And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Verse 29. God remembered Abraham] Though he did not descend lower than ten righteous persons, (see Ge 18:32,) yet the Lord had respect to the spirit of his petitions, and spared all those who could be called righteous, and for Abraham’s sake offered salvation to all the family of Lot, though neither his sons-in-law elect nor his own wife ultimately profited by it. The former ridiculed the warning; and the latter, though led out by the hands of the angel, yet by breaking the command of God perished with the other gainsayers.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God remembered Abraham; either,
1. The promise made to Abraham, Gen 12:3. Or,
2. The prayer made by Abraham, Gen 18:23-32, who doubtless in his prayers for Sodom would not forget Lot, though his prayer for him be not there mentioned. And hereby it is insinuated, that Lot, though he was a righteous man, and should be saved eternally, yet deserved to perish temporarily with those wicked people, to whom he associated himself merely for worldly advantages, and should have done so, if Abraham had not hindered it by his prayers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. when God destroyed the cities,c.This is most welcome and instructive after so painful anarrative. It shows if God is a “consuming fire” to thewicked [Deu 4:24 Heb 12:29],He is the friend of the righteous. He “remembered” theintercessions of Abraham, and what confidence should not this give usthat He will remember the intercessions of a greater than Abraham inour behalf.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain,…. Not when he had destroyed them, but when he was about to destroy them; for Lot was sent out from them, and delivered out of them, before they were destroyed; and therefore Noldius rightly renders the words, “before God destroyed” m them:
that God remembered Abraham; his promise to him, that he would bless them that blessed him, Ge 12:3; and his prayer to him for Lot in
Ge 18:23; for, though he does not mention him by name, he bore him on his heart, and he was always in the number of the righteous ones, on whose account he interceded for the sparing of the cities; and, though God did not hear and answer him with regard to the cities, yet he did with respect to the righteous men in them:
and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow; by two angels, who took him by the hand and brought him out of Sodom, now overthrown:
when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt; that is, in one of which Lot dwelt, namely, Sodom, as Aben Ezra rightly observes, comparing the passage with Jud 12:7; unless it can be thought that Lot first dwelt in one of those cities and then in another, and first and last in them all, which is not very likely.
m “antequam perderet”, Nold. Ebr. concord. partic. p. 144. No. 679.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
For on the destruction of these cities, God had thought of Abraham, and rescued Lot. This rescue is attributed to Elohim, as being the work of the Judge of the whole earth (Gen 18:25), and not to Jehovah the covenant God, because Lot was severed from His guidance and care on his separation from Abraham. The fact, however, is repeated here, for the purpose of connecting with it an event in the life of Lot of great significance to the future history of Abraham’s seed.
Gen 19:30-35 From Zoar Lot removed with his two daughters to the (Moabitish) mountains, for fear that Zoar might after all be destroyed, and dwelt in one of the caves ( with the generic article), in which the limestone rocks abound (vid., Lynch), and so became a dweller in a cave. While there, his daughters resolved to procure children through their father; and to that end on two successive evenings they made him intoxicated with wine, and then lay with him in the might, one after the other, that they might conceive seed. To this accursed crime they were impelled by the desire to preserve their family, because they thought there was no man on the earth to come in unto them, i.e., to marry them, “after the manner of all the earth.” Not that they imagined the whole human race to have perished in the destruction of the valley of Siddim, but because they were afraid that no man would link himself with them, the only survivors of a country smitten by the curse of God. If it was not lust, therefore, which impelled them to this shameful deed, their conduct was worthy of Sodom, and shows quite as much as their previous betrothal to men of Sodom, that they were deeply imbued with the sinful character of that city. The words of Gen 19:33 and Gen 19:35, “And he knew not of her lying down and of her rising up,” do not affirm that he was in an unconscious state, as the Rabbins are said by Jerome to have indicated by the point over : “ quasi incredibile et quod natura rerum non capiat, coire quempiam nescientem .” They merely mean, that in his intoxicated state, though not entirely unconscious, yet he lay with his daughters without clearly knowing what he was doing.
Gen 19:36-38 But Lot’s daughters had so little feeling of shame in connection with their conduct, that they gave names to the sons they bore, which have immortalized their paternity. Moab, another form of “from the father,” as is indicated in the clause appended in the lxx: , and also rendered probable by the reiteration of the words “of our father” and “by their father” (Gen 19:32, Gen 19:34, and Gen 19:36), as well as by the analogy of the name Ben-Ammi = Ammon, , (lxx). For , the sprout of the nation, bears the same relation to , as , the rush or sprout of the marsh, to Delitzsch). – This account was neither the invention of national hatred to the Moabites and Ammonites, nor was it placed here as a brand upon those tribes. These discoveries of a criticism imbued with hostility to the Bible are overthrown by the fact, that, according to Deu 2:9, Deu 2:19, Israel was ordered not to touch the territory of either of these tribes because of their descent from Lot; and it was their unbrotherly conduct towards Israel alone which first prevented their reception into the congregation of the Lord, Deu 23:4-5. – Lot is never mentioned again. Separated both outwardly and inwardly from Abraham, he was of no further importance in relation to the history of salvation, so that even his death is not referred to. His descendants, however, frequently came into contact with the Israelites; and the history of their descent is given here to facilitate a correct appreciation of their conduct towards Israel.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 29-38:
Verse 29: Lot’s deliverance from Sodom was due, not to his own uprightness, but to the faithfulness of God’s covenant with Abraham. The Scriptures do not reveal if Abraham was aware of Lot’s deliverance, but it is logical to believe he was.
Verses 30-38: Lot did not linger long in Zoar. He became afraid, and left the little town for the isolation and safety of the mountains. Perhaps he saw that the men of Zoar were like those of Sodom and feared God’s judgment upon them. He failed to believe God, that he would be sate in Zoar, so he fled in fear to seek sanctuary in a cave, along with his two daughters.
