the old, and a 
 putting on of the new. Nothing can be more dis- 
 tinct or simple. 
 
 Passages might easily be multiplied to prove the 
 unsoundness of the theory with respect to the grad- 
 ual improvement of the old nature, to prove that 
 the old nature is dead in sins, and utterly unrenew- 
 able and unimprovable ; and, moreover, that the 
 only thing we can do with it is to keep it under our 
 feet in the power of that new life which we have in 
 union with our risen Head in the heavens. 
 
 The birth of Isaac did not improve Ishmael, but 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 221 
 
 only brought out his real opposition to the child of 
 promise. He might have gone on very quietly and 
 orderly till Isaac made his appearance ; but then he 
 showed what he was, by persecuting and mocking at 
 the child of resurrection. What then was the rem- 
 edy ? to make Ishmael better ? By no means ; but, 
 4 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son ; for the son 
 of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, 
 even with Isaac. "(8-10. ) Here was the only remedy. 
 "That which is crooked cannot be made straight ; " 
 therefore j^ou have only to get rid of the crooked 
 thing altogether, and occupy yourself with that 
 which is divinely straight. It is labor lost to seek to 
 make a crooked thing straight. Hence all efforts 
 after the improvement of nature are utterly futile, so 
 far as God is concerned. It may be all very well for 
 men to cultivate and improve that which is of use to 
 themselves ; but God has given His children some- 
 thing infinitely better to do, even to cultivate that 
 which is His own creation, the fruits of which, while 
 they in no wise serve to exalt nature, are entirely to 
 His praise and glory. 
 
 Now the error into which the Galatian churches 
 fell, was the introduction of that which addressed 
 itself to nature. "Except ye be circumcised after 
 the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Here 
 salvation was made to depend upon something that 
 man could be, or man could do, or man could keep. 
 This was upsetting the w r hole glorious fabric of re- 
 demption, which, as the believer knows, rests exclu- 
 sively upon what Christ is, and what He has done. 
 
222 GENESIS. 
 
 To make salvation dependent, in the most remote 
 manner, upon anything in, or done by, man, is to 
 set it entirely aside. In other words, Ishmael must 
 be entirely cast out, and all Abraham's hopes be 
 made to depend upon what God had done and given 
 in the person of Isaac. This, it is needless to say, 
 leaves man nothing to glory in. If present or future 
 blessedness were made to depend upon even a divine 
 change wrought in nature, flesh might glory. Though 
 my nature were improved, it would be something of 
 me, and thus God would not have all the glory. But 
 when I am introduced into a new creation, I find it 
 is all of God, designed, matured, developed by 
 Himself alone. God is the actor, and I am a wor- 
 shiper ; He is the blesser, and I am the blessed ; He 
 is "the better," and I am "the less" (Heb. vii. 7.) ; 
 He is the giver, and I am the receiver. This is what 
 makes Christianity what it is ; and, moreover, dis- 
 tinguishes it from every system of human religion 
 under the sun, whether it be Romanism, Pnseyism, 
 or any other ism whatsoever. Human religion gives 
 the creature a place, more or less ; it keeps the 
 bondwoman and her son in the house ; it gives man 
 something to glory in. On the contrary, Christianity 
 excludes the creature from all interference in the 
 work of salvation, casts out the bondwoman and 
 her son, and gives all the glory to Him to whom 
 alone it is due. 
 
 But let us inquire who this bondwoman and her 
 son really are, and what they shadow forth. Gala- 
 tians iv furnishes ample teaching as to these two 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 223 
 
 points. In a word, then, the bondwoman represents 
 the covenant of the law ; and her son represents all 
 who are "of works of law," or on that principle 
 [s Epyoov vofj.ov\. This is very plain. The bond- 
 woman only genders to bondage, and can never 
 bring forth a free man. How can she ? The law 
 never could give liberty ; for so long as a man was 
 alive, it ruled him. (Rom. vii. 1.) I can never be 
 free so long as I am under the dominion of any one ; 
 but while I live, the law rules me, and nothing but 
 death can give me deliverance from its dominion. 
 This is the blessed doctrine of Rom. vii. "Where- 
 fore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the 
 law by the body of Christ, that }'e should be married 
 to another, even to Him that is raised from the dead, 
 that we should bring forth fruit unto God." This 
 is freedom ; for "if the Son shall make 3^011 free, ye 
 shall be free indeed." (John viii. 36.) "So then, 
 brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, 
 but of the free." (Gal. iv. 31.) 
 
 Now, it is in the power of this freedom that we 
 are enabled to obey the command, "Cast out this 
 bondwoman and her son." If I am not consciously 
 free, I shall be seeking to attain liberty in the strang- 
 est way possible, even by keeping the bondwoman 
 in the house : in other words, I shall be seeking to 
 get life by keeping the law ; I shall be establishing 
 my own righteousness. No doubt it will involve a 
 struggle to cast out this element of bondage, for 
 legalism is natural to our hearts. "The tiling was 
 very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his 
 
224 GENESIS. 
 
 son." Still, however grievous it may be, it is ac- 
 cording to the divine mind that we should abidingly 
 "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
 made us free, and not be entangled again with the 
 yoke of bondage." (Gal. v. 1.) May we, beloved 
 reader, so fully and experimentally enter into the 
 blessedness of God's provision for us in Christ, that 
 we may be done with all thoughts about the flesh, 
 and all that it can be, do, or produce. There is a 
 fullness in Christ which renders all appeal to nature 
 utterly superfluous and vain. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A BRAHAM is now in a fit moral position to have 
 --* his heart put to a most severe test. The long- 
 cherished reserve being put forth from his heart, in 
 chap, xx, the bondwoman and her son being put 
 forth from his house, as in chap, xxi, he now 
 stands forth in the most honored position in which 
 any soul can be placed, and that is a position of 
 trial from the hand of God Himself. There are 
 various kinds of trial ; trial from the hand of Sa- 
 tan ; trial from surrounding circumstances ; but the 
 highest character of trial is that which comes directly 
 from the hand of God, when He puts His dear child 
 into the furnace for the purpose of testing the reality 
 of his faith. God will do this: He must have 
 reality. It will not do to say, "Lord, Lord," or, 
 
 
* CHAPTER XXII. 225 
 
 "I go, sir." The heart must be probed to the very 
 bottom, in order that no element of hypocrisy or 
 false profession may be allowed to lodge there. "My 
 son, give Me thine heart." He does not say, Give 
 Me thine head, or thine intellect, or thy talents, or 
 thy tongue, or thy money; but, "Give Me thine 
 heart:" and in order to prove the sincerity of our 
 response to this gracious command, He will lay His 
 hand upon something very near our hearts. Thus 
 he says to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only 
 son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the 
 land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offer- 
 ing, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee 
 of." This was coming very close to Abraham's 
 heart : it was passing him through a searching cru- 
 cible indeed. God "requires truth in the inward 
 parts." There may be much truth on the lips, and 
 much in the intellect, but God looks for it in the 
 heart. It is no ordinary proof that will satisfy God, 
 as to the love of our hearts. He Himself did not 
 rest satisfied with giving an ordinary proof. He 
 gave His Son, and we should aim at giving very 
 striking proofs of our love to Him who so loved us, 
 even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. 
 
 However, it is well to see that God confers a sig- 
 nal honor upon us when He thus tests our hearts. 
 We never read that the Lord did tempt Lot. No ; 
 Sodom tempted Lot. He never reached a sufficiently 
 high elevation to warrant his being tried by the 
 hand of Jehovah. It was too plainly manifest that 
 there was plenty between his heart and the Lord, 
 
226 GENESIS. 
 
 and it did not, therefore, require the furnace to 
 bring that out. Sodom would have held out no 
 temptation whatever to Abraham. This was made 
 manifest in his interview with Sodom's king, in 
 chapter xiv. God knew well that Abraham loved 
 Him far better than Sodom ; but He would make it 
 manifest that he loved Him better than any one or 
 anything, by laying His hand upon the nearest and 
 dearest object. "Take now thy son, thine only son 
 Isaac." Yes, Isaac, the child of promise, Isaac, 
 the object of long-deferred hope, the object of pa- 
 rental love, and the one in whom all the kindreds of 
 the earth were to be blessed, this Isaac must be 
 offered as a burnt-offering. This, surely, was putting 
 faith to the test, in order that, being more precious 
 than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, 
 it might be found unto praise and honor and glory. 
 Had Abraham's whole soul not been stayed simply 
 on the Lord, he never could have yielded unhesitat- 
 ing obedience to such a searching command ; but 
 God Himself was the living and abiding support of 
 his heart, and therefore he was prepared to give up 
 all for Him. 
 
 The soul that has found all its springs in God, 
 can, without any demur, retire from all creature 
 streams. We can give up the creature just in pro- 
 portion as w r e have found out, or become experi- 
 mentally acquainted with, the Creator, and no fur- 
 ther. To attempt to give up the visible things in 
 any other way save in the energy of that faith which 
 lays hold of the invisible, is the most fruitless labor 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 227 
 
 possible. It cannot be done. I will hold fast my 
 Isaac until I have found my all in God. It is when 
 we are enabled, by faith, to say, "God is our refuge 
 and strength, a very present help in trouble," that 
 we can also add, "Therefore will we not fear, though 
 the earth be removed, and though the mountains be 
 carried into the midst of the sea." (Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.) 
 
 "And Abraham rose up early in the morning." 
 There is ready obedience. "I made haste and 
 delayed not to keep Thy commandments." Faith 
 never stops to look at circumstances, or ponder re- 
 sults ; it only looks at God ; it expresses itself thus : 
 "But when it pleased God, who separated me from 
 my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to 
 reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him 
 among the gentiles ; immediately I conferred not 
 with flesh and blood." (Gal. i. 15, 16.) The moment 
 we confer with flesh and blood, our testimony and 
 service are marred, for flesh and blood can never 
 obey. We must rise early, and carry out, through 
 grace, the divine command. Thus we are blessed, 
 and God is glorified. Having God's own Word as 
 the basis of our acting, will ever impart strength and 
 stability to our acting. If we merely act from im- 
 pulse, when the impulse subsides, the acting will 
 subside also. 
 
 There are two things needful to a course of steady 
 and consistent action, viz., the Holy Ghost as the 
 power of action, and the Word to give proper direc- 
 tion. To use a familiar illustration, on a railway, 
 we should find steam of little use without the iron 
 
228 GENESIS. 
 
 rails firmly laid down : the former is the power by 
 which we move ; and the latter, the direction. It is 
 needless to add that the rails would be of little use 
 without the steam. Now Abraham was blessed with 
 both. He had the power of action conferred by 
 God, and the command to act given by God also. 
 His devotedness was of a most definite character; 
 and this is deeply important. We frequently find 
 much that looks like devotedness, but which, in 
 reality, is but the desultory activity of a will not 
 brought under the powerful action of the Word of 
 God. All such apparent devotedness is worthless, 
 and the spirit from which it proceeds will very 
 speedily evaporate. We may lay down the follow- 
 ing principle; viz., whenever devotedness passes 
 beyond divinely-appointed bounds, it is suspicious ; 
 if it comes not up to these bounds, it is defective ; 
 if it flows without them, it is erratic. I quite admit 
 that there are extraordinary operations and ways of 
 the Spirit of God, in which He asserts His own 
 sovereignty, and rises above ordinary bounds ; but, 
 in such cases, the evidence of divine activity will be 
 sufficiently strong to carry home conviction to every 
 spiritual mind ; nor will they, in the slightest degree, 
 interfere with the truth of the principle that true 
 devotedness will ever be founded upon and governed 
 by divine principle. To sacrifice a son might seem 
 to be an act of most extraordinary devotedness, but 
 be it remembered, that what gave that act all its 
 value in God's sight was the simple fact of its being 
 based upon God's command. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 229 
 
 Then we have another thing connected with true 
 devotedness, and- that is, a. spirit of worship. "I 
 and the lad will go yonder and worship." The 
 really-devoted servant will keep his eye not on his 
 service, be it ever so great, but on the Master, and 
 this will produce a spirit of worship. If I love my 
 master according to the flesh, I shall not mind 
 whether I am cleaning his shoes or driving his car- 
 riage ; but if I am thinking more of myself than of 
 him, I shall rather be a coachman than a shoeblack. 
 So is it precisely in the service of the heavenly 
 Master ; if I am thinking only of Him, planting 
 churches and making tents will be both alike to me. 
 We may see the same thing in angelic ministry. It 
 matters not to an angel whether he be sent to de- 
 stroy an army or to protect the person of some heir 
 of salvation ; it is the Master who entirely fills his 
 vision. As some one has remarked, "if two angels 
 were sent from heaven, one to rule an empire, and 
 the other to sweep the streets, they would not dis- 
 pute about their respective work." This is most 
 true, and so should it be with us. The servant 
 should ever be combined with the worshiper, and the 
 works of our hands perfumed with the ardent breath- 
 ings of our spirits. In other words, we should go 
 forth to our work in the spirit of those memorable 
 words, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship." 
 This would effectually preserve us from that merely 
 mechanical service into which we are so prone to 
 drop ; doing things for doing's sake, and being more 
 occupied with our work than with our Master. All 
 
230 GENESIS. 
 
 must flow from simple faith in God, and obedience 
 to His Word. 
 
 "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up 
 Isaac ; and he that had received the promises offered 
 up his only begotten." (Heb. xi. 17.) It is only as 
 we are walking by faith that we can begin, continue, 
 and end our works in God. Abraham not merely 
 set out to offer his son, but he went on and reached 
 the spot which God had appointed. "And Abraham 
 took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon 
 Isaac his son ; and he took the fire in his hand, and 
 a knife; and they went both of them together." 
 And further on we read, "And Abraham built an 
 altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound 
 Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the 
 wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and 
 took the knife to slay his son." This was real work, 
 a "work of faith and labor of love" in the highest 
 sense. It was no mere mockery no drawing near 
 with the lips, while the heart was far off, no saying, 
 " 'I go, sir,' and went not." It was all deep reality, 
 just such as faith ever delights to produce, and which 
 God delights to accept. It is easy to make a show 
 of devotedness when there is _no demand for it, it 
 is easy to say, "Though all shall be offended be- 
 cause of Thee, yet will I never be offended .... 
 though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny 
 Thee;" but the point is to stand the trial. When 
 Peter was put to the test, he entirely broke down. 
 Faith never talks of what it will do, but does what 
 it can in the strength of the Lord. Nothing can be 
 

 CHAPTER XXII. 231 
 
 more thoroughly worthless than a spirit of empty 
 pretension. It is just as worthless as the basis on 
 which it rests. But faith acts "when it is tried; " 
 till then it is content to be unseen and silent. 
 
 Now, it needs hardly to be remarked that God is 
 glorified in those holy activities of faith ; He is the 
 immediate object of them, as He is the spring from 
 whence they emanate. There was not a scene in 
 Abraham's entire history in which God was so much 
 glorified as the scene on Mount Moriah. There it 
 was that he was enabled to bear testimony to the 
 fact that he had found all his fresh springs in God 
 found them not merely previous to, but after, Isaac's 
 birth. This is a most touching point. It is one 
 thing to rest in God's blessings, and another thing 
 to rest in Himself: it is one thing to trust God when 
 I have before my eyes the channel through which 
 the blessing is to flow, and quite another thing to 
 trust Him when that channel is entirely stopped up. 
 This was what proved the excellency of Abraham's 
 faith. He showed that he could not merely trust 
 God for an innumerable seed while Isaac stood be- 
 fore him in health and vigor, but just as fully if he 
 ..were a smoking victim on the altar. This was a high 
 order of confidence in God, it was unalloyed con- 
 fidence ; it was not a confidence propped up in part 
 by the Creator and in part by the creature. No ; it 
 rested on one- solid pedestal, viz., God Himself. 
 4 'He accounted that God was able." He never ac- 
 counted that Isaac was able. Isaac, without God, 
 was nothing: God, without Isaac, was everything. 
 16 
 
232 GENESIS. 
 
 This is a principle of the very last importance, and 
 one eminently calculated to test the heart most 
 keenly. Does it make any difference to me to see 
 the apparent channel of all my blessings dried up ? 
 Am I dwelling sufficiently near the fountain-head to 
 be able, with a worshiping spirit, to behold all the 
 creature streams dried up ? This I do feel to be a 
 searching question. Have I such a simple view of 
 God's sufficiency as to be able, as it were, to 
 "stretch forth my hand and take the knife to slay 
 my son"? Abraham was enabled to do this, be- 
 cause his eye rested on the God of resurrection, 
 4 ' he accounted that God was able to raise him up 
 even from the dead." 
 
 In a word, it was with God he had to do, and that 
 was quite enough. He was not suffered to strike the 
 blow. He had gone to the very utmost bounds ; he 
 had come up to the line beyond which God could not 
 suffer him to go. The blessed One spared the fa- 
 ther's heart the pang which He did not spare His 
 own heart, even that of smiting His Son. He, 
 blessed be His name, passed beyond the utmost 
 bounds, for "He spared not His own Son, but de- 
 livered Him up for us all. " "It pleased the Lord 
 to bruise Him ; He hath put Him to grief. ' ' There 
 was no voice from heaven when, on Calvary, the 
 Father offered up His only begotten Son. No ; it 
 w T as a perfectly-accomplished sacrifice, and in its 
 accomplishment our everlasting peace is sealed. 
 
 However, Abraham's devotedness was fully proved 
 and fully accepted. "For now I know that thou 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 233 
 
 fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, 
 thine only son, from Me." Mark, it is ''now I 
 know." It had never been proved before. It was 
 there, no doubt, and if there, God knew it ; but the 
 valuable point here is, that God founds His knowl- 
 edge of it upon the palpable evidence afforded at the 
 altar upon Mount Moriah. Faith is always proved 
 by action, and the fear of God by the fruits which 
 flow from it. "Was not Abraham our father justi- 
 fied by works when he had offered Isaac his son on 
 the altar?" (James ii. 21.) Who could think of 
 calling his faith in question ? Take away faith, and 
 Abraham appears on Moriah as a murderer and a 
 madman : take faith into account, and he appears as 
 a devoted worshiper a God-fearing, justified man. 
 But faith must be proved. "What doth it profit, 
 my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and 
 have not works ?" (James ii. 14.) Will either God 
 or man be satisfied with a powerless and profitless 
 profession ? Surely not. God looks for reality, and 
 honors it where Pie sees it ; and as for man, he can 
 understand naught save the living and intelligible 
 utterance of a faith that shows itself in acts. We 
 Sre surrounded by the profession of religion, the 
 phraseology of faith is on every lip ; but faith itself 
 is as rare a gem as ever that faith which will enable 
 a man to push out from the shore of present circum- 
 stances, and meet the waves and the winds, and not 
 only meet them, but endure them, 'even though the 
 Master should seem to be asleep on the pillow. 
 And here I would remark the beautiful harmony 
 
234 GENESIS. 
 
 between St. James and St. Paul, on the subject of 
 justification. The intelligent and spiritual reader, 
 who bows to the important truth of the plenary in- 
 spiration of Holy Scripture, knows full well that on 
 this question it is not with Paul or James we have to 
 do, but with the Holy Ghost, who graciously used 
 each of those honored men as the pen to write His 
 thoughts, just as I might take up a quill pen or a 
 steel pen to write my thoughts, in which case it 
 would be quite preposterous to speak of a discrep- 
 ancy between the two pens, inasmuch as the writer 
 is one. Hence it is just as impossible that two 
 divinely-inspired penmen could clash, as that two 
 heavenly bodies, while moving in their divinely- 
 appointed orbits, could come into collision. 
 
