Things Written Aforetime For Our Learning - Gleanings From Genesis

by N.D.W.Miller | Category: For Young Believers | May 1936

The Lord accepted Abraham's kindly welcome. "So do,. as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto the servant; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat."

It seems very wonderful to think of the Lord, having all the appearance of a man, and eating, long centuries before His Incarnation. So too, after His Resurrection. "They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish. And He took it, and did eat before them" (Luke 24. 42, 43). And so too, will it be with those who are His, by and by, as Luke 22. 30, for example, shews.

Abraham's entertaining of the Lord, is, I repeat, very beautiful. There is a perfect "fitness" about the whole setting. There was no invitation to come within the tent which he had pitched: it was "rest yourselves under the tree "-the tree which the Lord Himself had caused to grow. The little water; the morsel of bread; everything was in keeping with the LORD'S twofold purpose in visiting His servant-the man who afterwards became His friend. Firstly, the LORD announced the time when the child of promise would be born, reinforcing His word against all incredibility with-" Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return unto thee." "Sarah laughed within herself." And yet, though in her fear she denied it, the LORD knew all about it, and chided her for her -

lack of trust. "Nay; but thou didst laugh." It is instructive, however, to note that in the Lord's summing up, Sarah receives honourable mention, "Since she counted Him faithful who had promised " (Hebrews 11. 11).

So far we have viewed one side of the LORD's visit. But :R more serious side, unknown then to Abraham, occupied the Lord's thoughts-the fiery cataclysm which was to engulf Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the Plain.

As "the men rose up," Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. "And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgement; to the end that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him."

"Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do?" "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him" (Psalm 25. 14; and see Isaiah 42. 9; Amos 3. 7; Matthew 24. 25; and Revelation 1. 1).

It was then that Abraham took the place of pleader, and intercessor" before the LORD," and in that far past day Abraham uttered words which the godly in all ages since have used instinctively when faced with great world-problems, and things that are beyond the power of man-" Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

That Abraham entertained hope of saving the cities of the Plain there can be no doubt. How earnestly and sincerely he pleaded-if 50, if 45, if 40, if 30, if 20 righteous persons-and yet again, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." How compassionate the heart that so urged these petitions! And how condescending, and how gracious the Adorable Being who deigned to listen to them. Let us learn the lesson here taught

-that we should intercede; that we should l)ray; for all men, "for kings and all that are in high place;" for those who are of the "household of the Faith," for "all saints," and much else besides. God's material House in a past day was intended to be "an house of prayer for all peoples" (Isaiah 56. 7). And no less should the house of God be to-day-the spiritual house, as 1 Timothy 2. 1-4, 8; 3.j14, 15, shews. "Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need" (Hebrews 4. 16).

This portion of Genesis teaches us too, how longsuffering our God is. The longsuffering of the LORD 15 stamped upon many a page of His Sacred Word.

Chapter 18. ends by telling us that "The LORD went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place."

"And the two Angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom."

This is the opening scene in Genesis 19. Ruth 4. and Proverbs 31. 23, among other scriptures, shew the meaning and importance of "sitting in the gate." Lot had made his way to the Judge's seat, or in present-day phraseology, "the Magistrate's Chair." We have already noted the steps that took him there. First, " he saw the well-watered plain" ; then "he chose" that which resembled "Egypt" ; then he journeyed "from the east" (so Young, and the Septuagint); then he "pitched towards Sodom"; and finally, "he dwelt in Sodom." The sight of his eyes led him in the path of selfwill, away from the light toward the unclean world. In Sodom he chose to make his home. And now we see him sitting "in the gate"; and wrapped up in the daily life of the wicked and profligate city. He dwelt among them (2 Peter 2. 8).

Whatever Lot's intentions were when he decided to take up residence in Sodom-that is, his intentions perhaps of doing the inhabitants "good "-such possible intentions were never realised. The chapter before us brings home to us sadly and forcibly, the wickedness of the wicked--what mankind really is when left to itself without any restraining, or purifying influence. And yet, as to the place itself, how illuminating, -how marvellous, are the words of the Lord Jesus as He thought of Sodom-so intensely wicked that nothing but a fiery deluge could suffice to meet the claims of the Lord's righteous ire -and Capernaum, where He, "God with us," chose to dwell. "Thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto Heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day. Howbeit I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement, than for thee" (Matthew 11. 23, 24). Capernaum was exalted by privilege. Privilege increases responsibility; and responsibility increases guilt. Was ever a city more privileged than Capernaum? Christ, the Son of the Living God, was one of her citizens. "The people which sat in darkness saw a great Light." "From that time began Jesus to preach" (Matthew 4.). "Never Man so spake." What Capernaum saw, was in the most sublime harmony with what they heard from His blessed lips: what they heard, was never at variance with what they saw (compare Psalm 48. 8). He was "the faithful and true Witness." But Sodom was never so favoured. When at last Lot endeavoured to testify and to warn his own kith and kin, "he seemed .... as one that mocked." His whole life in Sodom was a denial of his evident and sudden alarm.

N.D.W.Miller | May 1936
For Young Believers