Latest / Commentary on The Book of Genesis / 14 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis

Transcript

14 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Commentary on The Book of Genesis

0:00
Chapter eleven. The old distinction between the sons of God and the sons of
0:06
men, professors and profane, survived the flood, and now appeared again when
0:12
men began to multiply according to this distinction. We have in this chapter Numeral
0:19
one, the dispersion of the sons of Men at Babel Verses one through nine,
0:25
where we have number one, their presumptuous, provoking design, which was
0:31
to build a city and a tower Verses one through four. Number two,
0:36
the righteous judgment of God upon them in disappointing their design by confounding their language
0:42
and so scattering them Verses five through nine. Numeral two. The pedigree of
0:49
the sons of God down to Abraham Verses ten through twenty six, with a
0:54
general account of his family and removal out of his native country verse twenty five,
1:00
seven, and so on. The confusion of tongues BC. Twenty two
1:04
forty seven, Verses one through four. And the whole earth was of one
1:11
language and of one's speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from
1:15
the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shiner, and
1:19
they dwelt there, and they said, one to another, go too,
1:23
let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone,
1:30
and slime had they for mortar. And they said, go too,
1:34
let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach into heaven.
1:40
And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon
1:45
the face of the whole earth. The close of the foregoing chapter tells us
1:51
that by the sons of Noah, or among the sons of Noah, the
1:55
nations were divided in the earth after the flood, that is, were distinguished
1:59
into several tribes or colonies, and the places having grown too straight for them.
2:05
It was either appointed by Noah or agreed upon among his sons, which
2:08
way each several tribe or colony should steer its course, beginning with the countries
2:15
that were next to them, and designing to proceed farther and farther, and
2:19
to remove to a greater distance from each other, as the increase of their
2:23
several companies should require. Thus was the matter well settled one hundred years after
2:30
the flood, about the time of Pelig's birth. But the sons of Men,
2:35
it should seem, were loth to disperse into distant places. They thought
2:39
the more the merrier and the safer. And therefore they contrived to keep together,
2:46
and were slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of
2:50
their fathers had given them Joshua eighteen, verse three, thinking themselves wiser than
2:57
either God or Noah. Now Here we have numeral one the advantages which befriended
3:05
their design of keeping together. Number one, they were all of one language
3:09
verse one. If there were any different languages before the flood, yet Noah's
3:15
only, which it as likely was the same with atoms, was preserved through
3:20
the flood and continued after it. Now, while they all understood one another,
3:24
they would be the more likely to love one another, and the more
3:29
capable of helping one another, and the less inclinable to separate from one another.
3:35
Number two, they found a very convenient, commodious place to settle in
3:40
verse two, a plane in the land of Shiner, a spacious plane able
3:46
to contain them all, and a fruitful plane able, according as their present
3:52
numbers were, to support them all, though perhaps they had not considered what
3:55
room there would be for them when their numbers should be increased. Note Inviting
4:01
accommodations for the present often proved Two strong temptations to the neglect of both duty
4:10
and interest as it respects futurity Numeral two. The method they took to bind
4:16
themselves to one another and to settle together in one body. Instead of coveting
4:24
to enlarge their borders by a peaceful departure under the divine protection, they contrived
4:30
to fortify them. And as those that were resolved to wage war with Heaven,
4:34
they put themselves into a posture of defense. Their unanimous resolution is,
4:42
let us build ourselves a city and a tower. It is observable that the
4:47
first builders of cities, both in the Old World Chapter four, verse seventeen
4:54
and in the New World here were not men of the best character and reputation.
5:00
Tents served God's subjects to dwell in. Cities were first built by those
5:04
that were rebels against Him and revoltures from him. Observe here number one,
5:11
how they excited and encouraged one another to set about this work. They said,
5:16
go too, let us make brick verse three, and again verse four,
5:20
go to let us build ourselves a city. By mutual excitements, they
5:26
made one another more daring and resolute. Note, great things may be brought
5:32
to pass when the undertakers are numerous and unanimous, and stir up one another.
5:39
Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works,
5:43
as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works. See Psalm one
5:47
twenty two, verse one, Isaiah two, verses three and five. Jeremiah
5:54
one, verse five, number two. What materials they used in their building?
6:00
The country being plain yielded neither stone nor mortar. Yet this did not
6:06
discourage them from their undertaking. But they made brick to serve instead of stone,
6:12
and slime or pitch instead of mortar. See here Subscript one. What
6:18
shift those will make that are resolute in their purposes? Were we but zealously
6:25
affected in a good thing? We should not stop our work so often as
6:29
we do, under pretense that we want conveniences for carrying it on? Subscript
6:34
two. What a difference there is between men's building and gods. When men
6:41
build their babble, brick and slime are their best materials. But when God
6:46
builds his Jerusalem, he lays even the foundations of it with sapphires, and
6:51