 But, in reality, as might be expected, there is the 
 fullest and most perfect harmony between those two 
 apostles ; indeed, on the subject of justification, the 
 one is the counterpart or exponent of the other. 
 St. Paul gives us the inward principle ; St. James, 
 the outward development of that principle. The 
 former presents the hidden life ; the latter, the mani- 
 fested life : the former looks at man in relation to 
 God ; the latter looks at him in his relation to man. 
 Now we want both : the inward would not do with- 
 out the outward, and the outward would be valueless 
 and powerless without the inward. "Abraham was 
 justified" when "he believed God," and "Abraham 
 was justified" when "he offered Isaac his son." In 
 the former case, we have his secret standing ; in the 
 latter, his public acknowledgment by heaven and 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 235 
 
 earth. It is well to understand this distinction. 
 There was no voice from heaven when "Abraham 
 believed God," though in God's view he was there, 
 then, and thus "counted righteous ; " but "when he 
 had offered his son upon the altar," God could say, 
 "Now I know," and all the world had a powerful 
 and unanswerable proof of the fact that Abraham 
 was a justified man. Thus it will ever be. Where 
 there is the inward principle, there will be the out- 
 ward acting ; but all the value of the latter springs 
 from its connection with the former. Disconnect, 
 for one moment, Abraham's acting, as set forth by 
 St. James, from Abraham's faith, as set forth by St. 
 Paul, and what justifying virtue did it possess ? 
 None whatever. All its value, all its efficacy, all its 
 virtue, springs from the fact that it was the outward 
 manifestation of that faith, by virtue of which he 
 had been already counted righteous before God. 
 Thus much as to the admirable harmony between 
 St. Paul and St. James, or rather, as to the unity of 
 the voice of the Holy Ghost, whether that voice be 
 uttered by St. Paul or St. James. 
 
 We now return to our chapter. It is deeply in- 
 teresting to mark here how Abraham's soul is led 
 into a fresh discovery of God's character by the 
 trial of his faith. When we are enabled to bear the 
 testings of God's own hand, it is sure to lead us into 
 some new experience with respect to His character, 
 which makes vis to know how valuable the testing is. 
 If Abraham had not stretched out his hand to slay 
 his son, he never would have known the rich and 
 
236 GENESIS. 
 
 exquisite depths of that title which he here bestows 
 upon God, viz., " Jehovah-jireh." It is only when 
 we are really put to the test that we discover what 
 God is. Without trial, we can be but theorists, and 
 God would not have us such : He would have us 
 entering into the living depths that are in Himself 
 the divine realities of personal communion with Him. 
 With what different feelings and convictions must 
 Abraham have retraced his steps from Moriah to 
 Beer-sheba ! from the mount of the Lord to the 
 well of the oath ! What very different thoughts of 
 God ! What different thoughts of Isaac ! What 
 different thoughts of everything ! Truly we may 
 say, "Happy is the man that endureth trial." It is 
 an honor put upon one by the Lord Himself, and the 
 deep blessedness of the experience to which it leads 
 cannot be easiry estimated. It is when men are 
 brought (to use the language of the one hundred 
 and seventh Psalm,) "to their wit's end," that they 
 discover w r hat God is. Oh, for grace to endure trial, 
 that God's workmanship may appear, and His name 
 be glorified in us ! 
 
 There is one point which, before closing my re- 
 marks on this chapter, I shall notice, and that is, 
 the gracious way in which God gives Abraham credit 
 for having done the act which he had showed himself 
 so fully prepared to do. ' ' ' By Myself have I sworn,* 
 saith the Lord ; ' for because thon hast done this thing, 
 and hast not withheld tlry son, tliine only son, that 
 in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying, I 
 will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 237 
 
 the sand which is upon the sea-shore ; and thy seed 
 shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy 
 seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: 
 because thoti hast obeyed My voice.' " This beau- 
 tifully corresponds with the Spirit's notice of Abra- 
 ham's acting, as put before us in Hebrews xi, and 
 also in James ii, in both of which scriptures he is 
 looked upon as having offered Isaac his son upon 
 the altar. The grand principle conve} T ed in the 
 whole matter is this : Abraham proved that he was 
 prepared to have the scene entirely cleared of all but 
 God ; and, moreover, it was this same principle 
 which both constituted and proved him a justified 
 man. Faith can do without every one and every- 
 thing but God. It has the full sense of His suffi- 
 ciency, and can therefore let go all beside. Hence 
 Abraham could rightly estimate the words, "By 
 Myself have I sworn." Yes, this wondrous word, 
 "Myself," was everything to the man of faith. 
 "Forw T hen God made promise to Abraham, because 
 He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself. 
 
 For men verily swear by the greater, and 
 
 an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all 
 strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to 
 show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of 
 His counsel, confirmed it by an oath." The word 
 and oath of the living God should put an end to all 
 the strivings and workings of the human will, and 
 form the immovable anchor of the soul amid all the 
 tossing and tumult of this stormy world. 
 
 Now, we must condemn ourselves constantly, be- 
 
238 GENESIS. 
 
 cause of the little power which the promise of God 
 has in our hearts. There it is, and we profess to 
 believe it ; but, ah ! it is not that deep, abiding, in- 
 fluential reality which it ought ever to be ; we do not 
 draw from it that "strong consolation" which it is 
 calculated to afford. How little prepared are we, 
 in the power of faith in the promise of God, to slay 
 our Isaac ! We need to cry to God that He would 
 be graciously pleased to endow us with a deeper 
 insight into the blessed reality of a life of faith in 
 Himself, that so we may understand better the im- 
 port of that word of St. John "This is the victory 
 that overcometh the world, even our faith." We 
 can only overcome the world by faith. Unbelief 
 puts us under the power of present things ; in other 
 words, it gives the world the victory over us. A 
 soul that has entered, by the teaching of the Holy 
 Ghost, into the sense of God's sufficiency, is en- 
 tirely independent of things here. Beloved reader, 
 may we know this, for our peace and joy in God, 
 and His glory in us. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 HHHIS little section of inspiration furnishes much 
 J- sweet and profitable instruction to the soul. In 
 it the Holy Spirit sets before us a beautiful exhibi- 
 tion of the mode in which the man of faith should 
 carry himself toward those that are without. While 
 it is true divinely true that faith makes a man 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 3'J 
 
 independent of the men of the world, it is no less 
 true that faith will ever teach him to walk honestly 
 toward them. We are told to "walk honestly toward 
 them that are without" (1 Thess. iv. 12.), "to pro- 
 vide things honest in the sight of all" (2 Cor. viii. 
 21.), to "owe no man anything" (Rom. xiii. 8.). 
 These are weighty precepts, precepts which, even 
 before their distinct enunciation, were duly observed 
 in all ages by the faithful servants of Christ, but 
 which in modern times, alas ! have not been suffi- 
 ciently attended to. 
 
 The twenty-third of Genesis, therefore, is worthy 
 of special notice. It opens with the death of Sarah, 
 and introduces Abraham in a new character, viz., 
 that of a moiTrner. "Abraham came to mourn for 
 Sarah, and to weep for her." The child of God 
 must meet such things, but he must not meet them 
 as others. The great fact of resurrection comes in 
 to his relief, and imparts a character to his sorrow 
 quite peculiar. (1 Thess. iv. 13, 14.) The man of 
 faith can stand at the grave of a brother or sister in 
 the happy consciousness that it shall not long hold 
 its captive, "for if we believe that Jesus died and 
 rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus 
 will God bring with Him." The redemption of the 
 soul secures the redemption of the body : the former, 
 we have ; the latter, we wait for. (Rom. viii. 23.) 
 
 Now, I believe that in purchasing Machpelah for 
 a bury ing- place, Abraham gave expression to his 
 faith in resurrection, u He stood up from before his 
 dead." Faith cannot long keep death in view; it 
 
240 GENESIS. 
 
 has a higher object, blessed be the "living God" 
 who has given it. Resurrection is that which ever 
 fills the vision of faith, and, in the power thereof, it 
 can rise up from before the dead. There is much 
 conveyed in this action of Abraham. We want to 
 understand its meaning much more fully, because 
 we are much too prone to be occupied with death 
 and its consequences. Death is the boundary of 
 Satan's power; but where Satan ends, God begins. 
 Abraham understood this when he rose up and pur- 
 chased the cave of Machpelah as a sleeping-place 
 for Sarah. This was the expression of Abraham's 
 thought in reference to the future. He knew that in 
 the ages to come God's promise about the land of 
 Canaan would be fulfilled, and he was "able to lay the 
 body of Sarah in the tomb "in sure and certain 
 hope of a glorious resurrection." 
 
 The sons of Heth knew nothing about this. The 
 thoughts which were filling the patriarch's soul were 
 entirely foreign to the uncircumcised children of 
 Heth. To them it seemed a small matter where he 
 buried his dead, but it was by no means a small 
 matter to him. "I am a stranger and a sojourner 
 with you : give me a possession of a burying-place 
 with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." 
 It might, and manifestly did, appear strange to them 
 to make so much ado about a grave ; but, "beloved, 
 the world knoweth us not, even as it knew Him not." 
 The finest traits and characteristics of faith arc those 
 which are the most incomprehensible to the natural 
 man. The Canaanites had no idea of the expecta- 
 
CHAPTEK XXIII. 241 
 
 tions which were giving character to Abraham's act- 
 ings on this occasion. They had no idea that he 
 was looking forward to the possession of the land, 
 while he was merely looking for a spot in which, as 
 a dead man, he might wait for God's time and God's 
 manner, viz., the MORNING OF RESURRECTION. He 
 felt lie had no controversy with the children of Heth, 
 and hence he was quite prepared to lay his head in 
 the grave, and allow God to act for him and with 
 him and by him. 
 
 4 'These all died in [or according to] faith \_nara 
 iti6riv~\, not having received the promises, but hav- 
 ing seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 
 and embraced them, and confessed that they were 
 strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Heb. xi. 13.) 
 This is a truly-exquisite feature in the divine life. 
 Those "witnesses" of whom the apostle is speaking 
 in Heb. xi not merely lived by faith, but even when 
 they arrived at the close of their career, they proved 
 that the promises of God were as real and satisfying 
 to their souls as when they first started. Now, I be- 
 lieve this purchase of a burying-place in the land was 
 an exhibition of the power of faith, not only to live, 
 but to die. Why was Abraham so particular about 
 this purchase ? Why was he so anxious to make good 
 his claim to the field and cave of Ephron on right- 
 eous principles ? Why so determined to weigh out 
 the full price "current with the merchant" ? FAITH 
 is the answer. He did it all by faith. He knew the 
 land was his in prospect, and that in resurrection- 
 glory his seed should yet possess it, and until then 
 
242 GENESIS. 
 
 he would be no debtor to those who were yet to be 
 dispossessed. 
 
 Thus we may view this beautiful chapter jn a two- 
 fold light ; first, as setting before us a plain, prac- 
 tical principle, as to our dealings with the men of 
 this world ; and secondly, as presenting the blessed 
 hope which should ever animate the man of faith. 
 Putting both these points together, we have an ex- 
 ample of what the child of God should ever be. The 
 hope set before us in the gospel is a glorious immor- 
 tality ; and this, while it lifts the heart above every 
 influence of nature and the world, furnishes a high 
 and holy principle with which to govern all our inter- 
 course with those who are without. "We know that 
 when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we 
 shall see Him as He is." This is our hope. What 
 is the moral effect of this ? "Every man that hath 
 this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is 
 pure." (1 John iii. 2, 3.) If I am to be like Christ 
 by and by, I shall seek to be as like Him now as I 
 can ; hence, the Christian should ever seek to walk 
 in purity, integrity and moral grace, in the view of 
 all around. 
 
 Thus it was with Abraham, in reference to the 
 sons of Heth. His whole deportment and conduct, 
 as set forth in our chapter, would seem to have been 
 marked with very pure elevation and disinterested- 
 ness. He was "a mighty prince among them," and 
 they would fain have done him a favor ; but Abra- 
 ham had learnt to take his favors only from the God 
 of resurrection, and while he would pay them for 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 243 
 
 Machpelah, he would look to Him for Canaan. The 
 sons of Heth knew well the value of "current money 
 with the merchant," and Abraham knew the value 
 of the cave of Machpelah. It was worth much more 
 to him than it was to them. "The land was worth 
 [to them,] four hundred shekels of silver," but to 
 him it was priceless, as the earnest of an everlasting 
 inheritance, which, because it was an everlasting in- 
 heritance, could only be possessed in the power of 
 resurrection. Faith conducts the soul onward into 
 God's future ; it looks at things as He looks at them, 
 and estimates them according to the judgment of 
 the sanctuary. Therefore, in the intelligence of 
 faith, Abraham stood up from before his dead, and 
 purchased a burying-place, which significantly set 
 forth his hope of resurrection, and an inheritance 
 founded thereon. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV, 
 
 THE connection of this chapter with the two which 
 precede it is worthy of notice. In chapter xxii, 
 the son is offered up ; in chapter xxiii, Sarah is laid 
 aside ; and in chapter xxiv, the servant is sent forth 
 to procure a bride for him who had been, as it were, 
 received from the dead in a figure. This connection, 
 in a very striking manner, coincides with the order 
 of events connected with the calling out of the 
 Church. Whether this coincidence is to'be regarded 
 as of divine origin, will, it may be, raise a question 
 
244 GENESIS. 
 
 in the minds of some ; but it must at least be re- 
 garded as not a little remarkable. 
 
 When we turn to the New Testament, the grand 
 events which meet our view are, first, the rejection 
 and death of Christ ; secondly, the setting aside of 
 Israel after the flesh ; and, lastry, the calling out of 
 the Church to occupy the high position of the bride 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 Now all this exactly corresponds with the contents 
 of this and the two preceding chapters. The death 
 of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact ere the 
 Church, properly so called, could be called out. 
 ' ' The middle wall of partition ' ' needed to be broken 
 down ere the "one new man" could be developed. 
 
 It is well to understand this in order that we may 
 know the place which the Church occupies in the 
 ways of God. So long as the Jewish economy sub- 
 sisted, there was the most strict separation main- 
 tained between Jew and Gentile ; and hence the idea 
 of both being united in one new man was far re- 
 moved from the mind of a Jew. He was led to view 
 himself in a position of entire superiority to that of 
 a Gentile, and to view the latter as utterly unclean, 
 to whom it was unlawful to come in. (Acts x. 28.) 
 
 If Israel had walked with God according to the 
 truth of the relationship into which He had gra- 
 ciously brought them, they would have continued in 
 their peculiar place of separation and superiority ; 
 but this they did not do ; and therefore, when they 
 had filled up the measure of their iniquity, by cruci- 
 fying the Lord of life and glory, and rejecting the 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 245 
 
 testimony of the Holy Ghost, we find St. Paul is 
 raised up to be the minister of a new thing, which 
 was held back in the counsels of God, while the tes- 
 timony to Israel was going on. "For this cause I, 
 Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 
 if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grac*c of 
 God, which is given me to you-ward ; how that by 
 revelation He made known unto me the mystery . . 
 . . . which in other ages was not made known unto 
 the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy 
 apostles and prophets [i.e. , New-Testament prophets, 
 roz? dyioiZ rtTfotfro/loz? avrov nai Ttpo(prfTai$,~\ by 
 the Spirit ; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, 
 and of the same body, and partakers of His promise 
 in Christ by the gospel." (Eph. iii. 1-6.) This is 
 conclusive. The mystery of the Church, composed 
 of Jew and Gentile, baptized by one Spirit into one 
 body,, united to the glorious Head in the heavens, 
 had never been revealed until Paul's day. Of this 
 mystery the apostle goes on to say, "/was made a 
 minister according to the gift of the grace of God 
 given unto me by the effectual working of His pow- 
 er." (Ver. 7.) The apostles and prophets of the 
 New Testament formed, as it were, the first layer 
 of this glorious building. (See Eph. ii. 20.) This 
 being so, it follows, as a consequence, that the 
 building could not have been begun before. If the 
 building had been going on from the days of Abel 
 downwards, the apostle would then have said, The 
 foundation of the Old-Testament saints. But he 
 has not said so, and therefore we conclude that 
 
246 GENESIS. 
 
 whatever be the position assigned to the Old-Testa- 
 ment saints, they cannot possibly belong to a body 
 which had no existence, save in the purpose of God, 
 until the death and resurrection of Christ, and the 
 consequent descent of the Holy Ghost. Saved they 
 were, blessed be God, saved by the blood of Christ, 
 and destined to enjoy heavenly glory with the Church ; 
 but they could not have formed a part of that which 
 did not exist for hundreds of years after their time. 
 
 It were easy to enter upon a more elaborate dem- 
 onstration of this most important truth were this the 
 place for so doing ; but I shall now go on with our. 
 chapter, having merely touched upon a question of 
 commanding interest, because of its being suggested 
 by the position of the twenty-fourth of Genesis. 
 
 There may be a question in some minds as to 
 whether we are to view this deeply-interesting por- 
 tion of Scripture as a type of the calling out of the 
 Church by the Holy Ghost. For myself, I feel hap- 
 pier in merely handling it as an illustration of that 
 glorious work. We cannot suppose that the Spirit 
 of God would occupy an unusually long chapter with 
 the mere detail of a family compact, were that com- 
 pact not typical or illustrative of some great truth. 
 41 Whatsoever things were written aforetime; were 
 written for our learning." This is emphatic. What, 
 therefore, are we to learn from the chapter before 
 us ? I believe it furnishes us with a beautiful illus- 
 tration or foreshadowing of the great mystery of 
 the Church. It is important to see that while there 
 is no direct revelation of this mystery in the Old 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 247 
 
 Testament, there are, nevertheless, scenes and cir- 
 cumstances which, in a very remarkable manner, 
 shadow it forth ; as, for example, the chapter before 
 us. As has been remarked, the son being, in a 
 figure, offered up and received again from the dead, 
 the original parent-stem, as it were, being laid 
 aside, the messenger is sent forth by the father to 
 procure a bride for the son. 
 
 Now, in order to the clear and full understanding 
 of the contents of the entire chapter, we may con- 
 sider the following points; viz., first, the oath; 
 second, the testimony; third, the result. It is beau- 
 tiful to observe that the call and exaltation of Re- 
 bekah were founded upon the oath between Abraham 
 and his servant. She knew nothing of this, though 
 she was, in the purpose of God, so entirely the sub- 
 ject of it all. So is it exactly with the Church of 
 God as a whole and each constituent part. "In 
 Thy book were all my members written, which in 
 continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were 
 none of them" (Ps. cxxxix. 16.). "Blessed be the 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heaven- 
 lies in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in 
 Him before the foundation of the world, that we 
 should be holy and without blame before Him in 
 love" (Eph. i. 3, 4.). "For whom He did fore- 
 know, He also did predestinate to be conformed to 
 the image of His Son, that He might be the first- 
 born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He 
 did predestinate, them He also called; and whom 
 17 
 
248 GENESIS. 
 
 He called, them He also justified ; and whom He 
 justified, them He also glorified "(Rom. viii. 29,30.). 
 These scriptures are all in beautiful harmony with 
 the point immediately before us. The call, the just- 
 ification, and the glory of the Church, are all founded 
 on the eternal purpose of God His word and oath, 
 ratified by the death, resurrection and exaltation of 
 the Son. Far back, beyond the bounds of time, in 
 the deep recesses of God's eternal mind, lay this 
 wondrous purpose respecting the Church, which 
 cannot by any means be separated from the divine 
 thought respecting the glory of the Son. The oath 
 between Abraham and the servant had for its object 
 the provision of a partner for the son. It was the 
 father's desire with respect to the son that led to all 
 Rebekah's after-dignity. It is happy to see this, 
 happy to see how the Church's security and blessing 
 stand inseparably connected with Christ and His 
 glory. "For the man is not of the woman, but the 
 woman of the man. Neither was the man created 
 for the woman, but the woman for the man." (1 Cor. 
 xi. 8, 9.) So it is in the beautiful parable of the 
 marriage-supper "The kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto a certain king which made a marriage for his 
 son." (Matt. xxii. 2.) THE SON is the grand object 
 of all the thoughts and counsels of God ; and if any 
 are brought into blessing or glory or dignity, it can 
 only be in connection with Him. All title to these 
 things, and even to life itself, was forfeited by sin ; 
 but Christ met all the penalty due to sin ; He made 
 Himself responsible for everything on behalf of His 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER 
 
 body the Church ; He was nailed 
 representative ; Hb bore her sins 
 on the tree, and went down into the grave" 
 full weight of them. Hence, nothing can be more 
 complete than the Church's deliverance from all that 
 was against her. She is quickened out of the grave 
 of Christ, where all her trespasses were laid. The 
 life which she has is a life taken up at the other side 
 of death, after every possible demand had been met. 
 Hence, this life is connected with, and founded upon, 
 divine righteousness, inasmuch as Christ's title to 
 life is founded upon His having entirely exhausted 
 the power of death ; and He is the Church's life. 
 Thus the Church enjoys divine life ; she stands in 
 divine righteousness ; and the hope that animates 
 her is the hope of righteousness. (See, amongst 
 many other scriptures, John iii. 16, 36; v. 39, 40; 
 vi. 27, 40, 47, 68 ; xi. 25 ; xvii. 2 ; Rom. v. 21 ; vi. 
 23; 1 Tim. i. 16; 1 John ii. 25 ; v. 20 ; Jude 21 ; 
 Eph. ii. 1-6, 14, 15 ; Col. i. 12-22 ; ii. 10-15 ; Rom. 
 i. 17; iii. 21-26; iv. 5, 23-25; 2 Cor. v. 21; Gal. 
 v. 5.) 
 
