mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 22.xml

<div2 id="Gen.xxiii" n="xxiii" next="Gen.xxiv" prev="Gen.xxii" progress="16.20%" title="Chapter XXII">
<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_136" n="136"/>
<h2 id="Gen.xxiii-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.xxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.xxiii-p1">We have here the famous story of Abraham's
offering up his son Isaac, that is, his offering to offer him,
which is justly looked upon as one of the wonders of the church.
Here is, I. The strange command which God gave to Abraham
concerning it, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.1-Gen.22.2" parsed="|Gen|22|1|22|2" passage="Ge 22:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>.
II. Abraham's strange obedience to this command, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.3-Gen.22.10" parsed="|Gen|22|3|22|10" passage="Ge 22:3-10">ver. 3-10</scripRef>. III. The strange issue of this
trial. 1. The sacrificing of Isaac was countermanded, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.11-Gen.22.12" parsed="|Gen|22|11|22|12" passage="Ge 22:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. 2. Another sacrifice
was provided, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.13-Gen.22.14" parsed="|Gen|22|13|22|14" passage="Ge 22:13,14">ver. 13,
14</scripRef>. 3. The covenant was renewed with Abraham hereupon,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.15-Gen.22.19" parsed="|Gen|22|15|22|19" passage="Ge 22:15-19">ver. 15-19</scripRef>. Lastly, an
account of some of Abraham's relations, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.20-Gen.22.24" parsed="|Gen|22|20|22|24" passage="Ge 22:20-24">ver. 20</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22" parsed="|Gen|22|0|0|0" passage="Ge 22" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.1-Gen.22.2" parsed="|Gen|22|1|22|2" passage="Ge 22:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.22.1-Gen.22.2">
<h4 id="Gen.xxiii-p1.9">Abraham Commanded to Offer
Isaac. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1872.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxiii-p2">1 And it came to pass after these things, that
God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said,
Behold, <i>here</i> I <i>am.</i>   2 And he said, Take now thy
son, thine only <i>son</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p3">Here is the trial of Abraham's faith,
whether it continued so strong, so vigorous, so victorious, after a
long settlement in communion with God, as it was at first, when by
it he left his country: then it was made to appear that he loved
God better than his father; now that he loved him better than his
son. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p4">I. The time when Abraham was thus tried
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.1" parsed="|Gen|22|1|0|0" passage="Ge 22:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>After
these things,</i> after all the other exercises he had had, all the
hardships and difficulties he had gone through. Now, perhaps, he
was beginning to think the storms had all blown over; but, after
all, this encounter comes, which is sharper than any yet. Note,
Many former trials will not supersede nor secure us from further
trials; we have not yet put off the harness, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.20.11" parsed="|1Kgs|20|11|0|0" passage="1Ki 20:11">1 Kings xx. 11</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|7" passage="Ps 30:6,7">Ps. xxx. 6, 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p5">II. The author of the trial: <i>God</i>
tempted him, not to draw him to sin, so Satan tempts (if Abraham
had sacrificed Isaac, he would not have sinned, his orders would
have justified him, and borne him out), but to discover his graces,
how strong they were, that they might be <i>found to praise, and
honour, and glory,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.7" parsed="|1Pet|1|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:7">1 Pet. i.
7</scripRef>. Thus God tempted Job, that he might appear not only a
good man, but a great man. <i>God did tempt Abraham;</i> he did
<i>lift up Abraham,</i> so some read it; as a scholar that improves
well is lifted up, when he is put into a higher form. Note, Strong
faith is often exercised with strong trials and put upon hard
services.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p6">III. The trial itself. God appeared to him
as he had formerly done, called him by name, <i>Abraham,</i> that
name which had been given him in ratification of the promise.
Abraham, like a good servant, readily answered, "<i>Here am I;</i>
what says my Lord unto his servant?" Probably he expected some
renewed promise like those, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.15.1" parsed="|Gen|15|1|0|0" passage="Ge 15:1"><i>ch.</i>
xv. 1</scripRef>, and <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.17.1" parsed="|Gen|17|1|0|0" passage="Ge 17:1"><i>ch.</i> xvii.
