LOT, Abraham’s nephew, had gone up with him from Ur of the Chaldees; but evidently there was no exercise of faith on his part, he followed in the faith of another. Soon a testing time comes―there was a strife between the herdmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle, and that in the presence of the Canaanites who dwelt in the land. It is an unseemly thing for saints of God to have contentions, especially in the presence of the unconverted world. Here the moral elevation of the man of faith, above worldly and selfish principles, shines out particularly brightly. He says, “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee.... Is not the whole land before thee?” &c. He had such a portion in God Himself, that he could afford to leave the choice of worldly things to one whose heart, after all, was set upon them. “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere;” it was “even as the garden of the Lord,” and most attractive to the natural mind.
Lot, we know from the New Testament, was really a saint of God; but his heart was set on worldly things and possessions, instead of on pursuing like Abraham the path of faith which God had marked out. His downward course to Sodom was gradual; like many a Christian, who begins by losing first love to Christ, and gradually becomes assimilated more and more to the world. First, Lot “beheld all the plain of Jordan”; then he “chose for himself all the plain of Jordan”; then he “dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom”; and, lastly, “he sat in the gate of Sodom”: but the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners before the Lord.
The same down grade has been evidenced in the history of the Church of God collectively, and in the course of many of the people of God individually. The wise virgins in the parable in Matt. 25, as well as the foolish, losing sight of Christ as the Object, and the bright hope of His coming as that which delivered them from the world, all gradually got into a sleepy state―for this is the meaning of the word “slumbered” ―and, eventually, they went fast asleep. They became identified with the world, in its ways and practices, and lost sight of the portion they had in Christ, and the hope of His coming to take them to Himself.
But how clearly the contrast in the case of Abraham, the man of faith, shines out in this portion of the Word. Abraham dwelled, not in the polluted atmosphere of Sodom, but in the land of God’s choice—Canaan. “And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever.” If Lot lifted up his eyes and was caught by the worldly attractions of the plain and its cities, now God tells Abraham to lift up his eyes, for all the land was the gift of Jehovah to him and to his seed forever. And if the blessings promised to the man of faith in that day were great, how much more wonderful are those with which God has blessed His people now, in virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ! The apostle bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, that the saints might apprehend what is the length and breadth and depth and height, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. He would have them look out from this wonderful center of glory, to which they are brought in grace, and survey all that the counsels of God had marked out for the glory of Christ, in its vast extent; to be made good manifestly in the day that is coming; but which we can enter into now in faith.
Lot soon suffers the consequences of his association with the world, for, when war arises, the King of Sodom is defeated, and Lot is carried away captive―he “dwelt in Sodom.” Like the two and a half tribes who settled east of Jordan, short of the promised land―they were the first to be desolated and carried away captive, when the enemies of Israel came into power. Here, again, God gives victory to the man of faith; and Abraham recovers Lot and his property. Christ has won the victory for His people, and He will yet reign over this world in millennial glory as king and priest. This is typified by Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who comes out and blesses Abraham, and receives a tenth of the spoils. Abraham refuses to take anything from the King of Sodom; he had learned of God in the secret of communion, and now, when the occasion arises, he refuses to be a receiver from the world.
The word of the Lord now comes to Abraham in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abraham: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” He was to learn that protection, and all that the man of faith could need, were to be found in God Himself. God promises that his seed should be as the stars of heaven. Faith does not look at difficulties, or at second causes; but at God, who is above all difficulties. The apostle Paul refers to this in Rom. 4:33For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3), and Gal. 3:66Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Galatians 3:6)― “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” ―to show that justification was not on the principle of law or works, but on the principle of faith. James quotes it also in order to prove that, while we are justified, as before men, by works, these works are of no value before God unless they are the fruit of faith. Faith sets to its seal that God is true: Abraham “believed God.” Had God promised? ―then, if so, His promise must infallibly be fulfilled, however much appearances may tell to the contrary. This is an immense principle for the people of God to realize, in all ages. It is just where we lack; for nature always likes something tangible and visible to rest upon. So it was with Israel, and so it is with us; as the Lord says through the prophet, “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.” The first failure is letting go direct and implicit dependence on God; and consequently there must be the turning to men and men’s arrangements instead. God, then, graciously comes in and makes a covenant with Abraham; renewing His promise to give Him the land; and, at the same time, revealing to him that his seed would have to sojourn in a foreign land four hundred years, for the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full.
