13 and He saith to Abram, `knowing -- know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,
`And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years, and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place.
and this I say, A covenant confirmed before by God to Christ, the law, that came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not set aside, to make void the promise,
And afterwards have Moses and Aaron entered, and they say unto Pharaoh, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Send My people away, and they keep a feast to Me in the wilderness;' and Pharaoh saith, `Who `is' Jehovah, that I hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah, and Israel also I do not send away.' And they say, `The God of the Hebrews hath met with us, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest He meet us with pestilence or with sword.' And the king of Egypt saith unto them, `Why, Moses and Aaron, do ye free the people from its works? go to your burdens.' Pharaoh also saith, `Lo, numerous now `is' the people of the land, and ye have caused them to cease from their burdens!' And Pharaoh commandeth, on that day, the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying, `Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks, as heretofore -- they go and have gathered straw for themselves; and the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making heretofore ye do put on them, ye do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God; let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.' And the exactors of the people, and its authorities, go out, and speak unto the people, saying, `Thus said Pharaoh, I do not give you straw, ye -- go ye, take for yourselves straw where ye find `it', for there is nothing of your service diminished.' And the people is scattered over all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw, and the exactors are making haste, saying, `Complete your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there is straw.' And the authorities of the sons of Israel, whom the exactors of Pharaoh have placed over them, are beaten, saying, `Wherefore have ye not completed your portion in making brick as heretofore, both yesterday and to-day?' And the authorities of the sons of Israel come in and cry unto Pharaoh, saying, `Why dost thou thus to thy servants? Straw is not given to thy servants, and they are saying to us, Make bricks, and lo, thy servants are smitten -- and thy people hath sinned.' And he saith, `Remiss -- ye are remiss, therefore ye are saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to Jehovah; and now, go, serve; and straw is not given to you, and the measure of bricks ye do give.' And the authorities of the sons of Israel see them in affliction, saying, `Ye do not diminish from your bricks; the matter of a day in its day.' And they meet Moses and Aaron standing to meet them, in their coming out from Pharaoh, and say unto them, `Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants -- to give a sword into their hand to slay us.' And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, `Lord, why hast Thou done evil to this people? why `is' this? -- Thou hast sent me! and since I have come unto Pharaoh, to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people, and Thou hast not at all delivered Thy people.'
And the dwelling of the sons of Israel which they have dwelt in Egypt `is' four hundred and thirty years; and it cometh to pass, at the end of four hundred and thirty years -- yea, it cometh to pass in this self-same day -- all the hosts of Jehovah have gone out from the land of Egypt.
`And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye -- ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.
as a native among you is the sojourner to you who is sojourning with you, and thou hast had love to him as to thyself, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt; I `am' Jehovah your God.
And Israel cometh in to Egypt, And Jacob hath sojourned in the land of Ham. And He maketh His people very fruitful, And maketh it mightier than its adversaries. He turned their heart to hate His people, To conspire against His servants.
`And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
And these `are' the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt with Jacob; a man and his household have they come; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Saying, `To thee I give the land of Canaan, The portion of your inheritance,' In their being few in number, But a few, and sojourners in it.
By faith Abraham, being called, did obey, to go forth to the place that he was about to receive for an inheritance, and he went forth, not knowing whither he doth go; by faith he did sojourn in the land of the promise as a strange country, in tabernacles having dwelt with Isaac and Jacob, fellow-heirs of the same promise, for he was looking for the city having the foundations, whose artificer and constructor `is' God. By faith also Sarah herself did receive power to conceive seed, and she bare after the time of life, seeing she did judge Him faithful who did promise; wherefore, also from one were begotten -- and that of one who had become dead -- as the stars of the heaven in multitude, and as sand that `is' by the sea-shore -- the innumerable. In faith died all these, not having received the promises, but from afar having seen them, and having been persuaded, and having saluted `them', and having confessed that strangers and sojourners they are upon the earth,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 15
Commentary on Genesis 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
Ge 15:1-21. Divine Encouragement.
1. After these things—the conquest of the invading kings.
the word of the Lord—a phrase used, when connected with a vision, to denote a prophetic message.
Fear not, Abram—When the excitement of the enterprise was over, he had become a prey to despondency and terror at the probable revenge that might be meditated against him. To dispel his fear, he was favored with this gracious announcement. Having such a promise, how well did it become him (and all God's people who have the same promise) to dismiss fears, and cast all burdens on the Lord (Ps 27:3).
2. Lord God, what wilt thou give?—To his mind the declaration, "I am thy exceeding great reward" [Ge 15:1], had but one meaning, or was viewed but in one particular light, as bearing on the fulfilment of the promise, and he was still experiencing the sickness of hope deferred.
3. Eliezer of Damascus … one born in my house is mine heir—According to the usage of nomadic tribes, his chief confidential servant, would be heir to his possessions and honors. But this man could have become his son only by adoption; and how sadly would that have come short of the parental hopes he had been encouraged to entertain! His language betrayed a latent spirit of fretfulness or perhaps a temporary failure in the very virtue for which he is so renowned—and absolute submission to God's time, as well as way, of accomplishing His promise.
4. This shall not be thine heir—To the first part of his address no reply was given; but having renewed it in a spirit of more becoming submission, "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it" [Ge 15:8], he was delighted by a most explicit promise of Canaan, which was immediately confirmed by a remarkable ceremony.
9-21. Take me an heifer, &c.—On occasions of great importance, when two or more parties join in a compact, they either observe precisely the same rites as Abram did, or, where they do not, they invoke the lamp as their witness. According to these ideas, which have been from time immemorial engraven on the minds of Eastern people, the Lord Himself condescended to enter into covenant with Abram. The patriarch did not pass between the sacrifice and the reason was that in this transaction he was bound to nothing. He asked a sign, and God was pleased to give him a sign, by which, according to Eastern ideas, He bound Himself. In like manner God has entered into covenant with us; and in the glory of the only-begotten Son, who passed through between God and us, all who believe have, like Abram, a sign or pledge in the gift of the Spirit, whereby they may know that they shall inherit the heavenly Canaan.