Chapter II. The Gospel Preached to Abraham. His Faith and Works

“The Promise Made of God unto the Fathers.” “The Hope of Israel.”

There is no one, I suppose, who reads the scriptures but admits that Paul was persecuted, being imprisoned, scourged, arraigned, and manacled, because he preached the gospel of the kingdom in the name of Jesus. This is admitted by all. It matters not, then, in what terms he states the cause of his trials, it will all p. 224 amount to this declaration, namely, “For the gospel I am called in question, and am judged, and bound with this chain.”

But, we will let the apostle state his case in his own words. When he stood before Ananias, the high priest, and the council of the Jews, he cried out, “On account of the hope, and resurrection of dead persons, (νεκρων) I am called in question.”^a But, it may be asked here, “Concerning what hope was the question between Paul and his persecutors about?” He tells us in his defence before Agrippa: “I stand and am judged,” says he, “for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews”^b Now, from this statement, it appears:

1. That God had made a certain promise to the fathers of Israel;

2. That this promise became the hope of the nation, and was therefore a national question;

3. That this promise had been the hope of the twelve tribes in all their generations; was the ground of their worship; and that they hoped to attain to it by rising from the dead.

But we have a still plainer avowal, if possible, of the identity of this national hope with the hope for which the apostle suffered so much. The Lord Jesus had appeared to him after his arraignment before Ananias, and said to him, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” When he arrived at this city, he called the chief of the Jews together, and told them that he had nothing to accuse his nation of; but had sent for them to inform them how matters really stood. He then told them how it was they found him in the custody of a Roman soldier, with fetters upon his person: “On account of THE HOPE OF ISRAEL,” said he, “am I bound with this chain.”^c This is conclusive. The hope of the promise made to the fathers, was, and, indeed, is to this day, the Hope of Israel; and for preaching this hope, and inviting the Gentiles to a participation in it without other circumcision than that of the heart, he was denounced as a pestilent fellow, and unfit to live.^d

But what was the hope of Israel about? The answer to this question is easy. Having made the chief of the Jews at Rome acquainted with the cause of his appeal to Cæsar, they remarked to him, that they should like to hear of him what he thought upon the question of the national hope, as so strenuously contended for by the sect of the Nazarenes. As it was not, however, convenient then, they appointed a future day when they would meet him, and hear what he had to say upon the subject. Accordingly, at p. 225 the time appointed, they came together at Paul’s lodging, and he proceeded to lay before them his thoughts upon the subject of Israel’s hope. But I cannot do better than to state what he did in the words of Luke; who says that, “He expounded and testified to them the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.”^a

Now who can be so dim of vision as not to perceive, that the subject-matter of the hope of Israel is the Kingdom of God? And observe, that in giving his thoughts of the national hope, the apostle’s persuasions turned upon things concerning Jesus. The Kingdom of God and Jesus were the subjects of Paul’s testimony, when he preached “the hope of Israel,” or “the hope of the promise made of God unto the fathers.” Having begun his testimony with the chiefs of the Jews, some of whom received it, he continued to publish it for two years in his own hired house to all that visited him, “preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence.”^b In this way he bore witness for Jesus in Rome, as he had done before in Jerusalem.

But, one might say, if the hope the apostle preached, and the hope of the twelve tribes, were the same hope, why was he persecuted by the Jews? The answer is, because Paul and the rest of the apostles, testified that Jesus whom they had crucified was the king whom God had anointed to be the Judge of Israel in His Kingdom, of which they were the natural born citizens. They had been constituted “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,” by the covenant of Sinai; and had on that occasion accepted Jehovah as their king. They were therefore the kingdom of God. In after ages, they had demanded a king who might go in and out before them. He gave them David; and promised to raise up from among his descendants, sleeping in the tomb, a king, who should be immortal, and reign over them for ever, according to the provisions of a new constitution. Now, the apostles testified that God had raised up Jesus from among the dead for this very purpose; and had sent them to the Jews first, to inform them that if they desired to reign as princes over Israel and the nations with his king, it was not enough for them to be natural born descendants of Abraham; but that they must acknowledge Jesus as King of Israel, and walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith. They testified furthermore, that, if they would not acknowledge him as their king, seeing that the kingdom and empire of God would require kings and priests to administer its affairs, they would turn to the Gentiles, and invite them to accept the honour and glory of the kingdom, upon terms of perfect equality with Israel; for so the Lord had commanded them to do.

p. 226 This mortified the Jews exceedingly. They despised Jesus because of his poverty and ignominious death. A suffering and crucified king was a reproach to the nation in their esteem; and to be put on a level with Gentiles, whom they regarded as “dogs,” filled them with indignation and madness against the preachers of such pestilent heresies. But it was the apostolic mission to withstand their fury with “the testimony of God”; and to establish their preaching by what is written in the law of Moses and the prophets, and by what they had seen and heard, and which was attested by the power of God exhibited in the miracles they performed.

We have, then, arrived at a great truth, namely, that the “one hope of the gospel” preached by the apostles to the Jew first, and afterwards to the Greek, was “the hope of Israel;” that the subject of it was the kingdom of God and Shiloh; and that these were the matter of promise made to the fathers. It remains for us now to look into this promise so that we may come to understand it well; for its provisions are the things of the kingdom; and to be ignorant of these is to be without understanding, and therefore faithless, of the gospel of Christ.

