be thine hei?; but he that shall come forth vule Glass,' Phil.,' lib. iii. cp. i. 19), clearly out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. indicates the object of the acUon expressed Yer, 6.-And he (Jehovnh, or "the by the verb Ji;;,, to think, to meditate, and Won! of tho Lord") brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, then to imputeT (>-.07//;oµa,), followed by ~ and tell the stars, if thou be able to number of pers. and acc. of the thing (cf. 2 Sam: them (a proof that Abram's vision was not xix. 20 ; Ps. xxxii. 2). The thing in this n dream): and he said unto him, So shall case was his faith in the Divine promise. thy seed be. Hence it has been inferred that For righteousness. il~l~ = ,ic oiKmo11vvf1v Abram's vision was miraculously quickened (LXX.); neither for· merit and justice (Rabbi to penetrate the depths of space and gaze upon Solomon, Jarchi, Kalisch), nor as a proof the vastness of the stellar world, since the of his probity (Gesenius, Rosenmiiller) ; stars visible to the naked eye would not re- but unto anrl with a view to justification present an innumerable multitude (Candlish). (Rom. iv. 3), so that God treated him as Yer, 6.-And he believed in the Lord. a. righteous person (A Lapide), not, how- The hiphil of the verb aman, to prop or stay, ever, in the sense that he was now "cor- sir;:nifies to build upon, hence to rest one's respondent to the will of God both in f:uth upon; and this describes exactly the character and conduct" (Keil), bnt in the mental act of the patriarch, who reposed his sense that he was now before God accepted confidence in the Divine character, and based and forgiven (Luther, Calvin, :Murphy, his hope of a future seed on the Divine Candlish), which "passh-e righteousness," word. And he counted it to him. 'E>-.oyi119f1 however, ultimately wrought in him an avrcp (LXX.), which is followed by nearly "active 1ighteousness of complete conform- ell the ancient versions, and by Paul in ity to the Divine will" (' Speaker's Colll- Rom. iv. 3 ; but the suffix ';J (a feminine for mentary '). a ~euter, as in Job v. 9 ; Ps. xii. 4 ; xxvii. 4 ;
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-Under the sta?'S with God. I. DEJECTED BEFORE Gon. 1 Appre- 1iensive of dange1·. Victorious over the Asiatic monarchs, Abram nevertheless dreaded their return. Signal deliverances are not seldom followed by depressing fears; e. g. David (1 Sam. xxvii. 1) and Elijah (1 Kings xix. 10). Having eman- cipated the people of the land by breaking "the yoke of their burden, and the staff of their shoulder, the rod of their oppressor," he yet feared an outbreak of their hostility. The enmity of those they serve is not an infrequent reward of patriots: witness Moses (Exod. xvii. 4) and Christ (John x. 31). 2. Disappointed in hope. Notwithstanding repeated assurances that he would one day become a mighty nation, the long-continued barrenness of Sarai appears to ba'l"e lain upon bis heart like a heavy burden. Partaking to all more or less of the nature of a deprivation, the lack of offspring was to Abram an acute grief ond serious affliction. The pent-up yearn- ings of his nature, rendered the more intense by reason of the promise, could not longer be restrained. In language full of pathos he complains to God about his childless condition. So "hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Prov. xiii. 12). 3. Anxious abo11t t!te promise. He could not discern the possibility of its fulfilment, with years rapidly advancing on himself and Sarai. It is doubtful if any saints, more than Abram, can predict beforehand how the Divine promises shall be accom- plished. Yet a recollection of whose promises they are should enable them, us it n,ight have assisted him, to perceive that not a single word of God's can foll to the ground. But, owing partly to limitations in the human mind o.nd imperfections in the human heart, doubts insensibly insinuate themselves against even the clearest nnd the strongest evidence. And when danger, disappointment, and doubt conjoin to invade the soul, dejection must inevitably follow. II. Com.roRTED DY Goo. I. A s!tieldfor his peril. Divinely given, oil sufficient, ever present. "I," Jehovah, "nm," now and always, "thy shield "--i. e. thin~ impregnable defence, And the like protection is vouchsafed to Abram's chi!Jreu when imperilled: as to character, Divine (Prov. xxx. 5); ns to extent, complete, universal, defending from all forms of evil, warding off assaults from all qut1rter~ (Pa. v. 12) ; a.s to duration, perpetual (Ps. cxxi. 8). 2. A solace for liis sorrow. Happy a.s the birth of an heir in Sarai's tent would make him, Jehovah gives him to und6rstand tlrnt not that was to be hi~ recompense for the trials be had passed 218 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [et,. x.v. 1- -6,