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NOTES
THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
" Things new and old."
FLEMING H. REVELL,
CHICAGO:                NEW YORK:
148 AND 150 MADISON ST.   148 AND 150 NASSAU ST.
Publisher of Evangelical Literature.








CONTENTS.
PAee
CHAPTER I................     13
"       II............           29
"       III.........~.....*          42
"       IV., V............           64
" VI.-IX.............            90
"       IX......~..    115
A       XI.................   118
"       XII..........                123
i XIII..........    140
"        XIV..................        151
"       XV................. 158'A      XVI................. 171
"       XVII...............      181
-      XVIII...........            189
" XIX..................   197'       XX.................        205
XX         I.................    210
" GXXII............         217
u       XXIII.................                      230
XXIV............         235
XXV.................                     248
" XXVI............        251
i XBXVII.-IXXXV.......   256
*       XXXVI.........                  300
XXXVIII. L............   30
IH








PREFACE.
To all who love and relish the simple gospel of the
grace of God, I would earnestly recommend the
following " Notes on the Book of Genesis."  They
are characterized by a deep-toned evangelical spirit.
Having had the privilege of reading them  in MS.,
I can speak as one who has found profit therefrom.
Man's complete  ruin in sin, and  God's  perfect
remedy in  Christ, are  fully, clearly, and  often
strikingly, presented,  especially  in  the  earlier
chapters.
To Christ's servants in the gospel sound, forcible
statements as to what sin is and what grace is, are
deeply valuable in the present time, when so much
that is merely superficial is abroad.
The gospel of Christ, as perfectly meeting man's
nature, condition, and character, is comparatively
little  known, and less proclaimed.  Hence, the
numerous doubts, fears, and  unsettled  questions
which fill the hearts and perplex the con ciences
of many of God's dear children.  Until the ioul is
Led to see that the entire question of sin  id the
claims of  divine  holiness were all and  -reve,




ri                   PREFACE.
settled on the cross, sweet, quiet rest of conscience
will be but little known.
Nothing can meet the urgent cry of a troubled
conscience but the one perfect sacrifice of Christ;
offered to God for us, on the cross.  "For even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."  There,
and there alone it will find a perfect answer to its
every claim; because there it will find, through
believing, all ground of doubt and fear removed,
the whole question of sin eternally settled, 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 every thing.  The moment 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 accordirg 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 Vioaua




PREFACE.                 vii'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."  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 judgment. (Cornp. Dan. ix. 24;
Rom. viii. 3; 2 Cor. v. 21; Heb. ix. 26, 28.)
Whenever this blessed truth 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 foundation of
divine and everlasting righteousness, and who is
now at the right hand of the Majesty in the highest,
u  the perfect definition of every true believe,




viii                PREFACE.
With hiim, with him  alone, the believer's heart is
now to be occupied.
Faith is fully assured that when God puts away
sin, it must be put away entirely; that, when Jesus
exclaimed, " IT 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 was raised up 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. 6; Col. ii. 10; 1 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 for
ever " and Christ glorified in heaven.




PREFACE.                   ix
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 the fulness of the Godhead
bodily."   Ever since that time, God  has been
placing before the sinner, in connection with his
gospel, a risen living Christ, as the ALONE 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 itfinds there, and what
itfeels, or with any thing whatever that may come
between the heart and Christ, all will be darkness,
uncertainty, and unhappiness in the soul. Oh, how
blessedly simple is the gospel of the grace of God!
The burden of its message to the lost sinner i,
"Come, for all things are now ready;" the question




X                  PREFACE.
of sin is not raised,-" Grace reigns through right.
eousness 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?
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 every thing, and prepared every
thing.  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, fulness
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 9
Have you embraced the Son?  Are you ready tc
"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,  Behold




PREFAOB.                  xi
the bridegroom  cometh, go ye out to meet him,"
"and they that were READY went in with him to
the marriage, 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"
themselves, 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 position and perfect unity of
the Church of God; real saintship; practical discipleship; sonship, &c., &c.
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 student 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.




PREFATORY NOTE TO THE
FOURTH EDITION.
I CANNOT suffer this Fourth Edition to go forth
without an expression of heartfelt thankfulness to
the Lord for his goodness in making use of such
a feeble instrumentality for the profit of souls and
the spread of his own simple truth.
It is an unspeakable privilege to be permitted in
any small degree to minister to the souls of those
who are so precious to Christ. "Lovest thou me?..
Feed my sheep."  Such were the touching words of
the departing Shepherd; and, assuredly, when they
fall powerfully upon the heart, they must rouse all
the energies of one's moral being to carry out, in
every possible way, the gracious desire breathed
therein. To gather and to feed the lambs and sheep
of the flock of Christ are the most exalted services in which any one can be engaged.  Not a
single honest effort put forth for the achievement
of such noble ends will be forgotten in that day
" when the Chief Shepherd shall appear."
May God the Holy Ghost fill the heart, anoint
the lips, and consecrate the pen of every servant of
Christ, so that streams of pure and living truth
may flow  in every direction for the refreshment
3f all those who are on their way to glory.
C. H.M
Dublin, Mby, 1861.
xii




NOTES
oi
THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
CHAPTER  I.
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 fulness of his being, and the solitariness 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 shining 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 subiimity 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
2                                   13




14                    GENESIS
instances, to contradict, the Divine record. Tbey 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
pursue our study of the profound book which now lies
open before us.  May we know what it is to "inquire
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 elaborate argument in
proof of the existence of God. The Holy Ghost could
not enter upon any thing of the kind.  God reveals
himself.  He makes himself known  by his works.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament showeth his handy-work."  "All thy works
shall praise thee, 0 Lord." " Great and marvellous 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 Allwise, the Almighty, and the everlasting God.  Who
but " God " could "create " any thing.  " 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, by the greatness of his might, for
that he is strong in power; not one faileth." (Is. xl.
26.)  "The gods 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




CHAPTER I.                  15
description, on the part of Jehovah himself, to tho
work of creation, as an unanswerable argument in proof
of his infinite superiority; and this appeal, while it
3ets before the understanding the most vivid and convincing demonstration of God's omnipotence, 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, indeed, he became, like all the
rest, the subject of creative power. God was alone in
creation.  He looked forth from his eternal dwellingplace 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 glorious
perfections of the Godhead.  All was darkness 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 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




73                    GENESI.
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 operation
worthy of God.
" God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
How simple I And yet how Godlike I " 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 satisfies 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 learn
ing!  Yea, rather, what folly!  What nonsense I
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; 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 worshippers, with hearts and understandings taught and duly governed by his Holy Word.
But this would never do for the so-called philosopher,
who, despising what he terms the vulgar and narrow.
minded prejudices of the devout disciple of the WorO




CHAPTER I.                   17
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 inspired 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 harmonize, they are
perfectly contemptible in the judgment 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-sounding theories, which, alas!
in too  many  instances, savor of rationalism  and
positive infidelity.  It is most needful to have the
heart thoroughly established as to the fulness, the
authority, the completeness, the majesty, the plenary
inspiration of the sacred volume. This will be found
to be the only effectual safeguard against the' rationalism
of Germany and the superstition of Rome.  Accurate
acquaintance with, and profound subjection to, the
Word, are the great desiderata of the present moment.
May the Lord, in his great grace, abundantly increase:n 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 symbols so largely employed throughout the Word.  The presence of light
makes the day; the absence thereof makes the night
B




18                     GENESIS.
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 Dayspring from  on high,"-all
who have received 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 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 are, 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
accomplished sacrifice. But if you are a total strange I
to the hallowed action and influence of divine light, if
your eyes have not been opened to behold any beauty
in thb  Son of God, then, though you had all the




CHAPTER I                     19
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 day from
the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days and years.  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 bearms, the
-astern sky.  The mists and shades of night are all
dispersed, and the whole creation seems to hail the re.
turning orb of light. Thus will it be, by and by, when the




20                      GENESIS.
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 intervene.*  No
sooner has the sun sunk beneath our 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 appearing in the presence of superior
brightness.  True it is, as has been remarked, the world
sometimes intervenes; 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 o0
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
tt learn any thing of Christ but by the Church.  "Ye,"
says the inspired apostle, " 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
* It is an interesting fact that the moon, as viewed through a pow.
erful telescope, presents the appearanee of one vast ruin of nature




CHAPTER I                     21
watch against every thing that would hinder the reflee.
tion of the heavenly light of Christ, in all her ways I
But how is she to refect this light?  By allowing it to
shine upon her, in its undimmed brightness.  If the
Church onlv walked in the light of Christ, she would,
assuredly, reflect his light; and this would ever keep
ier in her proper position. The light of the moon is
not her own.  So it is with the Church.  Sue is not
called to set herself before the world.  She is a simple
rebtor 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 I earth with its mists, its clouds, aind
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
iis name; yea, in many instances they exhibit an
humbling contrast, rather than a resemblance.  May
vwe 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 differeth 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




22                     GENESIS
vigorous pursuit after conformity to cur absent Lord
(See Luke xix i2-19.)
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 operations of each
successive day, as foreshadowing the various dispensations, and their great characteristic principles of action
I would only remark, as to this, that there is great
need, when handling the word in this way, to watch,
with holy jealousy, the working of imagination; and
also to pay strict attention to the general analogy of
scripture, else we may make sad mistakes.  I do nIot
feel at liberty to enter upon such a line of interpretation; I shall therefore confine myself to what I believe
lo 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 ovei
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 frcm " him"
to " them."  We are not presented with the actual fact
nf the formation of the woman, until t>e next chapter




tHAPTER I.                    23
though here we find God blessing " them," and giving
" them" jointly the place of universal government. All
the inferior orders of 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
fashioned, 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
noly 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 counsels of God render the Church necessary to
complete the mystic man.  Hence the Church is called
"the fulness [xppLua] 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 individual
souls. This is entirely too low a view to take of the
matter.  That all which pertains, in any way, to the'ndividual is, in the fullest manner, secured, is, blessed
De God, most true.  This is the least part of redemption. But that Christ's glory is involved in, and connected with, the Church's existence, is a truth of far
more dignity, depth, and power. If I am entitled. on




24                    IENESIS
the authority oi Holy Scripture, to regard myself as a
constituent part of that which is actually needful tc
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 help meet 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.... Neverthele.s, neither is the man without the woman, neither
th, woman without the man in the Lord.  For as the
woman is of the man, even so is the man also b3 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
righteousness.  God has said, " it is not good thai the
man should be alone."  He left not "the first ilan"
without "an help meet;" neither would he leave the
" Second." As, in the case of the former, there would
have been a blank in the creation without Eve, sostupendous thought! —in the case of the latter, here
would be a blank in the new  creation 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
ti anticipate part of the contents of the next chapter.
Throughout all the orders of creation there was not
found an help meet for Adam.  "A deep sleep" rauqt
fall on him, and a partner be formed, out of himselt,
to phare his dominion and his blessedness.  "And the




CHAPTER I.                     25
lIord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
be 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, 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 foundation of the world. There is, however,
a vast difference 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 was necessary that
the Son should be rejected and crucified,-that he should
take his seat on high,-that he should send down t;
Holy Ghost to baptize believers 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.
n virtue of the sacrifice of Christ, though that sacri
fice was not yet accomplished.  But the salvation ol
individual souls is one thing; and the formation of the
" The Hebrew word which is rendered "builded" in the margin.
is3 p:.  which the LXX. render by wxohoztfv. A reference to
th' original of Eph. ii. 20, 22 will show the reader that the word*
rendered "built" and "builded together" are inflections of tbe
same verb
9




26                    GENESIS.
Churlh, 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 stuper dous. The Church's unique place,-her special relationship to "the Second Man, the Lord from heaven," —
her distinctive privileges and dignities,-all these things
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 rela
tionship.  What affection did not Eve owe to Adam'
What nearness she enjoyed! What intimacy of com
munion! What full participation in all his thoughts 
In all his dignity, and in all his glory, she was entirely
one.  He did not rule over, but with her.  He was Lord
of the whole creation, and she was one with him. Yea,
as has already 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 shlo
was brought into being. Nothing can be more profoundly 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 doctrine fully and clearly
laid down in other parts of the Word, we are then pre
parec to -uderstand, appreciate, and admire the type.




3HAPTER 1.                   27
The 8th Psalm furnishes a fine view of man a et over:he work of God's hands: "when  I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers; the inon and the
stars which thou hast ordained: what is man that thor
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 hin with glory and
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 made known
to the sons of men as it is??ow 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 creation. This Church is quickened out of the
grave of Christ, is part " of his body, of his flesh, and
~ his bones."  He the Head and she the body, making
nre Man, as we read in the fourth chapter of Ephesians,'Til we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the




S                     OGENESIS
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness 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 Inhabitant.  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, surely a holy, a
devoted, a separated, an elevated walk is what be.
comes 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 is the exceeding greatness of his
power to usward 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
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that wb'h is.o come; and hath put all things




CHAPTER n                    29
inder his feet, and gave him to be the head over all,hings to the Church, which is his body, the fulness
of him that filleth all in all." (Eph. i. 18-23.)
CHAPTER  II.
THIS chapter introduces to our notice two prominent
subjects, namely, "the seventh day" and "the river."
The first of these demands special attention.
There are few subjects on which so much misunderstanding 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 commandment, 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
wade."  "'here is no commandment given to man. here.




SO                     GENESIS.
We are simply told that God enjoyed his rest, because
all was done, so far as the mere creation was concerned.
There was nothing more to be done, and, therefore, the
One who 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
together; 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 character 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 commanding man to keep
the sabbath, and man utterly failing so to do; but we
never read again the words, " God rested:" on the con
trary, 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
celebrated amid an undefiled 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 loolh
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 groaning 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 briers? Could he rest amid the sighs and tears,
the groans and sorrows, the sickness and death, the degradation and guilt of a i'lined world?  Could God sil




CHAPTER II.                  31
down, as it were, and celebrate a sabbath in the midst
of such circumstances?
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 2d of Genesis
lecords.  "The seventh day," and none other, was tht
sabbath.  It showed forth the completeness of creationwork; 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 day, 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 I the reason is obvious.  Man is a
fallen, ruined, guilty creature.  His long career of guilt
has ended in crucifying the Lord of glory; and not only
crucifying him. but placing a great stone at the mouth
if the tomb, t" prevent, if possible, his leaving it




82                     GENESIS.
And what was man doing while the Son of God was
in the grave?  He was observing the Sabbath-d.ay!
What a thought! Christ in his grave to repair
broken sabbath, and yet man attempting to keep the
sabbath as though it were not broken at all I 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 maintained in the New Testament.  Take one remarkable 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 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 celebrate the
seventh day, it marks me as an earthly man, inasmuch
as that day is, clearly, the rest of earth-creation-rest;




CHAPTER n.                     33
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 apprehend its immediate connection with
that new and heavenly order of things, of which the
death and resurrection of Christ form the everlasting
foundation.  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 commanded
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 niaiifst what Israel could do for God; this perfectly declares what God has done for us
It is quite impossil)le to over-estimate the value and
importance of the Lord's day, (n xvpuax VtrFpa,) 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 vwe regard the celebration of the first day of the
week as a matter of bondage, or as a yoke put on the
neck of a Christian.  It is his 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
Ch.-ir.ians came together to break bread; and at that
period of the Church's history, the distinction between
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 Chris'ians celebrated the latter, by assembling te break bread   There is not so much as a single
C




34                     GENESIS.
passage of scripture 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 celebrate 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 you 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
privilege to observe the first.  Do not bring him  down
from heaven, where 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 it. (See, carefully,
Matt. xxviii. 1-6; 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 (sa,32atclo5)
for the people of God." (fieb. iv. 9.)  When the Son of
Abraham, Son of David, and Son of Man, shall assume
his position of government over the whole earth, there
will be a glorious 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




CHAPTER U.                          35
him without 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 bacl
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 with conscience or its convictions, but only
with the principle which lies at the root of what ma3
be termed the sabbath question; and I would only pu
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 vert
much of the offence and misunderstanding connected with the impor.
tant subject of the sabbath, may be justly traced to the inconsiderate
and injudicious conduct of some who, in their zeal for what they termeA
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
4ay occupies in the New Testament. Some have been known to enter
on their weekly avocations, simply to show their liberty, and thus they
caused much needless offence. Such acting could never have been slng.
gested by the Spirit of Christ. If I am ever so clear and free in?




39                            GENESIS
We  shall now  consider the  connection  between  the
sabbath, 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, introduced  in
connection with God's rest.   When  God was resting  in
own mind, I should respect the consciences of my brethren; and, moreover, I do not believe that those who so carry themselves, really understand the true and precious privileges connected with the Lord's day.
We should only be too thankful to be rid of all secular occupation 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 mea.
sures for the public profanation of the Lord's day. It assuredly marks
the progress of infidelity and French influence.
But there are some who teach that the expression s xvpiaxs,tUspt
which is rightly enough translated, "the Lord's day," refers to "the
day of the Lord," and that the exiled apostle found himself carried
forward, as it were, into the Spirit of the day of the Lord. I do not
5elieve the original would bear such an iaterpretation; and, besides
we have in 1 Thess. v. 2, and 2 Peter iii. 10, the exact words, "the day
of the Lord," the original of which is quite different from the expression above referred to, being not X nxupmmtu p,uspt, but n Mtpta xuvpsou.
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
9 a Apocalypse is occupied, not with "the day of the Lord," but with, ants prior thereto.




CHAPTER T..                     31
his works, the whole world felt the blessing ond 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 Edenthe scene of earthly rest-were speedily interrupted
because the rest of creation was marred by sin.
Yet, blessed be God, sin (lid not put a stop to hig
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 ransomed 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 beautiful expression of the ground on
which sovereign grace ministers to the need of sinners I
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 Jehovah'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. xvii. 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, aui
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   another source, and  flowing
t*hongh another channel; though, in one sense, thE
4




SR                     GENESIS
soarce of the river was ever the same, being Goc him
self; 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,!n spirit,
outside of the whole existing order of things, and pre.
senting 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 the scene
around him, to allow the streams of refreshment to flow
forth from him.
The Christian should regard himselt as the channel
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 privileges, 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 exhibiting 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




CHAPTER n                      39
power of worship.  If we are not living " by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself foi
us," we shall neither be effectual servants, faithful wit
nesses, nor true worshippers. We may be doing a great
deal; but it will not be service to Christ. We may be
saying a great deal, but it will not be testimony foi
Christ.  We may exhibit a great deal of piety and de
votion; but it will not be spiritual and true worship.
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 interrupted.  "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 tne
Person of the Lamb, the heart is attracted, and the
conscience tranquillized.
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 holinesa
vere perfectly answered; so that the more I understand
* Compare, also, Ezekie. xhlii. 1-12; and Zech. xiv. 3.