The apostle Paul, who will be our interpreter, tells us that the promise, which is the subject of the “one hope,” was made to “the fathers.” This is a phrase which signifies sometimes the predecessors of the generation of the apostle’s time, who were contemporary with the prophets;^a and at others the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^b It is in the latter sense the apostle uses the phrase in connection with “the promises;” for speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises;” that is, the things contained in the promise: and after adding “a cloud of witnesses,” who lived in after ages, and who illustrated their faith in the promise made to the fathers, he concludes by saying, “These all, having received a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect,”^c by a resurrection from the dead to inherit the kingdom. They must rise from the dust before they can receive the promise. They are imperfect now, being in ruins. But when they are re-fashioned by the Spirit of God, and spring forth glorious, incorruptible, and powerful men, “equal to the Elohim,” they will have been “made perfect,” and fit for the kingdom of God. But they are not to be thus perfected until all the believers of the promise are brought in; for all the faithful of all previous ages are to be perfected together.

The study of the promise unconnected with the study of the fathers is impossible. Those who are ignorant of the biographies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must be ignorant of the gospel; for these patriarchs were the depositories of the promises,^d which p. 227 constitute the gospel-hope; and of them, Abraham is especially designated as him that hath the promises^a—τον εχοντα τας επαγγελιας. It is for this reason that a man must become of Abraham’s seed by adoption through Jesus Christ. Unless a son of Abraham by a like faith and disposition with him, neither Jew nor Gentile can share in Abraham’s estate. It is only Abraham’s spiritual family that can divide with him the promises he holds. God has made him the spiritual father of mankind; and the Lord Jesus, the elder brother of the family. If, therefore, a man become a brother of Jesus, he at the same time becomes a son of Abraham; for Jesus is Abraham’s seed, and was in the loins of Isaac, when Abraham offered his only son, and received him from the dead again, in a figure. If the reader understand this matter, he will fully comprehend the meaning of the apostle’s saying, that believers “are all the children of God (being Abraham’s) by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if Christ’s, THEN Abraham’s seed, and HEIRS according to the promise.”^b

After what has been advanced, no more, I think, need be said upon the importance of the subject before us. I shall, therefore, proceed now to a more particular illustration of the glad tidings of the kingdom by an exposition of

The Promise Made to Abraham

The descendants of Noah were beginning to tread in the footsteps of the antediluvians. They became ambitious of making “a name” for themselves, irrespective of the name of the Lord. This their way was their folly; yet their posterity approved their endeavour. Idolatry was beginning to prevail; and they proceeded to build a city, and a tower, whose top should reach to heaven, in honour of their god. But the Lord came down and put a stop to their enterprise, by confounding their language, and scattering them abroad over the earth.

Noah had lived 292 years after the flood, when three sons were born to Terah, a descendant of Shem, Terah being 70 years old. Shem was a worshipper of the true God, whom Noah styled “the Lord God of Shem.”^c Terah, however, seems to have departed from the simplicity of the truth; and was, probably, engaged in the mad scheme of making “a name” for the sons of men in the land of Shinar. But that undertaking being interrupted, it is probable he migrated from Babel, the name of the city they were building, in a northerly direction. Be this as it may, we find him in Chaldea at a place called Ur.^d At this place, eastward of “the great river Euphrates,” Abram, Nahor, and Haran, were born to Terah. They lived there many years, serving the gods of Shinar. The idolatry of Terah’s family appears from the testimony p. 228 of God Himself, who said to Israel, “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood (the Euphrates) in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.” When Joshua reported this to the people, he admonished them, saying, “Put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.”^a

While Terah’s family dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, the Lord appeared to them, and said to Abram, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.”^b This command caused them to remove from Ur, and to journey towards the land of Canaan; on their way to which, they arrived at Haran, and dwelt there.^c Thus Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot, obeyed the voice of the Lord, and separated themselves from the idolaters of the Chaldean district of Mesopotamia. They remained in Haran till the Lord appeared again to Abram. On this occasion, the Lord came to show him the land he was to go to; but did not immediately name it. He appears only to have told him to travel westward until He met him again; for it is written that he went in that direction, “not knowing whither he went.”

At this interview in Haran, the Lord said to Abram, “I will make of thee A GREAT NATION, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”^d Alluding to this promise, the apostle says, that in making it, “the gospel was preached to Abraham”—the glad tidings of blessedness to the nations, when Abraham and his descendants should be great, and renowned throughout the earth. Abraham believed this gospel promisorily announced to him by the Lord God. Nor was his faith inoperative. It was a living, moving faith—a faith through which he obtained a good report. By the influence of that faith, which embraces the things hoped for, it is testified that Abraham “when he was called to go out into a country which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. For he looked for the city having foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”^e He turned his back on Babel, and with Sarai and his nephew, Lot, and all his substance, he left his father’s house, crossed the Euphrates and the Jordan, p. 229 and entered the land of Canaan, still travelling onward until he arrived at Sichem, in the plain of Moreh. Having come thus far into the country, the Lord appeared again to Abram to let him know that he was in the land. He intended to show him; and added this remarkable promise, saying, “Unto thy SEED will I give this land.”^a