Abraham now listens to Sarah his wife, and tries to obtain the fulfillment of the promise that God made him in a fleshly way. Sarah had no child, and yet God had promised that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude; but, as regards the accomplishment of the promise, the effort to attain it before God’s time comes to nothing, and only brings bitterness in the end.
After this the Lord again appears to Abraham, revealing Himself as “the Almighty God.” Previously He had revealed Himself as “thy shield and thy exceeding great reward,” ―this is what He was for Abraham; but now He declares Himself to be “God Almighty” ―what He is in Himself. This title was most suitable for the time; Abraham being a stranger and sojourner needed His protecting care. Many people, and even many true Christians, speak of God as “the Almighty,” and it is quite true that He is this, being unchangeable in Himself; but it is not at all the relationship in which He is now revealing Himself. When the Lord Jesus died and rose again from the dead, He sent that wonderful message by Mary Magdalene to His disciples, “Go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.” The relationship into which the Christian is introduced is that of a child to the Father; for “because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father,” Before Christ the time had not come to declare this new and blessed relationship so characteristic of Christianity; but when the work of redemption was accomplished, the Holy Spirit came down to make it good in our hearts, and to lead the children of God into the conscious enjoyment of it. Here God talks with Abraham and confirms His covenant with him, renewing His promise to give to him and his seed the land wherein he was a stranger, for an everlasting possession, and to be their God. God promises that Sarah should have a son, to be called Isaac. This seemed impossible to nature, and Abraham still looked to the son born of Hagar: “O that Ishmael might live before thee!” God gives the covenant of circumcision: it signified death to the flesh, for we must learn that “the flesh profiteth nothing.” He puts faith to the test by a long process of waiting, but the trial is always in grace and for our blessing in the end.
The next time God appeared to Abraham was by the oaks of Mamre as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day. He assumes human form, coming with two angels also in human form. What wonderful intimacy there is here between the Lord and His servant! Abraham treats them with every respect, and prepares a repast for them, and they ate. The Lord promises a son to Sarah. Sarah, in unbelief, laughs “within herself,” but the Lord knew all that was passing, and says, “Why did Sarah laugh?” Abraham, when a similar promise was made to him, laughed also, but one cannot doubt that it was with joy, not in unbelief; and God will prove, in His own time, that nothing is too hard for Him.
The two angels then go on to Sodom, but Abraham remains standing before the Lord, enjoying communion with Him, but with all the reverence due to His presence. Unlike Lot in Sodom Abraham is separated from the world. He is in the clear light of God’s presence, enjoying intelligent and intimate communion, instead of breathing the polluted atmosphere of that defiled city. Abraham pleads that Sodom might be spared, in that spirit of reverence and confidence which his acquaintance with the character of God inspires; and so he is called the “friend of God.” The Lord says, “Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?” In John 15. the Lord Jesus says to His disciples, “Henceforth I call you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” We give our commands to our servants; we confide our inmost desires and intentions to our friends. What intimacy of divine grace it is that can say, “All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you!”
Poor Lot suffers the consequences of his worldly choice, for he loses everything and only just escapes from the overthrow of Sodom. The language in which the inspired Word has expressed his deliverance is striking― “And God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.” It does not say He remembered Lot: no doubt it was not His mind that Lot should perish, but Abraham was in the path of separation from the world, enjoying communion with God and interceding for Sodom; and being in this place, God remembered him and delivered Lot.
(To be concluded.)