1</scripRef>. But, to his great amazement, that which God has to
say to him is, in short, <i>Abraham, Go kill thy son;</i> and this
command is given him in such aggravating language as makes the
temptation abundantly more grievous. When God speaks, Abraham, no
doubt, takes notice of every word, and listens attentively to it;
and every word here is a sword in his bones: the trial is steeled
with trying phrases. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that he
should afflict? No, it is not; yet, when Abraham's faith is to be
tried, God seems to take pleasure in the aggravation of the trial,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.2" parsed="|Gen|22|2|0|0" passage="Ge 22:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p7">1. The person to be offered. (1.) "<i>Take
thy son,</i> not thy bullocks and thy lambs;" how willingly would
Abraham have parted with them by thousands to redeem Isaac!

<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_137" n="137"/>

"No, <i>I will take no bullock out of thy
house,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.9" parsed="|Ps|50|9|0|0" passage="Ps 50:9">Ps. l. 9</scripRef>. I must
have thy son: not thy servant, no, not the steward of thy house,
that shall not serve the turn; I must have thy son." Jephthah, in
pursuance of a vow, offered a daughter; but Abraham must offer his
son, in whom the family was to be built up. "Lord, let it be an
adopted son;" "No, (2.) <i>Thy only son;</i> thy only son by
<i>Sarah.</i>" Ishmael was lately cast out, to the grief of
Abraham; and now Isaac only was left, and must he go too? Yes, (3.)
"Take <i>Isaac,</i> him, by name, <i>thy laughter,</i> that <i>son
indeed,</i>" <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.17.19" parsed="|Gen|17|19|0|0" passage="Ge 17:19"><i>ch.</i> xvii.
19</scripRef>. Not "Send for Ishmael back, and offer him;" no, it
must be Isaac. "But, Lord, I love Isaac, he is to me as my own
soul. Ishmael is not, and wilt thou take Isaac also? All this is
against me:" Yea, (4.) That son <i>whom thou lovest.</i> It was a
trial of Abraham's love to God, and therefore it must be in a
beloved son, and that string must be touched most upon: in the
Hebrew it is expressed more emphatically, and, I think, might very
well be read thus: <i>Take now that son of thine, that only one of
thine, whom thou lovest, that Isaac.</i> God's command must
overrule all these considerations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p8">2. The place: <i>In the land of Moriah,</i>
three days' journey off; so that he might have time to consider it,
and, if he did it, must do it deliberately, that it might be a
service the more reasonable and the more honourable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p9">3. The manner: <i>Offer him for a
burnt-offering.</i> He must not only kill his son, but kill him as
a sacrifice, kill him devoutly, kill him by rule, kill him with all
that pomp and ceremony, with all that sedateness and composure of
mind, with which he used to offer his burnt-offerings.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.3-Gen.22.10" parsed="|Gen|22|3|22|10" passage="Ge 22:3-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.22.3-Gen.22.10">
<h4 id="Gen.xxiii-p9.2">Abraham's Obedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p9.3">b. c.</span> 1872.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxiii-p10">3 And 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.   4 Then on
the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar
off.   5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here
with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and
come again to you.   6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt
offering, and laid <i>it</i> upon Isaac his son; and he took the
fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
  7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here <i>am</i> I, my son. And he said, Behold
the fire and the wood: but where <i>is</i> the lamb for a burnt
offering?   8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them
together.   9 And they came to the place which God had told
him of; 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.   10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the
knife to slay his son.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p11">We have here Abraham's obedience to this
severe command. <i>Being tried, he offered up Isaac,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.17" parsed="|Heb|11|17|0|0" passage="Heb 11:17">Heb. xi. 17</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p12">I. The difficulties which he broke through
in this act of obedience. Much might have been objected against it;
as, 1. It seemed directly against an antecedent law of God, which
forbids murder, under a severe penalty, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.5-Gen.9.6" parsed="|Gen|9|5|9|6" passage="Ge 9:5,6"><i>ch.</i> ix. 5, 6</scripRef>. Now can the unchangeable
God contradict himself? He that hates robbery for burnt-offering
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.8" parsed="|Isa|61|8|0|0" passage="Isa 61:8">Isa. lxi. 8</scripRef>) cannot
delight in murder for it. 2. How would it consist with natural
affection to his own son? It would be not only murder, but the
worst of murders. Cannot Abraham be obedient but he must be
unnatural? If God insist upon a human sacrifice, is there none but
Isaac to be the offering, and none but Abraham to be the offerer?
Must the father of the faithful be the monster of all fathers? 3.