Let us pause here in the biography of Abram, and consider this promise. Here was a country, lying between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, in which were Abram and all his house, with his flocks and herds, and which was in the actual possession of warlike tribes, living in cities walled up to heaven; concerning this country, the Lord, to whom heaven and earth belong, said to Abram, I will give it to thy Seed, when as yet he had no child. But it is particularly interesting to know who is intended by Abram’s Seed in this promise. Is it the “great nation” spoken of in the former promise? or is it some particular personage to whom the Land of Canaan is here promised as an inheritance? I shall offer no opinion upon the subject, but let the apostle to the Gentiles answer the question. In writing to the disciples in Galatia about the inheritance, he says, “The promises were made to Abraham and to his Seed. God saith not, And to seeds, as of many persons; but as of one person, as it is written, And unto thy Seed, which is Christ.”^b The apostle here tells us that the Land of Canaan was promised to the Christ, when God said to Abram, “Unto thy Seed will I give this land.” Let the reader, then, bear this in mind as one of the first principles of the gospel of the kingdom. Deny this, and there is an end to all understanding of the truth.

Having built an altar at Sichem to commemorate the Lord’s promise concerning his Seed’s inheritance, and sojourned there a while, he removed to a mountain between Bethel and Hai, where he built another altar, and called upon the Name of the Lord. After this he journeyed, going on still toward the South.

Having been driven into Egypt by famine in the Land of Canaan, he sojourned there for a time, and acquired much wealth. After it had subsided, he left Egypt and returned to the station between Bethel and Hai, where he called on the Name of the Lord. Soon after this, Lot separated from Abram, and went and dwelt among the cities of the plain, now submerged under the Dead Sea. After this separation, the Lord appeared to him again, and said, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to THEE will I give it, and to thy Seed FOR EVER. And I will make thy seed (plural here) as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it: for I will give it unto thee.”^c

p. 230 This was an amplification of the promise given at Haran and Sichem. At the former place, the promise of blessing which was to come upon him and the nations; and in which his seed in the sense of a multitude was to become great—was given in general terms; at the latter place, the Christ was promised as descending from him to inherit the Land of Canaan; but in these promises, nothing was said about what Abram was to have, nor as to how long the Christ was to possess the country. In the promise, however, amplified near Bethel, these desiderata were supplied. Abram was informed that he should inherit the country as well as Christ; and that they should both possess it “for ever.” Having received this assurance, he removed his tent from Bethel, and went and pitched it near Hebron in the plain of Mamre, and builded there an altar to the Lord.

When Abram had resided nearly ten years in the Land of Canaan, the whole country was in arms east of the Jordan, and to the north and south of Abram’s encampment. A rebellion had broken out against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, who appears to have been the principal potentate of the time. During the war, Sodom was attacked and taken, and Lot, and all his goods, carried away with the spoil of the city, for he dwelt there. Abram having heard of this, hastily collected a company of three hundred and eighteen retainers, and started in pursuit of the spoilers, whom he overtook and put to the rout as far as Hobah, on the west of Damascus. He recovered all the spoil, and returned south, considerably disturbed in mind, doubtless, on account of the danger of the times.

At this crisis, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, and comforted him with the assurance, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thine exceeding great reward.” Abram was now eighty-five years old, and he had no child. How, then, could the promise made of God at Haran, and repeated at Sichem and Bethel, be fulfilled, seeing that he was childless? He was even now an old man, and had concluded to make Eliezer of Damascus his heir; how then could the great, the exceeding great, reward be realized by him? Prompted by these considerations, but in no wise distrusting God, Abram said, “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house is my heir.” But, “the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This (Eliezer) shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” The Lord’s messenger, who brought this word to Abram, then led him forth from his tent, and directed his attention to the heavens, saying, “Count the stars if thou art able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” This was a great draft upon the faith of an old man of upwards of fourscore with a wife of seventy-five years of age. But, it is testified of him, that “against p. 231 hope he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, saying, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was also able to perform.”^a Such was the manner of Abram’s faith; his mode of thinking upon the things reported to him in the word of the Lord; and his disposition in relation to them. So pleased was God with him, that “he counted it to him for righteousness.”

Abram, having first sought the kingdom of God in leaving his father’s house to “seek the city, whose architect and builder is God,” had now become the subject of the righteousness of God by faith; so that the Lord was now prepared to add all other things to him.^b He reminded him of the purpose for which He had brought him into the Land of Canaan, saying, “I, the Lord, brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.” Abram had been in the country ten years. He had become well acquainted with the land, and he perceived that it was a noble and desirable inheritance. When, therefore, the angel referred to the Lord’s promise, Abram requested a sign, saying, “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall possess it?”

In reply to this, he was commanded to take “a heifer of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.” Having killed them, “he divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not.” This sacrifice was representative of the qualities of the Christ, concerning whom confirmation was about to be made, attestative of Abram’s and his Seed’s possession of the land in the fulness of the times afterwards to be arranged. From the time of the sacrifice until the going down of the sun, Abram was engaged in watching the carcases, so as to keep off the birds of prey. It is probable that the sacrifice was exposed about three hours; at all events, “when even was come,”^c and the sun was going down, Abram fell into a state of figurative death, by a deep sleep, and horror of great darkness coming over him.