40                        GENESIS.
the  latter, the  more  I appreciate  the  former.  Tht
higher our estimate of holiness, the higher will be ouT
estimate of the work  of the  cross.  " Grace reigns,
through  righteousness,  unto  eternal life, by  Jesus
C.rist our lord."  Hence  the  Psalmist calls on the
saints to give thanks  at the  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 holiness, he must look at it bv
faith, from the resurrection side of the cross.
Having  thus  traced  the  river, from   Genesis to
Revelation, we shall briefly look at Adams position in
Eden.  We have seen him as a type of Christ; but he
is not merely to be viewed typically, but personally:
not merely as absolutely shadowing forth " the second
man, the Lord from  heaven," but also as standing in
the place of personal responsibility. In the 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 I Yet, it was a needed sound.
Adam's life was suspended upon his strict obedience.
The link which connected  him  with  the Lord God*
*My reader will observe the change in the second chapter
from  the expressfin " God" to " Lord God''  There is much
importance  in  the distinction.  When God is seen acting in
relation with man, he takes the title "Lord God,"-(Jehovah
Elohim. but until oan appears on the scene, the word "Lord"
is not ized.  I shal just point out three out of many passages:n which  the distinction  is very strikingly presented.  "And
toey that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God
IElohim) had commanded him; and the Lord (Jehovah) sh I




CHAPTER II.                         41
vas obedience, based on implicit confidence in the One
who had set him in his position of dignity-cor.fidence
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 day 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 believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life," (John iii. 36,) the same serhim in."  (Gen. vii. 16.) Elohim  was going to destroy the world
which he 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," &c. (1 Sam. xvii. 46, 47.) All the earth
was to recognize the presence of Elohim; but Israel was called to
recognize the actings of Jehovah, with whom they stood in relation.
Lastly, "Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord (Jehovah) helped him,
and God (Blohim) moved them to depart from him."  (2 Chron. xviii
31.) Jehovah took care of his poor erring servant; but Elohim, though
anknown, acted upon the hearts of the uncircumcised Syrians.




L2                    GENESIS.
pent seeks to persuaue people that they have not ever
lasting life, nor should they presume to think of such a
thing, until they have, first, done, felt, and experienced
al manner of things.
My beloved reader, if you have not yet heartily 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
some into condemnation; but is passed  from  death
Onto life." (John v 24.)
CHAPTER  III.
THIS section of our book sets before us the breaking
up of the whole scene on which we have been dwelling.
It abounds in very weighty principles; 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  forerunner 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 inquiry; and




CHAPTER III.                   4 3
had the word of Jod been dwelling richly in Eve's
heart, her answer might have been direct, simple, and
conclusive.  The true way in which to meet Satanr'
questions and suggestions, is 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;r
answer them.  The devil did not openly present hin -
self 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, b,
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 adhering
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, very 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
nis drink, if he is living by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of Jehovah, lie will, assuredly, be
acquainted with, and fully alive to, his word.  He could
a,)t be indifferent to it. The Lord Jesus, in his conflict with Satan, accurately applied the word, because
lie lived upon it, and esteemed it more than his ne
cessary food.  He could not misquote or misapply the
word, neither could he be indifferent about it.  Not
po Eve.  She added to what God had said.  His com



44                    GENESIS.
mand was simple enough,' Thou shalt not eat of it."
To 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 whethe
her misquotation proceeded from ignorance, or indif
ference, or a desire to represent God in an arbitrary
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.  "By the words
of thy mcath, 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 the creature. He is the Creator;
He may, therefore, justly claim obedience from us.  The
infidel may  call this "blind  obedience;" but the
Christian calls it 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 ray 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 obedience 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 man, nor body of men, can
claim obedierce to their word, because it is theirs; anc




CHAPTER III.                  45
tence the claims of the Church of Rome are arrogan'
and impious.  In her claiming obedience, she usurp
the prerogative of God; and all who yield it, rob Got
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 obedience.
There is a 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 farther
and farther from God. Thus, in the chapter before us,
the question, " Hath God said?" was followed by, "Ye
shall not surely die." That is to say, 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 fulness and in'egrity.  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, 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 Av a creature, simply because his word had losi




46                      GENESIS.
its proper authority over her heart, her conscience, ana
her understanding.
This furnishes a most solemn warning to all who ar.
in danger of being ensnared by an unhallowed ration
aiism  - There is no true security, save in a profound
taith in the plenary inspiration and supreme authority
of "ALL SCRIPTURE."  The soul that is endowed with
this has a triumphant answer to every 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 ruins,
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 tc
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 ser
pent's lie God's truth.  Thus it was with fallen man
and thlas it is with fallen man's posterity.  God's word
has no place in.the heart of the unregenerated 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 Satan's lie, but none whatever for the truth of God.  Hence the force of the word
to Nicodemus, "Ye n ust 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' reas-n.n"  It was bv shalkinr her confidence in Goi'N
lovv   Ie sought to shake                   in-' confidence in what God




CHAPTE  III.                  41
had said by showing that the  testimony was not
founded in love.  "For," said he, "God doth knov
that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
)pened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil."
(Ver. 5.) In other words, " There is positive advantage
connected with the eating of that fruit of which God
is seeking to deprive you; why, therefore, should you
believe God's testimony? you cannot place confidence:n one who, manifestly, does not love you; for, if he
oved 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 infinite
goodness of God.  She should have said to the serpent, "I have the fullest confidence in God's goodness,
and, thereibre, 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 eating of it.  I am
convinced of God's love, and I am convinced of God's
truth, and I believe, too, that you are 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 lif
in reference to the truth and love of God, to the mis




48                    GENESIS.
sion 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 were
lost, in his fall,-" came by Jesus Christ." (John i. 17.)
He was "the faithful witness" of what God was. (Iev.
i. 5.) Truth reveals God as he is; hut this truthl is
connected with the revelation of perfect grace; andl
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
knowledge 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 life
Sternal, 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 destruction 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 hereafter. 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




CHAPTER III.                   49
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
every thing. It quickens the soul, purifies the heart,
tranicpillizes the conscience, elevates the affections,
sanctifies the entire character and conduct.
Need we wonder, therefore, that Satan's grand design
was to rob the creature of the true knowledge of the
only true God?  He misrepresented the blessed God -
he said he was not kind.  This was the secret spring,if all the mischief.  It matters not what shape sin has
smce taken, —it matters not through what channel it has
flowed, undci what head it has ranged itself, or in what
garb it has 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 ha?
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 absolute 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
dfe;" which three, as the apostle states, comprehend
5                  D




50                   UENESIb.' 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 orlv 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
governed 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 presented
by Satan to the Lord Jesus, in the temptation. He
began by tempting the Second Man to take himself
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 assenbled people below. (Comp. Matt.
iv. 1-11 with Luke iv. 1-13.)  The plain design of
each temptation was to irduce the Blessed One to step
from the position of entire dependence upon God, and
perfect subjection to his will. But all in vain. "-I
is written," was the unvarying reply of the only dependent, self-emptied, perfect man. Others might under.
take to manage for themselves: none hut God shoulc'
manage for him.




CIAPTER In.                   5i
What an example for the faithful, under all their cir.
*umstances! 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 ~
glorious triumph.  What a contrast with  the first
Adam! The one had every thing to plead for God: the
other had every thing to plead against him. The gardea, 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 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 previously ho
had not, and that was a conscience,-a knowledge of
both good and evil.  This, man evidently could not
have had before   He could not have known aught
about evil, inasmuch as evil 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 uim a coward. Satan had utterly
deceived the woman   He had said, "your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good anm
evil."  But he had left out a material part of the truth
nauie.y, that they should know good, without the power
to do i+, and that they should know evil, without the




32                    GENESIS.
power to avoid it. Their very attempt to elevate them.
selves in the scale of moral eyistence 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 nakedness. They opened their eyes upon their own
condit on, which was " wretched, and miserable, and
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 beam  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, tc
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?  Assuredly not.  Nor
will it, in the case of any sinner. How could it? How
3ould 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 discovery (
their nakedness was followed by an effort of their ow
to cover it.  " They sewed fig-leaves together and made




CHAPTER In 51
themselves aprons." This is the first iecord we have
)f man's attempt to remedy, by his own devict, his
ondition; 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 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 any thing 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 formar
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 insufficiency to remedy 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
vo wrap himself in.
The moment Adam  heard the voice of the Lord
God, i- Eden, "he was afraid," because, as he himself




b4                     GENESIS.
confessed, "I was naked."  Yes, taked, althodgh he
had his apron on him. But it is plain that that covering did not even satisfy his own conscience.  Had his
conscience been divinely satisfied, he would not have
been afraid.  "If our heart condemn us not, then have
we confidence toward God."  (1 John iii. 20, 21.)
But if even the human conscience 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
nide himself from God; and, moreover, all that his own
religiousness offers him  is a hiding-place from  God
This is a miserable provision, inasmuch as he must
Aieet 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 misery 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 noi
have been afraid.  " There is no fear in love; but per
feet 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. Ile thought that God was
any thing but love; and, therefore, the very last thouglit'f his heart would  have been to venture into his
presence. He could not do it. Sin was there, and God
ari sin can never meet: so long as there is sin on the
conscience, there must be tLe sense of distance Iron




tCHAPTER m.                       5t
God.  " He is of purel eyes than to behold evil, and
cannot l,,ok upon iniquity." (Hab. i. 13.)  Holiness and
iin 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
ronscience of whac  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 " his eternal power and Godnead,"* (Osotr05) 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  "his violent
dealing" shall forever " 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:14 him  than  power and  wisdom.   There  was love,
mercy, holiness, righteousness, goodness, tenderness,
tong-suffering.  Where  could  all these  be displayed,
but in a world of sinners?  God, at the first, came
do  i to create; and, then, when the serpent presumed
to meddle with creation, God came down to save.  This
is brought out in the first words uttered by the Lord
* There is a profoundly interesting thought suggested by com-,aring the word WuoTra (Rom. i. 20) with the word 86os~T (Col. ii.
P.) They are both rendered "Godhead;" but they p'~ —nt a very
lifferent thought. The heathen might have seen tnht there was
something superhuman, something divine, in creation; but pure,
tssential, incomprehensible Deity dwelt in the Adorable Person of
the Son.




bte                   GENESIS.
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!  Amazing 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 hin:
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 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 +hat thou shouldest not eat? And the man




CHAPTER II.                          5
said, The worran 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 every thing 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 throwing 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 happiness-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 lost, ruined,
* Man not only accuses God of being the author of his fall, hut
also blames him for his non-recovery. How often do we hear per
sons say that they cannot believe unless God give 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,
except 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 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 Gd's
decree, which is a profound 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."




68                          GENESIS
guilty, and  yet, self-vindicating, and, therefore,  fodaccusing sinner.
But, just at this point, God began to reveal himself, and his purposes of redeeming love; and herein
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 theih.   The  scene
must be entirely cleared  of man, and  all his vain  pretensions, empty boastings, and blasphemous reasonings,
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 redemption 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.
Men  are responsible  to  believe the gospel, and  they will be
punished for not believing it. They are not responsible to know
any thing about God's counsels, inasmuch as they are not revealed
and, therefore, there can be nu guilt attached to ignorance concerning 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!rb) o0!
gospel came not unto  you in  word  only, but also  in  power.'
(I Thess. i. 4, 5.)  This is the way to know  the election of anly.
When the gospel comes in power, it is a plain  proof of God's
lection.
But, I doubt not, the people who draw  a piea from  the divin,
ctunsels for rejecting the divine testimony, only want some flimsy
excuse to continue in sin. They really do not want God; and it
hnould be far more honest in them  to say so, plainly, than to put
forward a plea which is not merely flimsy, but positively blasphemous. Such a plea will not avail them  much amid the terrors of
the day of judgment, new fast approaching.




CHAPTER m.                    b9
It has been already remarked that conscience will
Lever 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 tranquillized him. This is truly consolatory 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
as.  In the cross, I see God descending in grace to the
lowest depths, not merely of my negative, but nm
positive condition, as a sinner. 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 hn.v, tin r eet him, by And by, in judgment, when he will have to deal, according to what he
i, with what they are.
The moment a man is brought to know his real state,
ne can find no rest until he has found God, in the cross,
and then he rests ia God himself.  He, blessed be his
aame, is the Rest and Hiding-place of the believing soul.
This, at once, puts human works and human righteous
less 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 impossibl~ that a divinely quickened conscience




g0                    GENESIS.
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
estimony about " the seed of the woman," the worthessness of his fig-leaf apron.  The magnitude of that
which had to be done, proved the sinner's total inabilit)
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 nman 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 we view the matter, we see
the sinner's complete impotency, and, as a consequence,
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
bat " by grace, through faith."
However, thougn 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 graciously took
the entire matter into his own hands.  He made it,
altogether, a question between himself and the servent  for although the man and the woman were called
ipon, individually, to reap, in various ways, the bitter
fruits of their sin, yet it was to the serpent that the
Lord God said, "Because thou hast done this."  Th




CHAPTER III.                  61
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
11 living."  This was a precious fruit of faith in God's
evelation.  Looking at the matter fiom 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
Benjamin (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. liad 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, 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 al
6




62                     GENESIS.
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 b
but the ratification of their eternal doom.  Solemnunspeakably solemn-reflection 
We shall, now, briefly glance at the truth presentec
to us in God's providing coats for Adam  and Eve.
" 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  provided 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 apror- was not. So also, now
God's righteousness is set forth in the cross; man's
righteousness is set 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, " I 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 ignoran(ce.
To know that the dress I wear, and in which I appeal
before God, is of his own providing, must set my
heart at perfect rest.  There can be no true, permanent
rest in aught else.
The closing verses of this chapter are full of instruc
tion.  Fallen man, in his fallen state; must not be
allowed to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, for that
would entail upo'il him  endless wretchedness in this
worid.  To take of the tree of life, and eat, and live




CHAPTER III.                  63
forever, in our present condition, would be unminglec
misery.  The tree of life can only be tasted in resurrection.  Th live forever, in a frail tabernacle, in a
body of sin and death, would be intolerable. Wherefore the Lord God "drove out the man."  He drove
him  out into a world which, everywhere, 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, outside
the bounds of Paradise, than he had been within, 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 happier 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, anrd the life; no man cometh untc
the Father, but by me."  (Compare John xiv. 6;
leb. x. 20.)  In the knowledge of this, the believer
now nroves onward 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 if
cheered by the blessed assurance that the one who bai




64                     GENESIS.
conducted him thither, is gone to prepare a 1 lace in the
many mansions of the Father's house, and that he will
soon come again and receive him  unto himself, amid
mne glory of the  Father's kingdom.  Thus, in the
bosom, the house, and the kingdom  of the Father,
-he believer finds his present portion, his future hon e
tnd reward
CHAPTERS IV, V
As each section of the Book of Genesis opens before
as, we are furnished with fresh evidence of the fact
that we are travelling 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 persons
of Cain and Abel, the first examples of a religious 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 nothing, natural, to distinguish them, one from  the other.  They were both
sinners.  Both  had  a fallen  nltlre.  Neither was
innocent.  It is well to be clear in reference to this, in
order that the reality of divine 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 inevita'le conclusion, that they




CHAPTERS IV.. V
were not the partakers of the fallen nat ire of th4.i
father, nor the participators in the circumstances of hi
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   ith
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 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 iin 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 distinctive qualities, capacities, resources, and tendencies of
nature to manifest themselves, the lifetime of Cain anac
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 personally concerned, the corrupt source,
from  whence have emanated tie corrupt streams of
E




GENESIS.
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 Savior; but
this was not any _ling natural, but something entirely
divine.  And, inasmuch as it was not natural, 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
seeing that he, as a father, was in a condition of ruin,
his son could only be in the same. As is the begetter,
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
correct 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, disobedience, and deatb.  In




CHAPTERS IV., V.                  67
the Second man, we have righteousness, 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, 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, abstract, positive nature.
Now, as the mode in which we derive a nature frol.
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, we partake of the nature of the former;
being'born again," we partake of the nature of the
latter.  A newly-born infant, though entirely incapable
of performing the act which reduced Adam  to the con
dition 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
nature, 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, bond fide participation of a real nature, le'
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 according to' the
will of man," (John i.,) the latter is according to "the
will of God;"  as  St. James, by the  Holy Ghost
teaches us, " of his own will begat he us by the word
of truth."  (James   18.)




666 uENESIS.
From  all that has been said, it follows, that Abel
was not distinguished from  his brother Cain by any
thing natural. The distinction between them was not
grounded upon aught in their nature or circumstances,
for, as to these, "there was no difference."  What
therefore, made the vast difference?  The answer is a
simple as the gospel of the grace of God can make it.
The difference was not in themselves, in their nature,
or their circumstances; it lay, entirely, in their sacrlifices. This makes the matter most simple, for any truly
convicted sinner,-for any 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,
distinctly, that he cannot come to God on the ground
of any thing in, of, or pertaining to, nature; and 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,-.  oau OvLa.,) than Cain, by which he ol,tained witness that he was righteous, God bearing
witness (uappvpovvwo5) 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 Cain and Abel.  My reader cannet
be too simple in his apprehensio i of this point, for




CHAPTERS IV., V.                 69
therein lies involved the truth as to any sinner's standing before God.
And, now, let us inquire what the offerings were.
"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain
irought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto.,ehovah.  And Abel, he also brought of the firt lingi,f1 his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had
iespect unto Abel, and to his offering; but unto Cain
and to his offering, he had not respect. (Gen. iv. 3-5 )
l'his 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 moment,
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 recognition whatever of this fact.  There
was no presentation 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, altogether, 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."  tIe displayed entire ignorance
- reference to divine requirements, in reference to his
owvI character and condition as a lost and guilty sinner,
and ii, reference to the true state of that ground, the
fruit of which he presumed to offer. No doubt, reason
might say, "what more acceptable offering could a man




T0                     GENESIS.
present,, han that which he had produced by the labor
of his I ands, 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, thai there must be a sacrificed life, else there
can be n  dapproach 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 unava':ing as regards the establishment of our relationship,vith God.  True, "he went about doing good" all his
life; but it was his death that rent the veil.  (Matt.
xxvii. 51.)  Naught but his death could have done so.
Had he continued, to the  present moment, "going
about doing good," the veil would have remained entire, to bar the worshipper's approach into " the holiest
oi all." Hence we can see the false ground. on which
Cain stood as an offerer and a worshipper.  An unpardoned sinner coming into the presence of Jehovah,
to present "an unbloody sacrifice," could only be re
garded as guilt7 of the highest degree of presumption.
True, he had; iled to produce this offering; but what
of that?  Coto  a sinner's toil remove the curse and
stain of sin?  Could it satisfy the claims of an infinitely holy God? Could it furnish a proper ground
)f 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
)r all of these things?  Impossible.  "Without shedding of blood is no remission." Cain's " unbloody sacri-.," like every Ather unbloody sacrifice, was not only




ORAPTERS IV., V                   71
rocthless, out actually abominable, in the divine estimation   It not only demonstrated his entire ignorance
of his own condition, but also of the divine character.
" God is not worshipped with men's hands as though he
needed any thing."  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 unconverted soul,
and is maintained by every false system  of religion
under the sun.
Man would fain make God a receiver instead of i
gi Ter; but this caDurn  be; for," it is more blessed to
gire than to receive " and, assuredly, God must have
thb  more blessed place.  "Without all contradiction,
tb3 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 presumes to take the place of the
" first" giver, God's reply is, " if I were hungry, I would
rot tell thee;" for " he is not worshipped with men's
nands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life and breath and all things." The great Giver
of "all things" cannot possibly "need aoy thing."
Praise is all that we can offer to God; but this can only
be offered in the fill and clear intelligence that our sine
are all put away; and this again can only be known by
faith in the virtue of an accomplished atcnement.
My readers may pause, here, and read prayerfully the
following scriptures, namely, Psalm 1.; Isaiah i. 11-18;
and Acts xvii. 22-34, in all of which' e will find dis




728                   GENESIS.'incty laid down the truth as to man's true positior
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 enterea, by faith,
into the glorious truth, that God could be approaches
)y sacrifice; that there was such a thing as a sinner'placing the death of another between himself and tb(
consequence of his sin, that the claims of God's nature
and the attributes of his character could be met by ALd
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
conscience of a sinner can find repose, because, therein.
God is fully glorified.
Every divinely-convicted sinner must feel t at death
and judgment are before him, as "the due 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 lfe; he may reform his outward character; he may
be temperate, moral, upright, and, in the hllman an
ceptation of the word, religious; he may, though entirely destitute of faith, read, pray, and hear sermons
In short, he may do any thing, or every thing which lies
within the range of human competency; but, notwithstanding all, "death and judgment" are before him
He has not been able to disperse those two heavy
clouds which have gathered upon the horizon.  There'hey stand; and, so far from being able to remove them.
by all his doings, he can -niv live in the gloomy antici