Lot’s daughters failed to learn the lesson of Divine judgment upon sin, in the destruction of Sodom. They entered into a sin which God condemns, and tried to justify their conduct under the guise of preserving their father’s seed. From their act of incest there sprang two of Israel’s hereditary enemies: the Moabites and the Ammonites. The name “Moab” means “seed of the father.” This was the name given to her son by Lot’s oldest daughter. “Ben-ammi,” the name given her son by Lot’s younger daughter, means “the son of my people.” The Moabites were descendants of Moab. They occupied the region northest of the Dead Sea, between the Jabbok and the Arnon (De 2:20). They were idolaters, worshiping Chemosh. The descendants of Ben-ammi were the Ammonites, a nomadic, marauding people who occupied the territory from which they expelled the Moabites and built a strong city, Rabbah (2Sa 11:1). They were idolaters, worshipers of Molech (1 Kings 11:7).
The idolatrous, immoral, wild nature of Lot’s grandsons, and the hostility of their descendants toward Israel, confirms God’s pronouncement that He would visit “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Ex 20:5).
It is significant to note that one of the ancestors of our Lord was Ruth, a Moabitess. This teaches that God’s grace can overcome the effects of hereditary sin, and break the cycle of godlessness.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29. God remembered Abraham. Although Moses does not assert that the deliverance of Abraham’s nephew was made known to him; yet since he says, that Lot was saved from destruction for Abraham’s sake, it is probable that he was not deprived of that consolation which he most needed; and that he was conscious of the benefit, for which it became him to give thanks. If it seems to any one absurd, that the holy man Lot should be granted for the sake of another; as if the Lord had not respect to his own piety: I answer, these two things well agree with each other; that the Lord, since he is wont to aid his own people, cared for Lot, whom he had chosen, and whom he governed by his Spirit; and yet that, at the same time, he would show, in the preservation of his life, how greatly he loved Abraham, to whom he not only granted personal protection, but also the deliverance of others. It is however right to observe, that what the Lord does gratuitously, — induced by no other cause than his own goodness, — is ascribed to the piety or the prayers of men, for this reason; that we may be stirred up to worship God, and to pray to him. We have seen, a little while before, how merciful God proved himself to be, in preserving Lot; and truly, he would not have perished, even if he had not been the nephew of Abraham. Yet Moses says, it was a favor granted to Abraham, that Lot was not consumed in the same destruction with Sodom. But if the Lord extended the favor which he had vouchsafed to his servant, to the nephew also, who now was as a stranger from his family; how much more confidently ought every one of the faithful to expect, that the same grace shall, by no means be wanting to his own household? And, if the Lord, when he favors us, embraces others also who are connected with us, for our sake, how much more will he have respect to ourselves? In saying that Lot dwelt in those cities, the figure synecdoche, which puts the whole for a part, is used, but it is expressly employed to make the miracle more illustrious; because it happened, only by the singular providence of God, that when five cities were destroyed a single person should escape.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
LOT’S INFAMOUS DAUGHTERS, Gen 19:29-38.
29. God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out Thus Lot’s rescue is attributed to Abraham’s prayer . This was Lot’s second rescue by the help of Abraham . See Gen 14:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And so it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.’
Throughout the whole account the writer has spoken of Yahweh, for it has had continually in mind the deliverance of Lot who has a part in the covenant because of his relationship with Abraham and his faith in Yahweh, and the writer wants us to know it. But in this solemn summary the writer refers to ‘God’. He is now viewing the disaster as a whole from a world viewpoint, with emphasis on the disaster. It was God, the judge of all, who spared Lot, and He did it for Abraham’s sake.
“God remembered Abraham”. In all His dealings God remembers those who are faithful to Him, and His actions ever have them in mind. In the end it was because of His love for Abraham that Lot was delivered. Lot owed Abraham more than he ever knew. But the use of the name ‘God’ suggests that especially in mind is Abraham’s intercession before ‘the Judge of all the earth’. We are assured that the Judge bore in mind his pleas and his arguments and acted accordingly.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
EXPOSITION
Gen 19:29
And it came to passnot a pluperfect (Rosenmller), as if a direct continuation of the preceding narrative, but a preterit, being the commencement of a new subdivision of the history in which the writer treats of Lot’s residence in Zoarwhen GodElohim. Hence, as a fragment of the original Elohist’s composition, the present verse is by the pseudo-criticism connected with Gen 17:27 (Ilgen, Tuch, Block); but “a greater abruptness of style and a more fragmentary mode of composition” than this would indicate “could not easily be imagined” (Kalisch). The change in the Divine name is sufficiently explained by the supposition that the destruction of the cities of the plain was not at the moment viewed by the writer in its connection with the Abrahamic covenant and intercession, but as a sublime vindication of Divine justicedestroyed (literally, in he destroying, by Elohim, or in Elohim’s destroying) the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham. If the narrative containing the intercession of Abraham and the overthrow of Sodom was due to the Jehovist, how came the earlier author to know anything about those events? The obvious allusions to them in the present verse could only have been made by one acquainted with them. Either, therefore, the present verse proceeded from the hand of the so-called Jehovist, or it requires explanation how in the original document this should be the first and only occasion on which they are referred to. Andin answer to Abatham’s prayer (Gen 18:23)sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow (there is no reason to suppose that Abraham was aware of his nephew’s escape), when he overthrewliterally, in the overthrowing of the cities, the inf. being construed with the case of its verbthe cities in the whichone of which (cf. Jdg 15:7)Lot dwelt.
