333 lines
24 KiB
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333 lines
24 KiB
XML
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<div2 id="Gen.xxi" n="xxi" next="Gen.xxii" prev="Gen.xx" progress="15.24%" title="Chapter XX">
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<pb id="Gen.xxi-Page_127" n="127"/>
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<h2 id="Gen.xxi-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
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<h3 id="Gen.xxi-p0.2">CHAP. XX.</h3>
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<p class="intro" id="Gen.xxi-p1">We are here returning to the story of Abraham; yet
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that part of it which is here recorded is not to his honour. The
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fairest marbles have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the
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sun, we must not expect any thing spotless under it. The scripture,
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it should be remarked, is impartial in relating the blemishes even
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of its most celebrated characters. We have here, I. Abraham's sin
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in denying his wife, and Abimelech's sin thereupon in taking her,
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<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.1-Gen.20.2" parsed="|Gen|20|1|20|2" passage="Ge 20:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. God's
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discourse with Abimelech in a dream, upon this occasion, wherein he
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shows him his error (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.3" parsed="|Gen|20|3|0|0" passage="Ge 20:3">ver.
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3</scripRef>), accepts his plea (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.4-Gen.20.6" parsed="|Gen|20|4|20|6" passage="Ge 20:4-6">ver.
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4-6</scripRef>), and directs him to make restitution, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.7" parsed="|Gen|20|7|0|0" passage="Ge 20:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. III. Abimelech's discourse
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with Abraham, wherein he chides him for the cheat he had put upon
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him (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.8-Gen.20.10" parsed="|Gen|20|8|20|10" passage="Ge 20:8-10">ver. 8-10</scripRef>), and
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Abraham excuses it as well as he can, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.11-Gen.20.13" parsed="|Gen|20|11|20|13" passage="Ge 20:11-13">ver. 11-13</scripRef>. IV. The good issue of the
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story, in which Abimelech restores Abraham his wife (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.14-Gen.20.16" parsed="|Gen|20|14|20|16" passage="Ge 20:14-16">ver. 14-16</scripRef>), and Abraham, by
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prayer, prevails with God for the removal of the judgment Abimelech
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was under, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.17-Gen.20.18" parsed="|Gen|20|17|20|18" passage="Ge 20:17,18">ver. 17,
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18</scripRef>.</p>
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<scripCom id="Gen.xxi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20" parsed="|Gen|20|0|0|0" passage="Ge 20" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="Gen.xxi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.1-Gen.20.2" parsed="|Gen|20|1|20|2" passage="Ge 20:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.20.1-Gen.20.2">
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<h4 id="Gen.xxi-p1.11">Abraham's Denial of His
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Wife. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxi-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1898.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxi-p2">1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the
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south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned
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in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She
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<i>is</i> my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took
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Sarah.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p3">Here is, 1. Abraham's removal from Mamre,
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where he had lived nearly twenty years, into the country of the
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Philistines: <i>He sojourned in Gerar,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.1" parsed="|Gen|20|1|0|0" passage="Ge 20:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. We are not told upon what
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occasion he removed, whether terrified by the destruction of Sodom,
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or because the country round was for the present prejudiced by it,
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or, as some of the Jewish writers say, because he was grieved at
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Lot's incest with his daughters, and the reproach which the
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Canaanites cast upon him and his religion, for
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<pb id="Gen.xxi-Page_128" n="128"/>
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his kinsman's sake: doubtless there was some good
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cause for his removal. Note, In a world where we are strangers and
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pilgrims we cannot expect to be always in the same place. Again,
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Wherever we are, we must look upon ourselves but as sojourners. 2.
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His sin in denying his wife, as before (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.13" parsed="|Gen|12|13|0|0" passage="Ge 12:13"><i>ch.</i> xii. 13</scripRef>), which was not only in
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itself such an equivocation as bordered upon a lie, and which, if
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admitted as lawful, would be the ruin of human converse and an
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inlet to all falsehood, but was also an exposing of the chastity
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and honour of his wife, of which he ought to have been the
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protector. But, besides this, it had here a two-fold aggravation:—
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(1.) He had been guilty of this same sin before, and had been
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reproved for it, and convinced of the folly of the suggestion which
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induced him to it; yet he returns to it. Note, It is possible that
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a good man may, not only fall into sin, but relapse into the same
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sin, through the surprise and strength of temptation and the
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infirmity of the flesh. Let backsliders repent then, but not
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despair, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.22" parsed="|Jer|3|22|0|0" passage="Jer 3:22">Jer. iii. 22</scripRef>. (2.)
