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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XV.
In this chapter we have a solemn treaty between God and Abram
concerning a covenant that was to be established between them.
In the former chapter we had Abram in the field with kings;
here we find him in the mount with God; and, though there he
looked great, yet, methinks, here he looks much greater: that
honour have the great men of the world, but “this honour have
all the saints.” The covenant to be settled between God and
Abram was a covenant of promises; accordingly, here is,
I. A general assurance of God’s kindness and good-will to Abram,
II. A particular declaration of the purposes of his love
concerning him, in two things:–
1. That he would give him a
numerous issue,
2. That he would give him Canaan
for an inheritance,
Either an estate without an heir,
or an heir without an estate, would have been but a half comfort
to Abram. But God ensures both to him; and that which made
these two, the promised seed and the promised land, comforts
indeed to this great believer was that they were both typical of
those two invaluable blessings, Christ and heaven; and so, we
have reason to think, Abram eyed them.
| God’s Covenant with Abram. | B. C. 1913. |
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1 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.
Observe here,
I. The time when God made
this treaty with Abram: After these things.
1. After that famous act of generous charity
which Abram had done, in rescuing his
friends and neighbours out of distress, and
that, not for price nor reward. After this,
God made him this gracious visit. Note,
Those that show favour to men shall find
favour with God.
2. After that victory
which he had obtained over four kings.
Lest Abram should be too much elevated
and pleased with that, God comes to him,
to tell him he had better things in store for
him. Note, A believing converse with spiritual
blessings is an excellent means to
keep us from being too much taken up with
temporal enjoyments. The gifts of common
providence are not comparable to those of
covenant love.
II. The manner in which God conversed
with Abram: The word of the Lord came
unto Abram (that is, God manifested himself
and his will to Abram) in a vision, which
supposes Abram awake, and some visible
appearances of the Shechinah, or some sensible
token of the presence of the divine glory.
Note, The methods of divine revelation are
adapted to our state in a world of sense.
III. The gracious assurance God gave him
of his favour to him.
1. He called him by name–Abram, which
was a great honour to him, and made his
name great, and was also a great encouragement
and assistance to his faith. Note,
God’s good word does us good when it is
spoken by his Spirit to us in particular, and
brought to our hearts. The word says, Ho,
every one
(Isa. lv. 1),
the Spirit says, Ho,
such a one.
2. He cautioned him against being disquieted
and confounded: Fear not, Abram.
Abram might fear lest the four kings he had
routed should rally again, and fall upon him
to his ruin: “No,” says God, “Fear not.
Fear not their revenges, nor thy neighbour’s
envy; I will take care of thee.” Note,
(1.) Where there is great faith, yet there may be
many fears,
(2.) God takes
cognizance of his people’s fears though ever
so secret, and knows their souls,
Ps. xxxi. 7.
(3.) It is the will of God that his people
should not give way to prevailing fears,
whatever happens. Let the sinners in Sion
be afraid, but fear not, Abram.
3. He assured him of safety and happiness,
that he should for ever be,
(1.) As safe
as God himself could keep him: I am thy
shield, or, somewhat more emphatically, I
am a shield to thee, present with thee, actually
caring for thee. See
Not only the God of Israel, but a God
to Israel. Note, The consideration of this,
that God himself is, and will be, a shield to
his people to secure them from all destructive
evils, a shield ready to them and a shield
round about them, should be sufficient to
silence all their perplexing tormenting fears.
(2.) As happy as God himself could make him:
I will be thy exceedingly great reward; not only
thy rewarder, but thy reward. Abram had generously
refused the rewards which the king
of Sodom offered him, and here God comes,
and tells him he shall be no loser by it. Note,
[1.] The rewards of believing obedience and
self-denial are exceedingly great,
[2.] God himself is the chosen and promised
felicity of holy souls–chosen in this
world, promised in a better. He is the portion
of their inheritance and their cup.
2 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?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one
born in my house is mine heir.
4 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.
5 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.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he
counted it to him for righteousness.
We have here the assurance given to
Abram of a numerous offspring which should
descend from him, in which observe,
I. Abram’s repeated complaint,
This was that which gave occasion to this
promise. The great affliction that sat heavy
upon Abram was the want of a child; and
the complaint of this he here pours out before
the Lord, and shows before him his trouble,
Ps. cxlii. 2.