OHAPTIRS IV., V. 
pation of the moment when they shall burst upou his
Quiltv head.  It is impossible for a sinner, by his owvn
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 purpose 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 glory. "Hie hath abolished death
and brought iife and incorruptibility to light, through
the gospel." (2 Tim. i. 10.) HIe 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 Abel's "more excellent sacrifice." There was no attempt, on Abel's part,
to set aside the truth as to his own condition, and pro
per place as a guilty sinner,-no attempt to turn aside
the edge of the flaming sword, and force his way back
to the tree cf life,-no presumptuous offering of an
" unbloody sacrifice,"-no presentation of the fruit of a
cursed earth to Jehovah,-he took the real ground of a
sinner, and, as such, set the death of a victim between
him and his sins, and between his sins and the holiLess
of a sin-hating God.  This was most simple.  Abel deserved death and judgment, but he found a substitute.
Thus is; with every poor, helpless, self-condemned,
1I




74                      GENESIS
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 wonld still have a
sin-stained conscience, inasmuch as " without shedding
of blood is no remission."  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 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 away. It is faith which
puts the soul in present possession of this peace. " Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God, through oar
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 accomplished fact,-faith wrought in the soul of a sinner, 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'-.e soul;n God's presence,




JHAPTERS IV., V                 75
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, connecting the heart that
possesses it with God who gives it.  Human feelings,
however intense,-human sentiments, however refined,could not connect the soul with God. They are neither
divine nor eternal, but are human  and evanescent.
2hey are like Jonah's gourd, which sprang up in a
night, and perished in a night.  Not so faith.  That
precious principle partakes 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. I;) t p'irifies 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 occupied
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,t'aith has to do with God's immutable truth, and Christ'y
eternally-enduring sacrifice.
No doubt, faith will produce feelings and sentiments
-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 woid; it apprehends him as he Las revealed him




7 6                   GENESIS.
self 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 hap
found out all it can possibly need, here or hereafter; but
he can only be known by his own revelation, and by the
faith which he himself imparts, and which, moreover,
alwaysseeks 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" shadowed 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 attached 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 lfe. to which righteousness as distinctly attaches'tself as did sin to that life which he gave up




CHAPTERS IV., V. V1:,n the cross. This will help us to an understanding of
an expression used by our blessed Lord after his resurrection, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
nave." He did not say, "flesh and blood;" because, in
resurrection, he had not assumed into his sacred persBn 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 altai
to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood
which maketh an atonement for the soul."  (Lev. xvii.
UI.) Close attention to this point will have the effect
of deepening in our souls the sense of the complete
ness of the putting away of sin by the death of Christ;
and we know that whatever tends to deepen our sense
of that glorious reality, must necessarily tend to the
fuller establishment of our peace, and to the more
effectual promotion 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
nuch attention upon this.  The question, in each case,
was not as to the person of the offerer; but entirely
is to the character of his offering. Hence, of Abel we
-ead that "God testified 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 ground
our peace and acceptance upon something in or about
o'irselves, even though we admit that that something




78                     GENESIS
is wrought by the Holy Ghost.  Hence arises the con.
stant looking in, 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 ideL ified with
him, and accepted in his name, and, moreover, can ne
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.  Being 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 I,
Christ.  All this is most tranquillizing and consolatory.
It is our happy privilege to be able, in the confidence
of faith, to refer every objection and every objector tc
Christ and his finished atonement.  All our springs
are in him.  In him we boast all the day long.  Our
confidence is not in ourselves, but in him who hatli
wrought every thing 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
the heart of a believer. Thus it was with Cain. " Be
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.ou'd come to God   He refused to offer blood, without




CHAPTERS IV., V.                79
which there can be no remission; and then, because be
was not received, in his sins, and because Abel was
accepted, in his gift, " he was wroth, and his countenance
fell."  And yet, how  else could it be?  He should
either be received 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, therefore, he was rejected, and, being rejected, he
manifests in his ways the fruits of corrupt religion.
He  persecutes and  murders the true witness,-the
accepted, 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 a
places, men have shown themselves more ready to
persecute on religious grounds than on any other. This
is Cain-like   Justification-full, perfect, unqualified
justification, by faith only, makes God every thing, 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 accepted on the ground of aught in himself, then,
indeed, Cain's wrath and his fallen countenance would
have had some just foundation; but, inasmuch as he
was accepted, exclusively on tl.e ground of his offering;
and, inasmuch as it was not to himr, 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 correctl, opS 7tpo5Eyxr,) shalt
thou not be accepted?"  The well-doing had reference




80                     GENESIS.
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 Abel his brother: 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 murder
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 forgiveness 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 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
intelligence as to the ground of a sinner's approach to
*The word used by Cain i.; #a.3   which occurs in Psaln
xxxii. 1,'whose transgression is o /olief." The LXX. renders i
ory oantsQ.t, "to be remitted."




CHAPTERS IV., V.                81
Sod. He was radically corrupt,-fundament ally wi, ing;
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 respectable man therein, thoug'
in God's view it was under the curse, and he was a
fugitive and a vagabond.
Such was "the way of Gain," in which way millions
are at this moment rushing on.  Such persons are not
by anv 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 various ways; to deck the scene
with the fairest colors.  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 yzu 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
an& organ," no doubt, completely drowned, to man's
ear, the cry of Abel's blood; so now, man's eai ia filled
with other sounds than those which issue from Cal-ary,
and his eye filled with other objects than a crucified
Chris+.  The resources  )f his genius, too, are put
F




82                     IGEESIS.
forth to render this world a hot-house, in which are
produced, 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, som, years ago, people were content to devote three er 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
and he must hear news without having to exercise
patience for it.  He will lay iron rails across the earth
tnd electric wires beneath the sea, as if to anticipate
in his own way, that bright and blissful age when'there shall be no more sea."*
In addition to all this, there is abundance of religion,
so called; but, alas! charity itself is compelled 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 convenience, 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
* True, the Lord is using all those things for the furtherance of hie
own gracious ends; and the Lord's servant can freely ise them also;
but this does not hinder our seeing the spirit which originates ani
ohbraoterizes them.




CHAPTERS IV., V.                83
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 foi
him.self, 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 instead of
building a city on the earth, he found but a grave in
its bosom. The earth, which on its surface displayed
the genius and energy of Cain and his family, was
stained underneath with the blood of a righteous man.
Let the man of the world remember 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
evanescent world.  " The fashion of this world passeth
away."  It will soon all be over, so far as the present
scene is concerned.  " The way of Cain" will be followed by "the error of Balaam," in its consummated
form; and thein will come "the gainsaying 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 kv,ser the contents of Chapter V. and find




84                   GENESIS.
therein the hnmilinutne r,.orcl ot man's weakness, 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 "he died"
" Death reigned fiom  Adam to Moses."  And, again,
" Tt is appointed unto men once to die."  Man cannot
get over this.  He cannot, lb  steam, or electricity, or
any thing else within the range of his genius, disarm
death of its terrible sting.  He cannot, by his energy,
set aside the sentence of death, 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 being 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 dis.
penser of a new life,-life beyond the no er of death,-.




CHAPTERS IV., V.                  85
a life which can never be touched by the enemy, nor
forfeited by us.
This it is which marks the security of the believer's
life.  Christ is his life,-a risen, glorified Cbrist, —a
Christ victorious over every thing that'ould be against
us.  Adam's life was founded upon his own obedience;
and, therefore, when he disobeyed, life 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 lift- we are in death," yet, in
another sense, it can be said,'in the midst of death
wve are in life."  There is no -eath in the sphere into
which a risen  Christ introduces  his  people.  How
could there be? Has not he altiished 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 beh'nd him,
and behind him  forever.  As to the future, it is all
glory,-cloudless glory.  T, -e, it may be his lot to " fall
8




86                     GENESIS
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 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
Chap. V. The rule is, " he died;" the exception is, " he
should not see death."  "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 was not
suffered to triumph over "the seventh;"but that, in
nis case, God interfered, and made him  a trophy of his
own glorious victory over all the power of death. The
heart rejoices, after reading, six times, the sad record,
he died," to find, that the seventh did not die; and
when we ask, How  was 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
day, 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.f God and of coming judgment.  The sons of Cain
night spend their energies in the vain attempt to improve a e'"rseO world but F-och found a better world,




CHAPTERS IV, V                   81
aud lived in the power of it.* His faith,.<; a not givttn
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!
u hat holiness and moral purity! what grace and gentleeiss! what humility and tenderness! and yet, what zeal
and energy   What patience and long-suffering! and
yet what faithfulness and uncompromising decision!
To walk with God comprehends every thing 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
relationship 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; 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
* 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. T' us it should be with us.




8 8                   GFNESIS.
the grace thac has been, and the glory that is to be
revealed, there is the happy assurance, that " no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."
(Psalm lxxxiv. 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 he.
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, inas
much as she, by grace, has that already; but she waiti
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." (Mal. iv.)  Nor is this all.
Very many 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 re.
storation of the Jews, the development of Nebuchad.
Dezza^ss image the revelation of the man of sin,-all




CHAPTERS IV., V.                85
these things, it is maintained, must take place ere
Christ comes.  That this is not true, might be proved
rom numerous passages of New-Testament 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."  le 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 the  Son  from  heaven.'
(1 Thess. i. 10.)  This, the simplest and most unlettered Christian 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 and separating
virtue of that celestial hope which properly belongs to
him as a member of that heavenly body, 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 re-nrtnt of Isral orn hphold the beams of the Sun




CHAPTERS VI.-IX.
W,  have now  wrived at a deeply-important and
sl ongly-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
odt.  How little influence his course and translation
had upon the world is manifest 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."
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 testi
mony of Christ on the earth.  This mingling may
frequently wear the appearance of something very
desirable; it may often look like a wider promulgatior
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 deplored: but our judgment as
to this will depend entirely upon the point of view from
which we contemplate it. If we look at it in the light
of God's presence, we cannot possibly imagiLr  that an
advantage is gained when the people of God mingle
themselves with the children of this world; or wheu
lhe truth of God is corrupted by human admixture
90




OCAPTERS VI.-1X                  92
each 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
t,) 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 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 putting 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;hould 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 carefully guarded against.
There can be no true union attained at the expense of
truth.  The true Christian's motto should ever be



92                     GENES13.
"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 no true
testimony where truth is forfeited; and hence, in the
case of the antediluvian 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 or
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
* 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" first. and, therefore, it
eon never be pure.




CHAPTER VI.-1X!t'od was to lay bare the roots of all that which man's
eye might regt upon with complacency and pride.  The
human heart might swell with pride, and the hosom
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 necessities were provided for in such
a way as to contradict every thought in reference to approaching judgment. But, oh! those solemn words, "1
will destroy!" What a heavy gloom they would neces
sarily cast over the glittering scene I 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 revealed 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 (Evxaro1S), prepared
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 t., \ whal




14                     GENESIf
they may.  When God spoke to NoaL h, 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 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 every thing.  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 s-me word has sustained the millions of God's saints f:om 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 and uncertainty; with it, all is
light and peace. Where it shines, it marks out for the
man of God a sure and 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 120 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
wan. the ground on which he stood, and "the Spirit of




OHAPTERI' Vi.-IX 9.
Christ" enabled him to occupy, with holy decision, that
elevated and immovable ground.
And now, my beloved Christian reader, what else
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 understood,
applied, or used, are all we want to equip us perfectlyto 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 imagery, 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 ways 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
counsels, 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 saving




96                      GENESIS.
grace, in all its fulness, and in all its perfect adaptation
to those who have really reached the lowest point of
their moral condition, as judged by himself.      The
Day-spring from on high hath visited us." (Luke i. 78.)
Where? Just where we are, as sinners. God has come
down to the very deepest depths of our ruin.  There is
aot 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 penetrated, it must, by virtue of what it is,
reveal our true character. The light must judge every
thing contrary to itself; but, while it does so, it also
" gives the knowledge of salvation through the remission 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 quickened 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 (86 vSaoos); to which the antitype (avLvrvonv)
baptism  doth also now  save us, not the putting away
of the filth of the flesh, (as by water,)*  but the
* " It is impossible to over-estimate the wisdom of the Holy




CHAPTERS  VI.-IX.                       9J 
answer of a good conscience towards God, bJ  the resurre'tion 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 Deluge, 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."
(Ps. xlii. 7.)   Here is a profound truth for the heart
and conscience 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
i'host, 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; we know how that the efficacy,
whi;h belongs only to tne 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
inowledge 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 ",e get, not by baptism, how important soever it may be, as an
%rdinance  of the  kingdom, but "by the  resurrection  of Jesus
Christ," "who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for
our justification."
Baptism, I need hardly say, as an ordinance of divine institution,
ind in its divinely-appointed place, is most important and deeply
significant; but when we find men, in one way or another, putting
fl.e figure in place of the substance, we are bound to expose the w'or)f Satan by the light of the word of God
9                      G




98                    GENESIS.
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 waterspouts."
Christ drank the cup, and endured the wrath perfectly
He put himself, judicially, under the full weight of all
fis 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 judgment on our behalf, if he has cleared
the prospect of every cloud, should we not enjoy settlea
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 accomplished
work.
Had Noah any anxiety about the billows of divine
judgment? None whatever. How could he? He knew
that "all" 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 have said, in the triumphant
language of Romans viii., "If God be for us, who can
be against us?"  He hal 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 icn"




CHAPTER  VL.-IX.                 2
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 window 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 "gophei
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 perfect
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
selfsame hand that had 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.)  Ile 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 thereflrm, witholt him.  He has " all power in heaven and,,it earth "  He is "head over all things to the Clur('e,




lO0                    GENESIS.
and in him the believer is perfectly secure. (Matt. xxviii
18; Eph. i. 22.)  Who could touch Noah?  What
wave could penetrate that ark which was "pitched
within and without with pitch?"  Just so now, who
3an touch those who have, by faith, retreated into tli
shadow of the cross?  Every enemy has been met an
silenced,-yes, silenced for ever.  The death of Chri'li
has triumphantly answered every demur; while, at the
same time, his resurrection is the satisfactory declaration of God's infinite complacency in that work which
is, at onne, 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 secured,
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
fiom 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 old sins." (2 Peter i. 9.)  This
is a lamentable condition for any one 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
aow  think of those  witlhout.  No  doubt, many an
anxious look would be cast after the vessel of mercy, as
U rose with the water; but, alas I " the door was shut,"




CHAITER8 VI.-TX.                101
the day of grace was over, the time of testimony:losed, and that forever, so far as,hey were concerned.
TI'he same hand which had shut Ncai' in, had shut them'ut; and it was as impossible for'hrsK without to get'i as it was for those within to get out.  The former
were irrecoverably lost; the latter effectually saved.
The long-suffering of God, and 11ee testimony of his
servant, had both been slighted.  Iresent things had
engrossed them.  "They did ea, they druak, they
married wives, and were given in marriage, until the
dla that Noah entered into the ark, and t, flood came
and destroyed them all." (Luke xvii. 26, x7.) There
was nothing wrong in any of these thing.- abstractedly
looked at.  The wrong was not in the things done, but
in the doers of then.  Every on- 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 word of God was rejected.
lie told of judgment; but they did not believe. He
spoke of sin and ruin; but they were not convinced
lie spoke of a remedy; but they would not give heed.
They went on with their own plans and speculations
&ad had no room for God.  They acted as if the earth
longed 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
Jesrs Christ, ho-v he said, " as it was in the days of




102                    GENESIS.
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 righteolsness.  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 moment, 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 it be
in the days of the Son of man." This is plain enough.
"Righteousness " and " violence " are not very like each
other.  Neither is there any similarity between universal wickedness and universal peace. It only needs a
heart subject to the Word, and freed from the influence
of preconceived opinions, in order to understand the
true character of the days immediately preceding " he
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. present
period.  Th'? is most simple,-most conclusive.  There
was nothing like a state of universal righteousness and
peace then, neither shall there be any thing like it byani-by.
No doubt, man displayed abundant energy in making




CHAPTERS VI.-IX.               103
the world a comfortable and an agreeable place for him
self; 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 righteousness. The sweeping and garnishing are going forward; but it is not in order to fit;he house for Christ, but for Antichrist. The wisdom
tf man is put forth in order to cover, with the folds of
nis own drapery, the blots and blemishes of humanity;
out, though covered, they are not removed I They are
underneath, and will, ere long, break out in more
hideous deformity than ever.  The painting of vermilioa will soon be obliterated, and the carved cedar
wood destroyed.  The dams by which man sedulously
seeks to stem the torrent of human wretchedness, must
soon give way before the overwhelming force thereof.
All mne efforts to confine the physical, the mental, and
the moral degradation of Adam's posterity within those
enclosures, which human benevolence, if you 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, "Where is the promise of his
coming? for, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation;" yet
the me nent is rapidly hastening on when those scoffers




104                   GENIS13.
will get their answer.  "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
if 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 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 "tLe 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 lte
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 translatioL, or;he deluge, we must feel the unspeakable importance of
attending to God's present testimony 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, a,_d
that forever.  He is sending out a message of purest,
richest, freest grace.  He i; telling sinners of an accome




CHAPTERS VI.-IX.               105
plished redemp'ion 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 slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter iii.)
All this makes the present moment one of peculiar solemnity. Unmingled 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! Scripture
sheds its light upon these things; and such a light, too,
tbh; we need not, as another has said, "vacantly stare
on passing events, as those who know not where they
are, and whither they are going."  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 needful.
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 exposed to the charge




106                     GENESIS.
which Ahab brought against Micaiah, of always pro.
phesying evil: but nt matter for that  Let us pro-hesy what the word of God prophesies, and let us do
this simply for the purpose of " persuading men."  The
word of God  only removes from  beneath our feet a
hollow foundation, for the purpose of placing instead;hereof a foundation which never can be moved.   It
only takes away from us a delusive hope, to give us,
instead, "a hope which maketh 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 restored creation.
We shall now return to Noah, and contemplate him;n 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 c niee; whereas the latter was carried
through the judgment. Now, it is thought that Enoch is a figure of
the Chr-ch, who shall be taken away before humlan evil reaches its




CHAPTERS VI.-IX.                   107
rhe 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  lhat 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 judgment, 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 upon some floating carcase.  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,
pluckt off."  Sweet emblem of the renewed mind, which,
amid the surrounding desolation, seeks and finds its
climax, and before the divine judgment falls thereon. Noah, on the
other hand, is a figure of the remnant of Israel, who shall be brought
through the deep waters of affliction, and through the fire t f judgment,
and led into the full enjoyment 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 supp rt of the general scope and analogy of Holy Scripture.