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Sarah, as it should seem, was now with child of the promised seed,
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or, at least, in expectation of being so quickly, according to the
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word of God; he ought therefore to have taken particular care of
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her now, as <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.13.4" parsed="|Judg|13|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 13:4">Judg. xiii. 4</scripRef>.
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3. The peril that Sarah was brought into by this means: <i>The king
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of Gerar sent, and took her</i> to his house, in order to the
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taking of her to his bed. Note, The sin of one often occasions the
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sin of others; he that breaks the hedge of God's commandments opens
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a gap to he knows not how many; the beginning of sin is as the
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letting forth of water.</p>
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</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxi-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.3-Gen.20.7" parsed="|Gen|20|3|20|7" passage="Ge 20:3-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.20.3-Gen.20.7">
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<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxi-p4">3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night,
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and said to him, Behold, thou <i>art but</i> a dead man, for the
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woman which thou hast taken; for she <i>is</i> a man's wife.
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4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxi-p4.1">Lord</span>, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
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5 Said he not unto me, She <i>is</i> my sister? and she,
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even she herself said, He <i>is</i> my brother: in the integrity of
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my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And
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God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in
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the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning
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against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7
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Now therefore restore the man <i>his</i> wife; for he <i>is</i> a
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prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if
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thou restore <i>her</i> not, know thou that thou shalt surely die,
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thou, and all that <i>are</i> thine.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p5">It appears by this that God revealed
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himself by dreams (which evidenced themselves to be divine and
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supernatural) not only to his servants the prophets, but even to
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those who were out of the pale of the church and covenant; but
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then, usually, it was with some regard to God's own people as in
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Pharaoh's dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's, to Daniel, and
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here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham and Sarah, for he reproved this
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king for their sake, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.14-Ps.105.15" parsed="|Ps|105|14|105|15" passage="Ps 105:14,15">Ps. cv. 14,
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15</scripRef>.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p6">I. God gives him notice of his danger
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(<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.3" parsed="|Gen|20|3|0|0" passage="Ge 20:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), his danger of
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<i>sin,</i> telling him that the woman is a man's wife, so that if
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he take her he will wrong her husband; his danger of death for this
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sin: <i>Thou art a dead man;</i> and God's saying so of a man makes
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him so. Note, Every wilful sinner ought to be told that he is a
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dead man, as the condemned malefactor, and the patient whose
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disease is mortal, are said to be so. If thou art a bad man,
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certainly thou art a dead man.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p7">II. He pleads ignorance that Abraham and
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Sarah had agreed to impose upon him, and not to let him know that
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they were any more than brother and sister, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.6" parsed="|Gen|20|6|0|0" passage="Ge 20:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. See what confidence a man may
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have towards God when his heart condemns him not, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.21" parsed="|1John|3|21|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:21">1 John iii. 21</scripRef>. If our consciences
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witness to our integrity, and that, however we may have been
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cheated into a snare, we have not knowingly and wittingly sinned
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against God, it will be our rejoicing in the day of evil. He pleads
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with God as Abraham had done, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.23" parsed="|Gen|18|23|0|0" passage="Ge 18:23"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 23</scripRef>. <i>Wilt thou slay a
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righteous nation?</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.4" parsed="|Gen|20|4|0|0" passage="Ge 20:4"><i>v.</i>
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4</scripRef>. Not such a nation as Sodom, which was indeed justly
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destroyed, but a nation which, in this matter, was innocent.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p8">III. God gives a very full answer to what
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he had said.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p9">1. He allows his plea, and admits that what
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he did he did in the integrity of his heart: <i>Yea, I know it,</i>
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<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.6" parsed="|Gen|20|6|0|0" passage="Ge 20:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Note, It is
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matter of comfort to those that are honest that God knows their
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honesty, and will acknowledge it, though perhaps men that are
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prejudiced against them either cannot be convinced of it or will
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not own that they are.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p10">2. He lets him know that he was kept from
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proceeding in the sin merely by the good hand of God upon him: <i>I
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withheld thee from sinning against me.</i> Abimelech was hereby
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kept from doing wrong, Abraham from suffering wrong, and Sarah from
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both. Note, (1.) There is a great deal of sin devised and designed
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that is never executed. As bad as things are in the world, they are
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not so bad as the devil and wicked men would have them. (2.) It is
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God that restrains men from doing the ill they would do. It is not
