After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward. Ver. 1. _Fear not, Abram._] Either as Daniel feared upon sight of a like vision; Dan 10:7-8 or as Jacob feared after the sack of Shechem, lest he should... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eliezer of Damascus? Ver. 2. _Lord God, what wilt thou give me, &c._] _Dominator Iehovah. Adonai cum Camets sonat Dominator_. A stately style. We must magnify God when we have got him into... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Ver. 3. _And Abram said, Behold, to me, &c._] He harps again upon the same string; when we fall upon crosses we add, we multiply, we rise in our discourse, we are eloquent above measure, and beyond tr... [ Continue Reading ]
And, behold, the word of the LORD [came] unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Ver. 4. _And, behold, the word of the Lord, &c._] Abram's "Behold" of grief, is answered with God's "Behold" of grace. The Greek rendere... [ Continue Reading ]
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Ver. 5. _And he brought him forth abroad._] Abram having prayed a good part of the day within, is now drawn forth at night to receive th... [ Continue Reading ]
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. _Ver 6. And he believed._] When thus the promise was repeated. So needful it is, that the word should be often preached, and the sweet promises of the gospel beaten to the smell; that God's "name being as an ointment poured ou... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said unto him, I [am] the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. Ver. 7. _I am the Lord that brought thee._] Let the remembrance of what I have done for thee confirm thy confidence, since every former mercy is a pledge of a future. God giveth... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Ver. 8. _Lord God, whereby shall I know?_] He desires a sign, not that he believed not before, but that he might better believe. How great is God's love in giving us sacraments, and therein to make himself to us _visible,_ as well... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon._ Ver. 9. _Take me a heifer, &c._] Here God commands him a busy sacrifice, and then casts him into a terrible sleep; the better to prepa... [ Continue Reading ]
And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. Ver. 10. _Divided them in the midst._] _In signum exitii foedifrago eventuri_. This was the federal rite both among Jews Jer 34:18-19 and Gentiles, as it is to be se... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. Ver. 11. _Abram drove them away._] So must we do evil motions and distractive thoughts in holy duties, which else will muster and swarm in our hearts like the flies of Egypt; pestering us worse than the fly in Albertus Magnus, t... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. Ver. 12. _And when the sun was going down_] Heb., When he was ready to enter, to wit, into his "bride chamber". Psa 19:6... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; Ver. 13. _Know of a surety, that thy seed._] Must first suffer, before they can enter; and so be conformed to Christ their... [ Continue Reading ]
_And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance._ Ver. 14. _Afterward shall they come out, &c._] All the saints' abasements are but in order to their advancement. As God brought forth his Israel with jewels, and other wealth; so the... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. Ver. 15. _Thou shalt go to thy fathers._] The "spirits of just men made perfect"; all the court of heaven shall meet thee, and welcome thee into their society. That brave Panegyris, Hebrews 12:22,23 . _ In peace._]... [ Continue Reading ]
_But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full._ Ver. 16. _The iniquity of the Amorites, &c._] A metaphor from a large vessel filled by drops; as elsewhere, from a harvest ready for the sickle, and from the vine ripe for the winepress.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. Ver. 17. _A smoking furnace, and a burning lamp._] Figuring out either God (who is a consuming fire) cutting covenant, Gen 15:10 _per condescensum_; or... [ Continue Reading ]
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: Ver. 18. _From the river of Egypt._] Sihor. Jer 2:18 This was fulfilled in Solomon's, and especially in Christ's kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, Gen 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, Gen 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. Ver. 19-21. _The Kenites, and the Kenezzites._] R. Salomon noteth, that whereas ten nations... [ Continue Reading ]