This is a very remarkable feature in the case before us. Abram had built altars, and had called upon the name of the Lord before; but there were no such attendant circumstances as these. Here, however, he stands watching the exposed sacrificial victims until even; and then is laid powerless in the similitude of death, and in the intense darkness of the grave. While he was in this state, the Lord revealed to Abram the fortunes of his descendants in the ensuing four hundred years; the judgment of the nation that should oppress them; their subsequent exodus from bondage p. 232 with great wealth; his own peaceful death in a good old age; and the return of his descendants into the Land of Canaan again. The following are the words of the testimony: “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; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

I suppose the reader need hardly be informed that all this was literally accomplished. Jacob and his family, consisting of seventy persons, migrated into Egypt two hundred and five years after the revelation was made to Abram. When a king arose in Egypt who knew not Joseph, the saviour of the country under God, the Israelites were sorely oppressed till the end of four hundred years from Abram’s deep sleep. After this four hundred years had expired, even thirty years after, God having judged the Egyptians, they left the country with great substance; and in the fourth generation re-entered the Land of Canaan, as God had said. The iniquity of the Amorites was then full; and Israel, under Joshua, became the executioners of divine vengeance upon them.

But God had said to Abram at Bethel, I will give THEE the Land of Canaan FOR EVER; and in the answer to this question, “Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” here tells him that he should die, and be buried in a good old age! Now the promise to Abram rests upon the veracity of God. If we attempt to interpret it by the history of the past, we are brought to the conclusion that the promise to Abram has failed. Stephen alludes to this apparent failure of the promise to Abram in his speech before the Sanhedrim in these words: “God said to him, Come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he into this land in which ye dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: YET he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed (τω σπερματι, in the singular, to one person called the seed) after him, when as yet he had no child.”^a

What shall we say then? Shall we dare to say that God hath lied to Abram, or that He meant something else than what He promised? Far be it from the writer or the reader to insult God by any such insinuation; but rather let us say with the apostle in reference to this particular incident, that “God cannot lie;” that in promising to Abram an everlasting possession of the Land of Canaan; and, nevertheless, afterwards declaring that he should die and be buried, and his posterity be oppressed for four hundred years—“He promised” to him a resurrection to “eternal life” before the arrangement of the times (προ χρονων αιωνιων).^b If p. 233 Abram were sentenced to die, how could the promise of God concerning the land be fulfilled, unless he were raised from the dead? And as he is to possess it for ever, when he is raised, he must be also made incorruptible and immortal to enable him to possess it everlastingly. The promise of eternal life, then, consists in promising a mortal man and his son possession of a terrestrial country for ever; and this promise to the two becomes a promise to all who believe it, and are constituted one in them.

Abram understood this, and so do all who become Abraham’s seed through Jesus as the Christ, concerning whom the promise was made. The apostle says he saw the promises in their fulfilment afar off, but was persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that he was a stranger and pilgrim on the Land. And, in saying such things, he plainly declared that he was seeking a country. And truly, if he had been mindful of the Mesopotamian Chaldea from whence he emigrated, he might have returned if he had pleased. But no; he desired a better country than that beyond the Euphrates—that is, the Land of Canaan under a heavenly constitution: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God of all whose faith is like theirs in word and spirit: for He hath prepared for them a city.^a

This manner of teaching the doctrine of a resurrection—namely, by promising, or declaring, something that necessitates it—is not peculiar to the case before us. There are other instances; one, however, will be sufficient at present. I refer to the dispute between Jesus and the Sadducees. The latter, who admitted as authority only the writings of Moses, denied the resurrection of the dead. In proving it, therefore, to their conviction, it was necessary to demonstrate it from his testimony. This Jesus undertook to do. He first stated the proposition, saying, Moses has shown that the dead are raised. He then directed their attention to the place where Moses teaches this resurrection.^b It is there written, “I, the Lord, am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;” in recording this, Moses teaches the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “But,” says one, “I see nothing said about resurrection there.” Nor did the Sadducees. “No,” continues the objector, “nor about the dead either; for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not dead, but alive in heaven, where Christ, and Lazarus, and the thief are. They are all living; and therefore God is their God.” This is very good Platonism, but very bad logic, and egregious nonsense. When Jesus quoted the passage, it was to prove that “the dead are raised.” The question therefore is, How does this testimony of Moses prove it? In this way—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are dead; but “God is not the God of the dead,” yet He is called “their God:” therefore, in order to be their God, they must be p. 234 made alive, “for God is the God of the living:” hence, to style Him “God of Abraham” teaches the resurrection by implication; “for all live to him” in the age to come.^a But why call Him the God of these fathers now? By anticipation; for, says the apostle, “God, who makes alive the dead, styles the not being (τα μη οντα) as being” (ὡς οντα)^b — that is, God’s promise is so certain to be fulfilled, that He speaks of what is to be as though it were past. He has promised to raise Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who, while dead, have no being; and as He cannot lie, their restoration to being is inevitable. God therefore speaks of them as though they had already been raised from the dead, and “is not ashamed to be called their God.” God is not the God of dead men who are not to rise again. He is the God only of those who become His children by being the children of the resurrection, and who can die no more, because they are equal to the angels.^c Such, then, is the way in which the doctrine of the resurrection is taught by the Lord God in Moses and the prophets; plainly, indeed, but in such a manner as to require the exercise of the reasoning faculties of men.