Gen 19:30
And Lot went up out of Zoar (probably soon after), and dwelt in the mountain (i.e. of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea), and his two daughtersstep-daughters, it has been suggested, if Lot married a widow who was the mother of the two girls (Starke)with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoarfrom which the panic-stricken inhabitants may have fled towards the mountains (Murphy), either because at that time it was shaken by an earthquake (Jerome, Rosenmller); or because he dreaded the conflagration which devoured the other cities might spread thither (Poole, Kalisch, Wordsworth), or the rising waters of the Dead Sea which engulfed them might reach to it (Bush)apprehensions which were groundless and unbelieving, since God had granted Zoar for an asylum (Lange); or because he saw the wickedness of the inhabitants, who had not been improved by Sodom’s doom (Vatablus, Inglis); or simply because he was driven by “a blind anxiety of mind” (Calvin). And he dwelt in a cave,i.e. in one of those cavernous recesses with which the Moabitish mountains abound, and which already had been converted into dwelling-places by the primitive inhabitants of the region (cf. Gen 14:6)he and his two daughters
Gen 19:31
And the firstborn said unto the younger,showing that she had not escaped the pollution, if she had the destruction, of Sodom. “It was time that Lot had left the cities of the plain. No wealth could compensate for the moral degradation into which his family had sunk” (Inglis)Our father is old,an indirect confirmation of the inference (vide Gen 11:26) that Abram was younger than Haran, since Lot, Haran’s son, now an old manand there is not a man in the earthnot in the entire world (Origen, Irenaeus, Chrysostom, Kalisch), which is scarcely probable, since they knew that Zoar had been spared; but either in the district whither they had fled (Calvin, Willet), being under the impression that, living in so desolate a region, they could have no more intercourse with mankind; or in the land of Canaan (Ainsworth, Bush), meaning that there were no more godly men with whom they might marry; or perhaps they meant that no man would now care to unite himself with them, the remnant of a curse-stricken region (Knobel, Keil)to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth.
Gen 19:32
Come, let us make our father drink wine,either, therefore, Lot had not left Sodom totally unprovided (Inglis), or some little time had elapsed after his escaping to the mountain cave, since his daughters are provided with this intoxicating beverageand we will He with him. Considering the town in which the daughters of Lot had been reared, the mother of whom they were the offspring, and the example they had received from their father (Gen 19:8), “we can understand, though we cannot cease to abhor, their incestuous conduct” (Kalisch). Their proposal was revolting and unnatural in the extreme. By subsequent Mosaic legislation a transgression of such enormity was rendered punishable by death. Even in the present instance the perpetrators were not wholly unconscious of the wickedness of their conduct. The fact that they required a stratagem for the attainment of their purpose shows that at least they could not calculate on their father’s approbation. The entire story has been regarded as the invention of later Jewish hatred to the Moabites and Ammonites (De Wette), a conjecture believed by some to be ” not improbable (Rosenmller); but if so, how should the same writer exhibit Abraham (Gen 18:23) as filled with compassionate tenderness towards the cities of the plain? (Havernick). That we may preserve seed of our father. Literally, quicken or vivify seed (cf. Gen 19:34). Lot’s daughters may be credited with whatever virtue may be supposed to reside in this motive for their conduct.
Gen 19:33
And they made their father drink wine that nightwhich was sinful both in them and him (vide Isa 5:11; Pro 20:1; Hab 2:15)and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. That it was his own daughter quacum concumberet (Rosenmller), being so intoxicated that he could not discern who it was to whom he had approached, or even what he was doing (Keil). The reading, “when he lay down and when he arose (LXX.) is incorrect, and the explanations that Lot was a mere unconscious instrument in this disgraceful transaction (Kalisch), that he was entirely ignorant of all that had taken place (Chrysostom, Cajetan), that he was struck on account of his intemperance with a spirit of stupor (Calvin), are not warranted by the text.
Gen 19:34
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yester night with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
Gen 19:35
And they made their father drink wine that night also. The facility with which Lot allowed himself to be inebriated by his daughters Clericus regards as a sign that before this the old man had been accustomed to over-indulgence in wine. The inference, however, of Kalisch, that because “Lot’s excess in the enjoyment of wine is no more blamed than it was in Noah,” “the narrative exempts him from all serious reproach,” can scarcely be admitted. And the younger arose, and lay with him (following the bad example of her sister); and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose (vide supra, Gen 19:33).
Gen 19:36.
Thus were both the daughters of Lot (who after this disappears from sacred history, not even his death being recorded) with child by their father.
Gen 19:37
And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name MoabMeab, from the father, alluding to his incestuous origin; though Mo (water, an Arabic euphemism for the semen virile) and ab has been advanced as a more correct derivation (Rosenmller). The same is the father of the Moabiteswho originally inhabited the country northeast of the Dead Sea, between the Jabbok and the Arnon (Deu 2:20), but were afterwards driven by the Amorites south of the Arnouunto this day. This phrase, indicating a variable period from a few years to a few centuries (cf. Gen 48:13; Exo 10:6; Num 22:39; Jos 22:3), cannot be regarded as a trace of post-Mosaic authorship (De Wette, et alii), since in Genesis it is always used of events which had taken place several centuries before the time of Moses, as in Gen 26:33; Gen 35:1-29 :30; Gen 47:26 (cf. Heil, ‘Introduction,’ part 1. 2, div. 1, 33).
Gen 19:38
And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi. I.e. son of my people, meaning that her child was the offspring of her own kind and blood (Rosenmller), or the son of her relative (Kalisch), or of an unmixed race (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). The same is the father of the children of Ammonan unsettled people who occupied the territory between the Yabbok and the Arnon, from which they had ejected the Rephaims or Zamzummims (Deu 2:22), and in which they possessed a strong city, Rabbah (2 Samuel 40:1); in their habits more migratory and marauding than the Moabites (Isa 15:1-9; Isa 16:1-14; Jer 48:1-47.), and in their religion worshippers of Molech, “the abomination of the Ammonites” (1Ki 11:7)unto this day.
HOMILETICS
Gen 19:29
The last days of Lot.
I. HAUNTED BY TERROR.
1. The terror of Divine judgment. The appalling spectacle of Sodom’s overthrow had no doubt filled him with alarm. And so are God’s judgments in the earth designed to put the souls of men in fear (Psa 9:20; Psa 46:8-10; Psa 119:120).
2. The terror of men. Dwelling in Zoar, he apprehended an outburst of wrath from the citizens, who probably regarded him as the cause of the ruin which had invaded Sodom. So are better men than Lot sometimes overtaken by the fear of man (2Sa 22:5; Psa 18:4), though they should not (Isa 51:12).
