“IF God will be with me.... so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall Jehovah be my God; this stone and.... shall be God's house, and... I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
It was to this end that all God's dealings with Jacob pointed. It was in His counsels to reveal Himself unto men in this character as the eternal, unchangeable, righteously-blessing God; and, when at length Jacob had reached the limit of his desire, and had got to himself much cattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses, and therefore for the moment had no further object before him, Jehovah presents Himself to Jacob as the only worthy object, the true satisfying portion, saying, “Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee."
Blessing is ever consequent upon grace, whether in the giver only, or the recipient also: “grace is poured into thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee forever.” But blessing to man in grace, simply, is not the perfect manifestation of Jehovah. It must be righteous grace; for if Jehovah dwell among the children of Israel, it is because He has redeemed them. (Num. 35:3434Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. (Numbers 35:34); Ex. 13:1515And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. (Exodus 13:15).)
So Jehovah had said unto Abram, “Get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.". “So Abram departed,” and into the land of Canaan “he came.” Again, after Lot was separated from him, He says, “All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” And note here, that for the first time “the seed” is associated with Abram. Again the word of Jehovah comes to Abram, but now the promised seed stands out alone, distinct, as the pledge, depository, and assurance of blessing. But still all is grace. No word of righteousness on God's part here—blessing on the ground of unlimited, unconditional, absolute grace, irrespective of what might be due to Him who gave, or of the receiver.
This is not Jehovah acting as such, nor God manifesting Himself perfectly as “grace and truth,” for this could be only in His Son. It is blessing coming out from Jehovah because of hidden grace.
But God delights to manifest Himself in all His fullness; and blessing coming out to us is very different from going in to Him, and finding grace there to stand in.
In the Old Testament all His dealings were for the purpose of bringing out His fullness as Jehovah, “the Eternal,” blessing righteously men on earth. In the New He reveals Himself as the Father, and all His works and words, whether by the Son or by the Spirit through the word, were that children might be brought to Him as the Father.
So we find hitherto to Abram all is simple grace, with secret reference to the coming Seed, in whom all things should be established, and God Himself glorified; for though all is grace, yet is Abraham taught, that if he is to inherit, it must be through death, and that of another, under judgment. (Gen. 15:9-179And 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. 10And 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. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13And 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; 14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17And 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. (Genesis 15:9‑17).)
Then follow fourteen years, a perfect blank (because flesh is established and under trial) having an acknowledged place. After this he must also know what it is, no only to have the sentence of death passed on him in the sacrifice, but also what it is to have it in himself; not, however, before the seed is brought upon the scene for faith. Then can he circumcise flesh in self and the things of self, receiving to himself the promises in Isaac. But when, in fact, the promised son appears, then not only is flesh judged, but cast out also, “for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
Throughout it all God is dealing in blessing and disciplinal providence, Himself hidden meanwhile, never known as Jehovah.
Once again does God speak unto Abraham, for the last time, in special declaration of blessing; and here before God does he again come into view in connection with the seed, but both on the ground of resurrection, as a man who had learned that truth, and by faith took the place through substitution and death.
The first revelation of God showed Abraham and his seed in separation; the second, Abraham and his seed in death, but with the promise of life; the third, Abraham and his seed in resurrection.
Though justice is implied, and the claims of God reserved, yet blessing comes out solely on the ground of grace; and the conscience of the believer corresponds to the manifestation of God, so that there is comparatively but feeble apprehension of truth. Nevertheless what was known of God was divine and able to make perfect up to its measure. Notwithstanding it was not the perfect revelation of God to men on earth of Jehovah—not to speak of the Father to men in heaven: this could not be until a man, the Man, was there.
Man yet was not capable of receiving it. By faith he had reached a truth, that of resurrection, from the ground of which redemption through righteousness could be understood and received. So the first communication from Jehovah to Isaac is still in grace—blessing less than ever, if that were possible, subject to conditions, saying, “Go not down into Egypt, dwell in the land which 1 shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land: unto thee and unto thy seed I will give.” He sows that land, and receives an hundredfold; so greatly did the Lord bless him, and this for Abraham's sake, and the people of the land also for his own sake, “for he pitched his tent in Beersheba.” (Gen. 26:3131And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. (Genesis 26:31).)
All was founded upon Abraham, but was the reward reckoned to him of grace or desert? Surely grace alone, which gave him to believe in and obey the word of separation, circumcision (death), and resurrection.
Yet all this was not a manifestation of Jehovah, as such. Abraham, planted in grace, is the tree upon which God the Lord can shower His blessings from a distance; but for Him to dwell in the land which is the blessing He designed for it, the land must be morally worthy of Him. No matter the depth of its need and wretchedness, God can dwell, and will dwell, and delights to dwell in it, to bless it, provided He is morally vindicated, and His character witnessed for, in truth, in the place in which He is.
So in all these preliminary ways of God, He, as the Lord, visits the earth, but does not dwell in the land, Whenever He visits, it is indeed for blessing, seen remarkably on the one occasion in which its absence is most conspicuous; for though we find three men, and One of them—the Lord—when blessing Abraham, appearing unto him in the plain of Mamre, He Himself says unto him, “I will certainly return unto thee.... and Sarah thy wife shall have a son at the time appointed."
(To be continued; if the Lord will)