But to return to Hebron. Eternal life having been promised to Abram and Christ by constituting them heirs of the land of Canaan for ever; the Lord proceeded to grant Abram a sign whereby he might know assuredly that he and his seed should inherit it. The sun having gone down entirely, which was figurative of the setting of “the Sun of Righteousness” below the horizon of life, Abram beheld “a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire pass between the pieces.” This was a sign which could not be mistaken. The animals he had slain, and watched, and defended so long from the birds of prey, were consumed by fire from heaven. By this he knew, and was assured, that he and his seed, the Christ, should inherit the land for ever. But this was not all. On the same day, the Lord converted his promise made at Sichem, and repeated near Bethel, into a covenant with Abram, as Moses testifies, saying, “In the same day the Lord made a covenant^d with Abraham, saying, Unto thy Seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:” inhabited by “the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, p. 235 and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girghashites, and the Jebusites.”^a

In commenting upon these things, the apostle saith, “The covenant previously confirmed by God, the law which came into existence (γεγονως) four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance (the land of Canaan and its attributes) be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”^b To understand this we must know, that a question agitated the congregations of Galatia, namely, that it was necessary for the disciples from among the Gentiles to be circumcised, and to keep the law of Moses as well as to believe the gospel and be baptised, or they could have no part in the inheritance covenanted to Abraham and Christ.

The apostle styles this judaizing, and preaching “another gospel.” It was the beginning of that awful apostasy, the fruit of which we behold in the ecclesiastical system of our day. He contended strenuously against this perversion of the truth in all places. The judaizers argued that a right to Canaan when made a heavenly country under Christ, was derived from the law of Moses; the apostle denied this, and maintained that the law could give no title to it. That it could only be obtained “through the righteousness of the faith”; “for the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect: because the law worketh wrath. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that (portion of the seed) only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,” both Jews and Gentiles, “before God, whose promises he believed”; as it is written, “a father of many nations have I constituted thee.”^c The judaizers claimed a right to the inheritance because they bore the seal of the covenant, marked in their flesh by circumcision; the apostle, because he believed the same things that Abraham did, and was the subject of God’s righteousness through the faith of Jesus Christ, without any title derived from the law of Moses.

p. 236 Seeing that he threw the law out of the question altogether, he anticipates the objection, viz., if this be so, wherefore, then, serveth the law? Of what use is it? To this he replies, “It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made.” It was “a schoolmaster” until Christ; but when “the things of the name of Jesus Christ” were manifested for faith; or, as he expresses it, “after that faith is come,” Israel is “no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all,” both Jews and Gentiles, “the children of God in Christ Jesus through the faith.”^a

The apostle lays great stress upon the covenant of promise being prior both to circumcision and the law of Moses; consequently Abram could not derive his title to Canaan and the world from either of them; for the promise was given before he became the subject of the righteousness which is by faith of it; and he was constituted righteous before the promise was made a covenant and confirmed; and this confirmation was fourteen years before the institution of circumcision, and 430 years before the promulgation of the Law of Moses. “Faith,” says the apostle, “was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness when he was in uncircumcision;” and then it was, he was constituted the father of many nations, and Heir of the World.

The promise, before it became a confirmed covenant with Abram, indicated the country he is to inherit; but it did not point out its territorial frontiers. This deficiency was supplied at the confirmation. It was to extend from the Euphrates to the Nile, comprehending a tract of country of considerable extent, and inhabited by the nations enumerated in “The Covenant.” Abram, therefore, could be at no loss to know in what direction, or to what limits, his future country was to extend; for he had travelled it all over in its entire length and breadth. Now, if a map of the territorial area indicated in the covenant be examined, it will be seen that the broadest extent is “from sea to sea” as it is expressed in scripture;^b that is, from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf; and its greatest length, “from the rivers to the ends of the land”; or, from the Euphrates at its junction with the gulf, northward; and from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to the entrance into Hamath.

But, the frontiers of the territory were afterwards more particularly marked out at the time of the captivity in Babylon. The twelve tribes were then all in exile from the land, and it was once more wholly possessed by the Gentiles, as it is now. They were powerless and prostrate under the heel of the oppressor; and without hope of recovering the country by their own efforts. At this crisis, the Lord revealed to them the extent to which in after times they should re-possess their country. “This,” said he, “shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the p. 237 twelve tribes of Israel. And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea (Mediterranean), the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus, and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. This is the north side of the land. And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the East Sea. And this is the east side running along the Euphrates. And the south side southward from Tamar to the waters of strife in Kadesh, to the river toward the Great Sea.^a This is the south side toward Teman. The west side also shall be the Great Sea from the (west end of the south) border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.”^b

Now, let it never be forgotten in the investigation of “the things of the kingdom of God,” that the Israelites have never possessed the country as defined in this survey since it was revealed to them through the prophet. The twelve tribes have not even occupied the land together; and those of them that have dwelt there after the return from Babylon to the overthrow by the Romans, held but a very small portion of it, while the Gentile Kingdoms lorded it over all the rest. Now, either God is a liar, as some people make Him out to be who deny the restoration of the twelve tribes; or, the time He refers to in the promise of the land according to these boundaries, is not arrived. This is the only conclusion a believer in the gospel of the kingdom can come to. All theories opposed to this are mere sublimated infidelity. If Israel be not restored, then the promise to Abraham will have failed. But Abraham’s seed are under no apprehension of this kind. They believe in God, who has sworn by Himself, that what He has promised He is able, willing, and determined to perform.

Here, then, is a noble domain, lying between Assyria, Persia, Arabia, the Red Sea, Egypt, and the Mediterranean; capable, when peopled by an industrious, enlightened, and well and strongly governed, nation, of commanding the commerce and sovereignty of Asia, and the wealth of Europe and America. Such is the land, containing, according to the survey of the British Government, 300,000 square miles, concerning which God said to Abram, “To thee will I give it and unto thy seed for ever.”

