(Continued from p.64)

VI.-IN ABRAHAM’S HISTORY

Continuing Abraham's history after his return from Egypt, we have another group of experiences in the life of faith (chs. 13:14-15:21). Again in them we find incidents suggestive of the Cross and its relation to that life.

Restoration does not obviate the possibility of further trial arising out of past failure. It may be needful to deepen in our souls the preciousness of restoring grace, and also lead to an enlarged vision of the blessings of grace. So another test comes to Abram in the strife between his herdsmen and those of Lot. Material gain, increased prosperity and possessions brought this conflict between "brethren." In this Abram shows himself of an excellent spirit. He does not assert superiority of place, or priority of right, there is no word of self-defense or selfish claim, but a readiness of spirit to give way, to submit rather than contest the matter when the issue is not God's claims but what might be considered his own. In this, faith can always afford to give way; the assertion of one's own rights does not become it, better far to suffer loss. That our God will richly compensate, this history fully assures us.

The word is:"Let your gentleness [or 'moderation,' not insisting on right, 'mildness'] be known of all men. The Lord is near" (Phil. 4:5, New Trans.). But notice the preceding verse:"Rejoice in the Lord always:again I will say, Rejoice." That is the only background upon which the delicate tones and beautiful features of such a spirit can be displayed, To have other interests and objects occupying the seat of rule over our affections and joy, which He only should fill, can only lead in the ways of flesh and sense-a life ruled by sight and not faith, by appearances and not the realities of the Spirit. Lot's conduct evinced such a turn in his course-the path it led into and the sad issue we well know. But again consider the closing sentence of that verse in Philippians- "The Lord is near." A golden girdle encircles our "gentleness." The Lord in whom we rejoice makes us know His encircling arm of loving care and preserving power. Another object than Himself means another spirit marking our ways before men, and a sense of distance instead of nearness as to His practical relation to us.

In Abram we see that gentleness which results from rejoicing in the Lord. Then too he finds how near the Lord is as He comes to him after the separation from Lot. But we cannot think of Abram as characteristically rejoicing in the Lord while in Egypt. This rather follows God's gracious intervention, through which he is restored to his former station, where once again with tent and altar he communes with God. Here we think of the past judged, and the soul filled with joyous strength for the future. Thus faith is enabled to meet the test, and conies to know the nearness of the Lord.

Let us linger here and think of Him in whom all the beauties of faith blended and reached perfect expression. Truly He needed no altar, as we do, beside which to learn the lessons of self-judgment and restoring grace, for He could say, "I have set Jehovah continually before Me." Blessed, perfect "Leader and Completer of faith," how out of this unbroken constancy of communion Thou didst ever show before men that gentleness which wins our poor hearts and constrains us to run after Thee (though at what a distance) in the practice of those ways of moral beauty and grace! And Thou didst know that nearness in a measure surpassingly beyond the closest of Thy followers-"Because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved" (Ps. 16). But how was that gentleness shown by Him in things relating to Himself?-things which involved His rights, as we may say. His name was traduced, His claims flouted, His works attributed to Satan; He was misunderstood and falsely accused; He passed from place to place, the object of worldly scorn and religious bigotry, followed, like the wandering and outcast David, by those Saul-like leaders who shot at Him out of the quiver of human tradition and man-made ritual by which the Word of God was made of no effect, Blinded with pride and self-interest, they could see no beauty in Him who was meek and lowly in heart. David showed much of the spirit of his Lord, but there were serious blemishes manifest too during those days of his wanderings, and so by the contrast of type with Antitype we see the superlative moral perfection of Jesus, David's Lord, in days of similar character. Consider "the meekness and gentleness of the Christ." He has left us "a model that ye should follow in His steps:who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when reviled, reviled not again; when suffering, threatened not; but gave Himself over into the hands of Him who judges righteously."

Abraham exhibits somewhat of this beautiful spirit in the history here, and he found too that "the Lord is near." The heart rejoicing in the Lord does not choose for itself; others may do so if they will, but at once that means the opposite direction must be taken. That is found to be the way in which the Lord speaks in revealing, comforting grace to the man of faith. This leads into that wider vision which the Lord gives. How much more far-reaching the sight of faith, than that of the eye which only sees the well-watered plain of Jordan with its present prosperity and earthly beauty. The outspread glories of an eternal inheritance fill the view of faith as the heart rejoices in the Lord, while the soul that chooses for self and the present sees only within the narrow bounds of an earthly plain, where what looks so fair at a distance proves to have in it the sting of vexation and vanity, bringing to the heart sooner or later the bitterness of gall.

So Abram moved his tents and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron. There he built his altar. Under the outspreading leafy boughs of those sturdy oaks faith found the place of shadow and rest, enjoying the fulness of the divine purpose revealed by the Lord's word (Mamre, "fatness"), and that as in fellowship with Him who had spoken with him (Hebron, "communion"). There the altar stands. Could it be absent? Who has given us our shadow and rest? Who has imparted to us of His own fulness, grace upon grace? Whose is the fellowship into which we have been called? It is the Son of God with whom we have all things given to us. But He it is whom God delivered up for us all that such might be our portion. If we are made fit to share the portion of saints in light, and are in the kingdom of the Son of God's love, it is grounded upon the truth that in Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And if God has made the riches of His grace abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence, it is equally true that according to those riches we have in the Beloved redemption through His blood. The altar and sacrifice must be associated with faith in its appropriation of God's blessing and glory, as we have seen it linked with the experience of faith in obedience, separation and restoration.