108                    GENESIS.
rest and portion in Christ; and not only so, but also
lays 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.
any thing and every thing 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 exaltation, 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 patience of
Christ!"
"And God spake unto Noah  saying, Go forth of
the ark."  The same God that lad said, "Make thee
an ark" and " Come thou into the ark," now says, " Gc
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 altar is erected, where, just
before, all had been a scenf of death and judgment




CHAPTERS VI.-aX                          109
The ark  had  borne  Noah and his farnily safely over the
waters of judgment.   It had  carried  him  from  the  old
into the new world, where he now takes his place as a
worshipper.*   And, be  it observed, it was "unto  the
Lord" he  erec'tcd his altar.   Superstition  would  have
worshipped  the ark, as being  the means of salvation
it is ever the tendency of the heart to displace God by
- It is interesting to look at this entire subject of the ark and
deluge, in connection with that most important and deeply significant ordinance of baptism.  A  truly baptized person, that is, one
who, as the apostle says, "obeys from the heart that type of doctrine 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 be is a dead man.  When he is plunged
beneath the water, expression is given to the fact that his name,
place, and existence, 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 possesssor 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 expression
of the place which righteously belongs to nature.  But, inasmuch
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 up from  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 institution of baptisr  one of immense importance, and pregnant with
meau'.g.
10




110                   GENESIS.
his ordinances  Now, the ark was a very  larked and
manifest ordi ance; 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 worshipped 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, according to his own appointment.  Beyond this, it is worth just nothing; and if it
in the smallest degree 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 ordinance is every thing, and God is shut out; and the
name of God is only made use of to exalt the ordinance,
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 worshipped the brazen 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 Hezekiah had to break it in pieces,
and call it "a piece of brass."  In itself it was only a'Nehushtan," but, when used of God, it i as a means
of rich'lessirg.  Now, faith owned it to be what divine




CHAPTERS VI.-IX.                  11
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 salvation. It is not
tuat human traditions boldly deny that there is such a
person as Christ, or such a thing as the cross of Christ:
were 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 ir robbed of Christ altogether; for it will,
assuredly, I. found that Christ and''dinances will
prove, in th-: sequel, to be ordinances, and not Christ.
This is a solemn consideration for all who stand up for
a religioL 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 arc
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, and
deifying the ordinance. I would only repeat here a remark which I have made elsewhere, namely, that superstition makes every thing of the ordinance; infidelity,
profanity, and mysticism, make nothing of it; faith un.
it according to divine appointment.




112                   GENESIS
But I have already extended this section far beyond
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, together with the token
of that covenant.  "And God blessed Noah and his
sons and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth."  Observe, God's command to man,
on his entrance into the restored earth, was to refill
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 Chap. xi., how man
neglected all this.
The fear of man is now lodged in the heart of every
other creature. Henceforth the service, rendered 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 o'
man.  All creation is delivered, by God's everlasting
covenant, from the fear of a second 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, 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
nas passed through the deep waters of death, and met
the fire of divine judgment.
"And God said, This is the token of the covenant




11APTERS VI.-I.                 113.... I do set my bow in the cloud..... &ad 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
own 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 "
Beautiful and most expressive emblem! The beams of
the sun, reflected from that which threatens judgment,
tranquillize the heart, as telling of God's covenant,
God's salvation, and God's remembrance.  Precious,
most precious sunbeams, deriving  a(iitional beauty
from the very cloud 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
judgment, 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 rede ted in the cloud.  It hears, too, the words, "It is
H




114                   GENESIS
finished," issuing from amid the darkness, 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 humiliating spectacle. The lord of creation fails to govern
himself: "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and
he planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and
was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent."
What a condition for Noah, the only righteous man, the
preacher of righteousness, to be found in I Alas! what
is man? Look at him where you will, and you see only
failure. 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, he 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 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
folly; yet the Holy Ghost has written these words,
"Noah was a just man, anu 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
froni God and his thoughts —lam was in the course he




CHAPTER X.                   115
atopted; he evidently knew nothing of the blessedness
of the man whose iniquity is forgiven and his sin
covered.  On the contrary, Shem and Japheth exhibit.n their conduct a fine specimen of the divine method,f dealing with human nakedness; wherefore they ipWrit' blessing, whereas Ham inherits a curse.
CHAPTER X
rHis section of our book records the generations of
Noah's three sons, noticing, especially, Nimrod, the
founder of the kingdom of Babel, or Babylon, a name,vhich occupies a very prominent place on the page of
inspiration.  Babylon is a well-known name,-a wellknown influence.  From the tenth chapter of Genesis,
down to the eighteenth chapter of Revelation, Babylon,
again and again, appears before us, and always as something decidedly 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 Apocalypse.  By no means.  I believe the former
is a city; the latter, a system; but both the city and
the systen  exert a powerful influence against God's
people.  Hardly had Israel entered upon the wars of
Canaan, when "a Babylonish garment " brought defilement and sorrow, defeat and confusion, into the host.
This is the earliest record of Babylon's pernicious in
luence upon the people of God; t at every student of




116                   GENESI.
Scripture is aware of the place which Babylon gets
throughout the entire history of Israel.
This would not be tL_3 place to notice in detail the
various passages in which this city is introduced. 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 Babylon takes the form  of a
corrupt religious system, called "the great whore," "the
nother of abominations," &c. 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 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, which 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 magnificent strains, a picture, in which Israel's star
is in the ascendant, and Babylon entirely sunk. "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 Babyloa, and say, How hath the Oppressoi




CHAPTER X.                  11t
ceased! the golden city ceased I.... since thou art laid
down, no feller is come up against us." (Isa. xiv. 3-8)
Thus much as to the Pabylon of the Old Testament.
Then, as to the Babylon of Revelation, my reader has
only to turn to the 17th and 18th 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 accompanying bliss and glory.
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 assured
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.  HIe 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 tc
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, "Alle'uia: for




l 18                   GENEmSS.
the liord God omnipotent reigneth."  Then all Bab.
on's mighty hunting will be over forever, whether v
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 hav
passed  away forever.  She shall be swept with the
besom of destruction, and plunged in the darkness, the
horror and desolation, of an everlasting night.  "How
long, 0 Lord?"
CHAPTER XI.
Tmns 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 Abraham; 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 journeyed
from the east, that they found a plain in the land of
Shinar; and they dwelt there......  And they said
Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top ma)
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
erutre in the eartr.  It knows nothing of aspirations




CIHAIPTER XI                  119
afer heaven, heaven's God, or heaven's glory. Leit tc
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 grovelling
~reature, —alienated from  heaven, and allied to earth.
In the scene now before us, there is no acknowledgment
of God, no looking up to, or waiting 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
oanks of the Tiber, we find him  to be the same selfseeking, self-exalting, 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 confederacy, 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 association of men
regularly organized. It is well to see this principle,well to mark its incipient working,-to see the earliest
moel which tie page of inspiration affords of a human




120                   GENESIS.
asso 4ation, as exhibited on the plain of Shinar, in its
design, its ohj ct, its attempt, its overthrow.  If we
look around  is at the present moment we see the
wrhole scene flled with associations. To name them
were useiks, for they are as numerous as are the purposes of the human heart. But it is important to marb
that the first of all these was the Shinar association,
%,' the establishment 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
I'f 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, without
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 glorification, to baptize
believers into one body, and constitute 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.)
"And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language; and this they begin to do:
agad now nothing will be restrained from  them  which
they have imagined to do.  Go to, let us go down, arid
there confound their language, that they may not unlerstand 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
or man's first association. Thus it will be to the end




OfiAPTER  XI.               1
Associate yourselves, 0 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." (Isa. viii. 9.) How different it is
when God associates men! In the second chapter of
Acts, we see the blessed One coming down in infinite
grace to meet man in the very 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 man ought
to be, he spoke in one tongue; but when he was telling
what he himself 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 t
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 irn  eaven,
by the omnipotent hand of God himseil..c was to
gather them around the glorious person Jf a risen and
highly exalted Christ, and unite them all in one grand
design of magnifying and adoring him.
II




I 2                     &iEN'SIS
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, ascribing all
piraise to him.  Thus the three scriptures may be read
in most interesting and profitable connection.  In Gen
xi. God gives various tongues as an expression of his
judgment; in Acts ii. ne 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 unhallowed 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 human 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 holy, living,
heavenly corporation, which is called, in the New Testament, the Church of the living God, the body of
Christ, the bride of the Lamb.
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
Pnd extensive; Biblical criticism, however accurate and
-luable, may all! ave the heart barren azd the affec



CHAPTER xn                   123;ions 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 orthodoxy without a living Christ, known
il 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 arteries, 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
loubt 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
apprehendel by faith. In Enoch, we have the proper




124                   GENESIS.
portion and hope of the heavenly family; while Noa)
presents to us the destiny of the earthly family. Enoch
\as taken to heaven before the judgment came; Noah
was carried through the judgment into a restored earth.
Thus, in each, we have a distinct character of truth,
and, as a consequence, a distinct phase of faith.  My
reader can pursue the subject fully, in connection witl
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. " The Lord had said unto Abram, 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 communication made to
Abraham,-a communication of 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 he 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 landl
that I will show thee.  Then went he forth out of the
land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in  Charran, (or
Haran;) and from thence, when 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  fronm Ur of the Chaldees, to g(




CHAPTER xn                    126
into the land of Canaan: and they came unto Haran,
and dwelt there....... and Terah died in Haran."
From all these passages taken together, we learn that
the ties of nature hindered the full response of Abrahamn's soul to the call of God.  Though called to
Canaan, he, nevertheless, tarried at Haran, till nature's
tie was snapped by deatn, and then, with unimpeded
step, he made his way to the place to which "the God
of glory" kid 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 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 rod's
calling, 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, before I can go thither.
Had Abraham's soul been fully under the power of the
truth that "God's calling" 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




126                    GENESIS.
could never be satisfied to maintain a standing, seek a
name, or lay up an inheritance, on the earth. The twc
things are incompatible: this is the true way to look
at the matter.  The heavenly calling is not an empty
dogma, a powerless theory, nor a crude speculation.  It
either a divine reality, or it is absolutely nothing.
Was A'braham's call to Canaan a speculation?  Was it
a mere theory about which he might talk or argue,
while, at the same time, he continued in Charran?
tssuredly not.  It was a truth, a divine truth, a powerfully practical truth.  He was called to Canaan, and
God could not possibly 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 experience, 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, il
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




CHAPTER XII.                   121
wherewith we are called,"-our high, our holy  our
heavenly  calling,-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 othe
vwords, the cross as the basis of our worship and oui
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 everlasting 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 see 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 would 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 himself 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 il, in proportion as T realize it, from every other
object. I see wisdom, and such wisdom as haffles devils




128                    GENESIS
and astonishes angels.  I see power, and such power as
bears down all opposition. I see holiness, and such
holiness as repulses sin to the very farthest point of the
moral universe, and gives the most intense expressioi
of God's abhorrence 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.  Where could I see all these things but in the
cross?  Nowhere else.  Look where you please, dnd
you 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 righ eous ground on which to go in the full display ot
all his matchless perfections, 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 he 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 tc
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 fullest expression of
his love, throughout eternity."
Then, as the basis of our practical discipleship and
tstumony, the c'oss demands our most profound con



CHAPTER Xn.                   129
sideration. 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 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.
Being 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 former makes him  a worshipper and a
citizen in heaven, the latter makes him a witness and a
stranger on earth.  That brings him  inside the veil;
this lputs him  outside the camp.  The one is as perfect
as the other.  If the cross has come between me and
lly 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, that is, 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'ightly distinguish between, both the above phases of
the cross of Christ.  He should not profess to enjoy the
)ne, while he refises to enter into the other. If his
war is open to hear Christ's voice within the veil, it
should be open also to hear his voice outside the camp.
If he enters into the atonement which the cross has
aiccomplished, 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
I




130                   GENESIS
part which man had therein. It is our happy privilege,
not only to be done with our sins, but to be done witL
the world also. All this is involved in the doctrine 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 crucifie(
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 crucified Christ, had crucifiec
all who belonged to him.  Hence there is a double
crucifixion, as regards the believer and the world; am
were this fully entered into, it would prove the utte
impossibility of ever amalgamating the two. Belove(
reader, let us deeply, honestly, and prayerfully ponde
these things; and may the Holy Ghost give us th
ability to enter into the full practical power of both tl
phases of the cross of Christ.
We shall now return to our theme.
We are not told  how  long Abraham  tarried E
Haran; yet God graciously waited on his servant unti'
freed from nature's clog, he could fully obey his con
Inand.  There was, however, no accommodation of th,
command to the circumstances of nature.  This wou'
never do.  God loves his servants too well to depriv
them of the full blessedness of entire obedience. Thei
was no fresh revelation to Abraham's soul during til
time of his sojourn in Haran. It is well to see thi
We must act up to the light already communicated, an
then God will give us more.  " To him that hath sha
more be given."  This is God's principle.  Still we mui
remember that God will never dag us along the pat
of'rue-hearted discipleship   This w uld greatly lar




CH AvI'Elt xI!.              131
the moral excelleacy 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 sacrifices, 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 i: the fruit of faith; and
faith puts us into living association and communion
with God himself.  Looking at obedience in this light,
we can easily see 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
r,,ace.  To this new  nature God graciously imparts
precepts for its guidance; and it is perfectly certai,
that the divine nature guided by the divine precepta
can never by any possibility resolve itself into legality
What constitutes legality is the old nature taking up
God's precepts and essaying 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
te, How could fallen nature breathe an atmosphere so




132                   GENESIS
pure?  Impossible.  Both the atmosphere and the na.
ture 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 attractive
ebject,-" a land that I will show thee." This was not
compulsion  but attraction.  God's land was in the
judgment of the new nature,-the judgment 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
w\as called to go out 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'
Dur senses, and that is the word of God. Our senses
may deceive us, but God's word never can.
Now, the entire truth of the divine nature, together
with the precepts which guide and the hopes which
animate it, the whole of the divine doctrine respecting
these things is completely thrown overboard by the
system of legalism   The legalist teaches that we must
surrender earth -ii order to get heaven.  But how can
fallen nature surrender l hat to which it is allied?




CHAPTER Xn.                   183
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. Natur6
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 eart., and no desire to get heaven. True,
it would be glad to escape hell and its ineffable torment,
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 righteousness, it absolutely hates it. True, it
would like a certain amount of religion; but it is only
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.
How  different from  all this miserable  system  of
legalism, in every phase thereof, is "the gospel of the
glory of the blessed (od!"  This gospel reveals God
himself coming down in perfect grace, and putting
away sin by the sacrifice of the cross; putting it away,
in the most absolute manner, on the ground of eternal
righteousness, inasmuclh as Christ suffered for i;, having
been made sin for us.  And not only is God seen putting away sin, but also imparting 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 better country,
that is an heavenly"-the "many mansions" of the
Father's house, on high-" golden harps"-" green
palms," and " white robes"-" a kingdom which cannot
be moved"-everlasting  association 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 redeeming love.  How different is all this from the
legalist's notion I Instead of calling upon me to educate
and 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, bestows 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   H




CHAPTER XI.                 1M
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 who 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
)f which "the God of glory" had spoken to him, and.here he finds "the Canaanite." But there, too, he
ends the Lord.  "And the Lord appeared unto Abram,
md said, Unto thy seed will I give this land."  The:onnection between the two statements is beautiful and
iouching. "The Canaanite was then in the land," and
est Abraham's eye should rest upon the Canaanite, the
present possessor of the land, Jehovah appears to him
Ls the One who was going to give the land to him and
o his seed forever. Thus Abraham  was taken up
vith the Lord, and not with the Canaanite. This is
all of instruction for us. The Canaanite in the land
s the expression of the power of Satan; but, instead,f being occupied with Satan's power to keep us out of
he inheritance, we are called to apprehend Christ's
ower to bring us in. " We wrestle, not with flesh and




136                   GENESIS
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 indulgirng "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 removed
from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and
pitched his tent." The altar and the tent give us the
*wo great features of Abraham's character.  A worshipper of God, a stranger in the world,-most blessed cha"a'cteristics! Having nothing on earth,-having our all
n God.  Abraham 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, having
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 designed 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
e has to do; for, alas! we know how prone the heart
is to mistake the peace of circumstances for the peace
of God. When every thing is going on smoothly and
pleasantly, our property safe, our business prosperous,
our children and servants carrying themselves agreeably,
our residence comfortable, our health excellent, every
ting, in short, just to our mind, how apt we are to




CHAPTER XIU.                 131
nisiake the peace which reposes,upon such circumstances for that peace which flows from  the realized
presence of Christ.  The Lord knows this; and, there
fore, 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
rightness of a path by its exemption from trial, and
vice versa.  This is a great mistake.  The path of
obedience may often be found most trying to flesh and
blood. Thus, in Abraham's case, 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?  Assuredly not.  That
would have been to judge according 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 easy.
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
c(uestioned  the rightness of his position.  He was
enabled to " sing praises" in the midst of it all, assured
that every thing 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 preachers 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.




138                   GENESIS.
Now, Abraharr 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
receiveC no direction to leave it.  True, the famine was
there; and, moreover, Egypt was at hand, offering
deliverance from pressure; still the path of God's servant
was plain.  It is better to starve in 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,
doubtless, say, of the rightness of his step, in going
down to Egypt.  But, ah! he had no altar,-no communion.  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 greatest
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 1 It may be they have, to use the common phrase,
"made money," increased their store, obtained the
world's favor, been "entreated well" by its Pharaohs,
gotten a name and a position amongst men; but are
these a prolate equivalent for joy in God, communion,




CHAPTER XII.                  139
liberty of heart, a pure, un(ondemning conscience, a
thankful, worshipping spirit, vigorous testimony, and
effectual service?  Alas, for the man that can think so!
And yet all the above incomparable blessings have been
often sold for a little ease, a little influence, a little
Inoney.
Christian reader, let us watch against the tendency
to slip aside from  the narrow, yet safe, the sometimes
rough, yet always pleasant, path of simple, wholehearted obedience.  Let us 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 him.
self, 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.




CHAP rER  XIII.
THE opening of this chapter presents to us a subject
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 spiritual condition, anr
lost his communion, he is in great danger, when con
science begins to work, of failing in the apprehension ol
divine grace, and of stopping short of the proper marl
of divine restoration.  Now, we know that God does
every thing  in  a way entirely worthy of himself.
Whether he  creates, redeems, converts, restores, oi
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 imagine that such an one should
take a lower place than that which he had formerly
occupied; and so he should, were it a question of his
merit or his character; but, inasmuch as it is, altcgether, a question of grate, it is God's prerogative to
140




CHAPTER XITI.                   141
ix the standard of'estoration; and his stardard 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 any thing
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 tabernacle
of the congregation."  When the prodigal returned, ke
was set down at the table with the 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, antinomianism gets
its answer in the effect thereof.. The restored  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 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
7race of divine restoration, the deeper will be my
tense o" the hfliness of it also.  This principle is




142                    GENESIS.
taught and established throughout all scripture; but
especially in two well-known passages, namely, Psalms
xxiii. 3, and 1 John i. 9: "He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth 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 fromi all unrighteoiusness."  The proper path for a
divinely-restored soul is "the path of righteousness."
In other words, having tasted divine grace we 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 as from all
unrighteousness. Those things must never be separated.
When taken together, 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 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 g?
on for a time, either as a dead weight upon the testi.