3. The terror of conscience. That Lot enjoyed while in Zoar a calm and undisturbed repose of heart and mind is scarcely supposable. Rather it may be safely conjectured that after the storm and the fire and the earthquake through which he had lately passed, the still small voice of conscience spoke to him in awe-inspiring accents, unveiling his past life, reproving him of sin, and piercing him through with many sorrows; and that under the agitations produced by its accusations and reproaches he became afraid, and withdrew to the mountains. “Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all.”
II. SOUNDING THE LOWER DEEPS.
1. Descending into unbelief. God had promised to spare Zoar for him, and him in Zoar, and one would have thought Lot had been sufficiently warned of the sin of distrusting God. Yet he is scarcely established in the city which God had granted in response to his own prayer than he begins to think it hardly safe to remain within its precincts. How inveterate is unbelief!
2. Plunging into sin. The details of the present story clearly show that Lot, when he went to the mountain cave, endeavored to escape from his terrors not by carrying them to God’s throne, but by drowning them in dissipation. The wretched man, who had once been a saint in God’s Church, must have been in the habit of drinking to excess, else his daughters would never have thought of their abominable stratagem. Only one little gleam of virtue can be detected as entitled to be laid to Lot’s account, viz; that his daughters apparently believed that unless their father was drunk he would never be brought to assent to their lewd proposal.
3. Sinking into shame. Twice overcome by wine, he is twice in succession dishonored by his daughters; and twice over, while in his drink stupor, he allows himself to commit an act which almost out-Sodoms Sodom. To what depths a saint may fall when once he turns his back on God!
III. DISAPPEARING INTO OBLIVION. Nothing could more distinctly mark the Divine disapprobation with Lot‘s conduct than the fact that after this he was suffered
1. To live an unrecorded life, being never heard of again in the pages of Holy Scripture.
2. To die an unnoticed death. Where and how he met his end the historian does not condescend to state.
3. To sink into an unknown grave. Whether buried in his mountain cave or entombed in the Jordan valley no man knoweth unto this day.
See
1. The danger of turning aside from God and good men (Heb 3:12; Heb 10:25.
2. The melancholy end of a worldly life (1Co 10:6; Php 3:19 : 2Ti 4:10).
3. The bitter fruits of parental neglect (1Sa 2:27-36; Pro 29:15-17)
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS
Gen 19:29
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
I. THE VISIBLE JUDGMENT. “God overthrew the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrahthe cities in which Lot dwelt.”
1. The reason.
2. The instrumentality.
3. The reality.
4. The lessons of the overthrow.
II. THE UNKNOWN MERCY. “He sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.” To Abraham this was
1. A great mercy.
2. A mercy granted in answer to prayer. But
3. An unknown mercy, there being no reason to believe that Abraham ever saw Lot again, or knew of his deliverance.
Learn
1. That God always mixes-mercy with his judgments.
2. That his mercies are not always so perceptible to the eye of sense and reason as his judgments.
3. That God’s people get more mercies poured into their cups than they are at all times cognizant of.W.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 19:29. Cities in which Lot dwelt That is, in one of which Lot dwelt. So ch. Gen 8:4. the ark rested on the mountains, i.e.. one of the mountains of Ararat. See Jdg 12:7. Mat 26:8. His disciples (i.e. one of them, Judas) saw it and had indignation.
REFLECTIONS.Abraham spent the night, no doubt, solicitous about the issue of his prayer; and, at early dawn, arises to see what God had determined. Here we have,
1. The awful sight before him; the desolate plain, and the smoking ruins of the cities. Satisfied in the merited vengeance, no doubt he justified God in his judgments.
2. The kind remembrance God had of Abraham, in the rescue of Lot. Note; (1.) When we are inquiring after the answer of our prayers, we shall certainly find their effect; if not in our own way, yet in such a way, as we have need to be thankful for. (2.) Connexions with true believers are great blessings: we often find the benefit of their prayers.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Precious consideration to the believer. Heb 6:10 ; Isa 63:11 ; Exo 32:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XXV
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM–(Concluded)
Gen 19:29-25:18
This chapter concludes the life of Abraham. It covers over five chapters of Genesis. The important events are varied:
1. Lot’s history after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the incestuous origin of the Ammonites and Moabites.
2. Abraham’s dealing with Abimelech, the Philistine king.
3. The birth and weaning of Isaac.
4. The casting out of the handmaiden, Hagar, and Ishmael.
5. The great trial of Abraham’s faith.
6. The death and burial of Sarah.
7. The marriage of Isaac.
8. Abraham’s marriage with Keturah their children.
9. Abraham’s disposition of his property.
10. Death and burial.
11. Character.
All these events wonderfully illustrate Oriental life of that age.
Our lesson commences with Gen 19:29 : “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plains, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.” An examination question will be, To whom was Lot indebted for his rescue from the destruction of Sodom? Gen 19:30 gives the origin of two famous should say infamous nations: Moabites and Ammonites. They resulted from the incest with his daughters on the part of Lot. No nations have developed so harmoniously with their origin. They were immoral, untrustworthy, every way a blot upon civilization, the bitterest enemies of the Israelites, except the Amalekites and Philistines.
The twentieth chapter returns to Abraham. He located in the territory of the Philistine king. The Philistines, descendants of a son of Ham, originally located in Egypt. But they get their name from their migratory habits. Leaving the place that God assigned to them, they took possession of the southwestern coast of the land which derives its name from them, in our time called Palestine. They had not yet developed the confederacy of the five cities, like the Swiss cantons, which they established later. Abimelech is not a name, but a title, like Pharaoh. The Philistine king has more honor than any subsequent king. We have discussed the responsibility of Abraham, making Sarah say that she was his sister. She is eighty years old, but a most beautiful young woman. God has restored youth to her and Abraham. Abimelech takes Sarah, but is prevented from harming her through a dream God sent, warning him that she was the wife of one of his prophets, and that he would die if he did not return her. Abimelech justly rebukes them both. In Gen 19:9 he says to Abraham, “What hast thou done unto us? and in what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and my kingdom a great sin?” Abraham makes a very lame excuse. Isaac repeats the very same thing with another Abimelech. To Sarah, Abimelech says, “Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver; behold it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted.” The wrong that had been done by her captivity was thus amply compensated. The text of the King James Version says she was reproved. I think it was a gentle rebuke. Note the healing of Abimelech in Gen 19:17 at the prayer of Abraham, just as we see the friends of Job forgiven at the intercession of Job, and Israel forgiven at the intercession of Samuel and Moses. What mighty power has the intercessory prayer of good men with God!