God gave him no reason for it. When Ishmael was to be cast out, a
just cause was assigned, which satisfied Abraham; but here Isaac
must die, and Abraham must kill him, and neither the one nor the
other must know why or wherefore. If Isaac had been to die a martyr
for the truth, or his life had been the ransom of some other life
more precious, it would have been another matter; of if he had died
as a criminal, a rebel against God or his parents, as in the case
of the idolater (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.13.8-Deut.13.9" parsed="|Deut|13|8|13|9" passage="De 13:8,9">Deut. xiii. 8,
9</scripRef>), or the stubborn son (<scripRef id="Deut.xxiii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.18-Deut.21.19" parsed="|Deut|21|18|21|19" passage="Deut 21:18,19">Deut. xxi. 18, 19</scripRef>), it might have passed
as a sacrifice to justice. But the case is not so: he is dutiful,
obedient, hopeful, son. "Lord, what profit is there in his blood?"
4. How would this consist with the promise? Was it not said that in
<i>Isaac shall thy seed be called?</i> But what comes of that seed,
if this pregnant bud be broken off so soon? 5. How should he ever
look Sarah in the face again? With what face can he return to her
and his family with the blood of Isaac sprinkled on his garments
and staining all his raiment? "<i>Surely a bloody husband hast thou
been to me</i>" would Sarah say (as <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.4.25-Exod.4.26" parsed="|Exod|4|25|4|26" passage="Ex 4:25,26">Exod. iv. 25, 26</scripRef>), and it would be likely
to alienate her affections for ever both from him and from his God.
6. What would the Egyptians say, and the Canaanites and the
Perizzites who dwelt then in the land? It would be an eternal
reproach to Abraham, and to his altars. "Welcome nature, if this be
grace." These and many similar objection might have been made; but
he was infallibly assured

<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_138" n="138"/>

that it was indeed
a command of God and not a delusion, and this was sufficient to
answer them all. Note, God's commands must not be disputed, but
obeyed; we must not consult with flesh and blood about them
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Gal.1.15-Gal.1.16" parsed="|Gal|1|15|1|16" passage="Ga 1:15,16">Gal. i. 15, 16</scripRef>), but
with a gracious obstinacy persist in our obedience to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p13">II. The several steps of obedience, all
which help to magnify it, and to show that he was guided by
prudence, and governed by faith, in the whole transaction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p14">1. He rises early, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.3" parsed="|Gen|22|3|0|0" passage="Ge 22:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Probably the command was given in
the visions of the night, and early the next morning he set himself
about the execution of it—did not delay, did not demur, did not
take time to deliberate; for the command was peremptory, and would
not admit a debate. Note, those that do the will of God heartily
will do it speedily; while we delay, time is lost and the heart
hardened.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p15">2. He gets things ready for a sacrifice,
and, as if he himself had been a Gibeonite, it should seem, with
his own hands he cleaves the wood for the burnt-offering, that it
might not be to seek when the sacrifice was to be offered.
Spiritual sacrifices must thus be prepared for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p16">3. It is very probable that he said nothing
about it to Sarah. This is a journey which she must know nothing
of, lest she prevent it. There is so much in our own hearts to
hinder our progress in duty that we have need, as much as may be,
to keep out of the way of other hindrances.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p17">4. He carefully looked about him, to
discover the place appointed for this sacrifice, to which God had
promised by some sign to direct him. Probably the direction was
given by an appearance of the divine glory in the place, some
pillar of fire reaching from heaven to earth, visible at a
distance, and to which he pointed when he said (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.5" parsed="|Gen|22|5|0|0" passage="Ge 22:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), "We will go yonder, where you
see the light, and worship."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p18">5. He left his servants at some distance
off (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.5" parsed="|Gen|22|5|0|0" passage="Ge 22:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), lest they
should interpose, and create him some disturbance in his strange
oblation; for Isaac was, no doubt, the darling of the whole family.