CHAPTER xm.                  143
mony, or an active hindrance to it. Thus, in Abraham's
case, the Lord called him to leave his kindred; but he
rought his kindred with him. Terah retarded him in
his movement, until death took him out of the way.
Lot followed him somewhat farther, until " the lusts of
other things" overpowered him, and he entirely broke
down.
The same thing is observable in the great movement
of Israel out of Egypt. "A mixed multitude" followed
them, and  caused much  defilement, weakness, 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 there, 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.  I must know myself as one called of
him into the position which I occupy, else I shall have
no stability, and exhibit no consistency therein.  It
will not do for us to follow in the track of other people,
merely because it is their track. God will graciously
give each a path to walk in, a sphere to move in, and a
responsibility to fulfil; 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 mepv be provided it be what God hath dealt




144                   GENESIS.
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 be just as sure to hear
from  his gracious'ips 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 creation, 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 human influence; whether our faith stands in the wisdom 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 influence 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 beyond our measure, our action will be strained
uad unsightly, uneasy and unnatural. It is very easy') see when a man is working in his place, and according tc his measure. All affectation, assumption, and




CHAPTER XII                  1 
imitation, is contemptible in the extreme.  Hence,
though we cannot be great, let us 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 vision.  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 approving 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 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
<ontentedly 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 motives he is
actuated, and by what objects he is animated.  Thus
it was with Lot. Hle 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 fat is, when one is not really walking with a single
en o and purified affections, he will easily fir d a stone to
13                K




146                    OENES1S.
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
shupe 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 ex
hibiting the beautiful power of faith, and the mora'
elevation, the heavenly vantage-ground, on which faith
ever sets the possessor thereof.  But to 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 produced 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 thereby,
and driven back into the world, in one way or another
They then lay the blame on the controversy 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 an
not to be deeply deplored: assuredly they are.  To
see brethren contending in the very presence of "the




CHAPTER xnI.                   147
Canaanite and the Perizzite," is truly laimc.rable 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 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 Goo
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 disinterestedness 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
apon faith's treasure.  It will seek its porti n in quite
an opposite direction. Faith lays up its treasure in a
place which nafure would never dream  of examining




148                   GENESIS.
and, as to its approaching thereto, it could not if it
would; and lb 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 cAoice.
te 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
it the intrinsic character and future destiny.  The in
trinsic character was "wicked."  Its future destiny
was "judgment,"-to be destroyed 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 attracted 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 judgment.
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was
separated from him, Lift up iouw thine eyes, and loch
from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land
which thou seest, to thee will T give it, and to thy
seed forever."  The "strife" and "separation," so far
from  damaging Abraham's spiritual condition, rather
brought out, in full relief, his heavenly principles, and




oHAPTER Xm.                    14$
strengthened in his soul the life of faith.  Moreover,
it cleared the prospect for him, and delivered him from
the company of one who cnuld only prove a dead weight.
Thus it worked for good, and yielded a harvest of
l)lessing.  It is at once most solemn, and yet most
encouraging, 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. tha,
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 endureth to the end, the
same shall be saved," is a principle 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 canvas 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 commenced 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 shal' ary pluck,hem  out of my hand."   But de we not iAuo W that




150                     GENESm8.
many Christians set out on some special course of service or testimony, under the impression that they are
called of God thereto, and after a time 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'eceive 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 example of
any special character of service or testimony.  God forbid. This would be the most egregious folly and empty
conceit.  It is a teacher's business to set forth God's
Word; and it is a servant'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 more seriously
attended 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 the wav




CHAPTER XIV.                 15
When Abraham  tarried at Charran, God waited foi
him; when he went down into Egypt, he restored himI
when he needed guidance, he guided him; when there
was a strife and a separation, he took eare of him; so
that Abraham had only to say,' Oh, how great is thy
goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear
Lnee; 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
stut leanness into their souls."
CHAPTER XIV
WE are here presented with an 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




15 2)                GENESIS.
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 mar.
could never, by any possibility, tempt the cupidity 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 circumstances; but if
we abandon our high and holy position 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 sensibly affected by the wars of Sodom. It
must ever be thus. It is a bitter and a painful thing
for the child of God to mingle himself with the children.)f this world. He can never do so without serious
damage to his own soul, as well as to the testimony
with which he is entrusted. 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 testify fo.
God formed mny part of his object in "pitching his




OHAPTBS XIV..5S
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, "his righteous
soul was vexed with the filthy conversation 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 object.  It is not that a servant of
Christ may not most blessedly and effectually preach
the gospel and attend to business also: le 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 tentmaking.  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 understanding
are so blinded by self-interest or unjudged wilfulness,
as to be incapable of detecting their plausibility. How
frequently lo we hear persons defending a continuance




154                   aENESIS
in a position   hich 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 bettei than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams."  Which wasAbraham or Lot-able to do the more good? Does not
the history of those two men prove beyond a question
that the mcst effectual way to serve the world is to
be faithful to it, b; separating from  and testifying
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 con.
stitute myself the centre of my being, like a monk or
a cynic; but separation to God is a totally different
thing. The one chills and contracts, the other warnis
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 centre; this makes God
and his glory our centre.  Thus, in Abraham's case,
we see thiat the very fact of his separation enabled him
to render effectual service to one who had invclved
himself in trouble by his worldly ways. "When Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed
his trained servants, born in his owr nouse, three hundred and eighteen, aLd 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 seasonc
or adversity softo's the heart, and renders it svrceptible




^TIAPTER XIV.                  155
)f kindness, even frow one with whom we have had to,-alt company; and it is remarkable that, while in verse
12 we read, "they took Lot, Abraham's brother's son,,'
ret in verse 14 we read, "when Abram  heard that his
Doother 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
renders us independent, never renders us indifferent. It
Mrill never wrap itself up in its fleece while a brother
Bhivers in the cold. There are three things which faith
does: it " purifies the heart;" it " works by love;" and
it' overcomes the world;"and all these results of faith
%re beautifully exhibited in Abraham on this occasion.'tis heart was purified from  Sodom's pollutions; he
manifested genuine love to Lot, his brother; and, finally,:'e Wvas completely victorious over the kings. Such are
the precious fruits of faith,-that heavenly, Christhonoring princinle.
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 encounter a
fresh temptation.  Thus it was with Abraham.  "The,lllg of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return
fiom the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings:hat were with him."  There was evidently, a very
deep and insidious design of the enemy in this move.
ment.  " 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 " Chedorlaomer
and the kings that were with him." In the former, we
have rather the hiss of the serpent; in the latter, the
-oar of the lioi: but whether it were the serpent or




156                    GENESIS.
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 Melchizedek, 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 thine enemies into thy hand."  We have here to remark, first,
the peculiar point at which Melchizedek enters the
scene; and, secondly, the double effect of his ministry.
He did not come forth when Abraham was in pursuit
of Chedorlaomer, 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 character of conflict.
And then as to the ministry,-the "bread and wine"
refreshed  Abraham's spirit, after his conflict with
Chedorlaomer; while the benediction prepared his heart
fo; his conflict with the king of Sodom. Abraham was
a conqueror, and yet he was about to be a combatant,
and the royal priest refreshed the conqueror's spirit, and
fortified the combatant's heart.
It is peculiarly sweet to observe the manner in which
Melchizedek 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 earthl" filled his vision,'the goods" of Sodom could




CHAPTER XIV.                  165
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
most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that
I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, anc
that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thot
shouldest 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 separation 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 always 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 en-'ouraging 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
desirous of making  way  against "tI-  world, the'4




158                   GENESIS.
flesh, and the devil."  May the Lord keep our hearts
true to himself in the midst of the ensnaring scene
around us
CHAPTER XV.
"After these things, the word of the Lord came unte
Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward."  The Lord
would not suffer his servant fo be a loser, by rejecting
the offers of this world.  It was infinitely better fo.
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
position 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 present 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. Precious
portion I Precious hope! A portion which can never
be exhausted: a hope which will never nake ashamed
bo'h are infallibly secured by the counsels of God, and
the accomplished atonement of Christ.  The present




CHAPTER XV.                  159
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 enioying either the'hield" 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.
Hen e in the section of Abraham's history now before
us, we see that when he had returned from tLe 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 exceeding great reward."  Let the
neart ponder this, for it contains a volume of deeply
practical truth. We shall now examine the remainder
of the chapter.
In it we have unfolded to us the two great principles
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, thou hast given to me no
seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir."
Abraham  desired a son, for he knew  upon divine
authority 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 bowels shall be thine heir.'
Sonship is the proper basis of every thing; and moreover it is the result of God's sovereign counsel and
operation, as we read in James, "of his own will begat
he us." Finally, it is founded upon God's eternal principle of resurrection. Iow else could it be? Abraham's
body was "dead;" wlherefore, in his case, as in every




160                   GENESIS.
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 di
mensions; 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.  Wherefore, 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 any thing.
"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. 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




CHAPTER XV.                  161
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 connected
with faith in him  as the One who raised up Christ
from the dead.
It is in this way that the apostle handles the question 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
inlputed, if wc  beli eve on him1 that raised up Jesus our
Lord fronm the dead."  IIere 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 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 don i into the un1.




162                   GENESIS.
explored 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 travelled 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 every thing human,-the end of sin,
-the full limit of Satan's power. The grave of Jesus
forms the grand  terminus of all.  But resurrection
takes us beyond this terminus and constitutes the imperishable basis on which God's glory and man's blessing  repose forever.  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 believer,
constitutes him  a son.  He is quickened out of the
grave of Christ; as we read, " and you, being dead in
your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having'orgiven you all
trespasses." (Col. ii. 13.)




CHAPTER XV.                   163
Hence, lherefore, sonship, being founded on relar-:ection, stanas:onnected with perfect justification,perfect righteousness,-perfect freedom from every thing
which could, in any wise, 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 beautifully characteristic of his?race 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 himself in robes of his own providing;
and it would not have been righteous to bring him in
in his rags; but 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 the 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 sonshilp, 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




164                   GENESIS.
the sand on the s a-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,
" THROUGH GRACE, BY FAITH, WITHOUT WORKS OF LAW."
But, then, our chapter opens another most important
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, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together."  Our way to  the  kingdom  lies
through suffering, affliction, and tribulation; but, thank
God, we can, by faith, say, " the sufferings of this pres
ent 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 patience, 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 n blest companionship with him along the
road which leads directly to the glorious inheritance.
The Heir and the joint-heirs reach that inheritance by
bte oathway of suffering




CHAPTER XV.                     165
But let it be remembered that the suffering of which
the joint-heirs participate has no penal element 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 nowhere ese
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. "
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 travelled 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 every thing.  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 uttered the cry alone; he sings the " new
song" in company.  (Ps. xl. 2, 3.)
Now, the question is, Shall we 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 ques



166                   GENESIS.
Lion is evident from the Spirit's constant use of the,vord "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 Ho'y 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 ye may be counted worthy of the family of God
for which ye also suffer."  They were in the family
already; but they were bound for the kingdom; and,heir 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 round 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 enjoyment
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 mne, or
public identification with me, it is evidently quite
another thing.  This is but a feeble illustration of the




CHAPTER XV.                   167
dea of capacity in the Father's hoube, and assigned
position in the kingdom 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.  "Unto
you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to be
lieve 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 every thing
else, let us beware of a legal spirit; for it must not be
imagined that a man, with the yoke of legality round
nis 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 shrink
ing 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




168                   GENESIS.
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 shall also my servant be." What was
the goal of Christ's earthly career? Was it an elevated,
nfluential position in this world? By no means. What
hen? 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 company 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 us answer these 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 eun
was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and. 4),




CHAPTER XV                   169
an horror of great darkness fell 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
Vears: 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 dispersed 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 graciously
ppeared for their relief, such as their deliverance from
Egypt, by the hand of Moses; their deliverance from
under the power of the kings of Canaan, by the ministry
Df 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 furnace, the brighter and more cheering
will be the lamp of God's salvation.
Nor is this principle confined merely to the people of
I 




17 0 ENESIS.
God as a whole; it applies just as fully to individuals.
All who have ever reached a position of eminence as
servants, have endured the furnace before they enjoyed
the lamp. " An horror of great darkness" passed across
the spirit of Abraham.  Jacob had to endure twentyone years of sore hardship, in the house of Laban.
Joseph found his furnace 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 gar.
den, he may do more harm than good.  Why?  Is it
because he is not a dear child? No; but because he is
not a practised servant  This makes all the difference.
Relationship and office are distinct things.  Not one of
the Queen's children is at present 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.  Undoubtedly they have;~ yet it ever holds good
that public service and private discipline are intimately
connected in the ways 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




CHAPTER XVI.                 171
It will, generally be found that those who take a
prominent pllace without more or less of the above
moral qualifications, will sooner or later break down.
Lord Jesus, keep thy feeble servants very near unto
thine own most blessed person, and in the hollow of
thine hand I
CHAPTER XVI.
HERE we find unbelief casting its dark shadow across
the spirit of Abraham, and again turning 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 impatience of unbelief; and Abram  should
have treated them accordingly, and waited patiently on
the Lord  for the  accomplishment of his gracious
promise. The poor heart naturally prefers any thing to
the attitude of waiting.  It will turn to any expedient,
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 thing to wait quietly for the
accomplishment thereof.  We can see this distinction
constantly exemplified in a child. If I promise my
child any thing, 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 cannot the wisest sage find a're mirror in which to sec lIimself reflected in the con



1, 2                  GENESIS.
duct 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 Hebrews vi. "followers of them who through faith
and patience inherit the promises."  God makes a
promise: faith believes it; hope anticipates it; patience
waits quietly for it.
Thc-e:s ^"uh a thing in the commercial world as' tne present worth" of a bill or promissory note; for if
men are called upon to wait for their money, they must
he paid for waiting.  Now, in faith's world, there is
otcn 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."  Any
thing but God for a heart under the influence of unbelief.
It is often truly marvellous 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




CHAPTER XVI.                  173
place of absolute dependence upon God.  The conse
luences 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 propei
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 young or old, is alike to
God; and, therefore, alike to faith; but, ah! we are only
in the powei of this truth when we are experimentally
finding our living centre in God himself.  When the
oye is taken off that glorious Being, we are ready for'he meanest device of unbelief. It is only when we are
consciously 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 despise God's
instrumentality.  By no means.  To do 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 instrument, and
judges of the success of a matter by the apparent
efficiency thereof, instead of by the sufficiency 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 narr)w one. It neither deifies the means on the one hand.




174                    GENESIS.
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 sufficiently attended to. God used
the ravens to minister 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 \ea.'
means soever 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 had
promised a son, no doubt, but he had not said that this
son should be Hagar's; and, in point of fact, we find
from  the narrative, that both Abraham  and  Sarah
"multiplied  their sorrow," by  having  recourse  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 sorrows which flowed
from  hastening after nature's resources.  Sarah's lig
nity was trampled down by an Egyptian bond-woran
and she found herself in the place of weakness and
contempt.  The only true place of dignity and power
is the place of felt weakness and dependence.  There
is no 9ne 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 s-stained




CHAPTER XVI.                 175
by diverging, in the smallest measure, from the path ot
faith. No doubt, all those who walk in that path will
find trial and exercise; but or. thing is certain, tha
the blessings and joys which peculiarly belong to them
are ii.finitely 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 reaping 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 her.  " But Abram said
into 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
bond-woman " 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 God for deliverance, 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
te render our path more difficult. Thus Hagar had to




11 6                  QENELiS.
return, and'- birth to her son, whi(n son proved tc
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 teaching, 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. Things must take their
course.  " Whatsoever a man soweth that shal he also
reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption; but 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 be reaped.  Abraham and
Sarah had to endure the presence of -he bond-woman
and her son for a number of years, and then get rid of
them  in God's way.  There is peculiar 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 bond-woman
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 (hild that is weaned
of his mother."  No two figures can be more opposite
t*n a stubborn bullock and a weaned child.  The




CHAPTER XVI.                   ir
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 every
thing, and rendering his portion all the sweeter by entire subjection of spirit.
And now, as to the doctrinal view of this chapter.
We are authorized to look at Hiagar and her -on, as
figures of the covenant of works, and all who are thereby
brought into bondage.  (See Gal. iv. 22-25.)  "The
fesh " is, in this important passage, contrasted with
" promise;" and thus we not only get the divine 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 "promise."  The tw( 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 dependent 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
entirely independent of man, and founded upon God's
willingness and ability to fulfil it. When God makes a
promise there is no "if" attached thereto.  He makes
it unconditionally, and is resolved to fulfil it; and faith
rests in him in perfect liberty of heart.  It needs no
effort of nature to reach the accomplishment 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 absolutely secured by n
M




178                    GENESIS.
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 unbelief."  One great characteristi
virtue of faith is, thatit ever leaves the platform cleal
for God to show himself; and truly, when he shows
himself, man must take the place of a happy worshipper.
The error into which the Galatians allowed themselves
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, unqualified, 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 every thing in refer 
ence 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 Christianity 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




CHATERS XVI.                    17 
Hence, therefore, a man who tells me, " You must be
so and so, in order to be saved," robs the cross of all its
glory, and robs me of all my peace.  If salvation
depends upon our being or doing aught, we  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
Nod 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 " stand still 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  (EP vo, u), ye are fallen from grace."
If man has any thing 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 Ilagar, God has nothing to do with it; and if it be
Sarah, man has nothing to do with it. Thus it stands
throughout.  The law  addresses man, tests him, sees
what he is really worth, prov s him a ruin, and puts




180                   GENESI8.
him under the curse; and not only puts him under i.
but keeps him there so long as he is occupied with it,so long as he is alive.  " The law hath dominion ovei
a man so long as he liveth;" but when he is dead, its
dominion 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 extraordinary strength of the
language employed in the Epistle to the Galatians: " I
marvel"-" Who hath bewitched you?"-" I am afraid
of you"-" 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 essential 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 Galatians, like Abraham in this chapter, were going away from God, and
returning to the flesh.  What remedy could be devised
fr this?  How can you correct an error which consists
in departing from that which alone can correct any thing?
To fall from grace, is to get back under the law, from




CHAPTER  XVn.                          181
which  nothing  can  ever be  reaped  but "the  CURSE."
May  the  Lord  establish  our hearts in  his own  most'
excellent grace I
CHAPTER XVII.
HERE we have  God's remedy  for Abraham's failure
set before us.   "And  when  Abram  was ninety  years
old and nine, the Lord  appeared unto Abram, and said
unto  him, I  am  the Almighty  God: walk  before me,
and be thou perfect."*   This is a most comprehensive
* I would here offer a remark as to the word "perfect."  When
Abraham  was called upon to be "perfect," it did not mean perfect
ki 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
"perfect" 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
worfi "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 which is in heaven; for he maketh 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;" for his Father is dealing 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).
Al I contend  for is, that a Christian  so doing is acting in a
1i




182                          GENESIS
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 fai.h
alone  that can  enable  a  man  to  walk  up  and  downr
before an Almighty One. Unbelief will ever be thrusting in something of self, something of circumstances,
second causes, and the like, and thus the soul is robbed
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 those who, were he to go to law  with
them, should be in hell.  Wherefore it is plain that a Christian,
when he brings a man before the judgment-seat, is not "perfect as
his Father which is in heaven is perfect."
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 unrighteou6 in  demanding what was due to him; but he was ungracious. He was totally finlike his master. IHe had  been forgiven ten thousand talents, and yet he could seize his fellow by
the throat for a paltry  hundred  pence. What was the consequence?  He  was  delivered  to  the  tormentors.  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 tne  word.  It is
perfect, as pertaining to the conscience."  This is a deeply important use of the ter'u. The worshipper under the law  never could




CHAPTER  XVII.                          183
)f the joy and peace, the calm elevation, and holy independence, which  flow  from  leaning upon the  arm  of
One who can do every thing. I believe we deeply need
to ponder this. God is not such an abiding reality to
our souls as he ought to be, or as he would be, were
we walking in more simple faith and dependence.
"Walk  before me."   This is true  power.   To  walk
have a perfect conscience, for the si..lest reason possible, because
he never had a perfect sacrifice.'1.-  blood of a bullock and a
goat did well enough for a  time, 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
worshipper under the law?  Nay; but because he has gotten  a
better sacrifice. If Christ's sacrifice 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 pretend to the former,
is to exalt self; to refuse the latter, is to dishonor Christ.  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 crucified.  This makes a wide  difference.  The
Christian has sin in him, but not ol 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. we have two other senses of the word
"perfect."   The  apostle  says, "not as though  I had  already
attained, either were already perfect;" and yet a little farther on he
says, "Let as 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 affections.