Note, Though we must never
complain of God, yet we have leave to complain
to him, and to be large and particular
in the statement of our grievances; and it is
some ease to a burdened spirit to open its
case to a faithful and compassionate friend:
such a friend God is, whose ear is always
open. Now his complaint is four-fold:–
1. That he had no child
(v. 3):
Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed; not only no son, but
no seed; if he had had a daughter, from her
the promised Messiah might have come, who
was to be the seed of the woman; but he
had neither son nor daughter. He seems
to lay an emphasis on that, to me. His
neighbours were full of children, his servants
had children born in his house. “But to
me,” he complains, “thou hast given none;”
and yet God had told him he should be a
favourite above all. Note, Those that are
written childless must see God writing them
so. Again, God often withholds those temporal
comforts from his own children which
he gives plentifully to others that are
strangers to him.
2. That he was never
likely to have any, intimated in that I go, or
“I am going, childless, going into years,
going down the hill apace; nay, I am going
out of the world, going the way of all the
earth. I die childless,” so the LXX. “I
leave the world, and leave no child behind
me.”
3. That his servants were for
the present and were likely to be to him instead
of sons. While he lived, the steward of his
house was Eliezer of Damascus; to him he
committed the care of his family and estate,
who might be faithful, but only as a servant,
not as a son. When he died, one born in his
house would be his heir, and would bear rule
over all that for which he had laboured,
God had already told
him that he would make of him a great nation
(ch. xii. 2),
and his seed as the dust of the
earth
(ch. xiii. 16);
but he had left him in
doubt whether it should be his seed begotten
or his seed adopted, by a son of his loins or
only a son of his house. “Now, Lord,”
says Abram, “if it be only an adopted son,
it must be one of my servants, which will
reflect disgrace upon the promised seed, that
is to descend from him.” Note, While promised
mercies are delayed our unbelief and
impatience are apt to conclude them denied.
4. That the want of a son was so great a
trouble to him that it took away the comfort
of all his enjoyments: “Lord, what wilt thou
give me? All is nothing to me, if I have
not a son.” Now,
(1.) If we suppose that
Abram looked no further than a temporal
comfort, this complaint was culpable. God
had, by his providence, given him some
good things, and more by his promise; and
yet Abram makes no account of them, because
he has not a son. It did very ill
become the father of the faithful to say,
What wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,
immediately after God had said, I am thy
shield, and thy exceedingly great reward.
Note, Those do not rightly value the advantages
of their covenant-relation to God and
interest in him who do not think them sufficient
to balance the want of any creature-comfort
whatever. But,
(2.) If we suppose that
Abram, herein, had a eye to the promised
seed, the importunity of his desire was very
commendable: all was nothing to him, if he
had not the earnest of that great blessing,
and an assurance of his relation to the Messiah,
of which God had already encouraged
him to maintain the expectation. He has
wealth, and victory, and honour; but, while
he is kept in the dark about the main matter,
it is all nothing to him. Note, Till we
have some comfortable evidence of our interest
in Christ and the new covenant, we
should not rest satisfied with any thing else.
“This, and the other, I have; but what will
all this avail me, if I go Christless?” Yet
thus far the complaint was culpable, that
there was some diffidence of the promise at
the bottom of it, and a weariness of waiting
God’s time. Note, True believers sometimes
find it hard to reconcile God’s promises
and his providences, when they seem
to disagree.
II. God’s gracious answer to this complaint.
To the first part of the complaint
(v. 2)
God gave no immediate answer, because
there was something of fretfulness in
it; but, when he renews his address somewhat
more calmly
(v. 3),
God answered him
graciously. Note, If we continue instant in
prayer, and yet pray with a humble submission
to the divine will, we shall not seek in vain.
1. God gave him an express promise
of a son,
v. 4.
This that is born in thy
house shall not be thy heir, as thou fearest,
but one that shall come forth out of thy
own bowels shall be thy heir. Note,
(1.) God makes heirs; he says, “This shall not,
and this shall;” and whatever men devise and
design, in settling their estates, God’s
counsel shall stand.
(2.) God is often better
to us than our own fears, and gives the
mercy we had long despaired of. 2. To
affect him the more with this promise, he
took him out, and showed him the stars (this
vision being early in the morning, before
day), and then tells him, So shall thy seed be,
v. 5.
(1.) So numerous; the stars seem innumerable
to a common eye: Abram feared
he should have no child at all, but God assured
him that the descendants from his
loins should be so many as not to be numbered.
