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The Call of Abram. (b. c. 1921.)
THE CALL OF ABRAM. (B. C. 1921.) We have here the call by which Abram was removed out of the land of his nativity into the land of promise, which was designed both to try his faith and obedience and also to separate him…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:1
The voices of God at the opening of the world's eras. I. AT THE OPENING Or CREATION. "And God said, let there be Light." II. AT THE OPENING OF REDEMPTION. "And God said, I will put enmity between thee and the woman," &c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:1-5
The preparations of grace. We may call this the genesis of the kingdom of God. I. It is FOUNDED in the word of the Divine covenant, the faith given by Divine grace to individuals, the separation unto newness of life. II…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:1-5
Designed to trace the outward development of God's kingdom on the earth, the narrative now concentrates its attention on one of the foregoing Terachites, whose remarkable career it sketches with considerable minuteness…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:1
Now the Lord. Jehovah = the God of salvation, an indication that the narrative is now to specially concern itself with the chosen seed, and the Deity to discover himself as the God of redemption. The hypothesis that Gen…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:1-5
EXPOSITION
Matthew Henry on Genesis 12:4-5
Abram believed that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all he could lose or leave behind, supply all his wants, and answer and exceed all his desires; and he knew that nothing but misery would follow disobed…
Arrival of Abram in Canaan. (b. c. 1920.)
ARRIVAL OF ABRAM IN CANAAN. (B. C. 1920.) Here is, I. Abraham's removal out of his country, out of Ur first and afterwards out of Haran, in compliance with the call of God: So Abram departed; he was not disobedient to t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:4
The Chaldaean emigrant. I. THE CALL OF GOD. Whether spoken in a dream or distinctly articulated by a human form, the voice which summoned Abram to emigrate from Ur was recognized by the patriarch to be Divine; and so is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:4
So (literally, and) Abram departed—from Ur of the Chaldees, or from Haran (vide supra)—as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him. Lot's name being repeated here because of his connection with the ensuing na…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:5
And Abram took (an important addition to the foregoing statement, intimating that Abram did not go forth as a lonely wanderer, but accompanied by) Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance—recush,…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 12:6-9
Abram found the country peopled by Canaanites, who were bad neighbours. He journeyed, going on still. Sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and often to remove into various states. Believers must look on…
Abram's Devotion. (b. c. 1921.)
ABRAM'S DEVOTION. (B. C. 1921.) One would have expected that Abram having had such an extraordinary call to Canaan some great event should have followed upon his arrival there, that he should have been introduced with a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:6-9
Revelations. We here enter upon the more special history of Divine appearances. Hitherto the word is described simply as a word—"The Lord said;" now we connect with the word distinct appearances. The plain of Moreh will…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:6-9
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:6
And Abram passed through—literally, passed over, or traveled about as a pilgrim (cf. Hebrews 11:9) in—the land unto (or as far as) the place of Sichem. A prolepsis for the place where the city Shechem (either built by o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:6-10
The promised land. I. WANDERINGS. Entering Canaan from the north, the Chaldsean emigrant directs his progress steadily towards the south, removing from station to station till he reaches the furthest limit of the land.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:7
Abraham worshipping. "And there he builded an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Abraham is at length Divinely informed that he is in the land hereafter to be his. He was at the spot where the great temple, to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:7
And the Lord appeared. The first mention of a theophany, though Acts 7:2 alleges that such a Divine manifestation had previously occurred in Ur of the Chaldees. Though not a direct vision of Jehovah (John 1:18), that th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:8
Abraham's altar. "And there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord." There is a solemn word (Matthew 10:32, Matthew 10:33). The distinction is not between Christians and heathen; it is w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:8
And he removed—literally, caused (i.e. his tent) to be broken up (cf. Genesis 26:22—from thence—no cause for which being assigned, the hostility of his neighbors (Luther, Calvin) and the commencement of the famine (Alfo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 12:9
And Abram journeyed (literally, broke up, e. g; his encampment, going on still—literally, going on and breaking up (cf. Genesis 8:3); "going and returning"—towards the south. Negleb, the dry region, from nagabh, to be d…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 12:10-20
There is no state on earth free from trials, nor any character free from blemishes. There was famine in Canaan, the glory of all lands, and unbelief, with the evils it ever brings, in Abram the father of the faithful. P…
Abram's Removal into Egypt. (b. c. 1920.)
ABRAM'S REMOVAL INTO EGYPT. (B. C. 1920.) Here is, I. A famine in the land of Canaan, a grievous famine. That fruitful land was turned into barrenness, not only to punish the iniquity of the Canaanites who dwelt therein…