184                   GENESTS.
Lhus, 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 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. lxii. 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 skepticism,
formally shut out God altogether; but it, assuredly,
cannot say, "He only."
Now, it is well to see that, as in the matter of sai!-ta
tion, so in all the details of actual life, from day to day,
God will not share his glory with the creature. Fronm
first to last, it must be "he only;" and this, too, in
reality. It will not do to have the language of dependence upon God on our lips, while our hearts are really
leaning or some creature resource. God will make all
this fully manifest; he will test the heart; he will
pat faith into the furnace.  " Walk before me, and be




ctiAPTliR xvn                 185
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 creature expectations, then, and only
then, it is prepared to let God act; and when he acts
all must be well.  He will not leave any thing undone
He will perfectly settle every thing on behalf of those
who simply 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 a' co me and I will settle it
for you, beyond your utmost desires and expectations;
the seed and the inheritance, and every thing pertaining
thereto, will be fully and everlastingly 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
Creator of heaven and earth, the possessor of all things,
"the Almighty God."
"And God talked with him."  It is when man is ic
the dust that God can talk to him  in grace.  Abra.
ham'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 revelation of himself.
It is when the creature is laid low that God can show




186                    GENESIS.
himseit in the unclouded effulgence cf what he is.
He will not give his glory 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 unfolding of the divine character. How
different is Abraham's attitude in this and the preceding chapter! There, he had nature before him; hera
he has the Almighty God.  There, lie was an actor,
here, he is a worshipper. 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.  Ience, God can say, "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
any thing of itself.
The  covenant of circumcision is now  introduced
Every member of the household of faith must bear in
ais 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 uncircumcised man-child,
whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul
shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken m
covenant."  We are taught in Romans iv., that cir
cumcision was "a seal of the righteousness of faith.
"Abraham  believed God, and it was counted unto him
tor righteousness."  Being thus counted righteous, Goc
set his " seal" upon him.
The seal with which the believer is now sealed is not




CHAPTERS XVII.                 187
a mark in the flesh, but " that Holy Spirit of promise,
whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption."
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
ve 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
passage, unfolding to us the true idea of what circumcision was meant to typify.  Every believer belongs to
"the circumcision" in virtue of his living association
with him  who, by his cross, has forever abolished
every thing 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 accepted in him, —their sins, their iniquities, their transgressions, their enmity, their uncircumcision, having been entirely put away by the cross.
The 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:n the abov' passage teaches that the




188                    GENE818.
Church was quickened out of the grave of Christ; and
moreover, that the forgiveness of all her trespasses 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 may be rendered, " according 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 whicL
it rests.
What rest-perfect rest —for the heart and conscience;s 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 detect in us, he laid on the
head of Christ when he hung upon the cross I He
iudged him  there and then, instead of judging us, in
hell forever! Precious 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.
And now, what remains for those who know  these
things, save  to  "be  steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord."  Thus may it be,
0 Lord, through the grace of thy Holy Spirit!




CHAPTER  XVIII.
THIS chapter affords a beautiful exemplification (f the
results of an obedient, separated walk.  "Beholt,'
Ntand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voi
and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with
him, and he with me." (Rev. iii. 20.) Again, we read,
Jesus answered, and said unto him, If a mat. 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
connection with our chapter, we learn that an obedient
soul enjoys a character of communion entirely unknown
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 justification, under the eye of
God. The one life flows down from the Head in heaven
through 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 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
beavenly  Father?  Unquestional ly. John  xir  23,
189




190                    GENESIS.
puts this quite beyond dispute; and, moreover, it prove
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 commands, 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 he
may have failed in detail, was nevertheless characterized 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 refreshment for
the Lord, enjoying full communion witl( 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, separated, 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 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 sending 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 interruption, nc
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




CHAPTER XVIII.                 191
of inspiration, 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,-refreshment'ovingly offered and willingly accepted. (Ver. 1-8.)
Then we find Abralham  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. 16, 21.)  What ccio
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 scrip
ture. 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.  "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." (Ps. 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."
(Ps. cxxvi. 2.)  When Jehovah makes rs to laugh, we
may laugh heartily.  "l'it Sarah denied, saying, 1




192                   GENESIS.
laughed not; for she was afraid." Unbelief makes us
cowards 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 about 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 purposes
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 every thing.
I do not need to study the 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 all 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
ase 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 giving in marriage.
Doubtless, too, they would never dream of judgment,




CHAPTER XVIn                  193
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 the 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 understand it all. And what use did he make of
his knowledge and his elevated position?  How was he
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 " 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 I 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 accept,
ance he sits enthroned amid the brightness of the
Majesty in the heavens! And with what efficacy he
pleads before that Majesty for those who are toiling
17                N




194                    GENESIS
1loDg amid the defilement of this present scene! Happy,
ineffably happy, they who are the subjects of such aliprevailing 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 fulness of his grace, and
the suitability of his provision, for all our need.
We see in this scripture that how  blessed soever
Abraham's intercession might be, yet it was limited.
because the intercessor was but a man.  It did not
reach the need.  He 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
t.o 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 oui
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 flowing
oat of the truth contained therein, or not, is nevertheless worthy of consideration.  It is of the utmost im
portance in the study of scripture to distinguish between God's moral government of the world, and the
tec:ific hope of the Chlurh    The entire body of Old




CHAPTER Xvm.                 195
Testament prophecy, and much of the New, treats of
the former, and, in so doing, presents, I need hardly say,
a subject of commanding 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 thoughts about Tyre, Babylon, Nineveh, and
Jerusalem,-about Egypt, Assyria, and the land of
Israel.  In short, the entire rat ge of Old Testament
prophecy demands the prayerful attention of every true
believer. But let 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 lhope.
And yet, a large portion of the Old-Testament piophecies has been applied to the Church; and this application
has involved the whole subject in such mist and confusion that simple minds are scared away from  the
study; and, in neglecting the study of prophety, they
have also neglected that which is quite distinct from pro.
phecy, properly so called, even the hope of the Church;
which hope, be it well remembered, is not any thing
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 forever like him.
Many may say, I have no head for prophecy.  Perhaps not, but you have a heart for Christ? Surely if'ou love Christ, you will love his appearing, though




196                   GENESIS.
you may have no capacity for prophetic investigation.
An affectionate wife may not have a 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 Tor the person of the Lord Jesus
can entertain the mos intense desire to see him; and
this is the Church's h pe. 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 Thessalonian saints could, at the moment of their
conversion, have known little, if any thing, 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 government; 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, ind "make ready a people pre.
pared for the Lord I'




CHA PTER XIX.
TIERE are two methods which the Lord gra, iousl?
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
shakeable 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 promised, saying, Yet once I shake, not only
the earth, but also heaven. Now this word Once signifieth the removal of the shakeable things, as of things
that are made, that the unshakeable 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 tLe world when we
have, by faith, laid hold of Christ: the difficulty would
then be to hold it. If a scavenger were left an estate.f ton thoisand a year, he would not long continue to
197




198                     OGNESIS.
sweep the streets. Thus, if we are realizing our portion
amid the unshakeable realities of heaven, we shall find
little difficulty in resigning the delusive joys of earth.
LIet 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 progress.
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 way into it; and now we
find him sitting in the gate,-a prominent, 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." We 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 witnesses 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 thiigs which are seen, and temporal:" whereas
Abraham looked at "the things which are unseen ana
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
* It would furnish a very searching question for the heart, in refer.
ence to every undertaking, were we t ) ask, "Am I doing this by faith'"
4 Whatever is not of faith is sin;" and, Without faith it is impossible
toy laMOM"




CHAPTER XIX.                 199
public testimony was concerned. Nodoul t Lot was saved,
yet it was'"so as by fire," for, truly, " his work was burned
~lp."  On the other hand, Abraham had "an abundant
entrance ministered 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 refreshing
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 comrune 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 I  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 partaking
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 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 ente,
under the roof of one in a wrong position.  Indeed.
their mnlv object in coming to Sodom seems to have




200                   GENESIS.
been to deliver Lot, and that, too, oecause 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
trongly marked.  It was simply for Abraham's sake
hat 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 "choose," then to
"pitch his tent toward," and finally, to "sit in the gate
of Sodom."  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
thig to seek, in any wise, to manage for ourselves; we
are sure to make the most grievous mistakes.  It is
iD2nitely 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 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 himself
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 incipient workings )f
a worldly spirit. "Be content with such things as ye
have.'  Why?  Is it because you are so well off in the




CHAPTER XIX.                 201
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
rorsake 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 inducement 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 indeed.  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 testimony against its
wickedness. " This one fellow came in to sojourn, and
he will needs be a judge."  This will never do.  The
rue way to judge is to stand apart, in the moral power
of grace, not in the supercilious spirit of Pharisaism.
To attempt to reprove the world's ways while we profit
by asscciation 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
s tU be judged




202                   GENES1S.
Abraham was in a far better position to speak of judg
ment, inasmuch as he was entirely outside of the sphere
thereof.  The tent of the stranger at Mamre was in no
Janger, though Sodom were in flames.  Oh, that our
hearts longed more after the precious fruits of a realized
btrangership, so that instead of having, like poor Lot,
to be dragged by main force out of the world, and
casting a lingering look behind, we might, with holy
alacrity bound forward like a racer towards the goal!
Lot evidently longed after the scene which he was
forced oy 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!
hot so, my Lord: behold, now, thy servant hath found
grace in thy sight, and thou hast 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
Qod 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 soul shall live."  How sad I
There is no casting himself wholly ipon God. Alas 




OHAPTER XIX.                 203
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 invisible 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
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
UIoabites,-the determined enemies of the people of
God.  What a volume of solemn instruction is here I
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 I
What a commentary is Lot's history upon that brief
but comprehensive admonition, "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 l:e only holds back the




204                  OGENSIS.
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 separation
from the world. Let us, while standing outside its en
tire range, be found cherishing the hope of the Master'E
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 into the presence of
the Lord, and, from that elevated ground, look forth
upon the scene of wide-spread ruin and desolation, —t
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 anxiousafter 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 F
Where is Gomorrah?  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 judgment of God!  Consumed  by his
fire and brimstone!  Well, his judgments now hang
over this guilty world. The day is at hand; and, while
judgments impend, the sweet story of grace is being
told out to many an ear.  Happy they who hear and
believe that story! Happy they who flee to the strong
mountain of God's salvation! who take refuge behind
the cross of the Son of God, and therein find pardon
and peace I
God grant that tne reader of these lines may know




OHAPTER XX.                  205
hat it is, with a conscience purged from sin, and his
heart's affections purged from the defiling influence 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; ana
it was his privilege to have vindicated God's faithful.
ness in the midst of the most appalling difficulties.
Thus, too, he would have maintained his own dignity
as a ma of faith.




206                   GENESIS.
It is often a source of sorrow to the neart to mara
now the children of God dishonor him and, as a consequence, lower themselves before the woEld by losing
the sense of his sufficiency for every emergency   So
long as we live in the realization of the truth that alt
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 being 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, understand the life of faith?  Inr
possible: the springs on which it draws lie far away
beyond their comprehension.  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 actings
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 ex 
posing himself to the rebuke and reproach of the men
of the world, 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 may, it is true, see some who
are naturally upright and honorable in their ways
yet nature's uprightness and honor cannot be trusted




CHAPTER XX.'207
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 th
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 unslumbering  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 ex
haustless.  He can wait.  He can bear with us; but
he never will conduct a soul to the culminating point
of blessing and power while leaven remains known and
unjudged.  Thus much as to Abimelech and Abraham.
Let us now look a" the moral dignity of the latter, iv
the view of God.




208                   GENESIS.
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 wvorld.
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
auman 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 himself 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 beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness in Israel."
" How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob, and thy taber
nacles, 0 Israel."  Again, when Satan stands forth to
resist Joshua, tho word is, " The Lord rebuke thee, 0
Satan,... is rot this a brand plucked out of the




CHAPTER XX.                   209
tire?" Thus he ever puts himself betveen his people
and every tongue that would accuse them.  He does
not answer the accusation by a reference to what his
people are in themselves, or to what they are in the
view of the men of this world, but to what he himself
iias 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 Abimelech
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 Abraham  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 inconsistent 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 dart of the enemy
can penetrate the shield, behind which the Lord ha.
hidden the very feeblest lamb of his blood-bought flock.
He hides his people in his pavilion, sets their feet upon
the Rock of ages, lifts their head above their enemies
round about, and fills their hearts witF the everlasting
joy of his salvation.
His name be praised for evermore I
0




CHAPTER XXI.
* A'ND the Lord visited Sarah, as he I ad said, and,he Lord 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 portion and resting-place, amid the unsatisfying
shadows of this scene through which we are passing;
to have our anchor cast within the veil; to have the
word and oath of God, the two immutable things, to lean
upon, for the comfort and tranquillity of our souls.
When God's promise stood before the soul of 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,
afford 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
mus' wait, and nature must be still; yea, must be en
210




CHAPTER XXI                    21*
tirely set aside as a dead, worthless thing, and then the
divine glory can shine out, and faith find in that out
shining 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 surely 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, when every outward
thing seems to be against it; and, "at the set time,"
the mouth is filled with laughter.  "Abraham  was an
hundred years 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 Al raham's house.  The son of the free-woman
very speedily developed the true character of the son of
the bonl-woman.  Indeed, Isaac proved in principle
to be to the household of Abraham what the implantaion of the (nw nature is in the soul o' a sinner.  1I




212                    GENESIS
was not Ishmael changed, but i. was Isaac born   The
son of the bond-woman could never be any thing else but
that.  He might become a great nation; he might dwell
in the wilderness and become an archer; he might be
come the father of twelve princes;-but he was the son of
the bond-woman 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 standing 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 implantation of the
nature or life of the second Adam, by the operation of
the Holy Ghost, founded upon the accomplished redemption of Christ, and in full keeping 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 fiee-woman. (See Rom. x. 9; Col. iii. 4;
I 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
ne 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




CHAPTER XXI.                  213
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 regene.
ration is a certain change which the old nature under
goes; 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 carnal mind is enmity against God."
How can that which is thus spoken of ever undergo any
improvement?  The apostle goes on to say, "it is not
subject 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
you will with flesh, and it is flesh all the while.  As
Solomon says, "Though thou 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 folly.  Again, "ye have
pit 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 tie last-quoted passage.  It is a putting off the old
and a putting on of the new   Nothing can o' noore
distinct or simple




214                   GENESB&
Passages might easily be multiplied to prove the unsoundness of the theory, with respe^t to the gradual
improvement of the old nature,-to pro'v  that the old
nature is dead in sins, and utterly unrenewable and unimproveable; and, moreover, that the only thing we can
do with it is, to keep it under our feet in the power ce
that new life which we have in union with our risen
Head in the heavens.
The birth of Isaac did not improve Ishmael, but 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 remedy?  To make
Ishmael better?  By no means; but, " cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bond-woman
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 you 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 something 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 th- in*rcodv -tion of that which addressed itself to




CHAPTER XX1.                 215
aature.  "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
tihe whole glorious fabric of redemption, which, as the
believer knows, rests exclusively upon what Christ is,
and what he has done.  To make salvation dependent
in the most remote manner upon any thing in, or done
bv, 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 worshipper; 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, distinguishes it from every system of
human religion under the sun, whether it be Romanism,
Puseyism, or any other ism whatsoever.  Human religion gives the creature a place more or less; it keeps
the bond-woman 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 bond-woman and her son, and
gives all the glory to him to whom alone it is due.




216                   GENESIS.
But let us Inquire who this bond-woman and her soi
really are, and what they shadow forth. Galatians iv
furnishes ample teaching as to these two points. In a
word then the bond-woman represents the covenant of
the law; and her son represents all who are " of works
of law," or on that principle (F FPYWv vokov). 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 Romans vii. " Wherefore, my
brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ, that ye 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 you free, ye shall be free indeed."
(John viii. 36.) "So, then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, 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 strangest way
possible, even by keeping the bond-woman 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 thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight,
necause of his son." Still, however grievous it may




OaAXPTEB  XXII.               217
be it is according to the divine mind that we should
abidingly "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Chiis%
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
G 3d'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 fulness in Christ which renders all appeal to nature utterly superfluous and vain.
CHAPTER XXII.
ABRAHAM 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
bond-woman 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 Satan; 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, "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
19




21                    GENESIS
or thine intellect, or thy talents, or thy tongue, or thy
money;" but "Give me thine heart:" and in order tc
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-offering, 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
crucible 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
ove of our hearts.  He himself did not rest satisfied
with giving an ordinary proof. lie 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 signal
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, 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
wovld make it manifest that he loved him better thar




CHAPTER XXII.                219
an.  he or any thing, by laying his hand upon the
nea i,. and dearest object.  "Take now thy son, thine
only sLa, Isaac."  Yes, Isaac, the child of promise;
Isaac, ti.  object of long-deferred hope, the object of
parental I, ve, and the one in whom all the kindreds of
the earth wvre to be blessed. This Isaac must be offered
as a burnt-oJtering. This, surely, was putting faith to
the test, in oJer that, being more precious than gold
that perisheth, chough it be tried with fire, it might be
found unto praise, and honor, and glory. Had Abraham's whole soul lot been stayed simply on the Lord,
he never could ha e yielded unhesitating obedience to
such a searching command.  But God himself was the
living and abiding support of his heart, and therefore
ne was prepared to gix e up all for him.
The soul that has fodnd all its springs in God. nan
without any demur, retire from all creature streams
We can give up the creatue- just in proportion as we
have found out, or become experimentally acquainted
with the Creator, and no further. To attempt to give
up the visible things in any other way, save in the
energy of that faith which lays hoZd of the invisible, is
the most fruitless labor possible.  It cannot be done
I will hold fast my Isaac until I have found my all ir
God.  It is when we are enabled by faith, to say " God is
our refuge and strength, a very present telp in trouble,"
that we can also add, "therefore will we nmt 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




220                   GENESIb.
to look at circumstances, or ponder results; 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 1
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 impulse, 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 direction. To
use a familiar illustration: on a railway, we should find
steam of little use without the iron 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
lot 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 following principle




CHAPTER XXII.                  221
viz., whenever devotedness passes beyond divinelyappointed 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
b)ased upon God's command.
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 carriage; but if I am  thinking
more of myself than of him, I shall rather be a coachman than a shoeblack.  So it is 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 destroy
an army, or to protect the person of some heir of salvation   It is the Master who entirely fills his vision.  As




922                   GENESbS.
some one has remarked, "if two angels were sent from
heaven, one to rule an empire, and the othei to sweet
the streets, they would not dispute about their respective
work."  This is most true, and so should it be witl
us.  The servant should ever be combined with thb
worshipper, and the works of our hands perfumed with
the ardent breathings 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
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 iaith and labor of love," in the
highest sense.  It was no mere mockery-no drawing
near with +he lips, while the heart was air off-i o say



CHAPTER xxII.                  223
nag, " I go, sir, and went not."  It was al 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 because 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 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;" and 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.  Ile showed that he could
not merely trust God for an innumerable seed while




224                   GENESIS.
Isaac stood before 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
confidence; 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.  " He
accounted that God was able."  Hie never accounted
that Isaac was able. Isaac without God was nothing;
God without Isaac was every thing. 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 worshipping 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, because his eye
rested on the God of resurrection.  " 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
suffel him to go. The Blessed One spared the father's
heart the pang which he did not spare his own heart,
even that of smiting his Son.  Ile, blessed be his name,
passed beyond the utmost bounds, for "he spared not
his own Son, but delivered 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 Cal



HAP"ER XXn.                   225
rary, the Father offered up his only-begotten Son. No,
it was 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 fearest
God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine
only son, from me.' Mark, it is "now I know."  It
had never been provea before.  It was there, no doubt;
and, if there, God knew it; but the valuable point here
is, that God  founds his knowledge 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
aot Abraham our father justified  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 worshipper,-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 he 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 are
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 circumstances, and meet
the waves and the winds, and not only meet them
P




226                   GENESIS.
but endure them, even though the Master should seem
to be asleep on the pillow.
And here I would remark the beautiful harmony
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 inspiration
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 discrepancy 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 di
rinely-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 manifested 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 without 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 ssclet
standing; in the latter, his public acknowledirm.nt 1))