(2.) So illustrious, resembling the
stars in splendour; for to them pertained the
glory,
Rom. ix. 4.
Abram’s seed, according
to his flesh, were like the dust of the earth
(ch. xiii. 16),
but his spiritual seed are like
the stars of heaven, not only numerous, but
glorious, and very precious.
III. Abram’s firm belief of the promise
God now made him, and God’s favourable
acceptance of his faith,
v. 6.
1. He believed
in the Lord, that is, he believed the truth of
that promise which God had now made him,
resting upon the irresistible power and the
inviolable faithfulness of him that made it.
Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it
good? Note, Those who would have the
comfort of the promises must mix faith with
the promises. See how the apostle magnifies
this faith of Abram, and makes it a
standing example,
He was not weak in faith; he staggered not at
the promise; he was strong in faith; he was
fully persuaded. The Lord work such a
faith in every one of us! Some think that
his believing in the Lord respected, not only
the Lord promising, but the Lord promised,
the Lord Jesus, the Mediator of the new
covenant. He believed in him, that is, received
and embraced the divine revelation
concerning him, and rejoiced to see his day,
though at so great a distance,
2. God counted it to him for righteousness;
that is, upon the score of this he was accepted
of God, and, as the rest of the patriarchs,
by faith he obtained witness that he
was righteous,
Heb. xi. 4.
This is urged in
the New Testament to prove that we are
justified by faith without the works of the
law
for Abram was
so justified while he was yet uncircumcised.
If Abram, that was so rich in good works,
was not justified by them, but by his faith,
much less can we, that are so poor in them.
This faith, which was imputed to Abram for
righteousness, had lately struggled with unbelief
(v. 2),
and, coming off a conqueror, it
was thus crowned, thus honoured. Note,
A fiducial practical acceptance of, and
dependence upon, God’s promise of grace
and glory, in and through Christ, is that
which, according to the tenour of the new
covenant, gives us a right to all the blessings
contained in that promise. All believers are
justified as Abram was, and it was his faith
that was counted to him for righteousness.
7 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.
8 And he said, Lord
GOD, whereby shall I know that
I shall inherit it?
9 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.
10 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.
11 And when the fowls came down
upon the carcases, Abram drove them
away.
We have here the assurance given to
Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance.
I. God declares his purpose concerning it,
v. 7.
Observe here, Abram made no complaint
in this matter, as he had done for the
want of a child. Note, Those that are sure
of an interest in the promised seed will see
no reason to doubt of a title to the promised
land. If Christ is ours, heaven is
ours. Observe again, When he believed
the former promise
(v. 6)
then God explained
and ratified this to him. Note, To him that
has (improves what he has) more shall be
given. Three things God here reminds
Abram of, for his encouragement concerning
the promise of this good land:–
1. What God is in himself: I am the Lord
Jehovah; and therefore,
(1.) “I may give it
to thee, for I am sovereign Lord of all, and
have a right to dispose of the whole earth.”
(2.) “I can give it to thee, whatever opposition
may be made, though by the sons of
Anak.” God never promises more than he
is able to perform, as men often do.
(3.) “I
will make good my promise to thee.” Jehovah
is not a man that he should lie.
2. What he had done for Abram. He had
brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, out
of the fire of the Chaldees, so some, that is,
either from their idolatries (for the Chaldeans
worshipped the fire), or from their
persecutions. The Jewish writers have a
tradition that Abram was cast into a fiery
furnace for refusing to worship idols, and
was miraculously delivered. It is rather a
place of that name. Thence God brought
him by an effectual call, brought him with a
gracious violence, snatched him as a brand
out of the burning. This was,
(1.) A special
mercy: “I brought thee, and left others,
thousands, to perish there.” God called him
alone,
Isa. li. 2.
(2.) A spiritual mercy, a
mercy to his soul, a deliverance from sin and
its fatal consequences. If God save our
souls, we shall want nothing that is good for
us.
(3.) A fresh mercy, lately bestowed,
and therefore should be the more affecting,
as that in the preface to the commandments,
I am the Lord that brought thee out of Egypt
lately.
(4.) A foundation mercy, the beginning
of mercy, peculiar mercy to Abram,
and therefore a pledge and earnest of further
mercy,
Observe how God speaks
of it as that which he gloried in: I am the
Lord that brought thee out. He glories in it
as an act both of power and grace; compare
where he glories in it, long
afterwards. Thus saith the Lord who redeemed
Abraham, redeemed him from sin.
