The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 320

Vere. 8-19.-Faith of the Hebrew Pilgrim Fathers. What An_glo-Saxon conltt look without emotion on the iiranite boulder at New Plymonth-" the corner-stone of a nntion "-upon which the Pilgrim Fathers of New Englancl stepped ashore from the Mayflower 1 And, in like manner, what Jew can think but with enthusiasm of those three glori,ms names-Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The verses before UR were well fitted to stir the hearts' blood of the Hebrews to whom this treatise was addressed. And they Hhould stir ours too; for these patriarchs are the Pilgrim Fathers of all the men of faith. We shall consider the passage chiefly in connection with Abraham, the father of the faithful. In his spiritual life there were at least four great crises-four occasions upon which his faith was severely tried, and came forth victorious, The apostle introduces bis reference to each of these with the expression which is the refrain of the whole chapter-" By faith" (vers. 8, 9, 11, 17). I. ABaARAM's FAITH WAB SHOWN m HIS EMIGRATION. (Ver. 8.) It was a hmcl command which be received, to leave his native country, and to cast himself upon the bare promise of God for another home. He had to break the ties which bound him tu the scenes of his youth. He was at first ignorant as to what country he waR going. His long journey would expose hiin to hardships and dangers. Yet Abraham diJ nut hesitate to obey. He gathered his flocks together, and set out with his househoiu caravan. It·was impossible that he could have comprehended the large plan of Pro,i- dence, of which only one little corner was unfolded in his call; but the precept anu the promise were sufficient to determine his action. So he put his hand trustfully into the itreat hand of.God, and allowed him to guide his feet. Abraham's emigration was the first link in the golden chain of the triumphs of his faith. It teaches us such lessons as these-that personal religion (1) takes its rise in God; (2) is the fruit of a. Di vine revelation ; and (3) is the product of an earnest faith. II. ABBA.HAM'S FAITH WAS SHOWN IN HIS LIFELONG PILGRIMAGE. (Vers. 9, 10, 13-16.) When he arrived in Cana.an, the patriarch found that he was not to receive immediate possession of the land, Indeed, while he lived, it remained still but "the land of promise." He dwelt in tents. He did not build any walled city. The only piece of ground which he ever acquired was a. burying-place. But bis view of the meaning of the covenant expanded. with his spiritual experience. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, gradually learned that the promise of an inheritance in the literal Canaan was in their own case an illusion. Yet they did not conclude that it had been a delusion. They learnecl to understand the promises spiritually, and were persuaded that God would fulfil his word even to themselves, in e. deeper way than at first they had dreamed. So they steadfastly maintained their faith; and, viewing Cana.an as a type of heaven," confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." .Abraham was content to feel always from home in this world. Although he became immensely wealthy, he continued spiritually I\ pilgrim. His maxim was not that of sense, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ; "rather, as a. prince of the men of faith, " he looked for the city which hath the foundations." The fatherland for which he longe<l was not the place of his birth, else he could easily have recrossed the Euphrates (ver. 16). "The heirs of the promise" sought their home in heaven. And so, "These all died in faith," is the epitRph common to all the monuments in Patriarchs' Corner of the abbey church of the Old Testament. And because they so died, God conde- scended to take one of his great Bible-names from those Hebrew Pilgrim Fathers-- "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Ill. AnRAHAM'e F Al'l'II wAB SHOWN DURING HIS PROTRACTED CHILDLESS~ESS. (V ers. 11, 12.) '!'his severe trial Sarah shared with him. If the faith of Abrah,\m i'orms, as it were, the magnificent frontispiece of the volume of Jewish hi,tory, Sarah's faith occupies the position of the vignette upon the title-page (Isa. Ii. 2). 'l'h? time came when th~ birth of a chiltl to them was, humanly speaking, doubly impossible; and yet God said that the cov~oaot would not be fulfilled in th.e line of Ishmael Had it not beeu fQC 312 'l'HE EPISTLE 'l.'O THE HEBREWS.