According to promise Isaac was born. Then Sarah becomes both inspired and poetical. Her Magnification sounds like that of the virgin Mary. She said, “God hath made me to laugh; every one that heareth will laugh with me.” The child was named Isaac, which means laughter. Some children are born to make parental hearts sing with joy. Many children cause the parental heart to ache.
We come to another incident: “The child grew, and was weaned.” And Abraham made a great religious festival in honor of the weaning of Isaac. Sarah saw the son of Hagar making sport and said to Abraham, “Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” It was a little hard on Ishmael. He had been the only child, much loved by his father. He was taking a pretty wide swing in affairs at the birth of Isaac, which, according to an old saying, “broke his nose,” and put him out of commission. So, although it was a religious ceremony, Ishmael mocked, sinning against God, the father, mother, and child. Sarah seems rather hard, but she was exceedingly wise. It was very difficult to bring up two seta of children in a house where there is already a spirit of jealousy. Ishmael would not have been a safe guide for his little brother. It hurt Abraham very much. That night God appeared to him in a vision and confirmed what Sarah had said. Paul quotes the words of Sarah in Gal 4 , “Cast out the handmaid and her son.” In that famous letter he says that Hagar and Sarah are allegorical, representing two covenants: one according to the flesh, Hagar, typifying Israel; the other according to the spirit, in which Sarah represents the Jerusalem which is above. All true spiritual children of Abraham are children of promise, born of the spirit. This interpretation throws a great light on the incidents recorded here.
The story becomes still more pathetic when early next morning Abraham puts a goatskin full of water and some bread upon Hagar’s shoulder, and starts her and the boy off. She struck out, trying to find the way to Egypt. But she got tangled up in the desert. In a hot dry, sandy country it does not take long to drink all the water a woman can carry. The water gave out. Ishmael was famishing with thirst. The mother could not bear to see him die. So she put him under a little bush to shelter him as much as possible, and drawing off to a distance, wept and sobbed in anguish of spirit. And the angel of God spoke to her, “What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.” The boy, too, was praying. Once in preaching a sermon to children I took that text. The other night my little boy asked me to repeat a scripture before we had family prayer. I told him of the boy born to be a wild man, against whom was every man’s hand, and whose hand was against every man. How that he and his mother had to leave home when he was a little fellow. That hot walk in the desert, the insatiable thirst, and the mother going off to pray. How it occurred to the little boy to pray, and how when he prayed God heard the voice of the lad himself. Instantly my little boy spoke up and began to tell of two or three times when he had prayed and God had heard him. I encouraged him in that thought. I told him whenever he got into trouble, no matter how small, to pray; just as a child to tell God, and while nobody on earth might hear him, his Heavenly Father would hear even a whisper. I tell you this that you may impress upon young people the fact that God heard the voice of the lad himself. At the Arkansas convention in Texarkana, I preached a sermon for Dr. Barton’s church. A mother came to me before preaching and said that she had two boys in whom she was very much interested, and wanted me to pray for them that day. I said, “Suppose you tell those boys to pray while I preach.” She told them, and at the close of the sermon they were happily converted. Dr. Barton baptized them that night, both at one time, holding each other’s hands. It made a very impressive sight. Having heard about this, when I returned later to Texarkana, another mother came and stated a similar case. I told her to ask the lad to pray himself. That boy was converted and joined the church at the close of the service. In lecturing to the Y. M. C. A. in the afternoon, before I commenced my talk, I raised the point that God could hear anybody in that audience of five hundred men. There were some very bad cases, men who had stained their homes, grieved their wives, darkened the prospect of their children. I told them that God would hear them even on the brink of hell, if they would turn to him and pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” One man stepped right up and gave me his hand. At night all the churches worshiped at one church. I preached to within ten minutes of train time, and left without knowing the result. But with two preachers to call out from the audience the people who would take God at his word, and judging from the seeming impression, there ought to have been a great many conversions there that night. I would be glad if every preacher would take that text, “I have heard the voice of the lad where he is,” and preach a sermon. Get it on the minds of the children that God will hear them. “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad.” That is the second part of the text. First, I have heard the voice of the lad himself; second, God was with the lad.
His mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt, and he became the father of twelve nations. I have told you about the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael. They hold the ground where Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Leah, Isaac, and Rachel were buried. There is an immense structure built at that place. Until 1869 they would not allow a Gentile to enter, but in that year the Prince of Wales was permitted to go inside. The remainder of the chapter states a remarkable covenant between Abraham and Abimelech. It became evident that God was with Abraham and nobody could harm him. Abimelech wanted a covenant with that kind of a man. In my preaching I used to advise sinners never to go into business with a backslidden Christian, for God will surely visit him with Judgments, and he may come with fire to burn up the store. Anyway, a backslidden Christian is an unsafe partner. But what a fine partner is a Christian who is not a backslidden one. Abraham said that he ought to rectify a certain offense. “I dug this well in order to water my stock and your servants took it.” Abimelech righted the wrong. They took an oath of amity toward each other, so that the place was called Beersheba, i.e., the well of the oath. That marks the southern boundary of Palestine as we regard it.