Thus, when Christ was entering upon his agony in the garden, he
took only three of his disciples with him, and left the rest at the
garden door. Note, It is our wisdom and duty, when we are going to
worship God, to lay aside all those thoughts and cares which may
divert us from the service, leave them at the bottom of the hill,
that we may attend on the Lord without distraction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p19">6. He obliged Isaac to carry the wood (both
to try his obedience in a smaller matter first, and that he might
typify Christ, who carried his own cross, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:John.19.17" parsed="|John|19|17|0|0" passage="Joh 19:17">John xix. 17</scripRef>), while he himself, though he
knew what he did, with a steady and undaunted resolution carried
the fatal knife and fire, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.6" parsed="|Gen|22|6|0|0" passage="Ge 22:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. Note, Those that through grace are resolved upon the
substance of any service or suffering for God must overlook the
little circumstances which make it doubly difficult to flesh and
blood.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p20">7. Without any ruffle or disorder, he talks
it over with Isaac, as if it had been but a common sacrifice that
he was going to offer, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.7-Gen.22.8" parsed="|Gen|22|7|22|8" passage="Ge 22:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p21">(1.) It was a very affecting question that
Isaac asked him, as they were going together: <i>My father,</i>
said Isaac; it was a melting word, which, one would think, would
strike deeper into the breast of Abraham than his knife could into
the breast of Isaac. He might have said, or thought, at least,
"Call me not thy father who am now to be thy murderer; can a father
be so barbarous, so perfectly lost to all the tenderness of a
father?" Yet he keeps his temper, and keeps his countenance, to
admiration; he calmly waits for his son's question, and this is it:
<i>Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?</i> See how
expert Isaac was in the law and custom of sacrifices. This it is to
be well-catechised: this is, [1.] A trying question to Abraham. How
could he endure to think that Isaac was himself the lamb? So it is,
but Abraham, as yet, dares not tell him so. Where God knows the
faith to be armour of proof, he will laugh at <i>the trial of the
innocent,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.23" parsed="|Job|9|23|0|0" passage="Job 9:23">Job ix. 23</scripRef>.
[2.] It is a teaching question to us all, that, when we are going
to worship God, we should seriously consider whether we have every
thing ready, especially the lamb for a burnt-offering. Behold, the
fire is ready, the Spirit's assistance and God's acceptance; the
wood is ready, the instituted ordinances designed to kindle our
affections (which indeed, without the Spirit, are but like wood
without fire, but the Spirit works by them); <i>all things are now
ready,</i> but where is the lamb? Where is the heart? Is that ready
to be offered up to God, to ascend to him as a burnt-offering?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p22">(2.) It was a very prudent answer which
Abraham gave him: <i>My son, God will provide himself a lamb.</i>
This was the language, either, [1.] Of his obedience. "We must
offer the lamb which God has appointed now to be offered;" thus
giving him this general rule of submission to the divine will, to
prepare him for the application of it to himself very quickly. Or,
[2.] Of his faith. Whether he meant it so or not, this proved to be
the meaning of it; a sacrifice was provided instead of Isaac. Thus,
<i>First,</i> Christ, the great sacrifice of atonement, was of
God's providing; when none in heaven or earth could have found a
lamb for that burnt-offering, God himself found the ransom,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.20" parsed="|Ps|89|20|0|0" passage="Ps 89:20">Ps. lxxxix. 20</scripRef>.
<i>Secondly,</i> All our sacrifices of acknowledgment are of God's
providing too. It is he that prepares the heart, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.10.17" parsed="|Ps|10|17|0|0" passage="Ps 10:17">Ps. x. 17</scripRef>. The broken and contrite spirit is
a sacrifice of God (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.17" parsed="|Ps|51|17|0|0" passage="Ps 51:17">Ps. li.