 These scriptures most fully establish the three 
 points, viz., the life, the. righteousness, and the hope 
 of the Church, all of which flow from her being one 
 with Him who was raised from the dead. Now, no- 
 thing can be so calculated to assure the heart as the 
 conviction that the Church's existence is essential to 
 the glory of Christ. "The woman is the glory of 
 the man." (1 Cor. xi. 7.) And again, the Church is 
 called "the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." 
 
250 GENESIS. 
 
 (Epli. i. 23.) This last is a remarkable expression. 
 The word translated "fullness" means the comple- 
 ment that which, being added to something else, 
 makes up a whole. Thus it is that Christ the Head, 
 and the Church the body, make up the "one new 
 man." (Eph. ii. 15.) Looking at the matter in this 
 point of view, it is no marvel that the Church should 
 have been the object of God's eternal counsels. 
 When we view her as the body, the bride, the com- 
 panion, the counterpart, of His only begotten Son, 
 we feel that there was, through grace, wondrous 
 reason for her being so thought of before the foun- 
 dation of the world. Rebekah was necessary to 
 Isaac, and therefore she was the subject of secret 
 counsel while yet in profound ignorance about her 
 high destiny. All Abraham's thought was about 
 Isaac. "I will make thee swear by the Lord, the 
 God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou 
 shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters 
 of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." Here we 
 see that the all-important point was, "a wife unto 
 my son." "It is not good that the man should be 
 alone." This opens up a very deep and blessed 
 view of the Church. In the .counsels of God she is 
 necessary to Christ ; and, in the accomplished work 
 of Christ, divine provision has been made for her 
 being called into existence. 
 
 While occupied with such a character of truth as 
 this, it is no longer a question as to whether God can 
 save poor sinners; He actually wants to "make a 
 marriage for His Son," and the Church is the 
 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 251 
 
 destined bride, she is the object of the Father's 
 purpose, the object of the Son's love, and of the 
 testimony of the Holy Ghost. She is to be the 
 sharer of all the Son's dignity and glory, as she is 
 the sharer of all that love of which He has been the 
 everlasting object. Hear His own words, "And 
 the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them ; 
 that they may be one, even as We are one : I in 
 them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made per- 
 fect in one ; and that the world may know that Thou 
 hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast 
 loved Me." (John xvii. 22, 23.) This settles the 
 whole question. The words just quote'd give us the 
 thoughts of Christ's heart in reference to the Church. 
 She is to be as He is, and not only so, but she is so 
 even now, as St. John tells us, "Herein is love per- 
 fected with us, that we may have boldness in the 
 day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in 
 this world." (1 John iv. 17.) This gives full confi- 
 dence to the soul. "We are in Him that is true, in 
 His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and 
 eternal life." (1 John v. 20.) There is here no 
 grouud for uncertainty. Everything is secured for 
 the bride in the bridegroom. All that belonged to 
 Isaac became Rebekah's because Isaac was hers ; 
 and so all that belongs to Christ is made available to 
 the Church. "All things are yours ; whether Paul, 
 or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, 
 or things present, or things to come all are yours, 
 and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." (1 Cor. 
 iii. 21-23.) Christ is "head over all things to the 
 
252 GENESIS. 
 
 Church." (Eph. i. 22.) It will be His joy through- 
 out eternity to exhibit the Church in all the glory 
 and beauty with which lie has endowed her, for her 
 glory and beauty will be but the reflection of His. 
 Angels and principalities shall behold in the Church 
 the marvelous display of the wisdom, power, and 
 grace of God in Christ. 
 
 But we shall now look at the second point for con- 
 sideration, viz., the testimony. Abraham's servant 
 carried with him a very distinct testimony. "And 
 he said, 'I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord 
 hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become 
 great; and He hath given him flocks, and herds, 
 and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid- 
 servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my 
 master's wife, bare a son to my master when she 
 was old ; and unto him hath he given all that he 
 hath.'" (Ver. 34-36.) He reveals the father and 
 the son. Such was his testimony. He speaks of 
 the vast resources of the father, and of the son's 
 being endowed with all these in virtue of his being 
 "the only begotten," and the object of the father's 
 love. With this testimony he seeks to obtain a 
 bride for the son. 
 
 All this, I need hardly remark, is strikingly illus- 
 trative of the testimony with which the Holy Ghost 
 was sent from heaven upon the day of Pentecost. 
 "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, 
 which proceedeth from the Father, Pie shall testify 
 of Me." (John xv. 26.) Again, "Howbcit when 
 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 253 
 
 He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you 
 into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself ; 
 but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak ; 
 and He will show you things to come. He shall 
 glorify Me ; for He shall receive of Mine and show 
 it unto you. All things that the Father hath are 
 Mine; therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine 
 and shall show it unto you." (John xvi. 13-15.) 
 The coincidence of these words with the testimony 
 of Abraham's servant is instructive and interesting. 
 It was by telling of Isaac that he sought to attract 
 the heart of Rebekah ; and it is, as we know, by 
 telling of Jesus, that the Holy Ghost seeks to draw 
 poor sinners away from a world of sin and folly, into 
 the blessed and holy unity of the body of Christ. 
 "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." 
 The Spirit of God will never lead any one to look at 
 Himself or His w r ork, but only and always at Christ. 
 Hence, the more really spiritual any one is, the more 
 entirely will he be occupied with Christ. 
 
 Some there are who regard it as a great mark of 
 spirituality to be ever looking in at their own hearts, 
 and dwelling upon what they find there, even though 
 that be the work of the Spirit. This is a great mis- 
 take. So far from its being a proof of spirituality, 
 it is a proof of the very reverse ; for it is expressly 
 declared of the Holy Ghost that "He shall not speak 
 of Himself," but that, on the contrary, "He shall 
 take of Mine and show it unto you." Therefore, 
 whenever one is looking inward, and building on the 
 evidences of the Spirit's work there, he may be as- 
 
254 GENESIS. 
 
 sured he is not led by the Spirit of God in so doing. 
 It is by holding up Christ that the Spirit draws souls 
 to God. This is very important. The knowledge 
 of Christ is life eternal ; and it is the Father's reve- 
 lation of Christ, by the Holy Ghost, that constitutes 
 the basis of the Church. When Peter confessed 
 Christ to be the Son of the living God, Christ's an- 
 swer was, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah; for 
 flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
 My Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, 
 that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock / will build 
 My Church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it." (Matt. xvi. 17, 18.) What rock? 
 Peter ? God forbid. "This rock"[rai;r?7 TIJ Tterpa] 
 simply means the Father's revelation of Christ, as 
 the Son of the living God, which is the only means 
 by which any one is introduced into the assembly of 
 Christ. Now this opens to us very much the true 
 character of the gospel. It is, pre-eminently and 
 emphatically, a revelation, a revelation not merely 
 of a doctrine, but of a Person the Person of the 
 Son. This revelation being received by faith, draws 
 the heart to Christ, and becomes the spring of life 
 and power the ground of membership the power 
 of fellowship. "When it pleased God .... to 
 reveal His Son in me," etc. Here we have the true 
 principle of "the rock," viz., God revealing His Son. 
 It is thus the superstructure is reared up ; and on 
 this solid foundation it reposes, according to God's 
 eternal purpose. 
 
 It is therefore peculiarly instructive to find in this 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 255 
 
 twenty-fourth of Genesis such a marked and beauti- 
 ful illustration of the mission and special testimony 
 of the Holy Ghost. Abraham's servant, in seeking 
 to procure a bride for Isaac, sets forth all the dignity 
 and wealth with which he had been endowed by the 
 father ; the love of which he was the object ; and, 
 in short, all that was calculated to affect the heart, 
 and draw it off from present things. He showed 
 Rebekah an object in the distance, and set before 
 her the blessedness and reality of being made one 
 with that beloved and highly-favored object. All 
 that belonged to Isaac would belong to Rebekah 
 too when she became part of him. Such was his 
 testimony. Such, also, is the testimon} r of the Holy 
 Ghost. He speaks of Christ, the glory of Christ, the 
 beauty of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the grace of 
 Christ, "the unsearchable riches of Christ," the dig- 
 nity of His Person, and the perfectness of His work. 
 Moreover, He sets forth the amazing blessedness 
 of being one with such a Christ, "members of His 
 body, of His flesh, and of His bones." Such is the 
 Spirit's testimony always ; and herein we have an 
 excellent touchstone by which to try all sorts of 
 teaching and preaching. The most spiritual teach- 
 ing will ever be characterized by a full and constant 
 presentation of Christ, He will ever form the bur- 
 den of such teaching. The Spirit cannot dwell on 
 aught but Jesus. Of Him He delights to speak, 
 He delights in setting forth His attractions and ex- 
 cellencies. Hence, when a man is ministering by 
 the power of the Spirit of God, there will always be 
 
256 GENESIS. 
 
 more of Christ than anything else in his ministry. 
 There will be little room in such ministry for human 
 logic and reasoning. Such things may do very well 
 where a man desires to*set forth himself; but the 
 Spirit's sole object be it well remembered by all 
 who minister will ever be to set forth Christ. 
 
 Let us now look, in the last place, at the result of 
 all this. Truth, and the practical application of 
 truth, are two very different things. It is one thing 
 to speak of the peculiar glories of the Church, and 
 quite another thing to be practically influenced by 
 those glories. In Rebekah's case, the effect was 
 most marked and decisive. The testimony of Abra- 
 ham's servant sank down into her ears and into her 
 heart, and entirely detached her heart's affections 
 from the scene of things around her. She was ready 
 to leave all and follow after, in order that she might 
 apprehend that for which she had been apprehended. 
 It was morally impossible that she could believe her- 
 self to be the subject of such high destinies and yet 
 continue amid the circumstances of nature. If the 
 report concerning the future were true, attachment 
 to the present was the worst of folly. If the hope 
 of being Isaac's bride, joint-heir with him of all his 
 dignity and glory if this were a reality, then to 
 continue to tend Laban's sheep would be practically 
 to despise all that God had, in grace, set before her. 
 
 But no, the prospect was far too bright to be thus 
 lightly given up. True, she had not yet seen Isaac, 
 nor yet the inheritance, but she had believed the re- 
 port the testimony of 7t*'m, and had received, as it 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 257 
 
 were, the earnest of *Y, and these were enough for 
 her heart ; and hence she unhesitatingly arises and 
 expresses her readiness to depart in the memorable 
 words, " I ivill go." She was fully prepared to enter 
 upon an unknown path in companionship with one 
 who had told her of an object far away, and of a 
 glory connected with him, to which she was about 
 to be raised. "I will go," said she ; and, " forget- 
 ting the things which were behind, and reaching 
 forth toward the things which were before, she 
 pressed toward the mark for the prize of her high 
 calling." Most touching and beautiful illustration 
 this of the Church, under the conduct of the Holy 
 Ghost, going onward to meet her heavenly Bride- 
 groom. This is what the Church should be ; but, 
 alas! there is sad failure here. There is little of 
 that holy alacrity in laying aside every weight and 
 every entanglement, in the power of communion 
 with the Holy Guide and Companion of our way, 
 whose office and delight it is to take of the things of 
 Jesus and show them unto us; just as Abraham's 
 servant took of the things of Isaac and showed them 
 to Rebekah : and no doubt, too, he found his joy in 
 pouring fresh testimonies concerning the son into 
 her ear, as they moved onward toward the consum- 
 mation of all her joy and glory. Thus it is, at least 
 witli our heavenly Guide and Companion. Pie de- 
 lights to tell of Jesus, "He shall take of Mine and 
 show it unto you ; " and again, "He shall show you 
 things to come." Now this is what we really want 
 this ministry of the Spirit of God, unfolding Christ 
 
258 GENESIS. 
 
 to our souls, producing earnest longing to see Him 
 as He is, and be made like Him forever. Naught 
 but this will ever detach our hearts from earth and 
 nature. What, save the hope of being associated 
 with Isaac, would ever have led Rebekah to say, "I 
 will go," when her "brother and her mother said, 
 ' Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least 
 ten.' " And so with us: nothing but the hope of 
 seeing Jesus as He is, and being like Him, will ever 
 enable or lead us to purify ourselves, even as He is 
 pure. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IN the opening of this chapter, Abraham's second 
 marriage is set before us, an event not without 
 its interest to the spiritual mind, when viewed in 
 connection with what we have been considering in 
 the preceding chapter. With the light furnished by 
 the prophetic scriptures of the New Testament, we 
 understand, that after the completion and taking up 
 of the elect bride of Christ, the seed of Abraham 
 will again come into notice. Thus, after the mar- 
 riage of Isaac, the Holy Ghost takes up the history 
 of Abraham's seed by a new marriage, together with 
 other points in his history, and that of his seed, 
 according to the flesh. I do not press any special 
 interpretation of all this ; I merely say that it is not 
 without its interest. 
 
 We have already referred to the remark of some 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 259 
 
 one on the book of Genesis, namely, that it is "full 
 of the seeds of things;" and as we pass along its 
 comprehensive pages, we shall find them teeming 
 with all the fundamental principles of truth, which 
 are more elaborately wrought out in the New Testa- 
 ment. True, in Genesis these principles arc set 
 forth illustratively, and in the New Testament didac- 
 tically ; still, the illustration is deeply interesting, 
 and eminently calculated to bring home the truth 
 with power to the soul. 
 
 At the close of this chapter, we are presented with 
 some principles of a very solemn and practical na- 
 ture. Jacob's character and actings will hereafter, 
 if the Lord will, come more fully before us ; but I 
 would just notice, ere passing on, the conduct of 
 Esau in reference to the birthright, and all which it 
 involved. The natural heart places no value on the 
 things of God. To it, God's promise is a vague, 
 valueless, powerless thing, simply because God is 
 not known. Hence it is that present things carry 
 such weight and influence in man's estimation. 
 Anything that man can see, he values, because he is 
 governed by sight and not by faith. To him, the 
 present is everything ; the future is a mere uninflu- 
 cntial thing a matter of the merest uncertainty. 
 Thus it was with Esau. Hear his fallacious reason- 
 ing, "Behold, I am at the point to die ; and what 
 profit shall this birthright do to me ? What strange 
 reasoning ! The present is slipping from beneath 
 my feet, I will therefore despise and entirely let go 
 the future ! Time is fading from my view, I will 
 
200 GENESIS. 
 
 therefore abandon all interest in eternity ! "Thus 
 Esau despised his birthright: " thus Israel despised 
 the pleasant land (Ps. cvi. 24.) ; thus the} 7 despised 
 Christ (Zech. xi. 13.): thus those who were bidden 
 to the marriage despised the invitation (Matt. xxii. 
 5.). Man has no heart for the things of God. The 
 present is everything to him. A mess of pottage is 
 better than a title to Canaan. Hence, the very 
 reason why Esau made light of the birthright was 
 the very reason why he ought to have grasped it 
 with the greater intensity. The more clearly I see 
 the vanity of man's present, the more I shall cleave 
 to God's future. Thus it is in the judgment of faith, 
 "Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, 
 what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy 
 conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting 
 unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
 heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the ele- 
 ments shall melt with fervent heat ? Nevertheless 
 we, according to His promise, look for new heavens 
 and a new earth, wherein dwellcth righteousness." 
 (2 Pet. iii. 11-13.) These are the thoughts of God, 
 and therefore the thoughts of faith. The things that 
 are seen shall be dissolved. What ! then, are we to 
 despise the unseen ? By no means. The present 
 is rapidly passing away. What is our resource ? 
 "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the 
 day of God." This is the judgment of the renewed 
 mind; and any other judgment is only that of'* a 
 profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat 
 sold his birthright." (Heb. xii. 16.) The Lord keep 
 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 261 
 
 us judging of things as He judges. This can only 
 be done by faith. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 rpHE opening verse of this chapter connects itself 
 JL with chapter xii. "There was a famine in the 
 land, beside the first famine that was in the days of 
 Abraham." The trials which meet God's people in 
 their course are very much alike, and they ever tend 
 to make manifest how far the heart has found its all 
 in God. It is a difficult matter a rare attainment 
 so to walk in sweet communion with God as to be 
 rendered thereby entirely independent of things and 
 people here. The Egypts and the Gerars which lie 
 on our right hand and on our left present great 
 temptations, either to turn aside out of the right 
 way, or to stop short of our true position as servants 
 of the true and living God. 
 
 "And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the 
 Philistines, unto Gerar." There is a manifest dif- 
 ference between Egypt and Gerar. Egypt is the 
 expression of the world in its natural resources and 
 its independence of God. "My river is mine own,"" 
 is the language of an Egyptian who knew not Jeho- 
 vah, and thought not of looking to Him for aught. 
 Egypt was, locally, further removed from Canaan 
 than Gerar ; and, morally, it expresses a condition 
 of soul further from God. Gerar is thus referred to 
 in chapter x. "And the border of the Canaanites 
 
262 GENESIS. 
 
 was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza ; 
 as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Ad- 
 mah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha." (Ver. 19.) 
 We are informed that "from Gerar to Jerusalem 
 was three days' journey." It was, therefore, as 
 compared with Egypt, an advanced position ; but 
 still it lay within the range of very dangerous influ- 
 ences. Abraham got into trouble there, and so does 
 Isaac in this chapter, and that, too, in the very same 
 way. Abraham denied his wife, and so does Isaac. 
 This is peculiarly solemn. To see both the father 
 and the son fall into the same evil, in the same place, 
 tells us plainly that the influence of that place was 
 not good. 
 
 Had Isaac not gone to Abimelech, king of Gerar, 
 he would have no necessity for denying his wife ; 
 but the slightest divergence from the true line of 
 conduct superinduces spiritual weakness. It was 
 when Peter stood and warmed himself at the high- 
 priest's fire that he denied his Master. Now, it is 
 manifest that Isaac was not really happy in Gerar. 
 True, the Lord says unto him, "Sojourn in this 
 land ; " but how often does the Lord give directions 
 to His people morally suitable to the condition He 
 knows them to be in, and calculated also to arouse 
 them to a true sense of that condition ? He directed 
 Moses, in Numbers xiii, to send men to search the 
 land of Canaan ; but had they not been -in a low 
 moral condition, such a step would not have been 
 necessaiy. We know well that faith does not need 
 "o spy out"" when God's promise lies before us. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 2G3 
 
 Again He directed Moses to choose out seventy 
 elders to help him in the work ; but had Moses fully 
 entered into the dignity and blessedness of his posi- 
 tion, he would not have needed such a direction. 
 So, in reference to the setting up of a king, in 
 1 Samuel viii ; they ought not to have needed a 
 king. Hence, we must always take into considera- 
 tion the condition of an individual or a people to 
 whom a direction is given before w ? e can form any 
 correct judgment as to the direction. 
 