CHAPTER XXII.                 221
heaven and 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 1
know;" and all the world had a powerful and unanswerable proof of the fact that Abraham was a justified
man. Thus will it ever be. Where there is the inward
principle, there will be the outward 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 interesting 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 us 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 exquisite depths of that title
which he here bestows upon God, viz., "Jehovah Jirch.'
It is')nly when we are really put to the test that we




228                   GENESS.
discover what God is. Without trial we can be but
theorists, and God would not have us such: he would
have us entering into tie 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 every thing! 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 easily be estimated.  It is when men are brought, to use the language of the 107th Psalm, " to their wits' end," that they
discover what 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 remarks
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 thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will
bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon
the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of
is enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice."
This beautifully corresponds with the Spirit's notice of
Al, aham's acting, as put before us in Heb xi. and also




CHAPTER xxn                   229
In James ii., in both of which scriptures he is looked
upon as having offered Isaac his son upon the altar
The grand principle conveyed 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 sufficiency, 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 every thing to the man of faith.
"For when 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, because
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, influential reality
which it ought ever to be; we do not draw from it that
" strong consolation" which it is calculated to lfford.
How little prepared are we, in the power of faith, in the
promise of God, to slay our Isaac I We need to cry to
GC.d that he would be graciously pleased to endow us
20




230                   GENESIS.
with a deeper insight into the blessed reality of a jife
of faith in himself, that so we may understand better
the import of that word of St. John: "This is the
victory that overcometh the world, even your 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 entirely independent of things here.  Beloved reader, may we know
this, for our peace and joy in God and his glory in us
CHAPTER XXIII.
THIS little section of inspiration furnishes much sweet
and profitable instruction to the soul. In it the Holy
Spirit sets before us a beautiful exhibition 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 independent of the meei 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 provide things honest in the sight of all;"
(2 Cor. viii. 21:) "to owe no man any thing;" (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 I have not been sufficiently
attended to




CHAPTER XXIII.                231
The 23d 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 mourner.
"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 charac
ter 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
burying-place, Abraham gave expression to his faith in
resurrection.  " He stood up from  before his dead."
Faith cannot long keep death in view; it 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 pulchased 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




232                   GENESIS.
be fulfilled, and he was able to lay the body of Saran
in the tomb, "in sure and certain hope.f a glorious
resurrection. 
The sons of Heth knew nothing about this   The
thoughts which were filling the patriarch's soul were
ntirely foreign to the uncircumcised children of Heth.
ro 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 character.
istics of faith are those which are most incomprehensible to the natural man. The Canaanites had no idea
of the expectations which were giving character to
Abraham's actings 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
he 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.
"These all died in (or according to) faith, (zaa 7tsivr^,)
not having received the promises, but having 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,"




CHAPTER XXII.                 233
of whom the apostle is speaking in Heb. xi not merely
li ed 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 believe this purchase of a buryingplace 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 righteous 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 he would
be no debtor to those who were yet to be dispossessed.
Thus we may view this beautiful chapter in a twofold light; first, as setting before us a plain, practical
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 example of what the
child of God should ever be.  The hope set before us
n the gospel is a glorious immortality; and this, while
t lifts the heart above every influence of nature and the
world, furnishes a high and holy principle with which
to govern all our intercourse 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




234                   GENESIS
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 disinterestedness. He was
"a mighty prince among them," and they would fain
have done him a favor; but Abraham  had learnt to
take his favors only from the God of resurrection, and
while he would pay them for Machpelah, he would lock
to him for Canaan.  The sons of Heth knew well the
value of "current money with the merchant," and Abranam knew the value of the cave of Machpelah. It was
worth much more to him than it was to them.  " The
-and 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 ever.asting inheritance, 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 of 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 Chap. 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 in the minds of some; but it
must at least be regarded 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, lastly, 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 ('eath 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 subsisted there was the most strict
separation maintained between Jew  and Gentile, and
283




236                  GENEBIS.
hence the idea of both being united in one new man
was far removed 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 graciously
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 crucifying the Lord of
life and glory, and rejecting the testimony of the Hoiy
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 testimony 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
grace 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,
IOLa aeyCot af070oOLoo acvfov xM 7popraq) 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 GeoDtile,
baptized by one Spirit into one body, united to the
glorious Head in the heavens, had never been revealed
antil Paul's day.  Of this mystery the apostle goes on
to say, "I was made a minister, according to the gift
of the grace of God, given unto me, by the effectual




CHAPTER XXIV.                237
working of his power." (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, whatever
be the position assigned to the Old-Testament 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 demonstration 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 24th of Genesis.
There may be a question  in some minds as to
whether we are to view this deeply-interesting portion
of scripture as a type of the calling out of the Church
by the Holy Ghost.  For myself, I feel happier in
-aerely 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 compact not typl



238                    GENESIS.
cal or illustrative of some great trLth.  "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 illustration 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 Testament, there are, nevertheless,
scenes and circumstances 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 consider the
following points, viz., 1, the oath; 2, the testinmony
3, the result.  It is beautiful to observe that the call
and exaltation of Rebekah 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 subject of it all. So it is 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 vet 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 heavenlies
in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
hoIl  and without blame before him  in love." (Eph




CHAPTERS XXIV.                239
i, 3, 4.)  "For whom  he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren
M'oreov 3r, whom he did predestinate, them he also ctlled;
and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom
lie 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 justification,
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 ser.
vant had for its object the provision of a partner for the
son.  It was the father's desire with respect to the son
that all led to 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 dhsse things, and
even to life itself, was forfeited by bin; but Christ




240                   GENESIS.
met all the penalty due to sin; he made himself
responsible for every thing on behalf )f his body the
Church; he was nailed to the cross as her representative;
he bore her sins in his own body on the tree, and went
down into the grave under the 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 Tin. 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, nothing can be
so calculated to assure the heart a  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 fulness of him
that filleth all in all " (Eph. i. 23.) This last is a
remarkable exi esaion.  The word translated "fulness3




CHAPTER XXIV.                 241
means the complement, that which, being added to somethir  else, makes up a whole.  Thus it is that Christ
the Read, and the Church the body, make up the "one
net man."  (Eph. ii. 15.)  Looking at the matter in
this point of view, it is nlo marvel that the Church
should have been the object of God's eternal counsels
Wt. en we view her as the body, the bride, the companion, the counterpart, of his only-begotten Son, we
feel that there was, through grace, wondrous reason for
her being so thought of before the foundation 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 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
glorv as she is the share of all that love of which be
21




242                    BENSI8S.
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 perfect
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 quoted 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 perfected 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
fill confidence 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 ground
for uncertainty. Every thing 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 Church." (Eph. i. 22.) It
will be his joy throughout eternity to  exhibit the
Church in all the glory and beauty with which he has
endowed her, for her glory and beauty will be but the
reflection of his. Angels and principalities shall behold
in the Church the marvellous display of the wisdom,
power, and grace of God in Christ.
But we shall now look at the second point for con



CHAPTER XXIV.                  24?
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 hatb
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 illustrative 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 fronr
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me." (John xv. 26.)
Again, " Howbeit when 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




344                   GENESIS.
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 work; 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 mistake.
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 assured 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 revelation 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 answer was. "Blessed art thou, Simon Barionah; 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 I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 17, 18.)  What rock?




CHAPTER XXIV.                  245
Peter? God forbid  " This rock" (ravrn tr Attpa) 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," &c. 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
24th of Genesis such a marked and beautiful 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 highlyfavored 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 testimony
of thb  Holy Ghost.  He speaks of Christ, the glory of
Christ, the beauty o" Christ, the fulness of Christ, the




346                    GENI5fT.
grace of Christ, " the unsearchable riches of Christ," the
dignity 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 teaching will ever be
characterized by a full and constant presentation of
Christ.  He will ever form the burden 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 excellencies.  Hence, when a man is
ministering by the power of the Spirit of God, there
will always be more of Christ than any thing else in his
ninistry. 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.
Fh' testimony of Abraham's servant sank down into her
eals, 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 appre.
helied.  It was morally impossible that she could be



CHAPTER XXIV.                 24'.ieve herself 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 report,
the testimony of him, and had received, as it were, the
earnest of it, and these were enough for her heart; and
hence she unhesitatingly arises and expresses her readiness to depart in the memorable words, "I will go."
She was fully prepared to enter upon an unknown path
n 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 " forgetting 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 Bridegroom.  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
if the things of Jesus, and show them unto us; just as
Abrhanam's servant took of the things of Isaac, and




4 8                   GENESIS
showed them to Rebekah; and no doubt, toc, he found
his joy in pouring fresh testimonies concerning the son
into her ear, as they moved onward toward the consummation of all her joy and glory.  Thus it is, at
least with our heavenly guide and companion. He 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 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 corn
pletion and taking up of the elect bride of Christ, tho
seed of Abraham will again come into notice.  Thus,
after the marriage of Isaac, the Holy Ghost takes up
the history of Abraham's seed by a new marriage, to.




CHAPTER XXV                   249
gether 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 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 Testament.  True, in Genesis
these principles are set forth illustratively, and in the
New  Testament didactically; 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 nature.
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. Any thing that man can see he values, because he
is governed by sight, and not by faith.  To him the
present is every thing: the future is a mere uninfluential
thing,-a matter of the merest uncertainty.  Thus it
was with Esau. Hear his fallacious reasoning: " Behold,
I am at the point to die; and what profit shall this
birthright do to me?  What strange reasoning!  The
present is slip'ng from beneath my feet: I dil there



250                   GENESIS'ore despise and entirely let gc the future' Time is
fading from my view, I will therefore abandon all interest in eternity! "Thus Esau despised his birthright."  Thus Israel despised the pleasant land; (Ps.
cvi. 24); thus they 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 every thing 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 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 con7ersation 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 elements shall melt
with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to his
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness."  (2 Pet. iii. 11-13.)  These
are the thoughts of Gkd, 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 res(iarce?
"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 us judging
of things as he judges. This can only be done by faith




CHAPTER XXVI.
THE opening verse of this chapter connects itself with
Chap. 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 attainmnent-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 ser
vants of the true and living God.
"And  Isaac went unto Abimelech, King of the
Philistines, unto Gerar."  There is a manifest difference
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 Jehovah, and thought
not of looking to him for aught. Egypt was, locally,
farther removed from Canaan than Gerar; and, morally,
it expresses a condition of soul farther from God.  Geaar is thus referred to in Chap. x.: " And the border
of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to
Gerar, unto Gaza: as thou goest unto Sodom, and
Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha."'Ver. 19.) We are irformed that "from Gerar to Jeru251




2. 2                 GENESIS.
salem was three days' journey." It was, therefore, as
compared with Egypt, an advanced position; but still
it lay within the range of very dangerous influences.
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 Num. 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 necessary. We know well that faith does not need " to spy
out" when God's promise lies before us. 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 position, he would not
have needed such a direction. So, in reference to the
setting up of a king, in 1 Sam. viii. They ought not
to have needed a king. Hence, we must always take
intb copsideration the condition of an individual or




CHAPTER XXVI.                 253
p leople to whom a direction is given before we can form:.Iy correct judgment as to the direction.
Bult again it may be said, if Isaac's position in Gerar
was wrong, how do we read, "Then Isaac sowed in that
I.ld, and received the same year an hundred-fold: and
tie Lord blessed him." (Ver. 12.)  I reply, we can
never judge that a person's condition is right because of
prosperous circumstances. 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
mistake 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 presence? It is
important to see this.  A man may "wax great, and
go forward, and grow until he becomes 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 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 reality. 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
22




254                   GENESIS.
amongst the Philistines, and gets up to Beersheba
And the Lord appeared unto himn the same night, and
said, I am the God of Abraham  thy father; fear not
for I am with thee, 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
P iilistines, with all their envy, and strife, and conten.
tion 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 contention of an ungodly world; and hence, the sooner the
child of God gets away from all such, the better. 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 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 way.
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 upon 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.
lie entered into the joy of God's presence,-tasted the
sweets of true worship, and exhibited the clluacter of




CHAPTER XXVI.                 256
a stranger and pilgrim, and found peaceful refreshment,
an undisputed well, which the Philistines could not
st:p 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 betwixt us," &c. 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 continued 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 instructive. The principle unfolded here
may be seen constantly 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 with
God, and not only right in position, but in the moral
condition 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 worshipper, 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 blwinlg,
and failing totally in our testimony and service.




256                   GENESIS.
Nor shculd 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 mistaken.  " Awake, thou that
sleepest, and arise from  among the dead."  (Ex nwv
vExpov.)  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 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 J&cob,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 Chap. xxv. which I purposely
passed over, in order to take it up here, so that we might




CHAPTERS xXVn.-xxxv.               25 7
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
Rebekah 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 people; and the elder shall serve the younger."
This is referred to in Malachi, where we read, "I have
loved you, saith the Lord; yet ye say, wherein hast thou
loved us?  Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the
Lord: yet I have loved Jacob and hated Esau."  This
is again referred to in Rom. ix.: " For the children being
not yet horn, 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 banishes all human pretension from the scene, and asserts 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, inasmuch as he is a sinner, and as such
utterly without claim to act or dictate.  The great value
of finding oneself on this ground is, that it is then no
longer a question of what we deserve to get, but simply
cf what God is pleased to give.  The prodigal might
R




258                   GENESIS.
talk of being a servant, but he really did not deserve
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 high.
est place, even the place of fellowship 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
hopeless, 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 goodness 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 I is birth, the extraordinary energy of
nature was seen   Before his birth, we read, "the cbi




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.             2a9
dren struggled together 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
Chap. 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 expressive of free grace
Let us now  examine the  chapters consecutively.
Chap. 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 degradation,
and deal with him there, and raise him up out of it into
full, unhindered fellowship with himself in all the reality
of what he is.  This is wha' 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 in
faithful love all the traits of a man's character, it is
simply with a view  to magnify the riches of divinr




360                    GENESTS.
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 Jacob, have been
perfectly washed away, and they have taken their place
amid "the spirits of just men made perfect;" but theil
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 icurn every day.
This is peculiarly comfc rting 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 Isaac, standing
as it were at the very portal of eternity, the earth and
aature fast fading away from  his view, yet occupied
about "savory meat," and about to act in direct opposition to the divine counsel, by blessing the Older instead




CHAPTERS XVU.-XXX.                261
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
blessing for a mess of venison. How very humiliating'
But God's purpose must stand, and he will do all
Dis pleasure.  Faith knows this; and, in the power of
hat knowledge, can. wait for God's time.  This nature
lever can do, but must set about gaining its own ends
Dy 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 lamenta
bly 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 Rebekah's cunning and Jacob's gross deceit, in order to accomplish his purpose.
lie had said, " the elder shall serve the younger " This
w\as enough,-enough for faith, but not enough for na-'.ure, which 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 child-like 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




262                  GENESIS
pressing tne temptation to take ourselves out of his
hands, the richer will he the blessing of leaving ourselves there. It is so exceedingly sweet to find ourselves
wholly dependent upon one who finds infinite joy ir
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 any
thing else.  Iis 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 kingdoms of the world from  the hand of
another than God, and by doing homage to another
than him, his reply was, " It is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve."  In 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
temple; 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 ace




CHAPTERS XXVIT.-XXXV.            263
complishing 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
thine enemies thy footstool." (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 dependence,
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 mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, 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.)




864                   GENESIS
How little Jacob knew, in the opening of Lis history,
of this blessed mind! How little was he prepared to
wait for God's time and God's way! He much preferred
Jacob's time and Jacob's way.  He thought it muc:
better to arrive at the blessing and the inheritance by
11 sorts of cunning and deception, than by simple de)endence 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 t.) be
misunderstood the true character of human nature. In
order to know what nature 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 itse'f
ife; 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 whatever. Isaac's
eyes were dim: he could therefore be imposed upon, and
they set about doing so, instead of looking to God, whc




OHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.               26r[
would have entirely frustrated 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 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',
house; his uncle Laban deceived him, as he had de.
ceived 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
danger 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 defiling
his bed; he had next to bewail the treachery and cruelty
f Simeon and Levi towards the Shechemites; theb he
ad to feel the loss of his beloved wife; he was Lext
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 in
structive are all the ways of providence."
* We should ever remember, in a place of trial, that what we wt
d not a change o" circumstances, but victory over self.
13




266                   GENESIS.
This is a true picture, so far as Jacob was concerned;
but it only gives us one side, and that the gloomy side.
Blessed be God, there is a bright side likew ise; for God
bad 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, Rebekah,
and Esau.  It is very interesting to observe how, notwithstanding the exhibition of nature's excessive weakness, in the opening of this 27th 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 manifestation 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 a,,.d
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 whe"e God's grace has set us,




CHAPTERS XXV1I.-XXXV.               267
As to Rebekah, she was called to feel all the sad
results of her cunning actings. She no doubt imagined
she was managing matters most skilfully; but alas! she
never saw Jacob again: so much for management! How
different would it have been had she left the matter entirely in the hands of God. This is the way in which
faith manages, and it is ever a gainer.'' Which of you,
by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?'
We gain nothing by our anxiety and pla ining; 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 management
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 uncomCmor case.  It expresses to us the mere worldly professor, whose conscience has never felt the action of divine truth, and whos- heart has never felt the influence
)f divine grace.