3. What he intended to do yet further for
him: “I brought thee hither, on purpose to
give thee this land to inherit it, not only to
possess it, but to possess it as an inheritance,
which is the sweetest and surest title.”
Note,
(1.) The providence of God has secret
but gracious designs in all its various dispensations
towards good people; we cannot conceive
the projects of Providence, till the event
shows them in all their mercy and glory.
(2.) The great thing God designs in all his
dealings with his people is to bring them
safely to heaven. They are chosen to salvation
called to the kingdom
begotten to the inheritance
and by all made meet for it,
Col. i. 12, 13; 2 Cor. iv. 17.
II. Abram desires a sign: Whereby shall
I know that I shall inherit it?
v. 8.
This did not proceed from distrust of God’s power
or promise, as that of Zacharias; but he
desired this,
1. For the strengthening and
confirming of his own faith; he believed
(v. 6),
but here he prays, Lord, help me
against my unbelief. Now he believed, but
he desired a sign to be treasured up against
an hour of temptation, not knowing how his
faith might, by some event or other, be
shocked and tried. Note, We all need, and
should desire, helps from heaven for the confirming
of our faith, and should improve
sacraments, which are instituted signs, for
that purpose. See
Judg. vi. 36-40; 2 Kings xx. 8-10; Isa. vii. 11, 12.
2. For
the ratifying of the promise to his posterity,
that they also might be brought to believe it.
Note, Those that are satisfied themselves
should desire that others also may be satisfied
of the truth of God’s promises. John
sent his disciples to Christ, not so much for
his own satisfaction as for theirs,
Canaan was a type of heaven. Note,
It is a very desirable thing to know that we
shall inherit the heavenly Canaan, that is,
to be confirmed in our belief of the truth of
that happiness, and to have the evidences
of our title to it more and more cleared up
to us.
III. God directs Abram to make preparations
for a sacrifice, intending by that to
give him a sign, and Abram makes preparation
accordingly
(v. 9-11):
Take me a
heifer, &c. Perhaps Abram expected some
extraordinary sign from heaven; but God
gives him a sign upon a sacrifice. Note,
Those that would receive the assurances of
God’s favour, and would have their faith
confirmed, must attend instituted ordinances,
and expect to meet with God in them. Observe,
1. God appointed that each of the
beasts used for this service should be three
years old, because then they were at their
full growth and strength: God must be
served with the best we have, for he is the
best.
2. We do not read that God gave Abram
particular directions how to manage
these beasts and fowls, knowing that he
was so well versed in the law and custom of
sacrifices that he needed not any particular
directions; or perhaps instructions were
given him, which he carefully observed,
thought they are not recorded: at least it was
intimated to him that they must be prepared
for the solemnity of ratifying a covenant;
and he well knew the manner of
preparing them.
3. Abram took as God
appointed him, though as yet he knew not
how these things should become a sign to
him. This was not the first instance of
Abram’s implicit obedience. He divided
the beasts in the midst, according to the
ceremony used in confirming covenants,
where it is said, They
cut the calf in twain, and passed between the
parts.
4. Abram, having prepared according
to God’s appointment, now set himself
to wait for the sign God might give him by
these, like the prophet upon his watch-tower,
While God’s appearing to own
his sacrifice was deferred, Abram continued
waiting, and his expectations were raised by
the delay; when the fowls came down upon
the carcases to prey upon them, as common
and neglected things, Abram drove them
away
(v. 11),
believing that the vision would,
at the end, speak, and not lie. Note, A very
watchful eye must be kept upon our spiritual
sacrifices, that nothing be suffered to prey
upon them and render them unfit for God’s
acceptance. When vain thoughts, like these
fowls, come down upon our sacrifices, we
must drive them away, and not suffer them
to lodge within us, but attend on God without
distraction.
12 And when the sun was going
down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram;
and, lo, an horror of great darkness
fell upon him.
13 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;
14 And also that nation,
whom they shall serve, will I
judge: and afterward shall they come
out with great substance.