I am going to give you the salient points of the twenty-second chapter, which presents the most remarkable incident in the life of Abraham. God had said that in Isaac was all Abraham’s hope for the future. God determined to try the faith of Abraham. It has been forty years since his conversion, and he has been stepping up higher and higher until you would think he must have reached the heights and graduated. But the crowning touch to his faith is to come now. God said, “Take now thy sou, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.” It was a staggering request, and yet Abraham staggered not in unbelief. He thought, “What will become of God’s promise?” In Hebrews it is explained how he argued it out and trusted. If God said, “Put Isaac to death,” he would do it, but God had said that through Isaac was to come the Messiah. So it would be necessary for God to raise Isaac from the dead. They set out early. If they had waked Sarah and told her what they were going to do, there probably would have been a row. So they took their servant, a mule, and some wood, and started to distant Mount Moriah, where Jerusalem is. As they drew near the place, Isaac, who had been doing some thinking, says, “Father, here is the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” It had not been mentioned what his part was. Abraham answered, “My son, the Lord will pro-, vide a sacrifice.” They reached the place near where Christ was later crucified. Abraham built the altar and placed the wood upon it. He commenced binding Isaac. The son, never saying a word, submitted. He stretched him over that altar, and drew his knife over the boy, and already in Abraham’s mind Isaac was dead. But just as the knife was about to descend, God said, “Abraham, Abraham, stay thy hand. Isaac shall not die.” He looked around and there in a bush was a ram caught by its horns. He took that and offered it.
There are two marvelous lessons to be derived from this incident. The most significant is that God made Abraham feel the anguish that God felt in giving up his only begotten Son to die for man. Abraham is the only man that ever entered into the sorrow of the Divine Mind in giving up Jesus to die. When he is bound on the cross and prays, “Save me from the sword,” the Father cries out, “Wake, O sword, and smite the Shepherd.” When he cries, “Save me from the enemy that goeth about like a roaring lion,” and when he prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” it was not possible if anybody was to be saved. The other thought is that as the Father consented to give up his Son, so the Son obediently submitted. Thus Isaac becomes the type of Christ. And Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh, “it shall be provided.” When I was a young preacher I preached a sermon on all the double names of Jehovah found in the Old Testament, such as Jehovah-Elohim, Jehovah-Tsidkena, Jehovah-jireh, etc.
Now we come to a passage that made a great impression on the mind of the author of the letter to the Hebrews. “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abram in a second time out of heaven, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” That matter is discussed in Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. When I was a young preacher I used to delight in preaching from this passage, and I like it yet, Heb 6:16 , “For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” In order to assure every child of God that his hope is well grounded and that he cannot be disappointed, two things in which it is impossible for God to lie are joined and twisted together to make a cable which is fastened to the anchor of hope: one, the promise of God, the other the oath of God. In commenting upon that Paul said that, though it was a covenant with a man, because it was confirmed by the oath of God, it could not be disannulled.
In Gen 22:20 we find, “And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy brother Nahor; Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo and Pildash, and Jidlaph and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah.” That incident is put in to prepare for a subsequent chapter, showing where Isaac got his wife. My wife’s brother, when he was a little fellow, came to his mother and wanted to know who were the boys that milked a bear. She said she did not know. He said it was in the Bible, so he read, “Those eight did Milcah bear.” Then his mother told him of the old Hardshell preacher’s sermon on that text, to this effect: They got out of milk at a certain house. The only available source was a she bear, and so the sturdy boys roped her and brought in the milk.
The twenty-third chapter, which gives an account of the death of Sarah, and the purchase of a burial place by Abraham, is a very interesting historical account because it gives all the details of a noted business transaction, showing how Orientals dealt in their trades. Notice particularly the Gen 23:11 , what Ephron says, “Nay, my lord, hear me: the field I give thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the children of my people gave I it thee: bury thy dead.” If an Englishman or an American had said that, it would have meant an outright gift, but for an Oriental or a Mexican, he expects the full price. If you enter a house in Mexico they will tell you everything is yours, cows, lambs, etc., but don’t you take for granted that it is so; it is just soft speech. Notice in closing this transaction that the currency was not coin, but weighed silver. Silver and gold were not put in pieces of money, but in any form; as, rings, bracelets, or bars, counted by weight; not numbered.
The twenty-fourth chapter tells how marriages were contracted in the East, and is an exceedingly interesting bit of history on that subject. Abraham brings out a revelation that God had previously made that we have no account of elsewhere, viz.: that God had told him not to marry his son to any of the idolaters of the land, but to his own people who were worshipers of God. So Abraham took Eliezer and swore him. The form of the oath is given, showing how these solemn oaths were taken between man and man. This head servant, taking ten camels, struck out from the southern part of Palestine, going to the Euphrates, a long trip, though common for caravans. He is much concerned about his mission and says to Abraham, “You tell me not to take Isaac there because God told you never to take your son back to that country.” There is another revelation, not previously recorded. “Now, suppose when I get there the girl won’t come to me?” Abraham said, “That will exempt you from your responsibility, but God will prosper you in this, his arrangement, and will govern you in everything.” We have a description of this old man falling on a plan by which a sign would be given. He sat down near a well and waited for the women to come and draw water. In this country men draw the water we don’t expect women to draw enough water for a herd of cattle. His plan was that he would steadily look at the women who came and fixing his mind on one, he would ask her to give him a drink, and if she inclined the bucket to him and said, “Let me water your camels,” she would be the one. Later we find Jacob falling upon the same method. In our time young men manage to find their wives without signs or omens. So when Rebekah, granddaughter of Nahor, brother of Abraham, came out, a beautiful virgin, and he asked her for a drink, and she let her pitcher down and held it in her hand, and then offered to water the camels, Eliezer knew she was the right one. He took a ring of gold, a half-shekel in weight, two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels in weight, and said, “Whose daughter art thou? Is there in thy father’s house a place for us to pass the night?” She told him who she was, and that there was a place and abundant provisions for him and his camels.