17</scripRef>), of his providing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p23">8. With the same resolution and
composedness of mind, after many thoughts of heart, he applies
himself to the completing

<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_139" n="139"/>

of this sacrifice,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.9-Gen.22.10" parsed="|Gen|22|9|22|10" passage="Ge 22:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. He goes
on with a holy wilfulness, after many a weary step, and with a
heavy heart he arrives at length at the fatal place, builds the
altar (an altar of earth, we may suppose, the saddest that ever he
built, and he had built many a one), lays the wood in order for his
Isaac's funeral pile, and now tells him the amazing news: "Isaac,
thou art the lamb which God has provided." Isaac, for aught that
appears, is as willing as Abraham; we do not find that he raised
any objection against it, that he petitioned for his life, that he
attempted to make his escape, much less that he struggled with his
aged father, or made any resistance: Abraham does it, God will have
it done, and Isaac has learnt to submit to both, Abraham no doubt
comforting him with the same hopes with which he himself by faith
was comforted. Yet it is necessary that a sacrifice be bound. The
great sacrifice, which in the fullness of time was to be offered
up, must be bound, and therefore so must Isaac. But with what heart
could tender Abraham tie those guiltless hands, which perhaps had
often been lifted up to ask his blessing, and stretched out to
embrace him, and were now the more straitly bound with the cords of
love and duty! However, it must be done. Having bound him, he lays
him upon the altar, and his hand upon the head of his sacrifice;
and now, we may suppose, with floods of tears, he gives, and takes,
the final farewell of a parting kiss: perhaps he takes another for
Sarah from her dying son. This being done, he resolutely forgets
the bowels of a father, and puts on the awful gravity of a
sacrificer. With a fixed heart, and an eye lifted up to heaven, he
takes the knife, and stretches out his hand to give a fatal cut to
Isaac's throat. Be astonished, O heavens! at this; and wonder, O
earth! Here is an act of faith and obedience, which deserves to be
a spectacle to God, angels, and men. Abraham's darling, Sarah's
laughter, the church's hope, the heir of promise, lies ready to
bleed and die by his own father's hand, who never shrinks at the
doing of it. Now this obedience of Abraham in offering up Isaac is
a lively representation, (1.) Of the love of God to us, in
delivering up his only-begotten Son to suffer and die for us, as a
sacrifice. It <i>pleased the Lord</i> himself to <i>bruise him.</i>
See <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.10 Bible:Zech.13.7" parsed="|Isa|53|10|0|0;|Zech|13|7|0|0" passage="Isa 53:10,Zec 13:7">Isa. liii. 10; Zech.
xiii. 7</scripRef>. Abraham was obliged, both in duty and
gratitude, to part with Isaac, and parted with him to a friend; but
God was under no obligations to us, for we were enemies. (2.) Of
our duty to God, in return for that love. We must tread in the
steps of this faith of Abraham. God, by his word, calls us to part
with all for Christ,—all our sins, though they have been as a
right hand, or a right eye, or an Isaac—all those things that are
competitors and rivals with Christ for the sovereignty of the heart
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.14.26" parsed="|Luke|14|26|0|0" passage="Lu 14:26">Luke xiv. 26</scripRef>); and we must
cheerfully let them all go. God, by his providence, which is truly
the voice of God, calls us to part with an Isaac sometimes, and we
must do it with a cheerful resignation and submission to his holy
will, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.18" parsed="|1Sam|3|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:18">1 Sam. iii. 18</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.11-Gen.22.14" parsed="|Gen|22|11|22|14" passage="Ge 22:11-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.22.11-Gen.22.14">
<h4 id="Gen.xxiii-p23.6">Isaac Rescued. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p23.7">b. c.</span> 1872.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxiii-p24">11 And the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p24.1">Lord</span> called unto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here <i>am</i> I.   12 And he
said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing
unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast
not withheld thy son, thine only <i>son</i> from me.   13 And
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind
<i>him</i> a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went
and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son.   14 And Abraham called the name of that
place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said <i>to</i> this day, In the mount
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p24.2">Lord</span> it shall be seen.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p25">Hitherto this story has been very
melancholy, and seemed to hasten towards a most tragical period;
but here the sky suddenly clears up, the sun breaks out, and a
bright and pleasant scene opens. The same hand that had wounded and
cast down here heals and lifts up; for, though he cause grief, he
will have compassion. <i>The angel of the Lord,</i> that is, God
himself, the eternal Word, the angel of the covenant, who was to be
the great Redeemer and comforter, he interposed, and gave a happy
issue to this trial.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p26">I. Isaac is rescued, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.11-Gen.22.12" parsed="|Gen|22|11|22|12" passage="Ge 22:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. The command to offer him
was intended only for trial, and it appearing, upon trial, that
Abraham did indeed love God better than he loved Isaac, the end of
the command was answered; and therefore the order is countermanded,
without any reflection at all upon the unchangeableness of the
divine counsels: <i>Lay not thy hand upon the lad.</i> Note, 1. Our
creature-comforts are
most likely to be continued to us when we are most willing to
resign them up to God's will. 2. God's time to help and relieve his
people is when they are brought to the greatest extremity. The more
imminent the danger is, and the nearer to be put in execution, the
more wonderful and the more welcome is the deliverance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p27">II. Abraham is not only approved, but
applauded. He obtains an honourable testimony that he is righteous:
<i>Now know I that thou fearest God.</i> God knew it before, but
now Abraham had given a most memorable evidence of it. He needed do
no more; what he had done was sufficient to prove the religious
regard he had to God and his authority. Note, 1. When God, by his
providence, hinders the performance of our sincere intentions in
his services, he graciously

<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_140" n="140"/>

accepts the will
for the deed, and the honest endeavour, though it come short of
finishing. 2. The best evidence of our fearing God is our being
willing of serve and honour him with that which is dearest to us,
and to part with all to him or for him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p28">III. Another sacrifice is provided instead
of Isaac, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.13" parsed="|Gen|22|13|0|0" passage="Ge 22:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. Now
that the altar was built, and the wood laid in order, it was
necessary that something should be offered. For, 1. God must be
acknowledged with thankfulness for the deliverance of Isaac; and
the sooner the better, when here is an altar ready. 2. Abraham's
words must be made good: <i>God will provide himself a lamb.</i>
God will not disappoint those expectations of his people which are
of his own raising; but according to their faith it is to them.