Quite a different scene opens before us in the next chapter. There is a conflict between confederacies of worldly power-Babel, mystic center of world-religion, Satanic in its origin and development; Sodom and Gomorrah, symbolic of that corruption through lust which characterizes the course of this world. Lot and his possessions are captured, Abram and his are out of range, for he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre. This brings to faith the hour to contend earnestly, for it is not like the circumstances of chapter 13. Abram cannot say of these kings, "We are brethren;" they are enemies-the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah no less than the invaders who have carried off brother Lot. This calls for energy to deliver. Faith takes the field and gains the victory. Upon Abram's return Melchisedek meets him. This king brings out bread and wine. Can we miss the import of this significant meeting? From Heb. 7 it is clear who Melchisedek represents-the Son of God in the glory of His high-priestly place, having been perfected through sufferings and in resurrection saluted of God as Priest forever. Of those needful sufferings the bread and wine most surely remind us. They are made sacred as the symbols of sacrifice by the words of Him who is our Sacrifice and great High Priest. And so once again the truth of the Cross is woven into the life of faith. But what relation does it bear to it in this instance?

After conflict the warrior needs refreshment. This is found in communion with and ministry from our Melchisedek. But the more important relation is to what follows. It fortifies against being snared by the offers of Sodom's king. Attractive as they may be to the eye of flesh and gratifying to its desires, enrichment from such a source must mean loss in the realm of the Spirit, in which His things, the things of Christ, are the imperishable riches of the soul. To be in retreat with Christ as known in His Melchisedek-glory at God's right hand, to have Him bring forth to us the bread and wine, to have Him renew within us the knowledge of His life laid down in death-His sacrifice with all its meaning in relation to the world, its prince, and ourselves-must so fill us with a just judgment of all that may be presented to us in a world-system not of God, that its power to ensnare is broken and its offers rejected. This is being strengthened with might according to the power of His glory unto all endurance.

The Epistle to the Hebrews leaves no doubt as to the typical meaning of this king-priest who meets Abram. And it ministers to the comfort and strength of faith to understand it. It applies to the present session of the Son of God on the throne of God, and in the fulness of its bearing reaches to God's eternal rest. He is there as One whose work of propitiation for sin is complete and perfect, as One who having suffered, both in the experiences of life and in death, is raised in glory, and saluted by God as Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek. That means superiority to the order of Levi; it means priesthood in the power of endless life, for as far as the record goes Melchisedek .has neither beginning nor end of days, he abides a priest without interruption or termination. Thus the Holy Spirit argues from the history as given in Genesis. We have, then, in Christ as our Priest the Author (or, Cause) of eternal salvation. He is able to save completely, and He in every way becomes us as those now given access to God. Still other glories cluster around our Priest. His character is righteousness, His realm, peace; His relation in both is that of Priest to the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth. All here is eternal, the kingdom unshakable, the position unchangeable, because established in the power of indissoluble life. How the glory of our Priest enjoyed in communion must eclipse the glitter of Sodom's goods soon to be consumed in the fire of God's judgment. Here is the independency of faith, and its dependence as well. To both God gives His wonderful answer in the next chapter. The one may offend Sodom's king, but both please God. The one may make the world our enemy, but both characterize those who are the friends of God. God is quick to acknowledge this, and as a result faith is made bold, it is confirmed, and enlarged by fresh revelation.

Does faith make its enemies? "I am thy shield." Does it refuse the wealth of the world? "I am…thy exceeding great reward." What perfect security, what true riches! Faith, turning from present advantage and the favor of the world, finds the provision and favor of God. Thus fear is removed, and with confidence our exercises are presented freely before God. These have to do with His promises, and God answers them by imparting fuller knowledge of His purposes and ways, sealing all as a covenant between Himself and the seed of Abram by the bond of death. But what awe-inspiring circumstances surround this covenant transaction-the slain animals, the birds of prey, the horror of darkness, the smoking furnace, the flame of fire. Do not these features relate to the way of the Cross-death endured, the assailing enemy beaten off, the terror of judgment, the trial of faith in the furnace of affliction, the Divine Presence? He who is the Leader and Perfecter of faith, Heir of all the promises, passed along this way, enduring in fulness all that it meant. Identification with it, and the covenant of promise, belongs to the seed of Abraham, the family of faith, of which He took hold (as come into the place of humiliation), that family might share in the blessing according to the purpose of God, finding the assurance of this as the lesson of the Cross is learned. With this in its various features God links His pledge to fulfil His word, and by them the believing heart receives that word to its own blessing.

Here faith may well rest, and with this we seem to close another section of this history. In it we see how faith's appropriation, communion, and confirmation are found in association with the truth of the Cross.

"Be vigilant, watch…But the God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when ye have suffered for a little while, Himself shall make perfect, stablish, strengthen, ground:to Him be the glory and the might for the ages of the ages. Amen." J. Bloore