So when she got to the house she reported the case and her brothers came out. Her father was a polygamist, and the eldest of each set of children was the head. So Laban, Rebekah’s brother, came out and invited old Eliezer in. Food is set before him, but he says, “I will not eat until I have told my message.” Laban told him to tell it. And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and camels and asses. And Sarah, my master’s wife, bare a son to my master when she was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath.” That was a very fine introduction. Whenever you open negotiations with a young lady’s father for marriage in the case of a young man whose father is very wealthy and this son his only heir, you have paved the way for a fair hearing. He strengthened the case by stating that under the inspiration of God he was forbidden to take a wife from among the idolaters, but was commanded to come to this place for a wife, the idea of appointment by God, a match made in heaven. Some matches are made of sulfur, not in heaven. He gave his third reason. “Not only is my master’s son rich, and I am here under the arrangement of God, but after I got to this place, I let God give me a sign to determine the woman.” Having stated his case he says, “If you will deal truly and kindly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
In the King James Version, Eliezer’s speech has a translation that used to be very famous as a text. He says, “I have come to seek a bride for my lord.” A Methodist preacher in Edward Eggleston’s Circuit Rider, preaching from that text before an immense congregation, says, “My theme is suggested by the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis,” and gave a little of the history. “Now,” he says, “I am here to seek a bride for my Lord, to espouse a soul to God. And like old Eliezer, I am under an oath of God. Like him I am not willing to eat until I have stated my case. And like him I have come by divine appointment. And like him I have tokens of his spirit that somewhere in this congregation is the bride of God. And like him I commence wooing for my Lord by stating whose son he is. He is the Son of God. He is very rich. He is the heir of all things in the world.” Edward Eggleston, in telling that story, relates that Patsy, a beautiful girl, who had despised religion and circuit riders, was wonderfully impressed by the sermon. It was the custom in the early days of Methodism to demand that women should eschew jewels, basing it on a New Testament expression about bad worldly ornaments. So while the preacher was exhorting and pleading for a bride for his master, Patsy commenced taking off her earrings, loosening her bracelets, and putting them all on the table. Then she said, “I seek to be ornamented by the One to whom you propose to espouse me, even the Lord Jesus Christ. I lay aside the trappings of external wealth and splendour, and look for that quality of spirit that best ornaments a woman.” Paul says, showing that the Methodist preacher was not going out of the record, “I have espoused you to Christ.”
The custom was for the betrothal to take place at the house of the bride’s father, and Eliezer comes in the name of his master and the betrothal is undertaken. The marriage is consummated whenever the bride is taken to the bridegroom’s house, and he meets and takes her in. The virgins of Mat 25 are all espoused, but the bridegroom has not yet come to take them to his house. When Eliezer had stated his case the father and brother say, “This thing proceeds from Jehovah, and it is a question we cannot answer. Behold Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and let her be the wife of thy master’s son.” As soon as the betrothal is completed, Eliezer according to custom, takes the lady to his camel and hands out the presents sent by the bridegroom. “And the servants brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah, and he gave also to her brother and her mother precious things.” We perpetuate that somewhat in our marriage festivals when friends bring bridal presents. According to an Eastern custom a bridegroom makes presents to the bride’s mother and family. As these samples of the richness of Abraham were displayed, they felt still better satisfied about the judiciousness of the marriage.
Next morning Eliezer wants to start right home, but they said, “Let the damsel stay awhile. You stay a couple of weeks or months.” But Orientals always expect the answer, “No, I am in a hurry. I must go.” So they proposed to leave it to the girl. I have often wondered if they were going to leave anything to her. They called Rebekah and she said, “I will go.” That leads me to remark what a singular thing it is that a girl raised in a loving family, sheltered by parental care from even a cold breath of air, the pride and light of the house, all at once, on one night’s notice, pulls up stakes and leaves the old home, saying to a man pretty much what Ruth said to Naomi, “Where thou goest I will go. Where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy God shall be my God, and thy people shall be my people, and God do so to me, if I ever cease from following after thee.” And yet, it is God’s providence. So Rebekah and her maids, and the servant of Abraham and his men struck out from Haran on the Euphrates, on that long pilgrimage, south to Damascus; to the headwaters of the Jordan; then down either side of the river until you come to Hebron, where the bridegroom was. Just before Rebekah gets to Hebron, it happened that Isaac was out, taking a walk for meditation. In such a period of a young man’s life, he is given to meditation. When you see a young fellow that has always wanted to be surrounded by a crowd of boys, getting up early in the morning and taking a long walk by himself, there is something up. So Isaac was out on this meditating expedition, and Rebekah saw him. She instantly slipped down from the camel and put the veil over her face. The bridegroom could never see the face of the bride until he took her into his house. That part I do not think I would like. In the East the women are secluded until after their marriage.
The next chapter gives us an account of Abraham we hardly expect. Sarah has been dead sometime, and he took another wife, Keturah. Then there is a statement of their children and the countries they inhabit. They become mostly Arabs. We find this in Gen 25:5 : “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, Hagar and Keturah, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from his son Isaac, while he yet lived, eastward unto the east country.” Though he made provisions for all, his general estate went to the child of promise.
Abraham lived 175 years and died in a good old age, full of days. Brother Smith used that expression in conducting the funeral of President Brooks’ father. Going from the funeral I asked my wife, who is a good listener to a sermon of any kind, what Brother Smith said. She said, “He had the usual things to say on such occasions, but brought out the biblical interpretation I am not sure about. He interpreted ‘full of days’ to mean ‘satisfied with his days.’ ” I said, “He certainly is right. Old age and full of days are distinguished thus. A man might live to be an old man and not be full of days. Every retrospect of his life might bring him sorrow.” I am afraid few people, when they come to die, can say with Paul, “The time of my exodus is at hand, and I am ready to be poured out full of days. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up a crown which God the righteous judge shall give to me.”
The next noticeable expression is, “He was gathered to his people.” That does not mean that his body was deposited in the family burying ground. As yet no member of his family was in the cave of Machpelah except his wife. In the Old Testament the expression refers to the soul and is one of those expressions that teach the belief in the immortality of the soul and the existence of the soul separate from the body. Next, Isaac and Ishmael bury him. The last time we saw Ishmael was at the weaning of Isaac, when he was mocking. Both are married. Ishmael has a large family. The fathers of these nationalities that are to be distinct until the second coming of Christ, come together at the father’s grave. It is very touching that these two boys whom the antagonism of life had parted, whom the very trend of destiny had led separate, when the father died, came back without antagonism to bury him.
The chapter then gives a brief account of the generations of Ishmael, which constitutes one of the sections of the book of Genesis. Note the fact that according to the promise made to Ishmael, he becomes the father of twelve tribes. He died at the age of 137. Gen 25:18 says, “Before the face of his brethren he abode.” That expression means that he dwelt in the sight of his brethren, yet separated from them, living his own independent life.