<i>Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established.</i> 3.
Reference must be had to the promised Messiah, the blessed seed.
(1.) Christ was sacrificed in our stead, as this ram instead of
Isaac, and his death was our discharge. "<i>Here am I</i> (said
he,) <i>let these go their way.</i>" (2.) Though that blessed seed
was lately promised, and now typified by Isaac, yet the offering of
him up should be suspended till the latter end of the world: and in
the meantime the sacrifice of beasts should be accepted, as this
ram was, as a pledge of that expiation which should one day be made
by that great sacrifice. And it is observable that the temple, the
place of sacrifice, was afterwards built upon this Mount Moriah
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.3.1" parsed="|2Chr|3|1|0|0" passage="2Ch 3:1">2 Chron. iii. 1</scripRef>); and mount
Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was not far off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p29">IV. A new name is given to the place, to
the honour of God, and for the encouragement of all believers, to
the end of the world, cheerfully to trust in God in the way of
obedience: <i>Jehovah-jireh, The Lord will provide</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.14" parsed="|Gen|22|14|0|0" passage="Ge 22:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), probably alluding to
what he had said (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.8" parsed="|Gen|22|8|0|0" passage="Ge 22:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), <i>God will provide himself a lamb.</i> It was not
owing to any contrivance of Abraham, nor was it in answer to his
prayer, though he was a distinguished intercessor; but it was
purely the Lord's doing. Let it be recorded for the generations to
come, 1. That <i>the Lord will see;</i> he will always have his eye
upon his people in their straits and distresses, that he may come
in with seasonable succour in the critical juncture. 2. That he
will <i>be seen,</i> be seen <i>in the mount,</i> in the greatest
perplexities of his people. He will not only manifest, but magnify,
his wisdom, power, and goodness, in their deliverance. Where God
sees and provides, he should be seen and praised. And, perhaps, it
may refer to <i>God manifest in the flesh.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.15-Gen.22.19" parsed="|Gen|22|15|22|19" passage="Ge 22:15-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.22.15-Gen.22.19">
<h4 id="Gen.xxiii-p29.4">Abraham's Blessing
Confirmed. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p29.5">b. c.</span> 1872.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxiii-p30">15 And the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p30.1">Lord</span> called unto Abraham out of heaven the
second time,   16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxiii-p30.2">Lord</span>, for because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only <i>son:</i>
  17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I
will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand
which <i>is</i> upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies;   18 And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
  19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up
and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at
Beer-sheba.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p31">Abraham's obedience was graciously
accepted; but this was not all: here we have it recompensed,
abundantly recompensed, before he stirred from the place; probably
while the ram he had sacrificed was yet burning God sent him this
gracious message, renewed and ratified his covenant with him. All
covenants were made by sacrifice, so was this by the typical
sacrifices of Isaac and the ram. Very high expressions of God's
favour to Abraham are employed in this confirmation of the covenant
with him, expressions exceeding any he had yet been blessed with.
Note, Extraordinary services shall be crowned with extraordinary
honours and comforts; and favours in the promise, though not yet
performed, ought to be accounted real and valuable recompences.