But, the apostle says, that the covenant, confirmed 430 years before the law was promulged, was “concerning Christ” especially. It was the Father’s Covenant, of which Christ was the Mediator. This being the case, his death was necessitated; for so long as he p. 238 was alive, the covenant had no force. Neither Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nor himself, could inherit the land for ever, until the covenant was ratified by his death. Hence, his was “the blood of the New Covenant, which was shed for many;” that they which are called might receive the remission of sins, and obtain the promise of the inheritance for ever.^a The covenant of promise, then, was typically confirmed 430 years before the law; and finally dedicated by the death of the mediator; this being accomplished, the Covenant could not be disannulled, or added to.^b But when we look at Jesus in the light of this Divine Covenant, we perceive some grand and important deficiencies in its effects, if the history of the past is to be taken as the criterion of its accomplishment. In the historical view of the Covenant, we are led to the conclusion that it has not been carried out at all; and that its beneficiaries have received none of their Father’s estate. Look at Abraham. He has received nothing. The same is true of all who believed the things hoped for from his day to this. Even the Lord Jesus, who has been perfected, has received nothing of what is assigned to him in the covenant. “I will give,” said God, “this land to thy Seed for ever.” Now look at the facts in the case. “Jesus came to his own, and his own received him not.”^c What is to be understood by this? What is signified by “his own” twice repeated in this text? The facts in the case supply the answer. Jesus came “unto his own things” (kingdom, or realm); but his own people, the Jews, who are “the children of the kingdom,” did not receive him; but rejected, and crucified him. “But to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to them who believe in his name.”

But, what constituted the land of Canaan his realm, more than John the Baptist’s, or any other Jew’s? Because it was promised to him in the covenant; and because he was the sole surviving heir of David’s throne. We see, however, that, like his father Abraham, he never possessed even so much as to set his foot upon; and so poor was he, that though “the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, yet he had not where to lay his head.” Under God, he was indebted to some of those who received him, for his daily bread. What significancy this fact attaches to that petition of the prayer he taught his disciples, saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread.” There were thirteen of them, himself and the twelve, who had all to be provided for from day to day; and though he could multiply a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands, his own wants were supplied by contribution.

When Jesus was crucified, and buried, his enemies conceived that his claims to the realm and throne of David were extinct. The common people would have taken him and made him king, if p. 239 he would have permitted them; but the rulers, already possessed of the vineyard, hated him; for they knew that if he should obtain the kingdom they would be cast out. They rejoiced, therefore, at his death. But their joy was soon turned into dismay; for God raised him from the dead. And for what purpose? In the words of the apostle, God raised up Christ to sit upon David’s throne,^a for, in the words of David, “The righteous shall inherit the Land, and dwell therein for ever;” and again, “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the Land.”^b

But, even after his resurrection, when he was made both Lord and Christ, though “heir of all things,” yet were not all things subjected to him. He received neither the land nor the sceptre; but ascended to heaven, having received nothing promised in the covenant. He left the land, the kingdom, Abraham, and all the prophets behind him. In after years, the land was reduced to a wilderness, its cities laid waste, and the Hebrew commonwealth dissolved. It became the battle ground of Crusaders, Saracens, and Turks; and until this day has been subjected to the worst of the heathen. Thirty-nine centuries have passed away since God confirmed His promise of the land to Christ, who has been waiting eighteen hundred years at His right hand for its fulfilment. Is Jesus never to possess the land from sea to sea, and from the rivers to its extremities? Are Turks and Arabs, and a motley crew of Papists, Greeks, and Fellahs to perpetuate its reproach for ever? Or is a Gentile dominion to be established there to lord it over Asia?

Where is there a believer of the gospel of the kingdom to be found who will affirm it? Millions of “professing Christians” imagine something of the kind; but they are infidels, and insulters of God—not believers in the “covenants of promise.” To affirm any other destiny for Palestine and Syria than that stated in the promise, is, in effect, to tell God that He has spoken falsely. But, on the ground that “He cannot lie,” what does the nature of the case necessitate in order to fulfil the promise to Abraham and Christ? This is the answer, and let the reader mark it well:—to meet the demands of the covenant, it is indispensable that Jesus return to Canaan, and that he raise Abraham from the dead. Reason and scripture agree in this.

Hence, the second advent is as necessary as the first. The appearing in sinful flesh was necessary for the dedication of the covenant by the death of the “Mediator”; and the second appearing in the spiritual nature in power and great glory, for his effectual carrying out of all its provisions. For it is manifest that this cannot be done except by One who is all-powerful. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all constitutionally in them, are the beneficiaries. The things promised them are eternal life, the land of Canaan, and “a city,” or state, “whose architect and builder p. 240 is God.” Hence, the Mediator must be able to form them out of the dust, and to give them life for ever. He must be mighty in battle: for he will have to expel the Mohammedans, Catholics, and other barbarians from the land, and to restore the kingdom of David “as in the days of old.”