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from him that there is sin, but it is from him that there is not
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more sin, either by his influence upon men's minds, checking their
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inclination to sin, or by his providence, taking away the
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opportunity to sin. (3.) It is a great mercy to be hindered from
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committing sin; of this God must have the glory, whoever is the
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instrument, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.32-1Sam.25.33" parsed="|1Sam|25|32|25|33" passage="1Sa 25:32,33">1 Sam. xxv. 32,
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33</scripRef>.</p>
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<pb id="Gen.xxi-Page_129" n="129"/>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p11">3. He charges him to make restitution:
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<i>Now therefore,</i> not that thou art better informed, <i>restore
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the man his wife,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.7" parsed="|Gen|20|7|0|0" passage="Ge 20:7"><i>v.</i>
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7</scripRef>. Note, Ignorance will excuse no longer than it
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continues. If we have entered upon a wrong course through ignorance
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this will not excuse our knowingly persisting in it, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.5.3-Lev.5.5" parsed="|Lev|5|3|5|5" passage="Le 5:3-5">Lev. v. 3-5</scripRef>. The reasons why he must
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be just and kind to Abraham are, (1.) Because <i>he is a
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prophet,</i> near and dear to God, for whom God does in a
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particular manner concern himself. God highly resents the injuries
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done to his prophets, and takes them as done to himself. (2.) Being
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a prophet, <i>he shall pray for thee;</i> this is a prophet's
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reward, and a good reward it is. It is intimated that there was
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great efficacy in the prayers of a prophet, and that good men
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should be ready to help those with their prayers that stand in need
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of them, and should make, at least, this return for the kindnesses
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that are done them. Abraham was accessory to Abimelech's trouble,
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and therefore was obliged in justice to pray for him. (3.) It is at
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thy peril if thou do not restore her: <i>Know thou that thou shalt
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surely die.</i> Note, He that does wrong, whoever he is, prince or
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peasant, shall certainly receive for the wrong which he has done,
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unless he repent and make restitution, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.25" parsed="|Col|3|25|0|0" passage="Col 3:25">Col. iii. 25</scripRef>. No injustice can be made
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passable with God, no, not by Caesar's image stamped upon it.</p>
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</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.8-Gen.20.13" parsed="|Gen|20|8|20|13" passage="Ge 20:8-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.20.8-Gen.20.13">
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<h4 id="Gen.xxi-p11.5">Abimelech's Conduct Towards
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Abraham. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxi-p11.6">b. c.</span> 1898.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxi-p12">8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning,
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and called all his servants, and told all these things in their
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ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called
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Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what
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have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my
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kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to
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be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest
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thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said,
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Because I thought, Surely the fear of God <i>is</i> not in this
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place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet
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indeed <i>she is</i> my sister; she <i>is</i> the daughter of my
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father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
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13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my
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father's house, that I said unto her, This <i>is</i> thy kindness
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which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall
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come, say of me, He <i>is</i> my brother.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p13">Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a
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dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly afraid of sin and its
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consequences, he rises early to obey the directions given him.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p14">I. He has a caution for his servants,
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<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.8" parsed="|Gen|20|8|0|0" passage="Ge 20:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Abraham himself
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could not be more careful than he was to command his household in
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this matter. Note, Those whom God has convinced of sin and danger
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ought to tell others what God has done for their souls, that they
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also may be awakened and brought to a like holy fear.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p15">II. He has a chiding for Abraham.
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Observe,</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p16">1. The serious reproof which Abimelech gave
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to Abraham, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.9-Gen.20.10" parsed="|Gen|20|9|20|10" passage="Ge 20:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9,
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10</scripRef>. His reasoning with Abraham upon this occasion was
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very strong, and yet very mild. Nothing could be said better; he
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does not reproach him, nor insult over him, does not say, "Is this
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your profession? I see, though you will not swear, you will lie. If
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these be prophets, I will beg to be freed from the sight of them:"
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but he fairly represents the injury Abraham had done him, and
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calmly signifies his resentment of it. (1.) He calls that sin which
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he now found he had been in danger of a great sin. Note, Even the
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light of nature teaches men that the sin of adultery is a very
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great sin: be it observed, to the shame of many who call themselves
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Christians, and yet make a light matter of it. (2.) He looks upon
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it that both himself and his kingdom would have been exposed to the
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wrath of God if he had been guilty of this sin, though ignorantly.