Observe, 1. God is pleased to make mention of Abraham's obedience
as the consideration of the covenant; and he speaks of it with an
encomium: <i>Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.16" parsed="|Gen|22|16|0|0" passage="Ge 22:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. He lays a strong emphasis on
this, and (<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.18" parsed="|Gen|22|18|0|0" passage="Ge 22:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>)
praises it as an act of obedience: in it thou hast <i>obeyed my
voice,</i> and to obey is better than sacrifice. Not that this was
a proportionable consideration, but God graciously put this honour
upon that by which Abraham had honoured him. 2. God now confirmed
the promise with an oath. It was said and sealed before; but now it
is sworn: <i>By myself have I sworn;</i> for he could swear by no
greater, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.13" parsed="|Heb|6|13|0|0" passage="Heb 6:13">Heb. vi. 13</scripRef>. Thus
he interposed himself by an oath, as the apostle expresses it,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.17" parsed="|Heb|6|17|0|0" passage="Heb 6:17">Heb. vi. 17</scripRef>. He did (to
speak with reverence) even pawn his own life and being upon it
(<i>As I live,</i>) that by all those immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, he and his might have strong
consolation. Note, If we exercise faith, God will encourage it.
Improve the promises, and God will ratify them. 3. The particular
promise here renewed is that of a numerous offspring:
<i>Multiplying, I will multiply thee,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.17" parsed="|Gen|22|17|0|0" passage="Ge 22:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Note, Those that are willing to
part with any thing for God shall have it made up to them with
unspeakable advantage. Abraham has but one son, and is willing to
part

<pb id="Gen.xxiii-Page_141" n="141"/>

with that one, in obedience to God.
"Well," said God, "thou shalt be recompensed with thousands and
millions." What a figure does the seed of Abraham make in history!
How numerous, how illustrious, were his known descendants, who, to
this day, triumph in this, that they have Abraham to their father!
Thus he received a thousand-fold in this life, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.29" parsed="|Matt|19|29|0|0" passage="Mt 19:29">Matt. xix. 29</scripRef>. 4. The promise, doubtless,
points at the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel. This is the
oath sworn to our father Abraham, which Zacharias refers to,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.73-Luke.1.75" parsed="|Luke|1|73|1|75" passage="Lu 1:73-75">Luke i. 73</scripRef>, &amp;c. And
so here is a promise, (1.) Of the great blessing of the Spirit:
<i>In blessing, I will bless thee,</i> namely, with that best of
blessings the gift of the Holy Ghost; the promise of the Spirit was
that blessing of Abraham which was to come upon the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.8" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.14" parsed="|Gal|3|14|0|0" passage="Ga 3:14">Gal. iii.
14</scripRef>. (2.) Of the increase of the church, that believers,
his spiritual seed, should be numerous as the stars of heaven. (3.)
Of spiritual victories: <i>Thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies.</i> Believers, by their faith, overcome the world, and
triumph over all the powers of darkness, and are more than
conquerors. Probably Zacharias refers to this part of the oath
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.9" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.74" parsed="|Luke|1|74|0|0" passage="Lu 1:74">Luke i. 74</scripRef>), <i>That we,
being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him
without fear.</i> But the crown of all is the last promise. (4.) Of
the incarnation of Christ: <i>In thy seed,</i> one particular
person that shall descend from thee (for he speaks not of many, but
of one, as the apostle observes, <scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.10" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.16" parsed="|Gal|3|16|0|0" passage="Ga 3:16">Gal.
iii. 16</scripRef>), <i>shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed,</i> or shall <i>bless themselves,</i> as the phrase is,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxiii-p31.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.16" parsed="|Isa|65|16|0|0" passage="Isa 65:16">Isa. lxv. 16</scripRef>. In him all
may be happy if they will, and all that belong to him shall be so,
and shall think themselves so. Christ is the great blessing of the
world. Abraham was ready to give up his son for a sacrifice to the
honour of God, and, on that occasion, God promised to give his Son
a sacrifice for the salvation of man.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxiii-p31.12" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.20-Gen.22.24" parsed="|Gen|22|20|22|24" passage="Ge 22:20-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.22.20-Gen.22.24">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxiii-p32">20 And it came to pass after these things, that
it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born
children unto thy brother Nahor;   21 Huz his first born, and
Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,   22 And
Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.   23
And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor,
Abraham's brother.   24 And his concubine, whose name
<i>was</i> Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and
Maachah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxiii-p33">This is recorded here, 1. To show that
though Abraham saw his own family highly dignified with peculiar
privileges, admitted into covenant, and blessed with the entail of
the promise, yet he did not look with contempt and disdain upon his
relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and prosperity of
their families. 2. To make way for the following story of the
marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, a daughter of this family.</p>
</div></div2>