The accomplishment of these, and many other things to be hereafter developed, makes the future pre-millennial advent of Christ a necessity. There is no room for opinion upon the subject; for opinion implies doubt. It is a matter of absolute certainty; and the belief of it is as essential to a participation in the kingdom of God as faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord. For a man to deny the advent of Jesus to Palestine in power and glory before the millennium is to proclaim to men and angels his utter ignorance of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. To talk about his coming at the end of the millennium to make a bonfire of the world is ridiculous. Restitution and renovation, and not destruction of the earth, is the Almighty fiat, as I have already shown at sufficient length. “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!” is the heart-breathing of the true believer, who with the hearing ear rejoices in the Bridegroom’s voice, which says, “Behold, I come as a thief, and quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”^a The prolonged absence of Christ for ten more centuries would break the hearts of the saints of God, who have long since cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them who dwell on the earth?” No, no; the day is come at length, when he is about to gather the vine of the earth, to reward his saints, and to destroy the oppressors of the world.^b Then will “the kingdoms of the world become those of Jehovah and of his King; and he shall reign for ever and ever;” and the covenant with Abraham concerning Christ will be fulfilled in every jot and tittle of its details.

Abraham the Heir of the World

Abraham and Christ are inseparably associated as co-heirs of the covenant of promise. Hence, they are joint-heirs of the country mentioned in the covenant. But, out of this arises a question of considerable interest—namely, when they jointly possess the land of Canaan, what will be their relation to the world at large? The answer to this is, that at that time their name will be great in the earth; Abram’s descendants will be a great nation; and he and Christ will be a blessing, by all the families of the earth being in them. This was stated in general terms when the gospel was preached to Abraham at Haran. In searching out these p. 241 matters, the phrases “in thee” and “in him,” and “in thy seed,” should be particularly attended to. They are little words, but full of meaning.

The reader knows what it is to be in a house, and he is aware that he must pass into it before he can be in it. This is the literal. Now, suppose we call the house a man; and in answer to the question, “Where is he? we say he is in the man, this would be to speak figuratively, but still scripturally and intelligibly. Before, however, a person, or a nation, or a multitude of nations, could be said to be in the man Abraham, and in the man Christ Jesus, it is equally clear that they must pass into Abraham, and into Christ. Now, although many nations may literally come out of one man, a multitude of nations cannot literally be packed into one man. When, therefore, nations and individuals are said to be in Abraham and in Christ, it is manifest it must be in a figurative sense. Hence, “in thee,” “in him,” and “in Christ” are figurative expressions, or terms of constitution. They are things of stubborn import. They do not express a feeling, but a relationship, which is predicated on belief and obedience. These are literal and actual things; for there is no scriptural faith without belief of the letter, or written, or spoken, word; nor any obedience without conformity to prescribed action. To pass, or to be introduced, into a man, is to sustain a relationship towards him of faith, affection, and allegiance, as prescribed.

No person, or nation, can introduce themselves into a man; their induction, in other words, must be according to prescription, and not according to their own appointment. God, or he to whom, as His “Apostle,” or Ambassador, He has committed all authority, is the only person that can prescribe the formula of induction. Mankind are diseased, and cannot cure themselves. “The blessing of Abraham” is for their restoration to health and happiness. They are, therefore, the recipients of favour, and not the prescribers, or legislators, in the case. The nature of the inducting formula is determined by the kind of subject to be induced. If the subject to be passed into Abraham and Christ be an individual, the formula is spiritual; that is, it places him in a moral and domestic, or family, relationship to them; but if the subject be a nation, or a multitude of nations, then the formula is civil and ecclesiastical, or political. A person in Abraham and Christ (and a man cannot be in one without being in the other) is the subject of adoption by a spiritual formula, which will be perfected in “the redemption of his body” at the resurrection; while nations in Abraham and Christ are adopted by a political formula, which is perfected in the blessings of good government, peace, equitable laws righteously administered, the enlightenment of all classes in the knowledge of God, universal prosperity, and so forth.

The formula of spiritual adoption is exhibited in the gospel. It requires a man to believe “the promises made of God to the fathers.” p. 242 concerning the land of Canaan, the Christ, the blessedness of the nations in Abraham and his seed, eternal life by a resurrection, &c.; and to be baptised into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When an individual has done this, he is in Abraham and Christ, and an heir with him of the promises he believes. So that “the seed,” though spoken of one person—that is, of Christ—comprehends all the believers of the promises, who by adoption are “in him.” The phrase “the seed” is therefore used in an individual and federal acceptation. Hence, whatever is promised to Abraham and Christ is also promised to their federal constituents—to the sons of Abraham, and brethren of Christ, by adoption into the family of God.

But the formula of national, or political, adoption has not yet been promulgated to the world. No people has ever been politically in God but Israel. The natural descendants of Abraham in the line of Isaac and Jacob became the people of God in a national sense by the adoption provided in the Mosaic law. But no other nation before or since has ever stood in the same relationship to Him. Neither Egypt of old, nor Britain and America of modern times, can say, “We are the people of the Lord.” God has never called these nations “My people,” for they have never been the subjects of political adoption as Israel were. State religions are established upon the hypothesis that the people are God’s people; and therefore as acceptable worshippers as the Jews under the law; and that they are constitutionally “in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ!” Hence, they call the nations of Europe “Christian nations.”