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Note, The sins of kings often prove the plagues of kingdoms; rulers
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should therefore, for their people's sake, dread sin. (3.) He
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charges Abraham with doing that which was not justifiable, in
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disowning his marriage. This he speaks of justly, and yet tenderly;
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he does not call him a liar and cheat, but tells him he had done
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<i>deeds that ought not to be done.</i> Note, Equivocation and
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dissimulation, however they may be palliated, are very bad things,
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and by no means to be admitted in any case. (4.) He takes it as a
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very great injury to himself and his family that Abraham had thus
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exposed them to sin: "<i>What have I offended thee?</i> If I had
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been thy worst enemy, thou couldst not have done me a worse turn,
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nor taken a more effectual course to be revenged on me." Note, We
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ought to reckon that those do us the greatest unkindness in the
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world that any way tempt us or expose us to sin, though they may
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pretend friendship, and offer that which is grateful enough to
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corrupt nature. (5.) He challenges him to assign a cause for his
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suspecting them as a dangerous people for an honest man to live
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among: "<i>What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?</i>
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<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.10" parsed="|Gen|20|10|0|0" passage="Ge 20:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. What reason
|
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hadst thou to think that if we had known her to be thy wife thou
|
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|
wouldst have been exposed to any danger by it?" Note, A suspicion
|
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|
of our goodness is justly reckoned a greater affront than a slight
|
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|
upon our greatness.</p>
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|
<pb id="Gen.xxi-Page_130" n="130"/>
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|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p17">2. The poor excuse that Abraham made for
|
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|
himself.</p>
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|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p18">(1.) He pleaded the bad opinion he had of
|
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|
the place, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.11" parsed="|Gen|20|11|0|0" passage="Ge 20:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. He
|
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thought within himself (though he could not give any good reason
|
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|
for his thinking so), "<i>Surely the fear of God is not in this
|
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|
place,</i> and then they will slay me." [1.] Little good is to be
|
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|
expected where no fear of God is. See <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.1" parsed="|Ps|36|1|0|0" passage="Ps 36:1">Ps. xxxvi. 1</scripRef>. [2.] There are many places and
|
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|
persons that have more of the fear of God in them than we think
|
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|
they have: perhaps they are not called by our dividing name, they
|
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|
do not wear our badges, they do not tie themselves to that which we
|
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|
have an opinion of; and therefore we conclude they have not the
|
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|
fear of God in their hearts, which is very injurious both of Christ
|
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|
and Christians, and makes us obnoxious to God's judgment, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.1" parsed="|Matt|7|1|0|0" passage="Mt 7:1">Matt. vii. 1</scripRef>. [3.] Uncharitableness and
|
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|
censoriousness are sins that are the cause of many other sins. When
|
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|
men have once persuaded themselves concerning such and such that
|
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|
they have not the fear of God, they think this will justify them in
|
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|
the most unjust and unchristian practices towards them. Men would
|
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|
not do ill if they did not first think ill.</p>
|
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|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p19">(2.) He excused it from the guilt of a
|
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|
downright lie by making it out that, in a sense, she was his
|
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|
sister, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.12" parsed="|Gen|20|12|0|0" passage="Ge 20:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Some
|
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|
think she was own sister to Lot, who is called his <i>brother
|
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|
Lot</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.14.16" parsed="|Gen|14|16|0|0" passage="Ge 14:16"><i>ch.</i> xiv.
|
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|
16</scripRef>), though he was <i>his nephew;</i> so Sarah is called
|
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|
his <i>sister.</i> But those to whom he said, <i>She is my
|
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|
sister,</i> understood that she was so his sister as not to be
|
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|
capable of being his wife; so that it was an equivocation, with an
|
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|
intent to deceive.</p>
|
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|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p20">(3.) He clears himself from the imputation
|
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|
of an affront designed to Abimelech in it by alleging that it had
|
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|
been his practice before, according to an agreement between him and
|
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|
his wife, when they first became sojourners (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.13" parsed="|Gen|20|13|0|0" passage="Ge 20:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): "<i>When God caused me to
|
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|
wander from my father's house,</i> then we settled this matter."
|
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|
Note, [1.] God is to be acknowledged in all our wanderings. [2.]
|
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|
Those that travel abroad, and converse much with strangers, as they
|
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|
have need of the wisdom of the serpent, so it is requisite that
|
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|
that wisdom be ever tempered with the innocence of the dove. It
|
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|
may, for aught I know, be suggested that God denied to Abraham and
|
|||
|
Sarah the blessing of children so long to punish them for this
|
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|
sinful compact if they will not own their marriage, why should God
|
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|
own it? But we may suppose that, after this reproof which Abimelech
|
|||
|
gave them, they agreed never to do so again, and then presently we
|
|||
|
read (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.21.1-Gen.21.2" parsed="|Gen|21|1|21|2" passage="Ge 21:1,2"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 1,
|
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|
2</scripRef>) that <i>Sarah conceived.</i></p>
|
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|
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.14-Gen.20.18" parsed="|Gen|20|14|20|18" passage="Ge 20:14-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.20.14-Gen.20.18">
|
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|
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxi-p21">14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and
|
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|
menservants, and womenservants, and gave <i>them</i> unto Abraham,
|
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|
and restored him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said,
|
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|
Behold, my land <i>is</i> before thee: dwell where it pleaseth
|
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|
thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy
|
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|
brother a thousand <i>pieces</i> of silver: behold, he <i>is</i> to
|
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|
thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that <i>are</i> with thee,
|
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|
and with all <i>other:</i> thus she was reproved. 17 So
|
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|
Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife,
|
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|
and his maidservants; and they bare <i>children.</i> 18 For
|
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|
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxi-p21.1">Lord</span> had fast closed up all the
|
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|
wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's
|
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|
wife.</p>
|
|||
|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p22">Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which
|
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|
Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how unjust Abraham's jealousies
|
|||
|
were. He fancied that if they knew that Sarah was his wife they
|
|||
|
would kill him; but, when they did know it, instead of killing him
|
|||
|
they were kind to him, frightened at least to be so by the divine
|
|||
|
rebukes they were under. 1. He gives him his royal licence to dwell
|
|||
|
where he pleased in his country, courting his stay because he gives
|
|||
|
him his royal gifts (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.14" parsed="|Gen|20|14|0|0" passage="Ge 20:14"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
14</scripRef>), <i>sheep and oxen,</i> and (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.16" parsed="|Gen|20|16|0|0" passage="Ge 20:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) <i>a thousand pieces of
|
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|
silver.</i> This he gave when he restored Sarah, either, [1.] By
|
|||
|
way of satisfaction for the wrong he had offered to do, in taking
|
|||
|
her to his house: when the Philistines restored the ark, being
|
|||
|
plagued for detaining it, they sent a present with it. The law
|
|||
|
appointed that when restitution was made something should be added
|
|||
|
to it, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.6.5" parsed="|Lev|6|5|0|0" passage="Le 6:5">Lev. vi. 5</scripRef>. Or, [2.]
|
|||
|
To engage Abraham's prayers for him; not as if prayers should be
|
|||
|
bought and sold, but we should endeavour to be kind to those of
|
|||
|
whose spiritual things we reap, <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.11" parsed="|1Cor|9|11|0|0" passage="1Co 9:11">1 Cor.
|
|||
|
ix. 11</scripRef>. Note, It is our wisdom to get and keep an
|
|||
|
interest with those that have an interest in heaven, and to make
|
|||
|
those our friends who are the friends of God. [3.] He gives to
|
|||
|
Sarah good instruction, tells her that her husband (her
|
|||
|
<i>brother</i> he calls him, to upbraid her with calling him so)
|
|||
|
must be to her for <i>a covering of the eyes,</i> that is, she must
|
|||
|
look at no other, nor desire to be looked at by any other. Note,
|
|||
|
Yoke-fellows must be to each other for a covering of the eyes. The
|
|||
|
marriage-covenant is a covenant with the eyes, like Job's,
|
|||
|
<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.1" parsed="|Job|31|1|0|0" passage="Job 31:1"><i>ch.</i> xxxi. 1</scripRef>.</p>
|
|||
|
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxi-p23">II. The kindness of a prophet which Abraham
|
|||
|
showed to Abimelech: he <i>prayed for him,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.17-Gen.20.18" parsed="|Gen|20|17|20|18" passage="Ge 20:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. This honour God would
|
|||
|
put upon Abraham that, though Abimelech had restored Sarah, yet the
|
|||
|
judgment he was under should be removed upon the prayer of Abraham,
|
|||
|
and not before. Thus God healed Miriam, when Moses, whom she had
|
|||
|
most affronted, prayed for her (<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.12.13" parsed="|Num|12|13|0|0" passage="Nu 12:13">Num.
|
|||
|
xii. 13</scripRef>), and was reconciled to Job's friends when Job,
|
|||
|
whom they had grieved, prayed for them
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<pb id="Gen.xxi-Page_131" n="131"/>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxi-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.42.8-Job.42.10" parsed="|Job|42|8|42|10" passage="Job 42:8-10">Job xlii. 8-10</scripRef>), and so
|
|||
|
did, as it were, give it under his hand that he was reconciled to
|
|||
|
them. Note, The prayers of good men may be a kindness to great men,
|
|||
|
and ought to be valued.</p>
|
|||
|
</div></div2>
|