"And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou host taken; for she is a man's wife" (Gen. 20:1-31And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. (Genesis 20:1‑3)).
There was no apparent reason for Abraham to go south from Hebron. What we do not at first understand often proves to be a worthy lesson for our souls.
There was lurking in the bosoms of Abraham and Sarah something that was evil and older than their knowledge of God. It must be brought to light and judged in its roots before they could have their son Isaac. In order to rightly know our God, we must discover something of ourselves. Only God knows the deep secrets of the heart, and man cannot understand his own way, let alone the depth of his own heart. Evil lies dormant in the bosom, even of a man of faith, yea, the father of faith. We shrink from the admission of this truth, but all must come out.
An evil not judged at the roots must reappear to be judged, if not privately in the presence of God, then publicly. God used the heathen king Abimelech for this necessary work in Abraham's and Sarah's souls. Yes, Abraham must go down to the south country; only in that place was the right setting for it.
Abraham had said unto Abimelech that Sarah was his sister. Abimelech was reproved by God in a dream for taking Sarah into his own house.
"Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have 1 offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me. He is my brother. And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee" (Gen. 20:8-158Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. (Genesis 20:8‑15)).
Abimelech called Abraham and spoke to him, resulting in a full confession of his sin of untruth and its roots. It had been harbored for over sixty years, but now a full confession so humbling before the world was called for. This deceitful arrangement, built upon fear, had been carried with the couple day by day during the entire journey. It had been used before in Egypt but not judged.
Inward corruption never changes, but by the energy of a new life we mortify the deeds of the members which are upon the earth. There is, within, a nature which can never be changed and we will carry it until the Lord comes for us. By continual self-judgment we will be preserved from the old nature's acting in the way we observe in Abraham and Sarah. God did not need fleshly assistance to bear Abraham to his destiny.
Sarah was rebuked as well.
"And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: Behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved" (Gen. 20:1616And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. (Genesis 20:16)).
"Thy brother" was a stinging rebuke. Is that not what she had said he was? "The thousand pieces of silver" shows the grace in which the restoration is accomplished. Faith may fail, but it never loses; it always gains in the end.
Isaac Is Born.
Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Isaac was circumcised the eighth day.
What joy the sovereignty of God brings to man and to God Himself, especially when it is God's own heart that is to be satisfied with a Son in resurrection life; this we see here in type.
"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Gen. 21:9-129And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Genesis 21:9‑12)).
Abraham made a great feast the same day Isaac was weaned, and on this occasion Sarah saw Ishmael mocking. Here Sarah's faith and consciousness of election shone out. She said, "Cast out the bondwoman (Hagar) with her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." Isaac had a place in Abraham's house because he was the heir, Ishmael, only as long as he was obedient grace, and law with its ordinances typified. (See Gal. 4.)
Hagar had been back in Abraham's house for thirteen years, but there had been no quarrels until Isaac was weaned. The flesh is incorrigible; flesh and spirit are incompatible. There could be no peace until the bondwoman and her son were cast out. The Jew is an outcast today as was Ishmael. "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" (Matt. 19:3030But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. (Matthew 19:30)).
Subsequently the Gentile kings came to seek Abraham. He reproved them and made a covenant with them at Beersheba.
Everlasting God.
Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called upon the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
This last appearing of God to Abraham brought the supreme test of faith.
"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.... And Abraham rose" (Gen. 22:2,32And he said, 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. 3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (Genesis 22:2‑3)).
God's voice was now too familiar to be mistaken. All of the learned virtues gathered in the path of faith were immediately marshalled in the mind of Abraham. This was to be a test of fidelity to the God of glory Who had called him; in finality, the maturity and practice of faith were now to coalesce.
Did Abraham love his only son Isaac, in whom all of the long awaited promises rested, more than God Who had made all of the promises to him? Abraham well knew from wilderness experience that there would be no fulfilling of the promises in a world of sin. All must be found in resurrection.
Abraham had come a long way. The varied visions, communications, and appearings taught him in a way that few have ever discovered. To Abraham God was a God of resurrection; otherwise how would the promises be fulfilled? If it were not so, he would not have been given Isaac in the first place. Confidence and rest filled Abraham's bosom as he contemplated God's command. God never makes our way impossible.
This mighty final work of redemption, in figure, the work that fills all things, brought glory to God in a new way. It was fulfilling this desire for children in His presence and providing a bride for Christ. It also laid the basis for the full restoration of Israel and the saved nations. This fulfilled the promise and the divine fiat that God created this world to be inhabited forever, and He will not forego His purpose.
The present act of obedience on the part of Abraham, though heart-rending, was doing God's will to the extreme. The wound in the oyster had produced pearls.
Soon after, Sarah died, and the scene changed. It is one thing to do God's will, quite another to suffer it. Such tears brighten the rainbow of covenant blessings. There are no regrets in the path of faith. Abraham had proven himself to be the father of faith by unparalleled obedience and dependence in daily practice undergoing the most extreme tests.
Machpelah was a burial place for the dead out of Abraham's sight until resurrection. He took not another acre of ground, only enough to bury the dead. Later, all would belong to Abraham, not by promise only but by actual possession.
Abraham having left Ur, a stranger in the land of Canaan, made no terms with the Canaanite or the Perizzite, the flesh or the world. He found himself a total stranger to the sons of Heth.
The call of the God of glory was supreme. It demanded separation of the highest order. He left all of earth with no visible footprints, except for faith, yet he knew by promise, which had been verified by oath and blood by God, that resurrection would prove the results. His was intelligence with moral power, prudence in its fullest light. He knew what he was about. Virtue had been tested.
Abraham's companions in his pilgrimage were the Lord, angels, his tent, and his altar, also the mysteries and the counsels of God.
He was destined for dignities of noble purpose.
He was a type of the Kinsman-Redeemer of Israel and the father of faith for all people. Sarah and her children represent Israel. Keturah and her children form the image of Gentiles to people the millennial earth.
To Christ all of His works were known from the beginning of the world, exhibited in the changeful incidents found in the life of Abraham.
Abraham shall live within the walls of the city that has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. There is no liberty like that of the heart which has given up all for Christ.
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