But a greater fallacy was never entertained. There are no Christian nations; neither indeed can there be until the formula of political adoption shall be made known. The nations are now in Satan their father, and in his vicegerent the Lord Pope. Hence, it may be said to them as Jesus said to the rulers and clergy of Israel, “Ye are of your father the Devil, and the works of your father ye do.” The Devil is their father by birth and constitution. The nations of Europe became the people of Satan by constitution, when they put on the Pope as their high priest and mediator according to the Justinian code. Having received this, they became Satan’s seed, and the Pope’s brethren; and being thus, in Satan and in the Pope, are joint-heirs with them of a “just punishment, even an everlasting destruction,” to issue forth “from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power;”^a and which hangs over them, like the hair-suspended sword of Dionysius, ready to fall with death-dealing vengeance on every side.

But a time is coming when the Antichristian, Mohammedan, and pagan, nations of the world, will all become the people of God, and, therefore, Christian. This is evident from the testimony of scripture, which saith, “In that day shall there be a highway out p. 243 of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians SHALL SERVE with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the Land: whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt MY PEOPLE, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”^a And again it is written of Christ, “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They (the Arabs) that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: ALL NATIONS SHALL SERVE HIM. His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed IN HIM: all nations shall call him blessed.”^b

According to this testimony, it is proved, that the nations, or families, of the earth will become the people of God as well as Israel, who will have the pre-eminence among them as the inheritance of the Lord; and so Israel and the nations will constitute a kingdom and empire, which will then compose “the World,” and be blessed in him and Abraham; whose subjects will reciprocate the benefits bestowed upon them, and serve their god-like rulers with heart-felt loyalty, and blessings upon his name for ever.

But when we contemplate the nations now in Satan, and Israel scattered to the four winds, and compare their present condition with what it is to be when they all serve Christ and are blessed in him and Abraham, we perceive the womb of futurity to be pregnant of a mighty change; and one, too, which cannot be effected by mild and persuasive measures. The time for persuasives has passed away. The nations turn a deaf ear to every thing which is not in harmony with their lusts. Hence, coercion can alone bring them to wait for the divine law. For this reason, it is testified of Christ—“He shall break in pieces the oppressor”; and “will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. And the nations shall see and be confounded at all their (Israel’s) might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord, Israel’s God, and shall fear because of thee!”^c

This testimony shows that the nations will be reduced to abject submission, even the most powerful among them. Their courage and means of resistance will have departed; for by the sword of the Lord and of Israel they will have been subdued. At this crisis, p. 244 however, they will find a deliverer in him who hath overcome them.^a “Look unto me,” saith he, “and be ye saved all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself,” to Abraham, “the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, saying, Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come.”^b If we turn to this oath of subjection and future blessing, we shall see what is meant by every knee bowing to the Lord. “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou, Abraham, 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 heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed (Christ) 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.”^c

The nations being prepared by coercion, the formula of political adoption is promulgated to them. This is contained in the law which goes forth from Zion. The details of this law are not all specified. In the general, it establishes the power of the Lord, then become “a great mountain filling the whole earth,”^d above all other powers; and constitutes the newly erected Temple in Jerusalem “the house of prayer for all nations.”^e This law gives the kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem, which is Zion; where the Lord reigns over them henceforth for ever.^f The nations accept the law, which saves them from extermination. This is evinced by the effects which follow its promulgation. They all flow to Jerusalem as the centre of the world, and fountain of all blessings; for “my springs,” saith the Lord, “are in thee.” They go thither for instruction in the ways of the Lord, and return to walk in his paths, to live at peace among themselves, to abandon the study of war, and to devote themselves to agriculture, commerce, and the arts.^g This is the millennial future state. Abraham and Jesus are, then, the greatest personages upon the earth; the former being the spiritual father of Jesus and the saints, and the political father of a multitude of nations, over whom Christ and his brethren rule until “the end.”^h

Such is “the world” of which Abraham and his Seed are the heirs. Speaking of the latter in this relation, the apostle says, “Whom God hath appointed heir of all things, and on account of whom he constituted the Ages”ⁱ —the Age of Jubilees, and the Jubilee Age. And to the joint-heirs of Abraham and Christ he says, “Let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; the world, life, death, things present and things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”^j And again, p. 245 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?”^a The verb here rendered judge is the same as is translated “go to law” in the preceding verse. The apostle, therefore, asks if they do not know that they will sit judicially, and dispense justice to the world, according to the divine law; and because this is their destiny, he positively forbids believers in the covenants of promise to submit themselves to the judgment of the unjust. It is better, says he, for one to be defrauded than to submit to such a humiliation. Let the heirs of the world arbitrate their own affairs in the present state; for it is a strange thing if men, whose destiny is to judge the world and angels, cannot settle things pertaining to this life.

Thus, then, there are three parties, yet constitutionally one family, who are heirs of the world as it will be politically organized in the Future Age—namely, Abraham, Christ, and the believers in the promises made to them, called saints, who are in Abraham as their father, and in his Seed as their elder brother. These are the inheritors of the kingdom and empire attached to the land of Canaan—“the children of the promise who are counted for the Seed”; and “not of the world,” or subjects. These are men in the flesh, Jews and Gentiles, whose lives and fortunes will be at the disposal of the Royal Family of God. The members of this social circle are not known now by the world, which has set its affections upon those who mislead it, teaching it to look for a visionary elysium beyond the skies! But such leaders as these have no light in them, for they do not speak according to the law and the testimony. The word of God converts their wisdom into folly, declaring in the teeth of their traditions that “he that putteth his trust in God shall possess the land, and shall inherit his holy mountain”;^b while Israel in the flesh “shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, as the branch of the Lord’s planting, the work of his hands, that he may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, saith the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”^c