 But again it may be said, If Isaac's position in 
 Gerar was wrong, how do we read, "Then Isaac 
 sowed in that land, and received the same year a 
 hundred fold; and the Lord blessed him"? (Yer. 
 12.) I reply, we can never judge that a person's 
 condition is right because of prosperous circum- 
 stances. We have had already to remark that there 
 is a great difference between the Lord's presence 
 and His blessing. Many have the latter without the 
 former ; and, moreover, the heart is prone to mis- 
 take the one for the other prone to put the blessing 
 for the presence, or at least to argue that the one 
 must ever accompany the other. This is a great 
 mistake. How many do we see surrounded by God's 
 blessings, who neither have nor wish for God's pres- 
 ence ? It is important to see this. A man may 
 "wax great, and go forward, and grow until he be- 
 comes very great, and have possession of flocks, and 
 possession of herds, and great store of servants," 
 and all the while not have the full unhindered joy of 
 the Lord's presence with him. Flocks and herds 
 18 
 
204 GENESIS. 
 
 are not the Lord. They are things on account of 
 which the Philistines might envy Isaac, whereas 
 they never would have envied him on account of the 
 Lord's presence. He might have been enjoying the 
 sweetest and richest communion with God, and the 
 Philistines have thought nothing whatever about it, 
 simply because they had no heart to understand or 
 appreciate such a realit} 7 . Flocks, herds, servants, 
 and wells of water they could appreciate ; but the 
 divine presence they could not appreciate. 
 
 However, Isaac at length makes his way from 
 amongst the Philistines, and gets up to Beersheba. 
 "And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, 
 and said, 'I am the God of Abraham thy father; 
 fear not, for / am with tliee, and will bless thee.' " 
 (Ver. 24.) Mark, it was not the Lord's blessing 
 merely, but the Lord Himself. And why ? Because 
 Isaac had left the Philistines, with all their envy 
 and strife and contention, behind, and gone up to 
 Beersheba. Here the Lord could show Himself to 
 His servant. The blessings of His liberal hand 
 might follow him during his sojourn in Gerar, but. 
 His presence could not there be enjoyed. To enjoy 
 God's presence, we must be where He is, and He 
 certainly is not to be found amid the strife and con- 
 tention of an ungodly world ; and hence, the sooner 
 the child of God gets away from all such, the bettor. 
 So Isaac found it. He had no rest in his own spirit ; 
 and he assuredly did not, in any wise, serve the 
 Philistines by his sojourn amongst them. It is a 
 very common error to imagine that we serve the men 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 265 
 
 of this world by mixing ourselves up with them in 
 their associations and ways. The true way to serve 
 them is to stand apart from them in the power of 
 communion with God, and thus show them the 
 pattern of a more excellent wa} r . 
 
 Mark the progress in Isaac's soul, and the moral 
 effect of his course. "He went up from thence," 
 "the Lord appeared unto him," "he builded an 
 altar," "he called on the name of the Lord," "he 
 pitched his tent," "his servants digged a well." 
 Here we have most blessed progress. The moment 
 he took a step in the right direction, he went from 
 strength to strength. He entered into the joy of 
 God's presence tasted the sweets of true worship, 
 and exhibited the character of a stranger and pil- 
 grim, and found peaceful refreshment an undis- 
 puted well, which the Philistines could not stop 
 because they were not there. 
 
 These were blessed results in reference to Isaac 
 himself; and now observe the effect produced upon 
 others. "Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, 
 and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phicol, the 
 chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto 
 them, "Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate 
 me, and have sent me away from you ? ' And they 
 said, 'We saw certainly that the Lord was with 
 thee ; and we said, Let there now be an oath be- 
 twixt us,' " etc. The true way to act on the hearts 
 and consciences of the men of the world is to stand 
 in decided separation from them, while dealing in 
 perfect grace toward them. So long as Isaac con- 
 
266 GENESIS. 
 
 tinned in Gerar, there was nothing but strife and 
 contention. He was reaping sorrow for himself, and 
 producing no effect whatever upon those around him. 
 On the contrary, the moment he went away from 
 them, their hearts were touched, and they followed 
 him and desired a covenant. This is very instruct- 
 ive. The principle unfolded here may be seen con- 
 stantly exemplified in the history of the children of 
 God. The first point with the heart should ever be, 
 to see that in our position we are right ivith God; 
 and not only right in position, but in the moral con- 
 dition of the soul. When we are right with God, 
 we may expect to act salutarily upon men. The 
 moment Isaac got up to Beersheba, and took his 
 place as a worshiper, his own soul was refreshed, 
 and he was used of God to act upon others. So 
 long as we continue in a low position, we are robbing 
 ourselves of blessing, and failing totally in our testi- 
 mony and service. 
 
 Nor should we, when in a wrong position, stop to 
 inquire, as we so often do, Where can I find any- 
 thing better ? God's order is, "Cease to do evil ; " 
 and when we have acted upon that holy precept, we 
 are furnished with another, namely, "Learn to do 
 well." If we expect to "learn" how "to do well" 
 before we "cease to do evil," we are entirely mis- 
 taken. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from 
 among the dead \_EK T&V rsxpoov']." And what then ? 
 "Christ shall give thee light." (Eph. v. 14.) 
 
 My beloved reader, if you are doing what you 
 know to be wrong, or if you are identified in any 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 267 
 
 way with what you own to be contrary to Scripture, 
 hearken to the word of the Lord, " Cease to do 
 evil;" and, be assured, when you have yielded 
 obedience to this word, you will not long be left in 
 ignorance as to your path. It is sheer unbelief that 
 leads us to say, I cannot cease to do evil, until I 
 find something better. The Lord grant us a single 
 eye and a docile spirit. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXVII XXXV. 
 
 THESE chapters present to us the history of Jacob 
 at least, the principal scenes in that history. 
 The Spirit of God here sets before us the deepest 
 instruction, first, as to God's purpose of infinite 
 grace; and secondly, as to the utter worthlessness 
 and depravity of human nature. 
 
 There is a passage in chapter xxv which I pur- 
 posely passed over, in order to take it up here, so 
 that we might have the truth in reference to Jacob 
 fully before us, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for 
 his wife, because she was barren ; and the Lord was 
 entreated of him, and Rebckah his wife conceived. 
 And the children struggled together within her ; and 
 she said, ' If it be so, why am I thus ? ' And she 
 went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said 
 unto her, 'Two nations are in thy womb, and two 
 manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels ; 
 and the one people shall be stronger than the other 
 
268 GENESIS. 
 
 people; and the elder shall serve the younger.'" 
 This is referred to in Malachi, where we read, 
 " 'I have loved you,' saith the Lord; \yetye say, 
 Wherein hast Thou loved us ? Was not Esau Ja- 
 cob's brother?' saith the Lord; 'yet I have loved 
 Jacob, and hated Esau.' ' This is again referred 
 to in Romans ix, "(For the children being not yet 
 born, neither having done any good or evil, that the 
 purpose of God according to election might stand, 
 not of works, but of Him that calleth;) it was said 
 unto her, 'The elder shall serve the younger.' As 
 it is written, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I 
 hated.'" 
 
 Thus we have very distinctly before us, God's 
 eternal purpose according to the election of grace. 
 There is much involved in this expression. It ban- 
 ishes all human pretension from the scene, and as- 
 serts God's right to act as He will. This is of the 
 very last importance. The creature can enjoy no 
 real blessedness until he is brought to bow his head 
 to sovereign grace. It becomes him so to do, inas- 
 much as he is a sinner, and, as such, utterly without 
 claim to act or dictate. The great value of finding 
 one's self on this ground is, that it is then no longer 
 a question of what we deserve to get, but simply of 
 what God is pleased to give. The prodigal might 
 talk of being a servant, but he really did not de- 
 serve the place of a servant, if it were to be made a 
 question of desert; and therefore he had only to 
 take what the father was pleased to give, and that 
 was, the very highest place, even the place of fel- 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 269 
 
 lowship with himself. Thus it must ever be. 
 
 "Grace all the work shall crown, 
 Through everlasting days." 
 
 Happy for us that it is so. As we go on, day by 
 day, making fresh discoveries of ourselves, we need 
 to have beneath our feet the solid foundation of 
 God's grace : nothing else could possibly sustain us 
 in our growing self-knowledge. The ruin is hope- 
 less, and therefore the grace must be infinite : and 
 infinite it is, having its source in God Himself, its 
 channel in Christ, and the power of application and 
 enjoyment in the Holy Ghost. The Trinity is brought 
 out in connection with the grace that saves a poor 
 sinner. "Grace reigns through righteousness, unto 
 eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." It is only 
 in redemption that this reign of grace could be seen. 
 We may see in creation the reign of wisdom and 
 power ; we may see in providence the reign of good- 
 ness and long-suffering ; but only in redemption do 
 we see the reign of grace, and that, too, on the 
 principle of righteousness. 
 
 Now, we have, in the person of Jacob, a most 
 striking exhibition of the power of divine grace ; 
 and for this reason, that we have in him a striking 
 exhibition of the power of human nature. In him 
 we see nature in all its obliquity, and therefore we 
 see grace in all its moral beauty and" power. From 
 the facts of his remarkable history, it would seem 
 that before his birth, at his birth, and after his birth 
 the extraordinary energy of nature was seen. Be- 
 fore his birth, we read, "the children struggled to- 
 
270 GENESIS. 
 
 gether within her ; " at his birth, we read, "his hand 
 took hold on Esau's heel;" and after his birth 
 yea, to the turning-point of his history, in chapter 
 xxxii, without any exception his course exhibits 
 nothing but the most unamiable traits of nature ; 
 but all this only serves, like a dark back-ground, to 
 throw into relief the grace of Him who condescends 
 to call Himself by the peculiarly-touching name, 
 "The God of Jacob" a name most sweetly ex- 
 pressive of free grace. 
 
 Let us now examine the chapters consecutively. 
 Chapter xxvii exhibits a most humbling picture of 
 sensuality, deceit and cunning ; and when one thinks 
 of such things in connection with the people of God, 
 it is sad and painful to the very last degree. Yet 
 how true and faithful is the Holy Ghost ! He must 
 tell all out : He cannot give us a partial picture. If 
 He gives us a history of man, He must describe 
 man as he is, and not as he is not. 
 
 So, if He unfolds to us the character and ways of 
 God, He gives us God as He is. And this, we need 
 hardly remark, is exactly what we need. We need 
 the revelation of One perfect in holiness, yet perfect 
 in grace and mercy ; who could come down into all 
 the depth of man's need, his misery and his degra- 
 dation, and deal with him there, and raise him up 
 out of it into fiill, unhindered fellowship with Him- 
 self in all the reality of what He is. This is what 
 Scripture gives us. God knew what we needed, and 
 He has given it to us, blessed be His name ! 
 
 And be it remembered, that in setting before us, 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 271 
 
 in faithful love, all the traits of man's character, it 
 is simply with a view to magnify the riches of divine 
 grace, and to admonish our souls. It is not, by any 
 means, in order to perpetuate the memory of sins, 
 forever blotted out from His sight. The blots, the 
 failures, and the errors of Abraham, Isaac, and Ja- 
 cob have been perfectly washed away, and they have 
 taken their place amid ''the spirits of just men 
 made perfect;" but their history remains, on the 
 page of inspiration, for the display of God's grace,, 
 and for the warning of God's people in all ages ; 
 and, moreover, that we may distinctly see that the 
 blessed God has not been dealing with perfect men 
 and women, but with those of "like passions as we 
 are," that He has been walking and bearing with 
 the same failures, the same infirmities, the same 
 errors, as those over which we mourn every day. 
 
 This is peculiarly comforting to the heart ; and it 
 may well stand in striking contrast with the way in 
 which the great majority of human biographies are 
 written, in which, for the most part, we find, not the 
 history of men, but of beings devoid of error and 
 infirmity. Such histories have rather the effect of 
 discouraging than of edifying those who read them. 
 They are rather histories of what men ought to be, 
 than of what they really are, and they are therefore 
 useless to us yea, not only useless, but mischievous. 
 
 Nothing can edify save the presentation of God 
 dealing with man as he really is ; and this is what 
 the Word gives us. The chapter before us illustrates 
 this very fully. Here we find the aged patriarch 
 
272 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 Isaac, standing, as it were, at the very portal of 
 eternity, the earth and nature fast fading away from 
 his view, yet occupied about "savory meat," and 
 about to act in direct opposition to the divine coun- 
 sel, by blessing the elder instead of the younger. 
 Truly this was nature, and nature with its "eyes 
 dim." If Esau had sold his birthright for a mess 
 of pottage, Isaac was about to give away the bless- 
 ing for a mess of venison. How very humiliating ! 
 But God's purpose must stand, and He will do all 
 His pleasure. Faith knows this, and, in the power 
 of that knowledge, can wait for God's time. This, 
 nature never can do, but must set about gaining its 
 own ends, by its own inventions. These are the two 
 grand points brought out in Jacob's history God's 
 purpose of grace, on the one hand ; and on the 
 other, nature plotting and scheming to reach what 
 that purpose would have infallibly brought about, 
 without any plot or scheme at all. This simplifies 
 Jacob's history amazingly, and not only simplifies 
 it, but heightens the soul's interest in it also. There 
 is nothing, perhaps, in which we are so lamentably 
 deficient, as in the grace of patient, self-renouncing 
 dependence upon God. Nature will be working in 
 some shape or form, and thus, so far as in it lies, 
 hindering the outshining of divine grace and power. 
 God did not need the aid of such elements as Re- 
 bekah's cunning and Jacob's gross deceit, in order 
 to accomplish His purpose. He had said, "The 
 elder shall serve the younger." This was enough 
 enough for faith, but not enough for nature, which 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 273 
 
 must ever adopt its own ways, and know nothing of 
 what it is to wait on God. 
 
 Now, nothing can be more truly blessed than the 
 position of hanging in childlike dependence upon 
 God, and being entirely content to wait for His time. 
 True, it will involve trial ; but the renewed mind 
 learns some of its deepest lessons, and enjoys some 
 of its sweetest experiences, while waiting on the 
 Lord ; and the more pressing the temptation to take 
 ourselves out of His hands, the richer will be the 
 blessing of leaving ourselves there. It is so exceed- 
 ingly sweet to find ourselves wholly dependent upon 
 one who finds infinite joy in blessing us. It is only 
 those who have tasted, in any little measure, the 
 reality of this wondrous position that can at all 
 appreciate it. The only one who ever occupied it 
 perfectly and uninterruptedly was the Lord Jesus 
 Himself. He was ever dependent upon God, and 
 utterly rejected every proposal of the enemy to be 
 anything else. His language was, "In Thee do I 
 put My trust ; " and again, "I was cast upon Thee 
 from the womb." Hence, when tempted by the 
 devil to make an effort to satisfy His hunger, His 
 reply was, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by 
 bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 
 of the mouth of God/" When tempted to cast 
 Himself from the pinnacle of the temple, His reply 
 was, "It is written again, 'Thou shalt not tempt the 
 Lord thy God.' ' When tempted to take the king- 
 doms of the world from the hand of another than 
 God, and by doing homage to another than Him, 
 
274 GENESIS. 
 
 His reply was, "It is written, 'Thou shalt worship the 
 Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' " Li 
 a word, nothing could allure the perfect man from 
 the place of absolute dependence upon God. True, 
 it was God's purpose to sustain His Son ; it was His 
 purpose that He should suddenly come to His tem- 
 ple ; it was His purpose to give Him the kingdoms 
 of this world ; but this was the very reason why the 
 Lord Jesus would simply and uninterruptedly wait 
 on God for the accomplishment of His purpose, in 
 His own time and in His own way. He did not set 
 about accomplishing His own ends : He left Himself 
 thoroughly at God's disposal. He would only eat 
 when God gave Him bread ; He would only enter 
 the temple when sent of God ; He will ascend the 
 throne when God appoints the time. "Sit Thou at 
 My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy foot- 
 stool." (Ps. ex.) 
 
 This profound subjection of the Son to the Father 
 is admirable beyond expression. Though entirely 
 equal with God, He took, as man, the place of de- 
 pendence, rejoicing always in the will of the Father ; 
 giving thanks even when things seemed to be against 
 Him ; doing always the things which pleased the 
 Father ; making it His grand and unvarying object 
 to glorify the Father; and finally, when all was 
 accomplished, when He had perfectly finished the 
 work which the Father had given, He breathed His 
 spirit into the Father's hand, and His flesh rested in 
 hope of the promised glory. and exaltation. Well, 
 therefore, may the inspired apostle say, "Let this 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 275 
 
 mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; 
 who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
 bery to be equal with God ; but made Himself of no 
 reputation, and took upon Him the form of a serv- 
 ant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and 
 being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Him- 
 self, and became obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly 
 exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above 
 every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
 and things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory 
 of God the Father." (Phil. ii. 5-11.) 
 
 How little Jacob knew, in the opening of his his- 
 tory, of this blessed mind ! How little was he pre- 
 pared to wait for God's time and God's way ! he 
 much preferred Jacob's time and Jacob's way. He 
 thought it much better to arrive at the blessing and 
 the inheritance by all sorts of cunning and decep- 
 tion than by simple dependence upon and subjection 
 to God, whose electing grace had promised, and 
 whose almighty power and wisdom would assuredly 
 accomplish all for him. 
 
 But, oh, how well one knows the opposition of the 
 human heart to all this ! Any attitude for it save 
 that of patient waiting upon God. It is almost 
 enough to drive nature to distraction to find itself 
 bereft of all resource but God. This tells us, in 
 language not to be misunderstood, the true charac- 
 ter of human nature. In order to know what nature 
 
276 GENESIS. 
 
 is, I need not travel into those scenes of vice and 
 crime which justly shock all refined moral sense. 
 No ; all that is needful is just to try it for a moment 
 in the place of dependence, and see how it will carry 
 itself there. It really knows nothing of God, and 
 therefore cannot trust Him ; and herein lies the 
 secret of all its misery and moral degradation. It 
 is totally ignorant of the true God, and can therefore 
 be naught else but a ruined and worthless thing. 
 The knowledge of God is the source of life yea, 
 is itself life ; and until a man has life, what is he? 
 or what can he be ? 
 
 Now, in Rebekah and Jacob, we see nature taking 
 advantage of nature in Isaac and Esau. It was 
 really this. There was no waiting upon God what- 
 ever. Isaac's e}'es were dim, he could therefore be 
 imposed upon, and they set about doing so, instead 
 of looking to God, who would have entirely frustra- 
 ted Isaac's purpose to bless the one whom God 
 would not bless a purpose founded in nature, and 
 most unlovely nature, for "Isaac loved Esau," not 
 because he was the first-born, but "because he did 
 eat of his venison." How humiliating ! 
 
 But we are sure to bring unmixed sorrow upon 
 ourselves when we take ourselves, our circumstances, 
 or our destinies out of the hands of God.* Thus 
 it was with Jacob, as we shall see in the sequel. 
 It has been observed by another, that "whoever 
 observes Jacob's life, after he had surreptitiously 
 
 *We should ever remember, in a place of trial, that what \vc 
 want is not a change of circumstances, but victory over self. 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 277 
 
 obtained his father's blessing, will perceive that he 
 enjoyed very little worldly felicity. His brother 
 purposed to murder him, to avoid which he was 
 forced to flee from his father's house ; his uncle 
 Laban deceived him, as he had deceived his father, 
 and treated him with great rigor ; after a servitude 
 of twenty-one years, he was obliged to leave him in 
 a clandestine manner, and not without clanger of 
 being brought back, or murdered by his enraged 
 brother; no sooner were these fears over, than he 
 experienced the baseness of his son Reuben, in de- 
 filing his bed ; he had next to bewail the treachery 
 and cruelty of Simeon and Levi towards the She- 
 chemites ; then he had to feel the loss of his beloved 
 wife ; he was next imposed upon by his own sons, 
 and had to lament the supposed untimely end of 
 Joseph ; and, to complete all, he was forced by 
 famine to go into Egypt, and there died in a strange 
 land. So just, wonderful, and instructive are all 
 the ways of providence." 
 
 This is a true picture, so far as Jacob was con- 
 cerned ; but it only gives us one side, and that the 
 gloomy side. Blessed be God, there is a bright side 
 likewise, for God had to do with Jacob ; and, in 
 every scene of his life, .when Jacob was called to 
 reap the fruits of his own plotting and crookedness, 
 the God of Jacob brought good out of evil, and 
 caused His grace to abound over all the sin and 
 folly of His poor servant. This we shall see as we 
 proceed with his history. 
 
 I shall just offer a remark here upon Isaac, Re- 
 
278 GENESIS. 
 
 bekah and Esau. It is very interesting to observe 
 how, notwithstanding the exhibition of nature's ex- 
 cessive weakness, in the opening of this twenty-sev- 
 enth chapter, Isaac maintains, by faith, the dignity 
 which God had conferred upon him. He blesses with 
 all the consciousness of being endowed with power 
 to bless. He says, "I have blessed him ; yea, and 
 he shall be blessed. . . . Behold, I have made him 
 thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for 
 servants ; and with corn and wine have I sustained 
 him ; and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? " 
 He speaks as one who, by faith, had at his disposal 
 all the treasures of earth. There is no false humility, 
 no taking a low ground by reason of the manifesta- 
 tion of nature. True, he was on the eve of making 
 a grievous mistake even of moving right athwart 
 the counsel of God ; still, he knew God, and took 
 his place accordingly, dispensing blessings in all the 
 dignity and power of faith. "I have blessed him; 
 
 yea, and he shall be blessed With corn 
 
 and wine have I sustained him." It is the proper 
 province of faith to rise above all one's own failure 
 and the consequences thereof, into the place where 
 God's grace has set us. 
 
 As to Rebekah, she was called to feel all the sad 
 results of her cunning actings. She no doubt imag- 
 ined she was managing matters most skillfully ; but, 
 alas ! she never saw Jacob again : so much for man- 
 agement ! How different it would have been hnd 
 she left the matter entirely in the hands of God ! 
 This is the way in which faith manages, and it is 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 279 
 
 ever a gainer. "Which of 3*011 by taking thought 
 can add to his stature one* cubit?" We gain no- 
 thing by our anxiety and planning ; we only shut 
 out God, and that is no gain. It is a just judgment 
 from the hand of God to be left to reap the fruits of 
 our own devices ; and I know of few things more 
 sad than to see a child of God so entirely forgetting 
 his proper place and privilege as to take the man- 
 agement of his affairs into his own hands. The 
 birds of the air and the lilies of the field may well 
 be our teachers when we so far forget our position 
 of unqualified dependence upon God. 
 
 Then, again, as to Esau, the apostle calls him "a 
 profane person, who for one morsel of meat sold his 
 birthright," and "afterwards, when he would have 
 inherited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he found 
 no place of change of mind, though he sought it 
 carefully with tears." Thus we learn what a profane 
 person is, viz., one who would like to hold both 
 worlds, one who would like to enjoy the present 
 without forfeiting his title to the future. This is by 
 no means an uncommon case. It expresses to us 
 the mere worldly professor, whose conscience has 
 'never felt the action of divine truth, and whose 
 heart has never felt the influence of divine grace. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WE are now called to trace Jacob in his move- 
 ment from under his father's roof, to view 
 him as a homeless and lonely wanderer on the earth. 
 19 
 
280 GENESIS. 
 
 It is here that God's special dealings with him com- 
 mence. Jacob now begins to realize, in some meas- 
 ure, the bitter fruit of his conduct in reference to 
 Esau ; while, at the same time, God is seen rising 
 above all the weakness and folly of His servant, and 
 displaying His own sovereign grace and profound 
 wisdom in His dealings with him. God will accom- 
 plish His own purpose, no matter by what instru- 
 mentality ; but if His child, in impatience of spirit 
 and unbelief of heart, will take himself out of His 
 hands, he must expect much sorrowful exercise and 
 painful discipline. Thus it was with Jacob: he 
 might not have had to flee to Haran had he allowed 
 God to act for him. God would assuredly have 
 dealt with Esau, and caused him to find his destined 
 place and portion ; and Jacob might have enjoyed 
 that sweet peace which nothing can yield save entire 
 subjection in all things to the hand and counsel of 
 God. 
 
 But here is where the excessive feebleness of our 
 hearts is constantly disclosed. We do not lie pas- 
 sive in God's hand, we will be acting ; and, by our 
 acting, we hinder the display of God's grace and 
 power on our behalf. "Be still and know that I am 
 God, " is a precept which naught, save the power of 
 divine grace, can enable one to obey. u Let your 
 moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is 
 at hand \yyv{\. Be careful for nothing; but in 
 everything by prayer and supplication with thanks- 
 giving let your requests be made known unto God." 
 What will be the result of thus acting ? "The peace 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 281 
 
 of God, which passeth all understanding, shall gar- 
 rison \_q>p ovprjtiei] your hearts and minds by Christ 
 Jesus." (Phil. iv. 5-7.) 
 
 However, God graciously overrules our folly and 
 weakness, and while we are called upon to reap the 
 fruits of our unbelieving and impatient ways, He 
 takes occasion from them to teach our hearts still 
 deeper lessons of His own tender grace and perfect 
 wisdom. This, while it assuredly affords no warrant 
 whatever for unbelief and impatience, does most 
 wonderfully exhibit the goodness of our God, and 
 comfort the heart even while we may be passing 
 through the painful circumstances consequent upon 
 our failure. God is above all ; and, moreover, it is 
 His special prerogative to bring good out of evil, 
 to make the eater yield meat, and the strong yield 
 sweetness; and hence, while it is quite true that 
 Jacob was compelled to be an exile from his father's 
 roof in consequence of his own restless and deceitful 
 acting, it is equally true that he never could have 
 learnt the meaning of "Bethel" had he been quietly 
 at home. Thus the two sides of the picture are 
 strongly marked in every scene of Jacob's history. 
 It was when he was driven, by his own folly, from 
 Isaac's house, that he was led to taste, in some 
 measure, the blessedness and solemnity of "God's 
 house." 
 
 "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went 
 toward Haran. And he lighted upon a ce.rtain place, 
 and tarried there all night, because the sun was set ; 
 and he took of the stones -of that place and put 
 
282 GENESIS. 
 
 them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to 
 sleep." Here we find the homeless wanderer just in 
 the very position in which God could meet him, and 
 in which Pie could unfold His purposes of grace and 
 glory. Nothing could possibly be more expressive 
 of helplessness and nothingness than Jacob's condi- 
 tion as here set before us. Beneath the open canopy 
 of heaven, with a pillow of stone, in the helpless con- 
 dition of sleep. Thus it was that the God of Bethel 
 unfolded to Jacob His purposes respecting him and 
 his seed. "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder 
 set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to 
 heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending 
 and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood 
 above it, and said, ' I am the Lord God of Abraham 
 thy father, and the God of Isaac : the land w r hereon 
 thou Rest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. 
 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and 
 thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the 
 east, and to the north, and to the south ; and in thee 
 and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
 blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep 
 thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring 
 thee again into this land ; for I will not leave thee un- 
 til I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. " ' 
 Here we have, indeed, "grace and glory." The 
 ladder "seto?i the earth" naturally leads the heart 
 to meditate on the display of God's grace, in the 
 Person and work of His Son. On the earth it was 
 that the wondrous work was accomplished which 
 forms the basis the strong and everlasting basis 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 283 
 
 of all the divine counsels in reference to Israel, the 
 Church, and the world at large. On the earth it was 
 that Jesus lived, labored and died ; that, through 
 His death, He might remove out of the way every 
 obstacle to the accomplishment of the divine pur- 
 pose of blessing to man. 
 
 But "the top of the ladder reached to heaven." 
 It formed the medium of communication between 
 heaven and earth; and "behold the angels of God 
 ascending and descending upon it," striking and 
 beautiful picture of Him by whom God has come 
 down into all the depth of man's need, and by whom 
 also He has brought man up and set him in his own 
 presence forever, in the power of divine righteous- 
 ness ! God lias made provision for the accomplish- 
 ment of all His plans, despite of man's folly and 
 sin ; and it is for the everlasting joy of any soul to 
 find itself, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, with- 
 in the limits of God's gracious purpose! 
 
 The prophet Hosca leads us on to the time when 
 that which was foreshadowed by Jacob's ladder shall 
 have its full accomplishment. "And in that day I 
 will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the 
 field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the 
 creeping things of the ground ; and I will break the 
 bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, 
 and will make them to lie down safely. And I will 
 betroth thee unto Me forever ; yea, I will betroth 
 thce unto Me in righteousness and in judgment and 
 in loving-kindness and in mercies ; I will even be- 
 troth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt 
 
284 GENESIS. 
 
 know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that 
 day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heav- 
 ens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth 
 shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil, and 
 they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto Me 
 in the earth ; and I will have mercy upon her that 
 had not obtained mercy ; and I will say to them 
 which were not My people, Thou art My people ; 
 and they shall say, Thou art my God." (Hosea ii. 
 18-23.) There is also an expression in the first 
 chapter of John, bearing upon Jacob's remarkable 
 vision; it is Christ's word to Nathanael "Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven 
 open, and the angels of God ascending and descend- 
 ing upon the Son of Man." (Ver. 51.) 
 
 Now this vision of Jacob's is a very blessed dis- 
 closure of divine grace to Israel. We have been led 
 to see something of Jacob's real character, some- 
 thing, too, of his real condition ; both were evidently 
 such as to show that it should either be divine grace 
 for him, or nothing. By birth he had no claim ; nor 
 yet by character. Esau might put forward some 
 claim on both these grounds (*'.<?., provided God's 
 prerogative were set aside), but Jacob had no claim 
 whatsoever ; and hence, while Esau could only stand 
 upon the exclusion of God's prerogative, Jacob could 
 only stand upon the introduction and establishment 
 thereof. Jacob was such a sinner, and so utterly 
 divested of all claim, both by birth and by practice, 
 that he had nothing whatever to rest upon save God's 
 purpose of pure, free, and sovereign grace. Hence, 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 285 
 
 in the revelation which the Lord makes to His chosen 
 servant in the passage just quoted, it is a simple 
 record or prediction of what He Himself would yet 
 do. ' ' / am . . . . / will give . . . . I will keep 
 
 / will bring / will not leave thee 
 
 until / have done that which I have spoken to thee 
 of." It was all Himself. There is no condition 
 whatever, no if or but ; for when grace acts, there 
 can be no such thing. Where there is an if, it can- 
 not possibly be grace. Not that God cannot put 
 man into a position of responsibility, in which -He 
 must needs address him with an "if." We know 
 He can ; but Jacob asleep on a pillow of stone was 
 not in a position of responsibility, but of the deepest 
 helplessness and need ; and therefore he was in a 
 position to receive a revelation of the fullest, richest, 
 and most unconditional grace. 
 
 Now, we cannot but own the blessedness of being 
 in such a condition that we have nothing to rest 
 upon save God Himself; and, moreover, that it is 
 in the most perfect establishment of God's own 
 character and prerogative that we obtain all our 
 true joy and blessing. According to this principle, 
 it would be an irreparable loss to us to have any 
 ground of our own to stand upon ; for in that case, 
 God should address us on the ground of responsi- 
 bility, and failure would then be inevitable. Jacob 
 was so bad, that none but God Himself could do 
 for him. 
 
 And be it remarked, that it was his failure in the 
 habitual recognition of this that led him into so 
 
286 GENESIS. 
 
 much sorrow and pressure. God's revelation of 
 Himself is one thing, and our resting in that revela- 
 tion is quite another. God shows Himself to Jacob, 
 in infinite grace ; but no sooner does Jacob awake 
 out of sleep, than we find him developing his true 
 character, and proving how little he knew, practi- 
 cally, of the blessed One who had just been reveal- 
 ing Himself so marvelously to him. "He was afraid, 
 and said, 'How dreadful is this place ! This is none 
 other but the house of God, and this is the gate of 
 heaven.' " His heart was not at home in the presence 
 of God ; nor can any heart be so until it has been 
 thoroughly emptied and broken. God is at home, 
 blessed be His name, with a broken heart, and a 
 broken heart at home with Him. But Jacob's heart 
 was not yet in this condition ; nor had he yet learnt 
 to repose, like a little child, in the perfect love of 
 one who could say, "Jacob have I loved." "Per- 
 fect love casteth out fear;" but where such love is 
 not known and fully realized, there will always be 
 a measure of uneasiness and perturbation. God's 
 house and God's presence are not dreadful to a 
 soul who knows the love of God as expressed in the 
 perfect sacrifice of Christ : such a soul is rather led 
 to say, "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy 
 house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth." 
 (Ps. xxvi. 8.) And again, "One thing have I de- 
 sired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may 
 dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my 
 life, to -behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire 
 in His temple." (Ps. xxvii. 4.) And again, "How 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 287 
 
 amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! My 
 soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of 
 the Lord." (Ps. Ixxxiv.) When the heart is estab- 
 lished in the knowledge of God, it will assuredly 
 love His house, whatever the character of that house 
 may be, whether it be Bethel, or the temple at 
 Jerusalem, or the Church now composed of all true 
 believers, "builded together for a habitation of God 
 through the Spirit." However, Jacob's knowledge 
 both of God and His house was very shallow at that 
 point in his history on which we are now dwelling. 
 
 We shall have occasion again to refer to some 
 principles connected with Bethel, and shall now 
 close our meditations upon this chapter with a brief 
 notice of Jacob's bargain with God, so truly charac- 
 teristic of him, and so demonstrative of the truth of 
 the statement with respect to the shallowness of his 
 knowledge of the divine character. "And Jacob 
 vowed a vow, saying, 'If, God will be with me, and 
 will keep me in this way that I go, so that I come 
 again to my father's house in peace, then shall the 
 Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set 
 for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that 
 Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto 
 Thee. ' " Observe, "If God will be with me. ' ' Now, 
 the Lord had just said, emphatically, "I am with 
 thee, and will keep tliee in all places whither thou go- 
 est, and will bring thee again into this land," etc. 
 And yet poor Jacob's heart cannot get beyond an 
 "(/*;" nor, in its thoughts of God's goodness, can 
 it rise higher than "bread to eat and raiment to put 
 
288 GENESIS. 
 
 on." Such were the thoughts of one who had just 
 seen the magnificent vision of the ladder reaching 
 from earth to heaven, with the Lord standing above, 
 and promising an innumerable seed and an everlast- 
 ing possession. Jacob was evidently unable to enter 
 into the reality and fullness of God's thoughts. He 
 measured God by himself, and thus utterly failed to 
 apprehend Him. In short, Jacob had not yet really 
 got to the end of himself; and hence he had not 
 really begun with God. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXIX XXXI. 
 
 Jacob went on his journey, and came 
 into the land of the people of the east. ' ' As 
 we have just seen, in chapter xxviii Jacob utterly 
 fails in the apprehension of God's real character, 
 and meets all the rich grace of Bethel with an "if," 
 and a miserable bargain about food and raiment. 
 We now follow him into a scene of thorough bargain- 
 making. " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap." There is no possibility of escaping from 
 this. Jacob had not -yet found his true level in the 
 presence of God, and therefore God uses circum- 
 stances to chasten and break him down. 
 
 This is the real secret of much, very much, of our 
 sorrow and trial in the world. Our hearts have never 
 been really broken before the Lord, we have never 
 been self-judged and self-emptied; and hence, again 
 and again, we, as it were, knock our heads against 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 289 
 
 the wall. No one can really enjoy God until he has 
 got to the^bottom of self, and for this plain reason, 
 that God has begun the display of Himself at the 
 very point at which the end of flesh is seen. If, 
 therefore, I have not reached the end of my flesh, in 
 the deep and positive experience of my soul, it is 
 morally impossible that I can have anything like a 
 just apprehension of God's character. But I must, 
 in some way or other, be conducted to the true 
 measure of nature. To accomplish this end, the 
 Lord makes use of various agencies, which, no mat- 
 ter what they are, are only effectual when used by 
 Him for the purpose of disclosing, in our view, the 
 true character of all that is in our hearts. How 
 often do wfe find, as in Jacob's case, that even al- 
 though the Lord may come near to us and speak in 
 our ears, yet we do not understand His voice or take 
 our true place in His presence. "The Lord is in 
 this place, and I knew it not .... How dreadful 
 is this place ! " Jacob learnt nothing by all this, 
 and it therefore needed twenty years of terrible 
 schooling, and that, too, in a school marvelously 
 adapted to his flesh ; and even that, as we shall see, 
 was not sufficient to break him down. 
 
 However, it is remarkable to see how he gets back 
 into an atmosphere so entirely suited to his moral 
 constitution. The bargain-making Jacob meets with 
 the bargain-making Laban, and they are both seen, 
 as it were, straining every nerve to outwit each other. 
 Nor can we wonder at Laban, for he had never been 
 at Bethel, he had seen no open heaven, with a 
 
290 GENESIS. 
 
 ladder reaching from thence to earth, he had heard 
 no magnificent promises from the lips of Jehovah, 
 securing to him all the land of Canaan, with a count- 
 less seed : no marvel, therefore, that he should ex- 
 hibit a grasping groveling spirit ; he had no other 
 resource. It is useless to expect from worldly men 
 aught but a worldly spirit, and worldly principles 
 and ways; they have gotten naught superior, and 
 you cannot bring a clean thing out of an unclean. 
 But to find Jacob, after all he had seen and heard at 
 Bethel, struggling with a man of the world, and en- 
 deavoring, by such means, to accumulate property, 
 is peculiarly humbling. 
 
 And yet, alas ! it is no uncommon thing to find 
 the children of God thus forgetting their high des- 
 tinies and heavenly inheritance, and descending into 
 the arena with the children of this world, to struggle 
 there for the riches and honors of a perishing, sin- 
 stricken earth. Indeed, to such an extent is this 
 true in many instances, that it is often hard to trace 
 a single evidence of that principle which St. John 
 tells us "overcometh the world." Looking at Jacob 
 and Laban, and judging of them upon natural prin- 
 ciples, it would be hard to trace any difference. One 
 should get behind the scenes, and enter into God's 
 thoughts about both, in order to see how widely they 
 differed. But it was God that had made them to differ, 
 not Jacob ; and so it is now. Difficult as it may be 
 to trace any difference between the children of light 
 and the children of darkness, there is, nevertheless, 
 a very wide difference indeed, a difference founded 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 291 
 
 on the solemn fact that the former are "the vessels 
 of mercy, which God has afore prepared unto glory," 
 while the latter are "the vessels of wrath, fitted [not 
 by God, but by sin] to destruction."* (Rom. ix. 
 22, 23.) This makes a very serious difference. The 
 Jacobs and the Labans differ materially, and have 
 differed, and will differ forever, though the former 
 may so sadly fail in the realization and practical 
 exhibition of their true character and dignity. 
 
 Now, in Jacob's case, as set forth in the three 
 chapters now before us, all his 'toiling and working, 
 like his wretched bargain before, is the result of his 
 
 *It is deeply interesting to the spiritual mind to mark ho\v sedu- 
 lously the Spirit of God, in Romans ix, and indeed throughout all 
 scripture, guards against the horrid inference which the human 
 mind draws from tho doctrine of God's election. When He speaks 
 of " vessels of wrath," He simply says, " litted to destruction ; " He 
 docs not say that God "litted" them. Whereas, on the other hand, 
 when He refers to " the vessels of mercy," He says, "whom He had 
 afore prepared unto glory." This is most marked. . 
 
 If my reader will turn for a moment to Matthew xxv. 34-41, he 
 will iind another striking and beautiful instance of the same thing. 
 
 When the King addresses those on His right hand, He says, 
 "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world." (Verse 34.) But when He 
 addresses those on His left, He says, "Depart from Me, ye cursed." 
 He does not say, Cui'sed of My Father. And further, He says, 
 " Into everlasting lire, prepared [not for you, but] for the devil and 
 his angels." (Verse 41.) 
 
 In a word, then, it is plain that God has "prepared" a kingdom 
 of glory, and "vessels of mercy" to inherit that kingdom; but. He 
 has not prepared " everlasting lire" for men, but for" the devil and 
 his angels;" nor has He litted the "vessels of wrath," but they 
 have litted themselves. 
 
 The Word of God as clearly establishes " election" as it sedulously 
 guards against "reprobation." Kvery one who llnds himself in 
 heaven will have to thank God for it, and every one that iiuds him* 
 self in hell will have to thank himself. 
 
292 GENESIS. 
 
 ignorance of God's grace, and his inability to put 
 implicit confidence in God's promise. The man that 
 could say, after a most unqualified promise from 
 God to give him the whole land of Canaan, "!F 
 God will give me food to eat and raiment to put 
 on," could have had but a very faint apprehension 
 of who God was, or what His promise was either ; 
 and because of this, we see him seeking to do the 
 best he can for himself. This is always the way 
 when grace is not understood: the principles of 
 grace may be professed, but the real measure of our 
 experience of the power of grace is quite another 
 thing. One would have imagined that Jacob's vision 
 had told him a tale of grace ; but God's revelation 
 at Bethel, and Jacob's actings at Haran, are two 
 very different things ; yet the latter tell out what 
 was Jacob's sense of the former. Character and 
 conduct prove the real measure of the soul's expe- 
 rience and conviction, whatever the profession may 
 be. But Jacob had never yet been brought to 
 measure himself in God's presence, and therefore 
 he was ignorant of grace, and he proved his igno- 
 rance by measuring himself with Laban, and adopt- 
 ing his maxims and ways. 
 
 One cannot help remarking the fact that inasmuch 
 as Jacob failed to learn and judge the inherent char- 
 acter of his flesh before God, therefore he was, in 
 the providence of God, led into the very sphere in 
 which that character was fully exhibited in its broad- 
 est lines. He was conducted to Haran, the country 
 of Laban and Rebekah, the very school from whence 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 293 
 
 those principles, in which he was such a remarkable 
 adept, had emanated, and where they were taught, 
 exhibited and maintained. If one wanted to learn 
 what God was, he should go to Bethel ; if to learn 
 what man was, he should go to Haran. But Jacob 
 had failed to take in God's revelation of Himself at 
 Bethel, and he therefore went to Haran, and there 
 showed what he was, and oh, what scrambling and 
 scraping ! what shuffling and shifting ! There is no 
 holy and elevated confidence in God, no simply 
 looking to and waiting on Him. True, God was 
 with Jacob for nothing can hinder the outshinings 
 of divine grace. Moreover, Jacob in a measure 
 owns God's presence and faithfulness ; still nothing 
 can be done without a scheme and a plan. Jacob 
 cannot allow God to settle the question as to his 
 wives and his wages, but seeks to settle all by his own 
 cunning and management. In short, it is "the sup- 
 planter" throughout. Let the reader turn, for ex- 
 ample, to chapter xxx. 37-42, and say where he can 
 find a more masterly piece of cunning. It is verily 
 a perfect picture of Jacob. In place of allowing God 
 to multiply "the ringstraked, speckled, and spotted 
 cattle," as He most assuredly would have done 
 had He been trusted, he sets about securing their 
 multiplication by a piece of policy which could only 
 have found its origin in the mind of a Jacob. So 
 in all his actings, during his twenty years' sojourn 
 with Laban ; and finally, he most characteristically 
 "steals away," thus maintaining in everything his 
 consistency with himself. 
 
294 GENESIS. 
 
 Now, it is in tracing out Jacob's real character, 
 from stage to stage of his extraordinary histoiy, that 
 one gets a wondrous view of divine grace. None 
 but God could have borne with such an one, as none 
 but God would have taken such an one up. Grace 
 begins at the very lowest point, it takes up man as 
 he is, and deals with him in the full intelligence of 
 what he is. It is of the very last importance to 
 understand this feature of grace at one's first start- 
 ing; it enables us to "bear, with steadiness of heart, 
 the after-discoveries of personal vileness, which so 
 frequently shake the confidence and disturb the 
 peace of the children of God. 
 
 Many there are who, at first, fail in the full appre- 
 hension of the utter ruin of nature, as looked at in 
 God's presence, though their hearts have been at- 
 tracted by the grace of God, and their consciences 
 tranquilized, in some degree, by the application of 
 the blood of Christ. Hence, as they get on in their 
 course, they begin to make deeper discoveries of the 
 evil within, and, being deficient in their apprehen- 
 sions of God's grace, and the extent and efficacy of 
 the sacrifice of Christ, they immediately raise a 
 question as to their being children of God at all. 
 Thus they are taken off Christ and thrown on them- 
 selves, and then they either betake themselves to 
 ordinances in order to keep up their tone of devo- 
 tion, or else fall back into thorough worldliness and 
 carnality. These are disastrous consequences, and 
 all the result of not having "the heart established 
 in orace." 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 295 
 
 It is this that renders the study of Jacob's history 
 so profoundly interesting and eminently useful. No 
 one can read the three chapters now before us .and 
 not be struck at th amazing grace that could take 
 up such an one as Jacob, and not only take him up, 
 but say, after the full discovery of all that was in 
 him, "lie hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither 
 hath He seen perverseness in Israel." (Numb, xxiii. 
 21.) He does not say that iniquity and perverseness 
 were not in him. This would never give the heart 
 confidence the very thing, above all others, which 
 God desires to give. It could never assure a poor 
 sinner's heart to be told that there was no sin in 
 him ; for, alas ! he knows too well there is ; but to 
 be told there is no sin on him, and that, moreover, 
 in God's sight, on the simple ground of Christ's 
 perfect sacrifice, must infallibly set his heart and 
 conscience at rest. Had God taken up Esau, we 
 should not have had, by any means, such a blessed 
 display of grace ; for this reason, that he does not 
 appear before us in the unamiable light in which we 
 see Jacob. The more man sinks, the more God's 
 grace rises. As my debt rises, in my estimation, 
 from the fifty pence up to the five hundred, so my 
 sense of grace rises also my experience of that 
 love which, when we "had nothing to pay," could 
 "frankly forgive" us all. (Luke vii. 42.) Well 
 might the apostle say, "It is a good thing that the 
 heart be established with grace ; not with meats, 
 which have not profited them that have been occu- 
 pied therein." (Ileb. xiii. 9.) 
 20 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 * f A ND Jacob went on his way, and the angels of 
 --L God met him." Still God's grace follows 
 him, notwithstanding all. " Nothing changeth God's 
 affection." Whom He loves, and how He loves, He 
 loves to the end. His loveis like Himself "the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and forever." But how 
 little effect "God's host" had upon Jacob maybe 
 seen by his actings, as here set before us. "And 
 Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his broth- 
 er, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom." 
 He evidently feels uneasy in reference to Esau, and 
 not without reason. He had treated him badly, and 
 his conscience was not at ease ; but instead of 
 casting himself unreservedly upon God, he betakes 
 himself to his usual planning again, in order to 
 avert Esau's wrath. He tries to manage Esau, 
 instead of leaning on God. 
 
 "And he commanded them, sa3 7 ing, 'Thus shall 
 ye speak unto my lord Esau : Thy servant Jacob 
 saith thus : I have sojourned with Laban, and sta3^ed 
 there until now. ' ' All this bespeaks a soul very 
 much off its centre in God. "My lord," and "thy 
 servant," is not like the language of a brother, or of 
 one in the conscious dignity of the presence of 
 God ; but it was the language of Jacob, and of 
 Jacob, too, with a bad conscience. 
 
 "And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 297 
 
 'We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh 
 to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.' 
 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed." 
 But what does he first do ? Does he at once cast 
 himself upon God ? No ; he begins to manage. 
 u He divided the people that was with him, and the 
 flocks and herds and the camels, into two bands ; 
 and said, 'If Esau come to the one company and 
 smite it, then the other company which is left shall 
 escape.' " Jacob's first thought was always a plan, 
 and in this we have a true picture of the poor human 
 heart. True, he turns to God after he makes his 
 plan, and cries to Him for deliverance ; but no 
 sooner does he cease praying than he resumes the 
 planning. Now, praying and planning will never 
 do together. If I plan, I am leaning more or less 
 on my plan ; but when I pray, I should lean exclu- 
 sively upon God. Hence, the two things are per- 
 fectly incompatible, they virtually destroy each 
 other. When my eye is filled with my own manage- 
 ment of things, I am not prepared to see God acting 
 for me ; and, in that case, prayer is not the utterance 
 of my need, but the mere superstitious performance 
 of something which I think ought to be done, or it 
 may be, asking God to sanctify my plans. This will 
 never do. It is not asking God to sanctify and bless 
 my means, but it is asking Him to do it all Himself.* 
 Though Jacob asked God to deliver him from his 
 
 *Xo doubt, when faith allows God to act, He will use His own 
 agency; but this is a totally different thing from His owning and 
 blessing the plans and arrangements of unbelief and impatience. 
 This distinction is not sufficiently understood. 
 
298 GENESTS. 
 
 brother Esau, he evidently was not satisfied with 
 that, and therefore he tried to "appease him with a 
 present. ' ' Thus his confidence was in the ' ' present, ' ' 
 and not entirely in God. "The heart is deceitful 
 ubove all things, and desperately wicked." It is 
 often hard to detect what is the real ground of the 
 heart's confidence. We imagine, or would fain per- 
 ctiade ourselves, that we are leaning upon God, 
 when we are, in reality, leaning upon some scheme 
 of our own devising. Who, after hearkening to 
 Jacob's prayer, wherein he says, "Deliver me, I 
 pray Thee, from the hand of my brother from the 
 hand of Esau ; for I fear him, lest he will come and 
 smite me, and the mother with the children," could 
 imagine him saying, "I will appease him with a 
 present. ' ' Had he forgotten his prayer ? was he 
 making a god of his present ? did he place more 
 confidence in a few cattle than in Jehovah, to whom 
 he had just been committing himself? These are 
 questions which naturally arise out of Jacob's act- 
 ings in reference to Esau, and we can readily answer 
 them by looking into the glass of our own hearts. 
 There we learn, as well as on the page of Jacob's 
 history, how much more apt we are to lean on our 
 own management than on God ; but it will not do ; 
 we must be brought to see the end of our manage- 
 ment, that it is perfect folly, and that the true path 
 of wisdom is to repose in full confidence upon God. 
 Nor will it do to make our prayers part of our 
 management. We often feel very well satisfied with 
 ourselves when we add prayer to our arrangement, 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 299 
 
 or when we have used all lawful means, and called 
 upon God to bless them. When this is the case, 
 our prayers are worth about as much as our plans, 
 inasmuch as we are leaning upon them instead of 
 upon God. We must be really brought to the end 
 of everything with which self has aught to do ; for 
 until then, God cannot show Himself. But we can 
 never get to the end of our plans until we have been 
 brought to the end of ourselves. We must see that 
 "all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is 
 as the flower of the field." (Isaiah xl. 6.) 
 
 Thus it is in this interesting chapter: when Jacob 
 had made all his prudent arrangements, we read, 
 "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a 
 man with him until the breaking of the day." This 
 is a turning-point in the history of this very remark- 
 able man. To be left alone with God is the only 
 true w f ay of arriving at a just knowledge of our- 
 selves and our ways. We can never get a true esti- 
 mate of nature and all its actings until we have 
 weighed them in the balance of the sanctuaiy, and 
 there we ascertain their real worth. No matter what 
 we may think about ourselves, nor yet what man 
 may think about us ; the great question is, What 
 does God think about us ? and the answer to this 
 question can only be heard when we are "left 
 alone." Away from the world; away from self; 
 away from all the thoughts, reasonings, imagina- 
 tions, and emotions of mere nature, and "alone" 
 with God, thus, and thus alone, can we get a cor- 
 rect judgment about ourselves. 
 
300 GENESIS. 
 
 "Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man 
 with him." Mark, it was not Jacob wrestling with 
 a man, but a man wrestling with Jacob. This scene 
 is very commonly referred to as an instance of 
 Jacob's power in prayer. That it is not this is evi- 
 dent from the simple wording of the passage. My 
 wrestling with a man, and a man wrestling with me, 
 present two totally different ideas to the mind. In 
 the former case, I want to gain some object from 
 him ; in the latter, he wants to gain some object 
 from me. Now, in Jacob's case, the divine object 
 was to bring him to see what a poor, feeble, worth- 
 less creature he was ; and when Jacob- so pertina- 
 ciously held out against the divine dealing with him, 
 "He touched the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow 
 of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as He wrestled with 
 him." The sentence of death must be written on 
 the flesh the power of the cross must be entered 
 into before we can steadily and happily w r alk with 
 God. We have followed Jacob so far, amid all the 
 windings and workings of his extraordinary charac- 
 ter we have seen him planning and managing dur- 
 ing his twenty years* sojourn with Laban ; but not 
 until he "was left alone" did he get a true idea of 
 what a perfectly helpless thing he was in himself. 
 Then, the seat of his strength being touched, he 
 learnt to say, "I will not let Thee go." 
 
 "Other refuge have I none; 
 Clings my helpless soul to Thee." 
 
 This was a new era in the history of the supplanting, 
 planning Jacob. Up to this point he had held fast 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 301 
 
 by his own ways and means ; but now lie is brought 
 to say, "I will not let Thee go." Now, let my reader 
 remark, that Jacob did not express himself thus 
 until "the hollow of his thigh was touched." This 
 simple fact is quite sufficient to settle the true inter- 
 pretation of the whole scene. God was wrestling 
 with Jacob to bring him to this point. We have 
 already seen that, as to Jacob's power in prayer, he 
 had no sooner uttered a few words to God than he 
 let out the real secret of his soul's dependence, by 
 saying, "I will appease him (Esau) with a present." 
 Would he have said this if he had really entered into 
 the meaning of prayer, or true dependence upon 
 God ? Assuredly not. If he had been looking to 
 God alone to appease Esau, could he have said, "I 
 will appease him with a present ' ' ? Impossible. God 
 and the creature must be kept distinct, and will be 
 kept so in every soul that knows much of the sacred 
 reality of a life of faith. 
 
 But, alas ! here is where we fail (if one may speak 
 for another). Under the plausible and apparently 
 pious formula of using means^ we really cloke the 
 positive infidelity of our poor deceitful hearts ; we 
 think we are looking to God to bless our means, 
 while, in reality, we are shutting Him out by leaning 
 on the means instead of leaning on Him. Oh! may 
 our hearts be taught the evil of thus acting. May 
 we learn to cling more simply to God alone, that so 
 our history may be more characterized by that holy 
 elevation above the circumstances through which we 
 are passing. It is not, by any means, an easy mat- 
 
302 GENESIS. 
 
 ter so to get to the end of the creature, in every 
 shape and form, so as to be able to say, "I will not 
 let Thee go except Thou bless me. " To say this from 
 the heart, and to abide in the power of it, is the 
 secret of all true strength. Jacob said it when the 
 hollow of his thigh was touched ; but not till then. 
 He struggled long, ere he gave way, because his 
 confidence in the flesh was strong. But God can 
 bring down to the dust the stoutest character. He 
 knows how to touch the spring of nature's strength, 
 and write the sentence of death thoroughly upon it ; 
 and until this is done, there can be no real "power 
 with God or man." We must be "weak" ere we 
 can be "strong." "The power of Christ" can only 
 "rest onus" in connection with the knowledge of 
 our infirmities. Christ cannot put the seal of His 
 approval upon nature's strength, its wisdom, or its 
 glory : all these must sink that He may rise. Nature 
 can never form, in any one way, a pedestal on which 
 to display the grace or power of Christ ; for if it 
 could, then might flesh glory in His presence ; but 
 this, we know, can never be. 
 
 And inasmuch as the display of God's glory and 
 God's name or character is connected with the entire 
 setting aside of nature, so, until this latter is set 
 aside, the soul can never enjoy the disclosure of the 
 former. Hence, though Jacob is called to tell out 
 his name, to own that his name is "Jacob," or a 
 "supplanter," he yet receives no revelation of the 
 name of Him who had been wresthjig with him, and 
 bringing him down into the dust. He received for 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 303 
 
 himself the name of "Israel," or "prince,*' which 
 was a great step in advance ; but when he says, 
 "Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name," he received the 
 reply, "Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My 
 name?" The Lord refuses to tell His name, though 
 He had elicited from Jacob the truth as to himself, 
 and He blesses him accordingly. How often is this 
 the case in the annals of God's family ! There is 
 the disclosure of self in all its moral deformity ; but 
 we fail to get hold practically of what God is, though 
 He has come so very close to us, and blessed us, 
 too, in connection with the discovery of ourselves. 
 Jacob received the new name of "Israel" when the 
 hollow of his thigh had been touched ; he became 
 a mighty "prince" when he had been brought to 
 know himself as a weak man ; but still the Lord 
 had to say, ' ' Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after 
 My name ? " There is no disclosure of the name of 
 Him who, nevertheless, had brought out the real 
 name and condition of Jacob. 
 
 From all this we learn that it is one thing to be 
 blessed by the Lord, and quite another thing to have 
 the revelation of His character, by the Spirit, to our 
 hearts. "He blessed him there," but He did not 
 tell His name. There is blessing in being brought, 
 in any measure, to know ourselves ; for therein we 
 are led into a path in which we are able more clearly 
 to discern what God is to us in detail. Thus it was 
 with Jacob. When the hollow of his thigh was 
 touched, he found himself in a condition in which it 
 was either God or nothing. A poor halting man 
 
304 GENESIS. 
 
 could do little, it therefore behoved him to cling to 
 one who was almighty. 
 
 I would remark, ere leaving this chapter, that the 
 book of Job is, in a certain sense, a detailed com- 
 mentary on this scene in Jacob's history. Through- 
 out the first thirty-one chapters, Job grapples with 
 his friends, and maintains his point against all their 
 arguments ; but in chapter xxxii, God, by the in- 
 strumentality of Elihu, begins to wrestle with him ; 
 and in chapter xxxviii, He comes down upon him 
 directly with all the majesty of His power, over- 
 whelms him by the display of His greatness and 
 glory, and elicits from him the well-known words, 
 "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; 
 but now mine e} T e seeth Thee. "Wherefore I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Chap. xlii. 
 5, 6.) This was really touching the hollow of his 
 thigh. And mark the expression, "Mine eye seeth 
 Thee." He does not say, "I see myself" merely; 
 no ; but "Thee." Nothing but a view of what God 
 is can really lead to repentance and self-loathing. 
 Thus it will be with the people of Israel, whose his- 
 tory is very analagous with that of Job. When they 
 shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, they 
 will mourn, and then there will be full restoration 
 and blessing. Their latter end, like Job's, will be 
 better than their beginning. They will learn the full 
 meaning of that word, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed 
 thyself; but in Me is thine help." (Hosca xiii. 9.) 
 
CHAPTERS XXXIII & XXXIV. 
 
 WE may here see how groundless were all Jacob's 
 fears, and how useless all his plans. Not- 
 withstanding the wrestling, the touching the hollow 
 of the thigh, and the halting, we find Jacob still 
 planning. "And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, 
 and behold Esau came, and with him four hundred 
 men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and 
 unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he 
 put the handmaids and their children foremost, and 
 Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph 
 hindermost." This arrangement proved the contin- 
 uance of his fears. He still anticipated vengeance 
 from the hand of Esau, and he exposed those about 
 whom he cared least to the first stroke of that venge- 
 ance. How wondrous are the depths of the human 
 heart ! How slow it is to trust God ! Had Jacob 
 been really leaning upon God, he never could have 
 anticipated destruction for himself and his family ; 
 but, alas ! the heart knows something of the diffi- 
 culty of simply reposing, in calm confidence, upon 
 an ever-present, all-powerful, and infinitely-gracious 
 God. 
 
 But mark, now, the thorough vanity of the heart's 
 anxiety. "And Esau ran to meet him, and em- 
 braced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him ; 
 and they wept." The present was quite unneces- 
 sary the plan, useless. God "appeased" Esau, as 
 
306 GENESIS. 
 
 He had already appeased Laban. Thus it is He ever 
 delights to rebuke* our poor, coward, unbelieving 
 hearts, and put to flight all our fears. Instead of 
 the dreaded sword of Esau, Jacob meets his embrace 
 and kiss ; instead of strife and conflict, they mingle 
 their tears. Such are God's wa}^s. Who would not 
 trust Him ? who would not honor Him with the 
 heart's fullest confidence ? Why is it that, notwith- 
 standing all the sweet evidences of His faithfulness 
 to those who put their trust in Him, we are so ready, 
 on every fresh occasion, to doubt and hesitate? The 
 answer is simple, We are not sufficiently acquainted 
 with God. " Acquaint now tlryself with Him, and 
 be at peace." (Job xxii. 21.) This is true, whether 
 in reference to the unconverted sinner or to the child 
 of God. The true knowledge of God real acquaint- 
 ance with Him, is life and peace. "This is life 
 eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." (John 
 xvii. 3.) The more intimate our acquaintance with 
 God, the more solid will be our peace, and the more 
 will our souls be lifted above every creature depend- 
 ence. "God is a rock," and we only need to lean 
 our whole weight upon Him, to know how ready 
 and how able He is to sustain us. 
 
 After all this manifestation of God's goodness, we 
 find Jacob settling down in Succoth, and, contrary 
 to the spirit and principles of a pilgrim life, building 
 a house, as if it were his home. Now, Succoth was 
 evidently not his divinely-appointed destination. 
 The Lord had not said to him, I am the God of 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 307 
 
 Succoth; no; but, "I am the God of Bethel." 
 Bethel, therefore, and not Succoth, should have 
 been Jacob's grand object. But, alas ! the heart 
 is always prone to rest satisfied with a position and 
 portion short of what God would graciously assign. 
 
 Jacob then moves on to Shechem, and purchases 
 ground, still falling short of the divine mark, and 
 the name by which he calls his altar is indicative of 
 the moral condition of his soul. He calls it ' ; E1- 
 elohe-Israel," or, "God, the God of Israel." This 
 was taking a very contracted view of God. True, 
 it is our privilege to know God as our God ; but it 
 is a higher thing to know Him as the God of His 
 own house, and to view ourselves as part of that 
 house. It is the believer's privilege to know Christ 
 as his Head ; but it is a higher thing to know Him 
 as the Head of His body the Church, and to know 
 ourselves as members of that body. 
 
 We shall see, when we come to chapter xxxv, that 
 Jacob is led to take a higher and a wider view of 
 God ; but at Shechem he was manifestly on low 
 ground, and he was made to smart for it, as is 
 always the case when we stop short of God's own 
 ground. The two tribes and a half took up their 
 position on this side of Jordan, and they were the 
 first to fall into the enemy's hand. So it was with 
 Jacob. We see, in chapter xxxiv, the bitter fruits 
 of his sojourn at Shechem. There is a blot cast 
 upon his family, which Simeon and Levi attempt to 
 wipe out, in the mere energy and violence of nature, 
 which only led to still deeper sorrow; and that, 
 
308 GENESIS. 
 
 too, which touched Jacob still more keenly than the 
 insult offered to his daughter. "And Jacob said to 
 Simeon and Levi, 'Ye have troubled me, to make 
 me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, 
 among the Canaanites and the Perizzites ; and I 
 being few in number, they shall gather themselves 
 together against me, and slay me; and / shall be 
 destroyed, / and my house." Thus, it was the 
 consequences in reference to himself that affected 
 Jacob most. He seems to have walked in constant 
 apprehension of danger to himself or his family, 
 and in the manifestation of an anxious, a cautious, 
 timid, calculating spirit, utterly incompatible with a 
 life of genuine faith in God. 
 
 It is not that Jacob was not, in the main, a man 
 of faith ; he assuredly was, and as such, gets a place 
 amongst the "cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews xi: 
 but then he exhibited sad failure from not walking 
 in the habitual exercise of that divine principle. 
 Could faith have led him to say, "I shall be de- 
 stroyed, I and my house"? Surely not. God's 
 promise in chapter xxviii. 14, 15, should have ban- 
 ished every fear from his poor timid spirit. "I will 
 
 keep thee I will not leave thee." This 
 
 should have tranquilized his heart. But the fact is, 
 his mind was more occupied with his danger among 
 the Shechemites than with his security in the hand 
 of God. He ought to have known that not a hair of 
 his head could be touched, and therefore, instead of 
 looking at Simeon and Levi, or the consequences of 
 their rash acting, he should have judged himself for 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 309 
 
 being in such a position at all. If he had not settled 
 at Shechem, Dinah would not have been dishonored, 
 and the violence of his sons would not have been 
 exhibited. We constantly see Christians getting 
 into deep sorrow and trouble through their own un- 
 faithfulness ; and then, instead of judging them- 
 selves, they begin to look at circumstances, and to 
 cast upon them the blame. 
 
 How often do we see Christian parents, for in- 
 stance, in keen anguish of soul about the wildness, 
 unsubduedness, and worldliness of their children ; 
 and, all the while, they have mainly to blame them- 
 selves for not walking faithfully before God in refer- 
 ence to their- family. Thus was it with Jacob. He 
 was on low moral ground at Shechem ; and, inas- 
 much as he lacked that refined sensibility which 
 would have led him to detect the low ground, God, 
 in very faithfulness, used his circumstances to 
 chastise him. "God is not mocked ; for whatsoever 
 a man soweth, that shall he also reap. ' ' This is a 
 principle flowing out of God's moral government, 
 a principle, from the application of which none can 
 possibly escape ; and it is a positive mercy to the 
 children of God that they are obliged to reap the 
 fruits of their errors. It is a mercy to be taught, 
 in any way, the bitterness of departing from, or 
 stopping short of, the living God. We must learn 
 that this is not our rest; for, blessed be God, He 
 would not give us a polluted rest. He would ever 
 have us resting in and ivith Himself. Such is His 
 perfect grace ; and when our hearts wander or fall 
 
310 GENESIS. 
 
 short, His word is, "If thou wilt return, return 
 unto Me." False humility, which is simply the fruit 
 of unbelief, would lead the wanderer or backslider 
 to take lower ground, not knowing the principle or 
 measure of God's restoration. The prodigal would 
 seek to be made a servant, not knowing that, so far 
 as he was concerned, he had no more title to the 
 place of a servant than to that of a son ; and, 
 moreover, that it would be utterly unworthy of the 
 father's character to put him in such a position. 
 We must come to God on a principle and in a 
 manner worthy of Himself, or not at all. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 ND God said unto Jacob, 'Arise, go up to 
 Bethel and dwell there.' " This confirms the 
 principle on which we have been dwelling. When 
 there is failure or declension, the Lord calls the soul 
 back to Himself. "Remember, therefore, from 
 whence thou art fatten; and repent, and do the first 
 works." (Rev. ii. 5.) This is the divine principle 
 of restoration. The soul must be recalled to the 
 very highest point, it must be brought back to the 
 divine standard. The Lord does not say, Remem- 
 ber where you are; no; but, "Remember the lofty 
 position from whence you have fallen." Thus only 
 can one learn how far he has declined, and how he 
 is to retrace his steps. 
 
 Now, it is when thus recalled to God's high and 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 311 
 
 holy standard, that one is really led to see the sad 
 evil of one's fallen condition. What a fearful 
 amount of moral evil had gathered round Jacob's 
 family, unjudged by him, until his soul was roused 
 by the call to "go up to Bethel." Shechem was 
 not the place in which to detect all this evil. The 
 atmosphere of that place was too much impregnated 
 with impure elements to admit of the soul's discern- 
 ing, with any degree of clearness and precision, the 
 true character of evil. But the moment the call to 
 Bethel fell on Jacob's ear, "then Jacob said unto 
 his household, and to all that ^Yere with him, 'Put 
 away the strange gods that are among you, and be 
 clean and change your garments, and let us arise 
 and go up to Bethel ; and I will make there an altar 
 unto God, who answered me in the day of my dis- 
 tress, and was with me in the way which I went.' " 
 The very mention of "-the house of God" struck a 
 chord in the soul of the patriarch ; it carried him, 
 in the twinkling of an e} r e, over the history of twenty 
 eventful 3'ears. It was at Bethel he had learnt what 
 God was, and not at Shechem ; hence he must get 
 back to Bethel again, and erect an altar upon a 
 totally different base, and under a totally different 
 name, from his altar at Shechem. This latter was 
 connected with a mass of uncleanness and idolatiy. 
 Jacob could speak of " El-elohe-Israel " while sur- 
 rounded by a quantity of things utterly incompatible 
 with the holiness of the house of God. It is im- 
 portant to be clear in reference to this point. No- 
 thing can keep the soul in a path of consistent, 
 21 
 
312 GENESIS. 
 
 intelligent separation from evil save the sense of 
 what "the house of God" is, and what becomes 
 that house. If I merely look at God in reference to 
 nrvself, I shall not have a clear, full, divine sense of 
 all that flows out of a due recognition of God's 
 relation to His house. Some there are who deem it 
 a matter of no importance how they are mixed up 
 with impure materials in the worship of God, pro- 
 vided they themselves are true and upright in heart. 
 In other words, they think they can worship God at 
 Shechem, and that an altar named " El-elohe-Israel " 
 is just as elevated- just as much according to God 
 as an altar named "El-Bethel." This is evidently 
 a mistake. The spiritually-minded reader will at 
 once detect the vast moral difference between Jacob's 
 condition at Shechem, and his condition at Bethel ; 
 and the same difference is observable between the 
 two altars. Our ideas in reference to the worship 
 of God must, of necessity, be affected by our spir- 
 itual condition ; and the worship which we present 
 will be low and contracted, or elevated and compre- 
 hensive, just in proportion as we enter into the 
 apprehension of Plis character and relationship. 
 
 Now, the name of our altar and the character of 
 our worship express the same idea. El-Bethel wor- 
 ship is higher than El-elohe-Israel worship, for this 
 simple reason, that it conveys a higher idea of God. 
 It gives me a more elevated thought of God to speak 
 of Him as the God of His house than as the God of 
 a solitary individual. True, there is beautiful grace 
 expressed in the title, "God, the God of Israel," 
 
CHAPTERS XXVII-XXXV. 313 
 
 and the soul must ever feel happy in looking at the 
 character of God as graciously connecting Himself 
 with every separate stone of His house and every 
 separate member of the body. Each stone in the 
 building of God is a "lively stone," as connected 
 with the " living stone," having communion with the 
 "living God," by the power of "the Spirit of life." 
 But while all this is blessedly true, God is the God 
 of His house ; and when we are enabled, by an en- 
 larged spiritual intelligence, to view Him as such, 
 we enjoy a higher character of worship than that 
 which flows from merely apprehending what He is 
 to ourselves individually. 
 
 But there is another thing to be remarked in 
 Jacob's recall to Bethel. He is told to make an 
 altar "unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou 
 fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." He is 
 thus reminded of "the day of his distress." It is 
 often well to have our minds led in this way to the 
 point in our history in which we found ourselves 
 brought down to the lowest step of the ladder. 
 Thus Saul is brought back to the time when he was 
 "little in his own eyes." This is the true starting- 
 point with all of us. "When thou wast little in 
 thine own eyes," is a point of which we often need 
 to be reminded. It is then that the heart really 
 leans on God. Afterwards we begin to fancy our- 
 selves to be something, and the Lord is obliged to 
 teach us afresh our own nothingness. When first 
 one enters upon a path of service or testimony, what 
 a sense there is of personal weakness and incapacity ! 
 
314 GENESIS. 
 
 and, as a consequence, what leaning upon God! 
 what earnest, fervent appeals to Him for help and 
 strength ! Afterwards we begin to think that, from 
 being so long at the work, we can get on by our- 
 selves, at least, there is not the same sense of 
 weakness, or the same simple dependence upon 
 God ; and then our ministry becomes a poor, mea- 
 gre, flippant, wordy thing, without unction or power 
 a thing flowing, not from the exhaustless tide of 
 the Spirit, but from our own wretched minds. 
 
 From ver. 9-15, God renews His promise to Jacob, 
 and confirms the new name of "prince," instead of 
 " supplanter ; " and Jacob again calls the name of 
 the place "Bethel." At verse 18 we have an inter- 
 esting example of the difference between the judg- 
 ment of faith and the judgment of nature. The 
 latter looks at things through the hazy mist with 
 which it is surrounded ; the former looks at them in 
 the light of the presence and counsels of God. 
 "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, 
 (for she died,) that she called his name Ben-oni ; 
 but his father called him Benjamin." Nature called 
 him "The son of my sorrow ; " but faith called him 
 "The son of the right hand." Thus is it ever. 
 The difference between the thoughts of nature and 
 those of faith must ever be wide indeed ; and we 
 should earnestly desire that our souls should be 
 governed only by the latter, and not by the former. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 Furnishes a catalogue of Esau's sons, with their 
 various titles and localities. We shall not dwell on 
 this, but pass on to one of the most fruitful and 
 interesting sections in the entire canon of inspira- 
 tion, viz., 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXVII L, 
 
 On which we shall dwell more particularly. There 
 is not in Scripture a more perfect and beautiful type 
 of Christ than Joseph. Whether we view Christ as 
 the object of the Father's love, the object of the 
 envy of "His own," in His humiliation, sufferings, 
 death, exaltation and glory in all, we have Him 
 strikingly typified by Joseph. 
 
 In chapter xxxvii we have Joseph's dreams, the 
 statement of which draws out the enmity of his 
 brethren. He was the object of his father's love, 
 and the subject of very high destinies, and, inas- 
 much as the hearts of his brethren were not in com- 
 munion with these things, they hated him. They 
 had no fellowship in the father's love, and they 
 would not yield to the thought of Joseph's exalta- 
 tion. In all this they represent the Jews in Christ's 
 day. "He came to His own, and His own received 
 Him not." He had "no form nor comeliness" in 
 their eyes. They would neither own Him as the 
 Son of God, nor King of Israel. Their eyes were 
 
316 GENESIS. 
 
 not open to behold "His glory, the glory as of the 
 only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 
 They would not have Him, yea, they hated Him. 
 
 Now, in Joseph's case, we see that he in no wise 
 relaxed his testimony in consequence of his breth- 
 ren's refusal of his first dream. "And Joseph 
 dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren ; 
 
 and they hated him yet the more And 
 
 he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his 
 brethren." This was simple testimony founded up- 
 on divine revelation ; but it was testimony which 
 brought Joseph down to the pit. Had he kept back 
 his testimony, or taken off aught of its edge and 
 power, he might have spared himself; but no; he 
 told them the truth, and therefore they hated him. 
 
 Thus was it with Joseph's great Antitype. He 
 bore witness to the truth He witnessed a good 
 confession He kept back nothing He could only 
 speak the truth because He was the truth, and His 
 testimony to the truth was answered, on man's part, 
 by the cross, the vinegar, the soldier's spear. The 
 testimony of Christ, too, was connected with the 
 deepest, fullest, richest grace. He not only came 
 as "the truth," but also as the perfect expression 
 of all the love of the Father's heart: "grace and 
 truth came by Jesns Christ." He was the full dis- 
 closure to man of what God was ; hence man was 
 left entirely without excuse. He came and showed 
 God to man, and man hated God with a perfect 
 hatred. The fullest exhibition of divine love was 
 answered by the fullest exhibition of human hatred. 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 317 
 
 This is seen in the cross ; and we have it touchingly 
 foreshadowed at the pit into which Joseph was cast 
 by his brethren. 
 
 "And when they saw him afar off, even before he 
 came near unto them, they conspired against him to 
 slay him. And they said one to another, ' Behold, 
 this dreamer cometh ; come now, therefore, and let 
 us slay him, and cast him into some pit ; and we 
 will say, some evil beast hath devoured him ; and 
 we shall see what will become of his dreams.' ' 
 These words forcibly remind us of the parable in 
 Matthew xxi, "But last of all he sent unto them 
 his son, saying, 'They will reverence my son.' But 
 when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among 
 themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, 
 and let us seize on his inheritance.' And they 
 caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and 
 slew him." God sent His Son into the world with 
 this thought, "They will reverence My Son ;" but, 
 alas ! man's heart had no reverence for the "well- 
 beloved ' ' of the Father ; they cast Him out. Earth 
 and heaven were at issue in reference to Christ, and 
 they are at issue still. Man crucified Him ; but 
 God raised Him from the dead. Man placed Him 
 on a cross between two thieves ; God set Him at 
 His own right hand in the heavens. Man gave Him 
 the very lowest place on earth ; God gave Him the 
 very highest place in heaven, in brightest majest}^. 
 
 All this is shown out in Joseph's history. ' 'Joseph 
 is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, 
 whose branches run over the wall. The archers 
 
318 GENESIS. 
 
 have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated 
 him ; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms 
 of his hands were made strong by the hands of the 
 mighty God of Jacob ; (from thence is the Shep- 
 herd, the Stone of Israel;) even by the God of thy 
 father, who shall help thee ; and by the Almighty, 
 who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, 
 blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of 
 the breasts and of the womb : the blessings of thy 
 father have prevailed above the blessings of my pro- 
 genitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting 
 hills ; they shall be upon the head of Joseph, and 
 on the crown of the head of him that was separate 
 from his brethren." (Gen. xlix. 22-26.) 
 
 These verses beautifully exhibit to our view "the 
 sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should fol- 
 low." "The archers" have done their work ; but 
 God was stronger than the} r . The true Joseph has 
 been shot at and grievously wounded in the house 
 of his friends; but "the arms of his hands have 
 been made strong" in the power of resurrection, 
 and faith now knows Him as the basis of all God's 
 purposes of blessing and glory in reference to the 
 Church, Israel, and the whole creation. When we 
 look at Joseph in the pit and in the prison, and look 
 at him afterwards as ruler over all the land of Eg} T pt, 
 we see the difference between the thoughts of God 
 and the thoughts of men ; and so when we look at 
 the cross, and at "the throne of the Majesty in the 
 heavens," we see the same thing. 
 
 Nothing ever brought out the real state of man's 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 319 
 
 heart toward God but the coming of Christ. "If I 
 had not come and spoken unto them, they had not 
 had sin." (John xv. 22.) It is not that they would 
 not have been sinners. No ; but "they had not had 
 sin." So He says, in another place, "If ye were 
 blind, ye should have no sin." (John ix. 41.) God 
 came near to man in the Person of His Son, and man 
 was able to say, "This is the heir ; " but yet he said, 
 "Come, let us kill Him." Hence, "they have no 
 cloak for their sin." Those who say they see, have 
 no excuse. Confessed blindness is not at all the 
 difficulty, but professed siglit. This is a truly-solemn 
 principle for a professing age like the present. The 
 permanence of sin is connected wity the mere pro- 
 fession to see. A man who is blind, and knows it, 
 can have his eyes opened ; but what can be done for 
 one who thinks he sees, when he really does not ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 Presents one of those remarkable circumstances in 
 which divine grace is seen gloriously triumphing 
 over man's sin. "It is evident that our Lord sprang 
 out of Juda." (Heb. vii. 14.). But how? "Judas 
 begat Phares and Zara of Thamar." (Matt. i. 3.) 
 This is peculiarly striking. God, in His great grace, 
 rising above the sin and folly of man, in order to 
 bring about His own purposes of love and mercy. 
 Thus, a little further on in Matthew, we read, 
 
320 GENESIS. 
 
 "David the king begat Solomon, of her that had 
 been the wife of Unas." It is worthy of God thus 
 to act. The Spirit of God is conducting us along 
 the line through which, according to the flesh, Christ 
 came ; and, in doing so, He gives us, as links in the 
 genealogical chain, Tamar and Bathsheba ! How 
 evident it is that there is nothing of man in this ! 
 How plain it is that when we reach the close of the 
 first chapter of Matthew, it is "God manifest in the 
 flesh" we find, and that, too, from the pen of the 
 Holy Ghost ! Man could never have devised such 
 a genealogy. It is entirely divine ; and no spiritual 
 person can read it without seeing in it a blessed 
 exhibition of divine grace, in the first place, and of 
 the divine inspiration of Matthew's gospel, in the 
 second place, at least of his account of Christ's 
 genealogy according to the flesh. I believe a com- 
 parison of 2 Samuel xi and Genesis xxxviii with 
 Matthew i will furnish the thoughtful Christian with 
 matter for a very sweet and edifying meditation. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXIX XLV. 
 
 IN perusing these interesting sections of inspira- 
 tion, we perceive a remarkable chain of provi- 
 dential actings, all tending to one grand point, 
 namely, the exaltation of the man wlio had been in 
 the pit; and, at the same time, bringing out, by 
 the way, a number of subordinate objects. "The 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 321 
 
 thoughts of many hearts ' ' were to be " revealed ; ' ' 
 but Joseph was to be exalted. "He called for a 
 famine upon the land : He brake the whole staff of 
 bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, 
 who was sold for a servant ; whose feet they hurt 
 with fetters ; he was laid in iron ; until the time 
 that His word came ; the word of the Lord tried 
 him. The king sent and loosed him ; even the ruler 
 of the people, and let him go free. He made him 
 lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance ; to 
 bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his sena- 
 tors wisdom." (Psalm cv. 16-22.) 
 
 It is well to see that the leading object was to 
 exalt the one whom men had rejected, and then to 
 produce in those same men a sense of their sin in 
 rejecting. And how admirably all this is effected ! 
 The most trivial and the most important, the most 
 likely and the most unlikely, circumstances are 
 made to minister to the development of God's pur- 
 poses. In chapter xxxix, Satan uses Potiphar's 
 wife ; and in chapter xl, he uses Pharaoh's chief 
 butler. The former he used to put Joseph into the 
 dungeon ; and the latter he used to keep him there, 
 through his ungrateful negligence; but all in vain. 
 God was behind the scenes. His finger was guiding 
 all the springs of the vast machine of circumstances ; 
 and when the due time was come, He brought forth 
 the man of His purpose, and set his feet in a large 
 room. Now this is ever God's prerogative. He is 
 above all, and can use all for the accomplishment 
 of His grand and unsearchable designs. It is sweet 
 
322 GENESIS. 
 
 to be able thus to trace our Father's hand and 
 counsel in everything ; sweet to know that all sorts 
 of agents are at His sovereign disposal : angels, men 
 and devils all are under His omnipotent hand, and 
 all are made to carry out His purposes. % 
 
 In the scripture now before us, all this is seen in 
 a most remarkable manner. God visits the domes- 
 tic circle of a heathen captain, the household of a 
 heathen king, yea, and his bedside, and makes the 
 very visions of his head upon his bed contribute to 
 the development of His counsels. Nor is it merely 
 individuals and their circumstances that we see thus 
 taken up and used for the furtherance of God's 
 ends ; but Egypt and all the surrounding countries 
 are brought into the scene ; in short, the whole earth 
 was prepared by the hand of God to be a theatre on 
 which to display the glory and greatness of the one 
 4 ' who was separate from his brethren." Such are 
 God's ways ; and it is one of the happiest and most 
 elevating exercises for the soul of a saint to trace 
 thus the admirable actings of his heavenly Father. 
 How forcibly is God's providence brought out in 
 this profoundly interesting history of Joseph ! Look, 
 for a moment, into the dungeon of the captain of the 
 guard. See there a man "laid in iron," charged 
 with a most abominable crime, the outcast and off- 
 scouring of society ; and yet see him, almost in a 
 moment, raised to the very highest eminence ; and 
 who can deny that God is in it all ? 
 
 "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, 'Forasmuch as 
 God hath showed thee all this, there is none so dis- 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 323 
 
 creet and wise as thou art ; thou shalt be over my 
 house, and according unto thy word shall all my 
 people be ruled ; only in the throne will I be greater 
 than thou.' And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, 'See, 
 I have set thee over all the land of Eg}~pt.' And 
 Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it 
 upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of 
 fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. 
 And he made him to ride in the second chariot that 
 he had ; and they cried before him, ' Bow the knee ' ; 
 and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 
 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, 'I am Pharaoh, and 
 without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in 
 all the land of Egypt." (Chap. xli. 39-44.) 
 
 Here, then, was exaltation of no ordinary kind. 
 Contrast this with the -pit and the dungeon;, and 
 mark the chain of events by which it was all brought 
 about, and you have, at once, a marked exhibition 
 of the hand of God, and a striking type of the suf- 
 ferings and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph 
 was taken from the pit and the dungeon, into which 
 he had been brought by the envy of his brethren, 
 and the fals& judgment of the Gentile, to be ruler 
 over the whole land of Egypt ; and not only so, but 
 to be the channel of blessing and the sustainer of 
 life to Israel and the whole earth. This is all typical 
 of Christ ; indeed, a type could hardly be more per- 
 fect. We see a man laid, to all intents and purposes, 
 in the place of death, by the hand of man, and then 
 raised up by the hand of God, and set in dignity 
 and glory. "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: 
 
324 GENESIS. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among 
 you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God 
 did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves 
 also know ; Him, being delivered by the determinate 
 counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, 
 and by wicked hands have crucified and slain ; whom 
 God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death ; 
 because it was not possible that He should be holden 
 of it," (Actsii. 22-24.) 
 
 But there are two points in Joseph's histoiy which, 
 together with what has been noticed, render the type 
 remarkably perfect ; I allude to his marriage with a 
 stranger, in chapter xli, and his interview with his 
 brethren, in chapter xlv. The following is the order 
 of events: Joseph presents himself to his brethren 
 as one sent by the father ; they reject him, and, so 
 far as lies in them, put him in the place of death ; 
 God takes him up from thence, and raises him to a 
 position of highest dignity : thus exalted, he gets a 
 bride ; and when his brethren according to the flesh 
 are thoroughly broken and prostrate before him, he 
 makes himself known to them, tranquilizes their 
 hearts, and brings them into blessing ; he then be- 
 comes the channel of blessing to them and to the 
 whole world. 
 
 I shall just make a few remarks on Joseph's 
 marriage and the restoration of his brethren. The 
 strange wife shadows forth the Church. Christ pre- 
 sented Himself to the Jews, and being rejected, 
 took His seat on high, and sent down the Holy 
 Ghost to gather out an elect Church, composed of 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 325 
 
 Jew and Gentile, to be united with Him in heavenly 
 glory. The doctrine of the Church has al read y been 
 dwelt upon, in our remarks on chapter xxiv, but one 
 or two points remain to be noticed here. And, first, 
 we may observe, that Joseph's Egyptian bride was 
 intimately associated with him in his glory.* She, 
 as being part of himself, shared in all that was his. 
 Moreover, she occupied a place of nearness and 
 intimacy known only to herself. Thus it is with 
 the Church, the bride of the Lamb. She is gathered 
 to Christ to be the sharer, at once, of His rejection 
 and His glory. It is Christ's position which gives 
 character to the position of the Church, and her 
 position should ever give character to her walk. If 
 we are gathered to Christ, it is as exalted in glory, 
 and not as humbled cUxwn here. ""Henceforth know 
 we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we have 
 known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth 
 know we Him no more." (2 Cor. v. 16.) The 
 Church's gathering-point is Christ in glory. "I, if 
 I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto 
 Me." (Jolmxii. 32.) 
 
 There is far more of practical value in the clear 
 apprehension of this principle than might, at first 
 sight, appear. It is ever the aim of Satan, as it is 
 the tendency of our hearts, to lead us to stop short 
 of God's mark in everything, and especially in the 
 centre of our unity as Christians. It is a popular 
 
 * Joseph's wife sots forth the Church :is unitoil to Christ in His 
 glory: Moses' wife presents the Church as united to Christ in Jlis 
 rejection. 
 
326 GENESIS. 
 
 sentiment, that "the blood of the Lamb is the union 
 of saints," i. e., it is the blood which forms their 
 centre of unity. Now, that it is the infinitely pre- 
 cious blood of Christ which sets us individually as 
 worshipers in the presence of God, is blessedly true. 
 The blood, therefore, forms the divine basis of our 
 fellowship with God. But when we come to speak 
 of the centre of our unity as a church, we must see 
 that the Holy Ghost gathers us to the Person of a 
 risen and glorified Christ ; and this grand truth 
 gives character high and holy character to our 
 association as Christians. If we take lower ground 
 than this, we must inevitably form a sect or an ism. 
 If we gather round an ordinance however important, 
 or round a truth however indisputable, we make 
 something less than Christ our centre. 
 
 Hence, it is more important to ponder the practi- 
 cal consequences which flow out of the truth of our 
 being gathered to a risen and glorified Head in the 
 heavens. If Christ were on earth, we should be 
 gathered to Him here ; but inasmuch as He is hid- 
 den in the heavens, the Church takes her character 
 from His position there. Hence, Christ could say, 
 " They are not of the world,. even as I am not of 
 the world ; " -and again, "For their sakes I sanctify 
 Myself, that they also might be sanctified through 
 the truth." (John xvii. 16, 19.) So also, in 1 Peter, 
 we read, "To whom coming, as unto a living Stone, 
 disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and 
 precious ; j r e also, as lively stones, are built up a 
 spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spirit- 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 327 
 
 ual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 
 (Chap. ii. 4, 5.) If we are gathered to Christ, we 
 must be gathered to Him as He is and where He is ; 
 and the more the Spirit of God leads our souls into 
 the understanding of this, the more clearly we shall 
 see the character of walk that becomes us. Joseph's 
 bride was united to him, not in the pit or the dun- 
 geon, but in the dignity and glory of his position in 
 Egypt ; and, in her case, we can have no difficulty 
 in perceiving the vast difference between the two 
 positions. 
 
 But further, we read, "And unto Joseph were 
 born two sons, before the years of famine came." 
 There was a time of trouble coming ; but previous 
 thereto, the fruit of his union appeared. The chil- 
 dren whom God had given him were called into 
 existence previous to this time of trial. So will it 
 be in reference to the Church. All the members 
 thereof will be called out, the whole body will be 
 completed and gathered to the Head in heaven, 
 previous to "the great tribulation" which shall 
 come upon all the earth. 
 
 We shall now turn, for a little, to Joseph's inter- 
 view with his brethren, in which we shall find some 
 points of resemblance to Israel's history in the 
 latter da} r . During the period that Joseph was 
 hidden from the view of his brethren, these latter 
 were called to pass through deep and searching 
 trial through intensely painful exercises of con- 
 science. One of these exercises is poured out in 
 the following words : ' 'And they said one to another, 
 22 
 
328 GENESIS. 
 
 ' We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that 
 we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought 
 us, and ice would not hear; therefore is this distress 
 come upon us.' And Reuben answered them, say- 
 ing, 'Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin 
 against the child ; and ye would not hear? therefore, 
 behold, also, his blood is required.'" (Chap. xlii. 
 21, 22.) 
 
 Again, in chapter xliv, we read, "And Judah said, 
 'What shall we say unto my lord ? What shall we 
 speak ? or how shall we clear ourselves ? God hath 
 found out the iniquity of thy servants.' " None can 
 teach like God. He alone can produce in the con- 
 science the true sense of sin, and bring the soul 
 down into the profound depths of its own condition 
 in His presence. This is all His own work. Men 
 run on in their career of guilt, heedless of every- 
 thing, until the arrow of the Almighty pierces their 
 conscience, and then they are led into those search- 
 ings of heart and intense exercises of soul which 
 can only find relief in the rich resources of redeem- 
 ing love. Joseph's brethren had no conception of 
 all that was to flow to them from their actings toward 
 him. "They took him and cast him into a pit . . 
 . . . and they sat down to eat bread." "Woe to 
 them .... that drink wine in bowls, and anoint 
 themselves with the chief ointments ; but they are 
 not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." (Amos 
 vi. 6.) 
 
 However, God produced grief of heart, and ex- 
 ercises of conscience, and that in a most wonderful 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 329 
 
 way. Years rolled on, and these brethren might 
 have vainly imagined that all was right; but, then, 
 "seven years of plenty, and seven years of scar- 
 city"! What did they mean? Who sent them? 
 And for what were they designed ? Admirable 
 providence ! Unsearchable wisdom ! The famine 
 reaches to Canaan, and the calls of hunger actually 
 bring the guilty brethren to the feet of the injured 
 Joseph! How marked is the display of God's own 
 hand in all this ! There they stand, with the arrow 
 of conviction thrust through and through their con- 
 sciences, in the presence of the man whom they had 
 "with wicked hands," cast into the pit. Surely 
 their sin had found them out; but it was in the 
 presence of Joseph. Blessed place ! 
 
 "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before 
 all them that stood by him ; and he cried, ' Cause 
 every man to go out from me.' And there stood no 
 man with him, while Joseph made himself known 
 unto his brethren." (Chap. xlv. 1.). No stranger 
 was allowed to witness this sacred scene. What 
 stranger could understand or appreciate it ? We 
 are here called to witness, as it were, divinely- 
 wrought conviction in the presence of divine grace ; 
 and, we may say, when these two come together, 
 there is an easy settlement of every question. 
 
 "And Joseph said unto his brethren, ' Come near 
 to me, I pray you.' And they came near. And he 
 said, 'I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into 
 Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry 
 with yourselves, that ye sold me hither ; for God 
 
330 GENESIS. 
 
 did send me before 3^011, to preserve life. . . . And 
 God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity 
 in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliv- 
 erance. So now it was not you sent me hither, but 
 God.' ' This is grace indeed, setting the convicted 
 conscience perfectly at rest. The brethren had al- 
 ready most thoroughly condemned themselves, and 
 hence Joseph had only to pour in the blessed balm 
 into their broken hearts. This is all sweetly typical 
 of God's dealings with Israel in the latter day, when 
 "they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, 
 and mourn." Then they shall prove the reality 
 of divine grace, and the cleansing efficacy of that 
 "fountain which shall be opened to the house of 
 David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin 
 and for uncleanness." (Zech. xiii. 1.) 
 
 In the third chapter of Acts, we find the Spirit of 
 God in Peter seeking to produce this divine convic- 
 tion in the consciences of the Jews. "The God of 
 Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of 
 our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus ; whom ye 
 delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of 
 Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But 
 ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a 
 murderer to be granted unto you ; and killed the 
 Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the 
 dead, whereof we are witnesses." These statements 
 were designed to elicit from the hearts and lips of 
 the hearers the confession made by Joseph's breth- 
 ren "We are verily guilty." Then follows the 
 grace. "And now, brethren, I wot that through 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 331 
 
 ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But 
 those things, which God before had showed by the 
 mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, 
 He hath so fulfilled. Repent }'e, therefore, and be 
 converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when 
 the times of refreshing shall come from the presence 
 of the Lord." We here see, that although the Jews 
 really carried out the enmity of their hearts in the 
 death of Christ, as did also Joseph's brethren in 
 their treatment of him, yet the grace of God to each 
 is seen in this, that all is shown to be decreed and 
 foreshown of God for their blessing. This is perfect 
 grace, surpassing all human thonghf ; and all that is 
 needed, in order to the enjoyment thereof, is a con- 
 science truly convicted by the truth of God. Those 
 who could say, "We are verily guilty," could rightly 
 understand the words of precious grace, "It was 
 not you, but God." Thus it must ever be. The 
 soul that has thoroughly pronounced its own con- 
 demnation, is prepared to understand and appre- 
 ciate God's pardon. 
 
 The remaining chapters of this book are taken up 
 with the removal of Jacob and his family into Egypt, 
 and their settlement there ; Joseph's actings during 
 the remaining years of famine ; Jacob's blessing the 
 twelve patriarchs ; his death and burial. We shall 
 not dwell in detail upon these things, though the 
 spiritual mind may find much to feed upon therein.* 
 
 *The close of Jacob's career stands in most pleasing contrast 
 with all the previous scenes of his eventful history. It reminds 
 one of a serene evening after a tempestuous day: the sun, which 
 during the day had been hidden from view by clouds, mists and 
 
332 GENESIS. 
 
 Jacob's groundless fears dissipated by the sight of 
 his son alive, and exalted, the peculiar grace of 
 
 fogs, sets in majesty and brightness, gilding with his beams the 
 western sky, and holding out the cheering prospect of a bright to- 
 morrow. Thus is it with our aged patriarch. The supplanting, the 
 bargain-making, the cunning, the management, the shifting, the 
 shuffling, the unbelieving selfish fears, all those dark clouds of 
 nature and of earth seem to have passed away, and he comes forth, 
 in all the calm elevation of faith, to bestow blessings, and impart 
 dignities, in that holy skillfulness which communion with God can 
 alone impart. 
 
 Though nature's eyes are dim, faith's vision is sharp. He is not 
 to be deceived as to the relative positions assigned to Ephraim 
 and Manasseh in the counsels of God. He lias not, like his father 
 Isaac, in chapter xxvii, to "tremble very exceedingly" in view of 
 an almost fatal mistake. Quite the reverse. His intelligent reply 
 to his less-instructed son is, "I know it, my son, I know it." The 
 power of sense has not, as in Isaac's case, dimmed his spiritual 
 vision. He has been taught, in the school of experience, the im- 
 portance of keeping close to the divine purpose, and nature's 
 influence cannot move him from thencs. 
 
 In chapter xlviii. 11, we have a very beautiful example of the 
 modo in which our God ever rises above all our thoughts, and 
 proves Himself better than all our fears. "And Israel said unto 
 Joseph, 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath 
 showed me also thy seed.' " To nature's view, Joseph wa> dead ; 
 whereas, in God's view, he was alive, and seated in the highest 
 place of authority, next the throne. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
 heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things 
 which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (1 Cor. ii. 9.) 
 Would that our souls could rise higher in their apprehension of 
 God and His ways. 
 
 It is interesting to notice the way in which the titles "Jacob" 
 and "Israel" arc introduced in the close of the book of Genesis; 
 as, for example, " One told Jacob, and said, 'Behold, thy son Joseph 
 cometh unto thec'; and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon 
 the bed." Then, it is immediately added, "And Jacob said unto 
 Joseph, 'God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.' " Now, we 
 know, there is nothing in Scripture without its specific meaning, 
 and hence this interchange of names contains some instruction. 
 In general, it may be remarked that "Jacob" sets forth the depth 
 to which God had descended; "Israel," the height to Avhich Jacob 
 was raised. 
 
CHAPTERS XXXVII-L. 333 
 
 God seen in its overruling power, yet evidently 
 mingled with judgment, inasmuch as Jacob's sons 
 have to go down into the very place whither they 
 hud sent their brother. Again, Joseph's remarkable 
 grace throughout: though exalted by Pharaoh, he 
 hides himself, as it were, and binds the people in 
 abiding obligation to the king. Pharaoh says, "Go 
 to Joseph," and Joseph, in effect, says, "All you 
 have and all you are belong to Pharaoh." This is 
 sweetly interesting, and leads the soul on to that 
 glorious time when the Son of Man shall take the 
 reins of government into His own hand, by divine 
 appointment, and rule over the whole redeemed 
 creation ; His Church the bride of the Lamb 
 occupying the nearest and most intimate place, 
 according to the eternal counsels. The house of 
 Israel, fully restored, shall be nourished and sus- 
 tained by His gracious hand ; and all the earth shall 
 know the deep blessedness of being under His scep- 
 tre. Finally, having brought everything into sub- 
 jection, He shall hand back the reins of government 
 into the hands of God, that "He may be all in all." 
 From all this we may form some idea of the richness 
 and copiousness of Joseph's history. In short, it 
 sets before us, distinctly, in type, the mission of the 
 Son to the house of Israel, His humiliation and re- 
 jection, the deep exercises and final repentance and 
 restoration of Israel, the union of the Church with 
 Christ, His exaltation and universal government, 
 and, finally, it points us forward to the time when 
 "God shall be all in all." It is quite needless to 
 
334 GENESIS. 
 
 remark, that all these things are largely taught, and 
 fully established, throughout the entire canon of 
 inspiration ; we do not, therefore, build their truth 
 upon Joseph's history; still it is edifying to find 
 such early foreshadowings of these precious truths ; 
 it proves to us the divine unity which pervades Holy 
 Scripture. Whether we turn to Genesis or to Ephe- 
 sians to the prophets of the Old or those of the 
 New Testament we learn the same truths. "ALL 
 SCRIPTURE is GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD." 
 
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