15 And
thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
We have here a full and particular discovery
made to Abram of God’s purposes
concerning his seed. Observe,
I. The time when God came to him with
this discovery: When the sun was going down,
or declining, about the time of the evening
oblation,
1 Kings xviii. 36; Dan. ix. 21.
Early in the morning, before day, while the
stars were yet to be seen, God had given
him orders concerning the sacrifices
(v. 5),
and we may suppose it was, at least, his
morning’s work to prepare them and set
them in order; when he had done this, he
abode by them, praying and waiting till
towards evening. Note, God often keeps
his people long in expectation of the comforts
he designs them, for the confirmation
of their faith; but though the answers of
prayer, and the performance of promises,
come slowly, yet they come surely. At
evening time it shall be light.
II. The preparatives for this discovery.
1. A deep sleep fell upon Abram, not a common
sleep through weariness or carelessness, but
a divine ecstasy, like that which the Lord
God caused to fall upon Adam
(ch. ii. 21),
that, being hereby wholly taken off from the
view of things sensible, he might be wholly
taken up with the contemplation of things
spiritual. The doors of the body were locked
up, that the soul might be private and retired,
and might act the more freely and
like itself.
2. With this sleep, a horror of
great darkness fell upon him. How sudden a
change! But just before we had him solacing
himself in the comforts of God’s
covenant, and in communion with him;
and here a horror of great darkness falls upon
him. Note, The children of light do not
always walk in the light, but sometimes
clouds and darkness are round about them.
This great darkness, which brought horror
with it, was designed,
(1.) To strike an awe
upon the spirit of Abram, and to possess
him with a holy reverence, that the familiarity
to which God was pleased to admit
him might not breed contempt. Note, Holy
fear prepares the soul for holy joy; the
spirit of bondage makes way for the spirit of
adoption. God wounds first, and then heals;
humbles first, and then lifts up,
&c.
(2.) To be a specimen of the methods
of God’s dealings with his seed. They must
first be in the horror and darkness of Egyptian
slavery, and then enter with joy into the
good land; and therefore he must have the
foretaste of their sufferings, before he had
the foresight of their happiness.
(3.) To be
an indication of the nature of that covenant
of peculiarity which God was now about
to make with Abram. The Old-Testament
dispensation, which was founded on that
covenant, was a dispensation,
[1.] Of darkness
and obscurity,
[2.] Of dread and horror,
&c.
III. The prediction itself. Several things
are here foretold.
1. The suffering state of Abram’s seed for a long time,
Let not Abram flatter
himself with the hopes of nothing but
honour and prosperity in his family; no, he
must know, of a surety, that which he was
loth to believe, that the promised seed should
be a persecuted seed. Note, God sends the
worst first; we must first suffer, and then
reign. He also lets us know the worst before
it comes, that when it comes it may not be a
surprise to us,
Now we have here,
(1.) The particulars of their sufferings.
[1.] They shall be strangers; so they were,
first in Canaan
and afterwards
in Egypt; before they were lords of
their own land they were strangers in a
strange land. The inconveniences of an unsettled
state make a happy settlement the
more welcome. Thus the heirs of heaven
are first strangers on earth, a land that is
not theirs.
[2.] They shall be servants; so
they were to the Egyptians,
See how that which was the doom of the
Canaanites
(ch. ix. 25),
proves the distress of
Abram’s seed: they are made to serve, but
with this difference, the Canaanites serve
under a curse, the Hebrews under a blessing;
and the upright shall have dominion in
the morning,
Ps. xlix. 14.
[3.] They shall
be suffers. Those whom they serve shall
afflict them; see
Note, Those
that are blessed and beloved of God are
often sorely afflicted by wicked men; and
God foresees it, and takes cognizance of it.
(2.) The continuance of their sufferings–four
hundred years. This persecution began
with mocking, when Ishmael, the son of an
Egyptian, persecuted Isaac, who was born
after the Spirit,
ch. xxi. 9; Gal. iv. 29.
It continued in loathing; for it was an abomination
to the Egyptians to eat bread with
the Hebrews,
and it came at
last to murder, the basest of murders, that
of their new-born children; so that, more
or less, it continued 400 years, though, in
extremity, not so many. This was a long
time, but a limited time.
2. The judgment of the enemies of
Abram’s seed: That nation whom they shall
serve, even the Egyptians, will I judge,
v. 14.
This points at the plagues of Egypt,
by which God not only constrained the
Egyptians to release Israel, but punished
them for all the hardships they had put upon
them. Note,
(1.) Though God may suffer
persecutors and oppressors to trample upon
his people a great while, yet he will certainly
reckon with them at last; for his day is
coming,
Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13.