CHAPTER XXVIII.
WE are now called to trace Jacob in his mcvemen.
frorf, under his father's roof, to view him as a homeless
and lonely wanderer on the earth. It is here that God's
special dealings with him commence. Jacob now begins
to realize, in some measure, 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 accomplish his own purpose, no matter by what
instrumentality; 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 passive
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 pre,
cept which naught, save the power of divine grace, can
enable one to obey.  "Let your moderation be known
unto all men.  The Lord is at hand. (Eyyvs) Be careful
268




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.              269.or nothing, but in every thing by prayer and sulplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God."  What will be the result of thus acting?
"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall garrison (,ovproup) your hearts and mind, 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 unt,lieving 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
aou-e 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 liaran.  And he lighted upon a certain place,
and tarried there all night, because the sun was set;
and he took -f the stones of that place and put them




27U                    OENE8SS.
for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep."
Here we find the hbmeless wanderer just in the very
position in which God could meet him, and in which
he could  unfold  his purposes of grace and  glory.
Nothing could possibly be more expressive of helplessness and nothingness than Jacob's condition as here set
before us.  Beneath the open canopy of heaven, with a
pillow of stone, in the helpless condition 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 whereon thou
liest, 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, until I have done that
which I have spoken to thee of."
Here we have, indeed, "grace and glory."  The ladder "set on 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
atrong and everlasting basis, 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,




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV              271
and died; that through his death lie might remove out
of the way every obstacle to the accomplishment of the
divine purpose 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
an;d 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 righteousness! God has made provision for
the accomplishment 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,
within the limits of God's gracious purpose.
The prophet Hosea leads us on to the time when tha
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 thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness,
and in mercies; I will even betroth thee unto me in
faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord. And it
shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the
Lord, I will hear the heavens, 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




272                   GENESIS.
upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will sa3
to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."  (Hosea
i. 18-23.)  There is also an expression in the firsi
chapter of John, bearing  upon  Jacob's remarkable
vision; it is Christ's word  to Nathainael, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven
open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of man."  (Ver. 51.)
Now, this vision of Jacob's is a very blessed disclosure of divine grace to Israel.  We have been led te
see something of Jacob's real character, something, 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; i. e., 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, 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.'I am.... I will give.... I will keep.... I will
bring.... I will not leave thee until 1 have done that
a-hich T 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




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.              273
there is an if, it cannot 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 irieparable
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
responsibility, 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 much
sorrow  and pressure.  God's revelation of himself is
one thing, and our resting in that revelation 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, practically, of the blessed
One who had just been revealing himself so marvellously to him. " He was afraid, and said, How dreadful
is this place I 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
S




274                   3ENESIS.
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." " Perfect
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 desired 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 amiable are
thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord." (Ps.
lxxxiv.)  When the heart is established 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 an
abitation 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 out
meditations upon this chapter with a brief notice of




OHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.              275
Jacob's bargain with God, so truly characteris4ic 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 and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put
on, 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 thee in all places whither thou goest, and
will bring thee again into this land," &c.  And yet
poor Jacob's heart cannot get beyond an "if;" nor, in
its thoughts of God's goodness, can it rise higher than
"bread to eat, and raiment to put 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 everlasting possession. Jacob was evidently
unable to enter into the reality and fulness 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.' THEN Jacob went on his journey, and came into the
land of the people of the east." As we have just seen,
in Chap. 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
circumstances 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 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
any thing 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 matter
what they are, are only effectual when used by him for
the purpose of disclosing, in our view, the true character
276




OCEAPTERS XXVIT. -XXX.             27"
of all that is in our hearts.  How often do we find, as
in Jacob's case, that even although 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 ter
rible schooling, and that, too, in a school -marvellously
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. Noi
can we wonder at Laban, for he had never been at
Bethel: he had seen no open heaven with a 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 countless seed: no
marvel, therefore, that he should exhibit a grasping,
grovelling 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 endeavoring 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 destinies and
heavenly inheritance, and descending into the arena with
94




278                        GENESI8
the children of this world, to struggle thtre for the
riches  and  honors of a perishing, sin-stricken  earth.
Indeed, to  such  an  extent is this true, in  many  in
stances, 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 principles, 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 on  the solemn fact that the former ale'the vessels of mercy, which  God has afore prepared
into glory," while the latter are " the vessels of wrath,
fitted (not by God, but by sin) to destruction."*  (Rom.
* It is deeply interesting to the spiritual mind to mark how sedu-.ously the Spirit of God, in RoTn. ix. and indeed throughout all
scripture, guards against the horrid inference which the human mind
draws from  the doctrine of God's election.  When he speaks of
" vessels of wrath," he simply says, "fitted to destruction."  He does
not say that God "fitted" 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 markad.
If my reader will turn  for a moment to Matt. xxv. 34-41,
Ue will find another striking and beautiful instance of the same
tthng.
When the king addresses those on his right hand, he says, " Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared./r you from thj
foundation of the world." (Verse 34.)
But when he addresses those on his left, he says,' Depart from




CHAPTERS XXVTT.-XXXV.                    2T9
x. 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
Po 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 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, " IF 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 revela-ae, ye cursed." He does not say, "cursed of my Father." And,
further, he says, "into everlasting fire, prepared," not for you, but
Y 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 h
has not prepared "everlasting fire" for men, but for the "devil and
his angels;" nor has he fitted the "vessels of wrath," but they have
ftted themselves.
The word of God as clearly establishes "election" as it sedulcusly
guards against " reprobution." Every one who finds himself in heaven
will have to thank God for it; and every one that finds himself in hell
wil'. have to thank himself.




280                   GENESIS.
tion at Bethel, and Jacob's actings at Haran, are two
veiy 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 experience 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 ignorance by measuring himself with
Laban, and adopting his maxims and ways.
One cannot help remarking the fact that inasmuch
as Jacob failed to lbarn and judge the inherent character 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 broadest lines.
He was conducted to Haran, the country of Laban and
Rebekah, the very school from whence 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




OHAPTERS xXVII -xxxv.              281
and management.  In short, it is "the supplanter"
throughout. Let the reader turn, for example, to Chap.
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
every thing his consistency with himself.
Now, it is in tracing out Jacob's real character i )m
stage to stage of his extraordinary history, that one.ets
a wondrous view of divine grace.  None but God (. uld
have borne with such an one, as none but God would
have taken such an one up.  Grace begins at the very
iowest 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 starting; 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 apprehension of the utter ruin of nature as looked at in God's
presence, though their hearts have been attracted by the
grace of God, and their consciences tranquillized in
some degree by the application of the blood of Christ.
qence, as they get on in their course, they begin to
make deeper d;scoveries of the evil within; and, being




B82                   GENESIS.
deficient in their apprehensions 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 themselves, and then they either betake themselves
to ordinances in order to keep up their tone of devotion,
or else fall back into thorough worldliness and carnality.
These are disastrous consequences, and all the result of
not having "the heart established in grace."
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 the 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, " He bath 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 ny sense of grace rises also, my




CHAPTERS XXVIT.-XXXV.             283
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 occupied
therein." (Heb. xiii. 9.)
CHAPTER XXXII.
"AND Jacob went on his way, and the angels of
GCod 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 love is like himself, "the same yesterday,
to-day, and forever."  But how  little effect "God's
nost" had upon Jacob may be seen by his actings as
here set before us.  "And Jacob sent messengers before
him to Esau his brother, 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 be.
takes 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, saying, Thus shall ye
speak unto my lord Esau; thy servant Jacob saith thus,
I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until
tow."  All this bespeaks a soul very much off its
-entre in God.  "My lord," and " thy servant," is not
like the language' a brother, or of one in the conscious




284                     GENEM1
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, 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.  " 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 exclusively upon God. Hence, the
two things are perfectly incompatible; they virtually
destroy each other.  When my eye is filled with my
own management 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 nevei
do.  It is not asking God to sanctify and bless my
means, but it is asking him to do it all himself.*
* No doubt, when faith allows God to act, he will use his own agency;
hut this is a totally different thing from his owning and blessing the
plans and arrangements of unbelief and impatience. This distinction
is not sufficiently ur oerstood.




CHAPTERS XXII.-XXXV.              285
Though Jacob asked God to deliver him  from  his
orother 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 above 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 persuade 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
nim 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 actings 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 management, 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, or
when we have used all lawful means and called upon
Grod to bless them. When this is the case, our prayers




286                    GENESIS.
are worth about as much as our plans, inasmuch as wB
are leaning upon them instead of upon God. We must
be really brought to the end of every thing 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 goodli
ness thereof is as the flower of the field." (Isa. 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 turningpoint in the history of this very remarkable man.  To
be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving
at a just knowledge of ourselves and our ways. We
can never get a true estimate of nature and all its actings, until we have weighed them in the balance of the
sanctuary, 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, imaginations, and emotions of
mere nature, and " alone " with Gt d,-thus, and thus
alone, can we get a correct judgment about ourselves.
"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 evident from
the simple wording of the passage. My wrestling with




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.              281
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, worthless creature he was, and when Jacob
so pertinaciously 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 walk
with God.  We have followed Jacob so far, amid all
the windings and workings of his extraordinary chaiacter,-we have seen him planning and managing during
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 by
his own ways and means; but now he 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 interpretation of the whole
scene.  God was wrestling with Jacob to bring him to
this point.  We have already seen that, as to Jacob's
Dower-n prayer, lie had no sooner uttered a few worda




288                   GENESIS.
to God than he let out the real secret of his soul's de.
pendence, by saying, "I will appease him (Esau) wbth
a present."  Would he have said this if he had reallJ
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 by 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 cloak 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 I It is not,
by any means, an easy matter so to get to the end of
the creature, in every shape and form, 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 confi
5ence 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




OHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.              289
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 on us" 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 wrestling with him, and bringing him  down into
the dust.  tie received for 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
25                 T




290                  GENESIS.
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 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 commentary on this scene in Jacob's history. Throughout 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 instrumentality of
Elihu, begins to wrestle with him; and in Chapter
xxxviii. he comes down upon him directly with all the
majesty of his power, overwhelms him by the display
of his greatness and glory, and elicivs from him the
well-known words, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye 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




CHAPTER XXVfI.-XXXV.              291.eeth thee."  He does not say, "I see myself" merely;
ao; 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 history is
very analogous 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."  (Hosea xiii. 9.)
CHAPTERS XXXIII. XXXIV.
WE may here see how groundless were all Jacob's
fears, and how useless all his plans.  Notwithstanding
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, ana
Rachel and Joseph hindermost."  This arrangement
proved the continuance 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 vengeance.  Ho wwondrous are the depths of the
human heart   How  slow it is to trust God!  Had




292                   GENESIS.
Jacon oeen really leaning upon Goa, ne never could have
anticipated destruction for himself and his family; but
alas I the heart knows something of the difficulty of
simply reposing, in calm  confidence, upon an everpresent, all-powerful, and infinitely gracious God.
But mark now the thorough vanity of the heart'
anxiety   "And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced
him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they
wept."  The present was quite unnecessary,-the plan
useless.  God  "appeased" Esau, as 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 ways
Who would not trust him?  Who would not honor
him  with the heart's fullest confidence?  Why is it
that, notwithstanding all the sweet evidence 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  thyself 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
acquaintance 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
~vii. 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 dependence.
G'od is a rock," ed we only need to lean our whole




CHAPTERS XXVIT.-XXXV.             2993
weight upon him to know how ready and how able bh
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
house as if it were his home. Now, Succoth was evi
dently not his divinely-appointed  destination.  The
Lord had not said to him, "I am the God of Succoth;'
no; but " I am the God of Bethel." Bethel, therefore
and not Succoth, should have been Jacob's grand ob
ject.  But alas! the heart is always prone to resl
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 "El-eloheIsrael," 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 Chap. 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
be 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 p- ition on this side of Jordan,




294                   GENESIS.
and they were the first to fall into the enemy's hand
So it was with Jacob. We see, in Chap. xxxiv., the bitter fruits of his sojourn at Shethem. 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, 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 I shall be destroyed, I 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 Heb. 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 destroyed, I and my
house?" Surely not. God's promise in Chapter xxviii.
14, 15, should have banished every fear from his poor
timid spirit.  "I will keep thee....... I will not
leave thee." This should have tranquillized his heart.
But the fact is, his mind was more occupied with his
danger among the Shechemites than with his seccurity
in the bhnd oi God.  He ought to have known that




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.            290
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 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 unfaithfulness; and then, instead of judging themselves
they begin to look at circumstances, and to cast upou
them the blame.
How often do we see Christian parents, for instance,
in keen anguish of soul about the wildness, unsubduedpness, and worldliness of their children; and, all the
while, they have mainly to blame themselves for not
walking faithfully before God in reference to their family.
Thus was it with Jacob.  He was on low moral ground
at Shechem; and, inasmuch as he lacked that refined
sensibility which would have led him to detect the low
ground, God, in very faithfulness, used his circumstance 
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 with
dimself. Such is his nerfect grace; and when our




29(6                  GENESIS.
hearts wander, or fall 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,
30 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
"AND 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 a failure or
declension, the Lord calls the soul back to himself
"Remember therefore from  whence thou art fallen;
ard repent and do the first works." (Rev. ii. 5.)  TEis
is he 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, " remember 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 holy
standard, that one is really led to see the sad evil of
one's fallen condit'on.  What a fearful amount of moral




OHAPERS xxvIa.-xxXV.              29/
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 discerning, 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 were 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 thee an altar unto
God, who answered me in the day of my distress, 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 eye, over the history of twenty eventful years.
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
nd idolatry.
Jacob could speak of "El-elohe-Israel," while surrounded by a quantity of things utterly incompatible
with the holiness of the house of God.  It is important
to be clear in reference to this point. Nothing can
keep the soul in a path of consistent, 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 myself, I shall not have a.,ear Wull, divine sense of all that flows out of a due




298                      ENESTS.
recognition of  oaC's relation to his house.  Some *hero
are who deem it a matter of no importance how they
are mixed up with impure materials in the worship of
God, provided they themselves are true ard upright in
heart.  In other words, they think they can worship
God at Shechem; and that an altar named "El-eloheIsrael" 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 spiritual condition; and
the worship which we present will be low and contracted, or elevated and comprehensive, just in proportion as we enter into the apprehension of his character
and relationship.
Now, the name of our altar and the character of our
worship express the same idea.  El-Bethel worship 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;" 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 commu
aion witb the "I ving God," by the power of "the




CHAPTERS XXVII.-XXXV.               299
Spirit ot life.' But while all this is blessedly true,
God is the God of his house; and when we are enabled,
by an enlarged 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." Ile 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.he 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
ourselves 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! and,
rs 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 ourselves,-at least there is
not the same sense of weakness or the same simple
dependence upon God; and then our ministry becomes
a poor, meagre, flippant, wordy thing, without unction
or power,-a thing flowing, not from  the exhaustless
tide of the Spirit, but fiom our own wretched minds




800                  GENESIS.
From ver. 9-15, God renews his promise to Jacob
and confirms the new name of "prince," instead of
" Surplanter;" and Jacob again calls the name of the
place "Bethel."  At verse 18 we have an interesting
example of the difference between the judgment 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 Be i-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 inspiration, 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




CHAPTER XXXVII.-Lx              301
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, inasmuch as
the hearts of his brethren were not in communion 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 exaltation.  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 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 brethren'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 he told it to his brethren." This was simple
testimony founded upon 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.
26




302                   GENESIS.
Thus was it with Joseph's great Antitype. He bore
witness to the truth-he witnessed a good confessionhe kept back nothing  he could only speak the truth
because he was the truth, and his testimony to thetruth 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 Jesus Christ."  He
was the full disclosure 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. 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 xxii.  " 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 1 m."  God sent his Son into the world with




CHAPTER XXXVII.-L.               303
this thought, "They wi.l 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
lrom 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 majesty.
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 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 shepherd, 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 breast and of the womb;
the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bounds of the
everlasting hills; they shall be on 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 follow."'The archers" have done their work; but God was
stronger than they. 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




304                   GENESIS.
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
Egypt, 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
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 sight.
This is a truly solemn principle for a professing age
ike the present.  The permanence of sin is connected
Nith the mere profession 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 XXVIII.
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
farther on, in Matthew, we read. " David the king begat
Solomon. of her that had been the wife of Urias." 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 I
How evident it is that there is nothing of man in this I
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 I 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 comparison of 2 Sam. xi. and Gen. xxxviii.
with Matt. i. will furnish the thoughtful Christian with
matter for a very sweet and edifying meditation.
U                806




CHAPTER XXXIX.-XLV.
IN perusing these interesting sections of inspiration,
we perceive a remarkable chain of providential actings
all tending to one grand point, namely, the exaltation
of the man who had been in the pit; and at the same
time bringing out by the way a number of subordinate
objects.  "The 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 senators 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 I The most trivial
nd the most important, the most likely and the most
unlikely circumstances are made to minister to the development of God's purposes  In Chapter xxxix. Satan
nses Potiphar's wife, and in Chap. 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
306




CHAPTERS XXXVII.-L               301
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 to be
able thus to trace our Father's hand and counsel in
every thing.  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 domestic
circle of a heathen captain, the household of a heathen
king, yea, and his bed-side, 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 "who was separate from his brethren.'
Such are God's ways; and it is one of the happiest anc
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 I 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  offscouring  of




808                  GENESIS.
society; and yet see him, almost in a moment, raised to
the very highest eminence, and who car. deny that God
is in it all?
"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God
iath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet 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 Egypt.  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 sufferings 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 false 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 perfect. We see a man laid, to all intents and
purposes in the place of death, by the hand of man,




CHAPTERS XXXVn.-L.               309
and then raised up by the hand of God, and set in
dignity and glory.  "Ye men of Israel, hear these
words: 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." (Acts. ii. 22-24.)
But there are two points in Joseph's history 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, tranquillizes their hearts, and brings them into
blessing; he then becomes 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 presented himself
to the Jews, and being rejected, took his seat on high,
and sent down the Holy Ghost to gather out an elect
Chun'h  composed of Jaw and Gentile, tc be united




10                     GENESIS
with him  in leavellly glory.  The doctrine  of the
Church has already 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 down 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 men unto me." (John xii. 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 every thing, and specially in the centre of our
unity as Christians.  It is a popular 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,
* Joseph's wife s3ts forth the Church as united to Christ in his
glory; Moses' wife presents the Church as united to Christ in hii
rjed U -n.




CHAPTERS XXXVII. -L              311
that it is the infinitely precious blood of Christ which
sets us individually as worshippers 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 practical
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
zere; but, inasmuch as he is hidden 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; ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual
Rouse, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual 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




312                   GENESIS.
that becomes us.  Joseph's bride was united to him,
not in the pit or the dungeon, 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 farther 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 children 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 interview
with his brethren, in which we shall find some points
of resemblance to Israel's history in the latter day.
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 conscience.  One of these exercises
is poured out in the following words: "And they said
one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw  the  anguish  of his soul,
when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.  And Reuben answered them, saying, 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.)
4gain, in Chap. xliv. we read, "And Judah said,




CHAPTER XXXVII.-L.               313
What shall we say unto my Lord?  What shall we
speak? or how st all we clear ourselves? God hath
found out the iniquity of thy servants."  None can
teach like God. He alone can produce in the conscience
the true sense of sin, and bring the soul down into the
profolund depths of its own condition in his presence.
Tllis is all his own work.  Men run on in their career
of guilt, heedless of every thing, until the arrow of the
Almlighty pierces their conscience, and then they are led
into those searchings of heart, and intense exercises of
soul, which can only find relief in the rich resources of
redeeming 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 exercises
of conscience, and that in a most wonderful 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 scarcity!" 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
consciences, in the presence of the man whom they had,
"with wicked hands," cast into the pit. Surely their
Q7




814                   GENESIS
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."
(Clap. 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
wrere, 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 you sold me hither; for God did send me before
you, 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 deliverance. 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, already, 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 sir and for uncleanness."
(Zech. xiii. 1.)




CHAPTERS XXXVI.-L.                315
In the third chapter of Acts, we find the Spirit of
Sod in Peter seeking to produce this divine conviction
in the consciences of the Jews. " The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
liath glorified his son Jesus; whom ye delivered up,
and denied him in the presence of Pilate; when he was
dletermined 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
brethren-" xWe are verily guilty."  Then follows the
grace.  "And now, brethren, I wot that through 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 ye, 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
(lid 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
thought; and all that is needed in order to the enjoyment thereof, is a conscience 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 evei
be  The soul that has thoroughly pronounced its owi




316                         GENESIS.
condemnation, is prepared to understand and appreciate
GAd'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.* Jacob's groundless fears dissipated by the sight of his son alive, and
exalted,-the peculiar grace of God seen in its overruling  power, yet evidently  mingled  with  judgment,
* 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
fogs, sets in majesty and brightness, gilding with his beams the
western sky, and holding out the cheering prospect of a bright tomorrow. 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 skilfulness 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 has 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 importance of keeping
eluae to the divine purpose, and nature's influence cannot move hin
from thence.
In Cbhantr xlviii. I, we have a very beautiful example c  the




CHAPTERS XXXVII.- L                      81i
inasmuch  as Jacob's sons have to go down  into the
very place whither they had 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':ays, " 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
mode 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 was 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 hath it 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" are introduced in the close of the Book of Genesis;
as, for example, " One told Jacob, and said, Behold thy son Joseph
cometh unto thee: 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 which Jacob
was.aised.




818                   GENESTS.
and sustained by his gracious hand; and all the earth
shall know  the deep blessedness of being under his
sceptre. Finally, Laving brought every thing into subjection, he shall hand back the reins of government
into the hands of God, that "he may be aMl 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,-h - humiliation and rejection,the deep exercises and fina. repentance and restoration of
Israel, —the union of the Church with Christ,-his ex
altation and universal government, and, finally, it points
us forward to the time when " God shall be all in all."
It is quite needless to remark, that all these things are
largely taught and fully establisled 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 Ephesians
-to the prophets of the Old or those of the New Testa.
ment,-we learn the same truths.  "ALL SCRIPTuRE if
GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD."