THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM

When Abraham first appears on the page of history he is
a citizen of the world. A century or two earlier Ur of the
Chaldees had been the metropolis of an empire which held
dominion over " the four quarters of the world ". Although
it had by this time fallen from the height of its greatness, it was
still one of the most illustrious of the cities of mankind. Its
streets were alive with representatives of almost every nation
under heaven : Hittites, Armenians, Amorites, Arabians, Cretans,
Aegeans, Aramaeans, Phoenicians, dwellers in Egypt, in Libya,
and in Spain jostled one another in its markets and squares;
it is thought that even from the shores of the Baltic and from
the Cornish coast traders visited this throbbing home of
enterprise.
Before Abraham "dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob"
he appears to have lived in this city. The clan of Terah belonged
undoubtedly to a pastoral tribe, but as the Egyptian flock-master
to this day returns from his far-reaching pastures to his palace
in Cairo, so we may suppose that Terah, the nomad sheikh, was
also an honoured citizen of Ur. Alfred Jeremias suggests that
the name Abram, " the divine father is exalted ", was a priestly
designation. The divine father in this case would be Sin, the
deity who was worshipped in Ur as supreme; Abram being his
priest. The vast temple, which in its ruins still towers above
the plain, was the seat and centre of religious life in Ur in the days
of Abraham. Fragments of its ritual have come down to us.
As, for example :
" In heaven who is supreme ? Thou alone art supreme !
On earth who is supreme r Thou alone art supreme !
As for thee, thy word is proclaimed in heaven, and the angels bow down their
faces . . .
0 Lord, in heaven is thy lordship, on earth is thy dominion."
Above the petty lordships of the Chaldean mythology towered
the shadowy throne of the Supreme Being. It is important
also to notice that the Babylonian liturgies disclose a profound
sense of sin, a persistent longing for pardon, and the recognition
of a way of access to the divine favour by sacrifice. Here is
a fragment of a stately hymn to Ishtar:
"My heart has taken wing, and has flown away like a bird;
Night and day I mourn like a dove.
I am made desolate, and I weep bitterly ;
With grief and woe my spirit is distressed. . . .
Unto thee therefore do I pray, dissolve my ban !
Dissolve my sin, my iniquity, my transgression, and my offence !
Forgive my transgression, accept my supplication !
Secure my deliverance, and let me be loved and carefully tended!
Guide my footsteps in the light ! "
Uttering confessions and prayers like these, Abraham might
descry through the broken lights of an earlier revelation the
gleam of a purer faith.
According to Stephen the revelation which was vouchsafed
to the father of the faithful was the manifestation of "the God
of the glory ". To the Hebrew mind the glory of God was
symbolized by the Shekhina, the lustrous cloud which, like an
altar-fire, glowed above the encrimsoned mercy-seat. This
expression " the God of the glory " seems to show forth J ehovah
in the grace of His redemption.
Knowingwhatwe do know of the religious life ofAbrahamand
his contemporaries, we shall not be surprised that the unrest of
faith should lay hold on him, or that into that unrest the voice
of God should penetrate. His acknowledgment of a supreme
deity high above the pantheon of gods and goddesses, his confession
of personal sinfulness, his hope of cleansing in the blood of
sacrifice, would all prepare him to receive the divine call, to go
forth from his country, and from his kindred, and from his
father's house, into a land not seen as yet. Abraham was not
disobedient to the heavenly vision : he passed out from the
worship of idols to a life of spiritual aspiration. He walked
through the City of the World, untouched by its pageants,
unattracted by its vanities. The strepitant music of the passing
hour failed to charm him, for the melody of an eternal song
thrilled in his heart. He was alone, yet not alone ; there was
ever at his side One unseen but dear; his companion was the
Living God.
In the clan-migration led by Terah there was possibly a
measure of religious feeling-the family of Bethuel, we know,
though not wholly of one mind with Abraham, had preserved
a purer faith than that of the neighbouring tribes (Gen. xxiv.
3, 4)-but it was probably overshadowed by political expediency.
The situation in Babylonia was difficult. Elam had recently
invaded the Plain of the Rivers, and was holding it under military
control. There were frequent uprisings and much slaughter.
The seventh year before the accession of Hammurabi, who is
thought to have been the Amraphel of Genesis xiv. I, was styled
in the Babylonian Calendar" the year in which the people of Ur
were slain with the northern limit of Solomon's dominions (1 Kings iv. 24), and
was included in the covenant promise assured to Abraham :
"Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. xv. 18). He
crossed the river, and his first footstep fell upon the land of his
inheritance.
The crossing would be an arduous proceeding. Dr. Kitto
computes that the livestock of Abraham and Lot would equal
the possessions of Job, who owned seven thousand sheep, three
thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred
she asses. As in Job's case also there would be "a very great
household", forming an encampment of at least a hundred tents.
The renown of this heroic venture of faith may have revived the
memory of a similar act by Eber, the remote ancestor of the tribe
-the name Eber seems to indicate one who had come " from
the other side" of the River. However that may be, Abraham
was from this time known as "the Hebrew", the man who had
crossed-as one who had made the great decision, and was willing
thenceforth to be a sojourner in an alien land, a pilgrim of
eternity.
When Julius Cexclaimed A lea jacta est, the die is cast. It was the most fateful
act in his adventurous life, perhaps the most important event
in the history of Rome. But the crossing of the Euphrates
by Abraham, when he renounced his country, his kindred, and his
father's house, and fared forth towards an unknown land, was
still more significant. It marked the most momentous episode
in the history of redemption prior to the advent of our Lord.
In like manner, when we, the redeemed of the Lord, yield
ourselves without reserve to the holy will of our God, we shall
have registered the most solemn and enduring decision which
it is in the power of man to make : we have denied ourselves, we
have ceased to be our own; we belong to Christ.

Abraham went forth as the prophet of a new faith to establish
the reign of God on earth : " He looked for the city which
hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
His first place of stay in the Holy Land was Sichem, or
Shechem, between Ebal and Gerizim. The land was already in
possession of the Canaanites, a people resourceful and strong.
He came to " the place " of Shechem, that is, the sacred place of
worship (cf. Gen. xxviii. 16; Deut. xii. 2, 3 ; I Sam. vii. 16 cf.
LXX; Jer. vii. 12, etc.). The communal altar was raised under
the oak of Moreh, "the terebinth of soothsaying ". Abraham
did what preachers are often tempted to do : he tried to graft
the new faith on the old. This was the mode in which the
medieval Romanist missionaries made conquests : they reared
their calvaries on the dolmens and menhirs of paganism. Moslem
propagandists proceed upon this method at the present time.
But such is not God's way of working, and the well-meant but
mistaken effort towards conciliation came to naught. The true
faith will not admit of any compromise with error. God
visited him a third time, leading him out from that unhallowed
alliance into a pure mode of worship (Gen. xii. 6, 7). As a result
of this fresh revelation Abraham ceased to offer sacrifice and
preach at " the place of Shechem ". He purchased a piece of
ground a mile and a half to the east of the city, and there raised
a testimony to the God of the covenant : " Abraham builded
there an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him." This
action had a parallel nearly two thousand years after, when St.
Paul went out from the synagogue, and " separated the
brethren ".
After a time Abraham left Shechem-probably for the
same reason which impelled our Lord to leave Capernaum,
because the inhabitants would not hear him, nor receive his word.
He journeyed southward to Bethel, where he encamped, and
having built an altar, he called upon the name of the Lord.
Luther translated this clause," Preached the Name of the Lord".
In this Luther was preceded by the earliest Jewish exegetes.
It was to this "place" of Bethel that Jacob came on his way to
Padanaram (Gen. xxviii. II). He reconsecrated it, and it was
sacred in Israel until Jeroboam the son of Nebat set up there
the golden calf of idolatry.
"And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South."
His flight into Egypt was an interlude. He returned to Bethel,
and there he saw the face of God.
Again he removed his tent, and came and dwelt by the
terebinths of Mamre which are in Hebron, and there he built
an altar unto the Lord. In Hebron he found a mixed population,
Amorite and Hittite. He allied himself with the Amorites ;
they and he alike were sojourners in a land that was not theirs,
for the sons of Heth were the owners of the soil. The Amorite
chiefs were confederate with him, but they do not appear to have
received his doctrine, and he becomes increasingly sensible of his
loneliness. Lot has forsaken him, having loved this present
world ; the neighbouring clans scarcely veil their hostility to this
stranger in the midst; in his own encampment there is dispeace ;
and he is personally conscious of failure-more than once he has
proved himself unworthy of his high calling. He is still looking
for the city; the reign of God is not yet manifest on earth. But
he descries it in the distance, and stretches out his hands in
greeting towards the attained their most splendid example in Babylon the Great,
with its century of brazen gates and broad encircling walls
patrolled by war chariots, a city crimsoned with blood. Lord
Macaulay has depicted this city of Cain in terms of Babylon on
the Euphrates.
" Cain hath built the palace of his pride.
Such palace ne'er shall be again
Among the dwindling race of men.
From all its threescore gates the light
Of gold and steel afar was thrown ;
Two hundred cubits rose in height
The outer wall of polished stone.
On the top was ample space
For a gallant chariot race;
Near either parapet a bed
Of the richest mould was spread,
Where amidst flowers of every scent and hue
Rich orange trees, and palms, and giant cedars grew."
Not many years after, another city had its origin in worship:
in the days of Enos the children of the covenant assembled
themselves under the shadow of the sword before the gates of
Paradise. This city of the soul found its temporal realization
in the earthly Zion which mirrored the heavenly Jerusalem,
the City of the Great King. The Psalmist beheld it afar off:
" His foundation is in the holy mountains . . . glorious
things are spoken of thee, 0 city of God." Isaiah taught this
song to the inhabitants of Judah: "We have a strong city;
salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." Ezekiel
saw " a very high mountain whereon was as it were the frame
of a city on the south" : this was the dwelling-place of the God
of Israel. And St. John the divine, the seer whose eyes were
open, gazed in rapture on "the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride
adorned for her husband ". This is the city which hath the
foundations, whose builder and maker-whose architect and
artificer-is God.
The reign of God is based on righteousness: "Justice
and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne." The city of
God, therefore, is founded upon truth; but as truth is revealed
to men "in Jesus " (Eph. iv. 21), it is established on the Rock
of Ages-eternal in its beginnings, unending in its duration.
It is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.

Of this city the Divine Architect has drawn the plan ; and,
as the Master Builder, He is Himself on the walls, labouring
with His servants, laying upon the one foundation (Eph. ii. zo)
tier upon tier of precious stones banded with silver and gold,
while the august fabric grows, until at last the work shall be
complete, and the topstone be brought forth with shoutings,
and cries of Grace, grace, unto it.
From the days of Abraham until now men have been
journeying on the pathway that leads to the City of God.
When the Vandals were thundering at the gates of Hippo,
Augustine, with dying eyes, gazed upon the home of the soul.
The flight of " the doves of Iona " covered broad Europe, and
reached to the walls of Constantinople. 0 ceterna gens JI!J ora viarum,
exclaimed Count Zinzendorf, as he thought of the tireless
journeyings of the missionaries from Herrnhut, envoys of the
King of kings. David Livingstone was lured northward into
darkest Africa by the smoke of "a thousand Christless villages".
Coleridge Pattison gave his life for " the millions of Melanesia
scattered over a thousand isles ". And to-day the Word of
God, in a thousand different languages, in the hands of myriads
of the children of faith, is penetrating the darkest recesses of
heathenism. Centuries ago, as the Crusaders pressed towards
the city of their solemnities, their watchword was " Thither ".
Tens of thousands fell by the way, but the armies of the Cross
marched on. At last, as the pilgrim hosts encamped on the
mountains that encircle Jerusalem, and saw at their feet the
city of God, they knelt on the brow of the hill, melted into
tears, and reached out hands of desire towards Zion, beloved
and longed for.
By faith we, too, may stand upon the hills of God, and
behold the towers and battlements of the eternal city. And as
we linger and gaze, we may hear the voices of those who have
entered its shining streets, raised in salutation to us who follow
them, saying, " Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and
church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel."


Abraham in his quest for the City of God had at length
realized that it must descend from heaven, and that it would be
revealed in the advent of the Promised One. "Your father
Abraham ", said our Saviour to the Jews, " rejoiced exceedingly
that he was to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad." When
may we suppose that he had this vision of the Christ ? The
offering up of Isaac was the supreme act of his allegiance, the
climax of his consecration. The Jewish doctors say that whenever
prayer is offered on earth God remembers " the binding of
Isaac ", and the present Chief Rabbi asserts that " few chapters
of the Bible have had a more potent and a more lasting influence
on the lives and souls of men than the 'Akedah' "-that is,
Genesis xxii. "Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah
Jireh: as it is said to this day, 'in the mount of the Lord He
shall be seen.'" The Jews referred this saying to the temple
and its worship, through which the God of the covenant revealed
Himself to Israel ; but our Lord read into the words a deeper
meanmg. On Moriah Abraham saw the day of Christ, and
rejoiced in the rapturous vision. It is as if the Father had
desired to make known to some one of the sons of men His
heart of suffering love. It was hard for Isaac to offer up his
life in the springtime of his days ; it was harder for Abraham to
strike the blow. If our Lord died in a sorrow which none may
name, how shall we speak of the pain of God, when He turned
away His face from the Son of His love, when He was pleased to
bruise Him, to put Him to grief ?
There are at least two New Testament allusions to this
memorable incident-that of St. Paul: "He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things ? " and that of the Lord
Jesus : "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life."
The City is founded on the love of God, that love which
has been openly shown forth in the sacrifice of Christ. By the
dying of the Son of God our sins are remitted, the tyranny of the
prince of evil has been broken, and we have entrance into
the Holiest as into our Father's house. Because of this the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost.

St. Augustine reminds us that it is the love of God in us,
reaching on to the denial of self, which is building upon earth the
heavenly city. This city shall be perfected in the " day" of
Christ. That day is hastening on, the morning star is trembling
above the hills, the swift dawn is enkindling the sky. " We see
not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus, crowned with
glory and honour." "He which testifieth these things saith,
Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Glasgow.
" His name for ever shall endure,
Last like the sun it shall :
Men shall be blessed in Him, and blessed
All nations shall Him call.
Now blessed be the Lord our God,
The God of Israel,
For He alone doth wondrous works,
In glory that excel.
And blessed be His glorious name
To all eternity.
The whole earth let His glory fill.
Amen, so let it be."
D. M. MclNTYRE