Abraham is now dead. Here is a question I put to every class in Genesis. Analyze the character of Abraham and state the constituent elements of his greatness. I give you some hints.
(1) His mighty faith, the father of the faithful, whose faith took steps and staggered not through unbelief, no matter how often or hard it was tried. That is the supreme element of his greatness.
(2) His habit of religion. He took no “religious furloughs” when he travelled, as some men do. Wherever he stopped he erected an altar to God. Some years ago at Texarkana, some young men got on the train, and among them a Baptist preacher, and all were drinking. Finally one of them turned to him and said, “I won’t drink with you any more unless you will promise to quit preaching.” He was away from home and thought nobody knew him.
(3) His capacity for friendship. He was one of very few men counted the friend of God. Christ says concerning some of his people, “I call you not servants. I call you friends, and ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Abraham was also a friend of his fellow men. No man or woman, no matter what the external conditions, who is not capable of great, strong, undying friendship, can be very great.
(4) His love of peace. He said to Lot concerning the strife between the herdsmen, “Let there be no strife between us. Though I am the older and came here first, you can take the land you want and I will take what is left.” Lot selected the fertile plain of the Jordan and pitched his tent. Wherever Abraham went there were warlike, quarrelsome tribes, men who lived with swords on and daggers in hand, yet he had no quarrels.
(5) But as we have seen, when necessary to make war, he struck fast, hard, and effectively. He evinced great courage.
(6) His independence of character. He would not accept a gift from Ephron the Hittite a burying place for his dead. He would not accept as much as a shoestring from the spoils of the Sodomites, which he had recovered in battle from the Babylonians, lest the king of Sodom should say, “I have made Abram rich.”
(7) His justice. In an old reader there is a legend that a stranger, lost and in trouble, came to his tent. Abraham cared for his stock, washed his feet, gave him food and a place to sleep. But when the man started to lie down, Abraham seized him and said, “You cannot sleep under my tent. You propose to lie down without thanking God for these blessings!” He put him out and the man went to sleep outside of the tent. In the night came a voice from heaven, “Abraham, where is the guest I sent?” “Lord, he came; I treated him kindly, but when I saw how unthankful to thee he was, I cast him out.” “Abraham, I have borne with that man many years. Could you not bear with him one night? I sent him that you might lead him to me.” Abraham, weeping, went out, and brought the man back in his arms.
(8) Governing his family. “I know Abraham, that he will command his children after him.”
(9) His unswerving obedience.
(10) His affection and provision for his family. He loved his wife very much, and made provision for every member of his family before he died. These are some of the characteristics of the greatness of Abraham. They are homely virtues, but they are rare on that account.
QUESTIONS 1. To whom was Lot indebted for his rescue from the destruction of Sodom? Proof?
2. What was the origin of the Moabites and Ammonites and how does their history harmonize with their origin?
3. In whose country does Abraham locate after the destruction of Sodom, of which son of Noah were they descendants and what the origin of their name?
4. Who was king of this people, what was Abraham’s aim here and what notable example of intercessory prayer?
5. Recite Sarah’s Magnification and give a New Testament parallel.
6. What was the occasion of Ishmael’s sin that drove him and his mother from home, what was the sin itself, the wisdom of Sarah, the divine approval and the New Testament use of this incident?
7. Tell the story of Hagar and Ishmael as outcasts, what text cited in this story, and what the application?
8. Whom did Ishmael marry, how many nations of his descendants and who are his descendants today?
9. What was the covenant between Abimelech and Abraham and what advice to businessmen is based thereon?
10. What great trial of Abraham’s faith and how did he stand the test?
11. What two marvelous lessons from this incident?
12. What blessing from heaven on Abraham because of his obedience in this test and what New Testament impress of this passage?
13. In the great trial of his faith when Isaac was offered, how was Abraham a type of the Father?
14. Why the incident of Gen 22:20-24 , given here, and what the text and Hardshell sermon cited?
15. What of particular interest in the twenty-third chapter, what Oriental custom here exemplified and what was the medium of exchange?
16. What two new revelations in Gen 24 , and tell the story of how Isaac got his wife.
17. What famous text is in this passage and what noted sermon cited on it?
18. What was the custom of Oriental marriages and what New Testament scripture does it illustrate?
19. What part of the Oriental marriage do we perpetuate in our marriages and with what modifications?
20. What part did Rebekah have in this affair and what eastern custom does she comply with upon her first sight of Isaac?
21. Who was Abraham’s second wife and who were his descendants by this wife?
22. How old was Abraham when he died and what is the meaning of “full of days”?
23. What is the meaning, both negatively and positively, of the expression: “He was gathered to his people,” what touching thing occurred at his funeral and what was the meaning of “Before the face of his brethren he abode”?
24. Analyze the character of Abraham and state the constituent elements of his greatness.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Gen 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Ver. 29. God remembered Abraham, &c. ] And shall he forget us, who have Christ to intercede for us?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 19:29
29Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
Gen 19:29 “that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow” Notice that Lot was spared because of the intercession of Abraham, the possessor of the covenant promise (cf. Exo 2:24). This verse accentuates the preeminence of Abraham.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
remembered. Lot’s deliverance due to Abraham’s prayer. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
cities = the city. Figure of speech Heterosis (of Number). App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
when God
(See Scofield “Gen 19:36”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
that God: Gen 8:1, Gen 12:2, Gen 18:23-33, Gen 30:22, Deu 9:5, Neh 13:14, Neh 13:22, Psa 25:7, Psa 105:8, Psa 105:42, Psa 106:4, Psa 136:23, Psa 145:20, Eze 36:31, Eze 36:32, Hos 11:8
Reciprocal: Gen 13:12 – Lot dwelled Gen 39:5 – for Joseph’s Deu 3:17 – the sea Jos 6:23 – out Rahab 1Ki 11:12 – for David 1Ki 15:4 – for David’s Job 35:8 – may profit Psa 88:5 – whom Pro 21:12 – overthroweth Eze 14:16 – they shall Eze 16:46 – her daughters Joh 9:31 – him Act 27:24 – lo Jam 5:16 – The effectual 2Pe 2:7 – delivered