(2.) The punishing
of persecutors is the judging of them:
it is a righteous thing with God, and a particular
act of justice, to recompense tribulations
to those that trouble his people. The
judging of the church’s enemies is God’s
work: I will judge. God can do it, for he is
the Lord; he will do it, for he is his people’s
God, and he has said, Vengeance is mine, I
will repay. To him therefore we must leave
it, to be done in his way and time.
3. The deliverance of Abram’s seed out of
Egypt. That great event is here foretold:
Afterwards shall they come out with great
substance. It is here promised,
(1.) That
they should be enlarged: Afterwards they
shall come out; that is, either after they have
been afflicted 400 years, when the days of
their servitude are fulfilled, or after the
Egyptians are judged and plagued, then they
may expect deliverance. Note, The destruction
of oppressors is the redemption of the
oppressed; they will not let God’s people go
till they are forced to it.
(2.) That they
should be enriched: They shall come out with
great substance; this was fulfilled,
God took care they should have, not
only a good land to go to, but a good stock
to carry with them.
4. Their happy settlement in Canaan,
They shall not only come out of Egypt, but
they shall come hither again, hither to the
land of Canaan, wherein thou now art. The
discontinuance of their possession shall be
no defeasance of their right: we must not
reckon those comforts lost for ever that are
intermitted for a time. The reason why they
must not have the land of promise in possession
till the fourth generation was because the
iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full.
Israel cannot be possessed of Canaan till the
Amorites be dispossessed; and they are not
yet ripe for ruin. The righteous God has
determined that they shall not be cut off till
they have persisted in sin so long, and arrived
at such a pitch of wickedness, that there
may appear some equitable proportion between
their sin and their ruin; and therefore,
till it come to that, the seed of Abram
must be kept out of possession. Note,
(1.) The measure of sin fills gradually. Those
that continue impenitent in wicked ways are
treasuring up unto themselves wrath.
(2.) Some people’s measure of sin fills slowly.
The Sodomites, who were sinners before the
Lord exceedingly, soon filled their measure;
so did the Jews, who were, in profession,
near to God. But the iniquity of the Amorites
was long in the filling up.
(3.) That
this is the reason of the prosperity of wicked
people; the measure of their sins is not yet
full. The wicked live, become old, and are
mighty in power, while God is laying up their
iniquity for their children,
Job xxi. 7, 19.
See
Matt. xxiii. 32; Deut. xxxii. 34.
5. Abram’s peaceful quiet death and
burial, before these things should come to
pass,
As he should not live to see
that good land in the possession of his family,
but must die, as he lived, a stranger in it,
so, to balance this, he should not live to see
the troubles that should come upon his seed,
much less to share in them. This is promised
to Josiah,
Note,
Good men are sometimes greatly favoured
by being taken away from the evil to come,
Isa. lvii. 1.
Let this satisfy Abram, that, for his part,
(1.) He shall go to his fathers in peace.
Note,
[1.] Even the friends and favourites
of Heaven are not exempted from the stroke
of death. Are we greater than our father
Abram, who is dead?
[2.] Good men die willingly; they are not fetched,
they are not forced, but they go; their soul is
not required, as the rich fool’s
(Luke xii. 20),
but cheerfully resigned: they would not live
always.
[3.] At death we go to our fathers,
to all our fathers that have gone before us to
the state of the dead
to our
godly fathers that have gone before us to
the state of the blessed,
The former thought helps to take off the terror of
death, the latter puts comfort into it.
[4.] Whenever a godly man dies, he dies in peace.
If the way be piety, the end is peace,
Outward peace, to the last, is
promised to Abram, peace and truth is his
days, whatever should come afterwards
peace with God, and everlasting
peace, are sure to all the seed.
(2.) He shall be buried in a good old age.
Perhaps mention is made of his burial here,
where the land of Canaan is promised him,
because a burying place was the first possession
he had in it. He shall not only die in
peace, but die in honour, die, and be buried
decently; not only die in peace, but die in
season,
Note,
[1.] Old age is a
blessing. It is promised in the fifth commandment;
it is pleasing to nature; and it affords a
great opportunity for usefulness.
[2.] Especially, if it be a good old age. Theirs may
be called a good old age, First, That are old
and healthful, not loaded with such distempers
as make them weary of life. Secondly,
That are old and holy, old disciples
(Acts xxi. 16),
whose hoary head is found in
the way of righteousness
old and useful, old and exemplary for godliness;
theirs is indeed a good old age.
17 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.
18 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:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites,
and the Kadmonites,
20 And the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the
Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and
the Canaanites, and the Girgashites,
and the Jebusites.
Here is, I. The covenant ratified
(v. 17);
the sign which Abram desired was given, at
length, when the sun had gone down, so
that it was dark; for that was a dark dispensation.
1. The smoking furnace signified the affliction
of his seed in Egypt. They were there
in the iron furnace
(Deut. iv. 20),
the furnace
of affliction
labouring
in the very fire. They were there in the
smoke, their eyes darkened, that they could
not see to the end of their troubles, and
themselves at a loss to conceive what God
would do with them. Clouds and darkness
were round about them.
2. The burning lamp denotes comfort in
this affliction; and this God showed to
Abram, at the same time that he showed
him the smoking furnace.
(1.) Light denotes
deliverance out of the furnace; their salvation
was as a lamp that burneth,
Isa. lxii. 1.
When God came down to deliver them, he
appeared in a bush that burned, and was not
consumed,
Exod. iii. 2.
(2.) The lamp denotes
direction in the smoke. God’s word
was their lamp: this word to Abram was so,
it was a light shining in a dark place. Perhaps
this burning lamp prefigured the pillar
of cloud and fire, which led them out of
Egypt, in which God was.
(3.) The burning
lamp denotes the destruction of their enemies
who kept them so long in the furnace. See
The same cloud that enlightened
the Israelites troubled and burned the Egyptians.
3. The passing of these between the
pieces was the confirming of the covenant
God now made with him, that he might have
strong consolation, being fully persuaded
that what God promised he would certainly
perform. It is probable that the furnace
and lamp, which passed between the pieces,
burnt and consumed them, and so completed
the sacrifice, and testified God’s acceptance
of it, as of Gideon’s
(Judg. vi. 21),
Manoah’s
and Solomon’s,
So it intimates,
(1.) That God’s covenants
with man are made by sacrifice
(Ps. l. 5),
by Christ, the great sacrifice: no agreement
without atonement.
(2.) God’s acceptance of
our spiritual sacrifices is a token for good
and an earnest of further favours. See
And by this we may know that he
accepts our sacrifices if he kindle in our
souls a holy fire of pious and devout affections
in them.
II. The covenant repeated and explained:
In that same day, that day never to be forgotten,
the Lord made a covenant with Abram,
that is, gave a promise to Abram, saying, Unto
thy seed have I given this land,
v. 18.
Here is,
1. A rehearsal of the grant. He had said
before, To thy seed will I give this land,
ch. xii. 7; xiii. 15.
But here he says, I have
given it; that is,
(1.) I have given the promise
of it, the charter is sealed and delivered,
and cannot be disannulled. Note, God’s
promises are God’s gifts, and are so to be accounted.
(2.) The possession is as sure, in
due time, as if it were now actually delivered
to them. What God has promised is as sure
as if it were already done; hence, it is said,
He that believes hath everlasting life
(John iii. 36),
for he shall as surely go to heaven as
if he were there already.
2. A recital of the particulars granted,
such as is usual in the grants of lands. He
specifies the boundaries of the land intended
hereby to be granted,
And then, for
the greater certainty, as is usual in such
cases, he mentions in whose tenure and occupation
these lands now were. Ten several
nations, or tribes, are here spoken of
(v. 19-21)
that must be cast out, to make
room for the seed of Abram. They were not
possessed of all these countries when God
brought them into Canaan. The bounds are
fixed much narrower,
&c. But,
(1.) In David’s time, and Solomon’s,
their jurisdiction extended to the utmost of
these limits,
(2.) It was
their own fault that they were not sooner
and longer in possession of all these territories.
They forfeited their right by their
sins, and by their own sloth and cowardice
kept themselves out of possession.
(3.) The
land granted is here described in its utmost
extent because it was to be a type of the
heavenly inheritance, where there is room
enough: in our father’s house are many
mansions. The present occupants are named,
because their number, and strength, and
long prescription, should be no hindrance to
the accomplishment of this promise in its
season, and to magnify God’s love to Abram
and his seed, in giving to that one nation
the possessions of many nations, so precious
were they in his sight, and so honourable,
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