mael his son. 27 And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. We should learn to obey God without delay so Abraham did,' the selfsame day.' This is twice remarked by the historian, to show us how readily we must serve God, even in painful and difficult matters. Let us not confer with flesh and blood, but resolutely perform those duties which God has commanded.-Orton. CHAP. XVIII. A 3 2 ND the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them To prepare cakes upon the hearth is a method employed in the East even to this day, the hearth being strongly heated with fire, the ashes swept off, and the paste laid down and under the tree, and they did eat. covered with embers, after having been first several times turned upon the clean stones. These cakes are very good to eat, and very savoury.— David Collyer. 9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. " Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 18 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. And he 4 wool of their flocks. Their expenditure was small, for they drew their support from their own cultivated lands and fruitful flocks; hence they were continually making acquisitions of money' current with the merchant.' -Anon. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. occasion of a much greater loss than the greatest earthly fulness has been able to compensate. It is not thus with the riches of grace or of glory; the more we have of them the closer we are united.-A. Fuller. V. 6. It is a pity that those whom grace unites, and who are fellow-heirs of eternal life, should be parted by the lumber of this world. Yet so it is. A clash of worldly interests has often separated chief friends, and been the And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. About the time of harvest in the East, when the grass is long and green, disputes often occur among herdsmen. Should straying oxen be found in the place of pasture belonging to a chief, his herdsmen beat them away with sticks. This raises the anger of the herdsmen of the other party, who hasten to protect the oxen, and thus a fight is often begun which becomes very fierce, and sometimes ends in a loss of life. Water, too, was a scarce commodity in those hot climates, and the source of many disputes.-Anon. Christians! consider always where you are, and among whom. Are you not in your enemies' quarters? If you fall out, what do you but kindle a fire for them to warm their hands by? 'Aha! so would we have it,' say they. The sea of their rage will weaken this bank fast enough; you need not cut it for them. The unreasonableness of the strife betwixt Abraham's herdmen and Lot's is aggravated by the near neighbourhood of the heathen to them. To fall out while these idolaters looked on, this would be a town-talk presently, and put themselves and their religion both to shame. And, I pray, who have been in our land all the while the people of God have been scuffling? Those that have curiously observed every uncomely behaviour among them, and told all the world of it,—such as have wit and malice enough to make use of it for their wicked purposes. They stand on tiptoes to be at work, only we are not yet quite laid up and disabled (by the soreness of those wounds which we have given ourselves) from withstanding their fury. They hope it will come to that; and then they will cure us of our own wounds by giving one, if they can, that shall go deep enough to the heart of our life, Gospel and all. O Christians! shall Herod and Pilate put you to shame? They clapped up a peace to strengthen their hands against Christ; and will not you unite against your common enemy? It is an ill time for mariners to be fighting when an enemy is boring a hole in the bottom of the ship.-Gurnall. 9 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. 'We are brethren,'-Heb., men brethren. Here is a double argument for maintaining peace. 1st. We are men, and as such we are mortal creatures; we may die to-morrow, and are concerned to be found in peace. We are rational creatures, and should be ruled by reason. 2nd. We are brethrenmen of the same nature and kindred, of the same family and the same religion. Let us therefore 'love as brethren.'-M. Henry. As the elder man, Abram might have insisted upon the right of choosing his part of the country first, and espe cially as he was the principal, and Lot only accompanied him; he might have told him that, if he was not contented to live with him, he might go whither he would; but thus did not Abram. No; he would rather forego his civic rights than invade religious peace. What a number of bitter animosities in families, in churches, and I may say in nations, might be prevented if the parties could be brought to act towards one another in this open, pacific, disinterested, and generous manner!— A. Fuller. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Reader, do your best to settle yourself where there are the greatest helps and the smallest hindrances with reference to your soul's affairs. Labour more to accommodate your habitation, condition, and employment, to the great ends of your life, than to your worldly honour, ease, or wealth. Live where there is the best trading for the soul; you may get more by God's ordinary blessing in one year in a godly family, or in fruitful company, and under an able, godly minister, than in many years in a barren soil, among the ignorant, dead-hearted, or profane. Baxter. 18 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. The Sodomites seem to have surpassed in wickedness all that had gone before them, and to have revelled as it were in this their unenviable pre-eminence. They answer to those whom Paul calls (Rom. i. 30) 'inventors of evil things. Indeed, sin is an old trade, found out to our hand; but as in other trades and arts some famous men arise, who add to the inventions of others, and make trades and arts as it were new, so there are ever some infamous in their generation, that make old sins new, by superadding to the wickedness of others. Uncleanness is an old sin from the beginning, but the Sodomites will be filthy in a new way; and therefore their sin carries their name to this day. Some invent new errors, others new oaths, such as are of their own coining; they scorn to swear after the old fashion; others new devices of persecuting, as Julian had a way by himself, different from all before him. And to the end of the world, every age bids fair to exceed another in the degrees of sinning. Ishmael and the mockers of the old world were but children and bunglers to the scoffers and cruel mockers of the last time. Well, take heed of showing thy wit in inventing new sins, lest thou stir up God to invent new punishments. (Job xxxi. 3.)-Gurnall. 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed 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. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD. We see here that he who sought this world, lost it; and he who was willing AN 4 to give up anything for the honour of God and religion, found it.-A. Fuller. CHAP. XIV. 6 ND it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. 3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar. 8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. 11 And they took all the goods of 9 Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 18 And there came one that escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. 14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. A celebrated traveller informs us that the manner in which the Arabs make war upon the travelling merchants is, by keeping at the side of them, or following them in the rear, at a greater or smaller distance, according to their forces; which may be easily done in Arabia, on account of its being one great plain; and in the night they fall silently upon the camp, and carry off one part before the rest are under arms. Abram probably fell upon the camp of the four kings that had car ried away Lot, in the same Arab manner, and thus, with unequal forces, accomplished his design and rescued Lot. It is to be remembered that the combats of those days more resembled a fight among a mob, than the bloody and destructive wars of Europe.—Anon. Those that venture in a good cause, with a good heart, are under the special protection of a good God, and have reason to hope for a good issue.-M. Henry. 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up my hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. The regal and sacerdotal offices anciently belonged to the same person, though afterwards they were distinguished, and belonged to different tribes. In Melchizedek they met together, and he was both king and priest. Who this Melchizedek was, has been matter of much debate. Some |