all its borders with pleasant stones. Isaiah fifty four, verse eleven and twelve.
6:58
Revelation twenty one, verse nineteen, number three. For what ends they
7:03
built? Some think they intended hereby to secure themselves against the waters of another
7:10
flood. God had told them, indeed, that he would not again drown
7:14
the world, But they would trust to a tower of their own making,
7:17
rather than to a promise of God's making or an ark of his appointing.
7:23
If, however, they had had this in their eye, they would have
7:27
chosen to build their tower up on a mountain rather than upon a plain.
7:31
But three things it seems they aimed at in building this tower. Subscript one,
7:38
it seems designed for an affront to God himself. For they would build
7:43
a tower whose top might reach to heaven, which bespeaks a defiance of God,
7:48
or at least a rivalship with him. They would be like the most
7:53
high, or would come as near as they could. Not in holiness,
7:58
but in height they got their place, and, scorning to creep on the
8:03
earth, resolved to climb to Heaven, not by the door or ladder,
8:07
but some other way. Subscript two. They hoped hereby to make themselves a
8:13
name. They would do something to be talked of now, and to give
8:18
posterity to know that there had been such men as they in the world,
8:22
rather than die and leave no memorandum behind them, they would leave this monument
8:28
of their pride and ambition and folly. Note sub point one. Affectation of
8:35
honor and a name among men commonly inspires with a strange ardor for great and
8:41
difficult undertakings, and often betrays to that which is evil and offensive to God.
8:48
Sub Point two. It is just with God to bury those names in
8:52
the dust which are raised by sin. These babbel builders put themselves to a
8:58
great deal of foolish expense to make themselves a name. But they could not
9:03
gain even this point, for we do not find in any history the name
9:07
of so much as one of these babel builders. Philo Judea says. They
9:13
engraved every one his name upon a brick in perpetuum ray memoriam, as a
9:20
perpetual memorial. Yet neither did this serve their purpose. Subscript three. They
9:28
did it to prevent their dispersion, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face
9:33
of the earth. It was done, says Josephus, in disobedience to that
9:39
command. Chapter nine, verse one, replenish the earth. God orders them
9:45
to disperse no say they, we will not, and we will live and
9:50
die together in order. Here and two they engage themselves and one another in
9:56
this vast undertaking that they might unite in one glorious empire. They resolved to
10:03
build the city in tower to be the metropolis of their kingdom and the center
10:07
of their unity. It is probable that the band of ambitious Nimrod was in
10:13
all this. He could not content himself with the command of a particular colony,
10:20
but aimed at universal monarchy, in order to which, under the pretense
10:24
of uniting for their common safety, he contrives to keep them in one body,
10:30
that having them all under his eye, he might not fail to have
10:33
them under his power. See the daring presumption of these sinners here is sub
10:41
point one a bold opposition to God. You shall be scattered, says God.
10:46
But we will not say they woe unto him that thus strives with his
10:52
maker. Sub Point two a bold competition with God. It is God's prerogative
10:58
to be universal monarch, Lord of all and king of kings. The man
11:03
that aims at it offers to step into the throne of God, who will
11:07
not give his glory to another. Verses five through nine. And the Lord
11:16
came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded.
11:20
And the Lord said, behold, the people is one, and they
11:24
have all one language. And this they begin to do. And now nothing
11:30
will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Go too,
11:35
let us go down. And there confound their language, that they may not
11:39
understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the
11:46
face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city.
11:50
Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound
11:56
the language of all the earth. And from thence did the Lord scatter them
12:01
abroad upon the face of all the earth. We have here the quashing of
12:07
the project of the Babel builders, and the turning of the council of those
12:13
froward men headlong, that God's counsel might stand in spite of them. Here
12:18
is numeral one, the cognisance God took of the design that was on foot.
12:24
The Lord came down to see the city Verse five. It is an
12:30
expression after the manner of men he knew. It is clearly and fully as
12:35
men know that which they come to the place to view. Observe. Number
12:39
one, before he gave judgment upon their cause, he inquired into it.
12:45
For God is incontestably just and fair in all his proceedings against sin and sinners,
12:52
and condemns none unheard. Number two. It is spoken of as an
12:58
act of condescension in God, God to take notice even of this building,
13:03
which the undertakers were so proud of, for He humbles himself to behold the
13:07
transactions, even the most considerable ones of this lower world Psalm one thirteen,
13:16
verse six. Number three it is said to be the tower which the children
13:20
of men built, which imitates Subscript one their weakness and frailty as men.
13:28
It was a very foolish thing for the children of men, worms of the
13:31
earth, to defy Heaven and to provoke the Lord to jealousy. Are they
13:37
stronger than he Subscript two their sinfulness and obnoxiousness. They were the sons of
13:45
Adam. So it is in the Hebrew nay of that Atom, that sinful,
13:50
disobedient atom, whose children are by nature of disobedience, children that are
13:56
corruptors. Subscript three. Their distinction from the children of God, the professors
14:03
of religion, from whom these daring builders had separated themselves and built this tower
14:09
to support and perpetuate the separation. Pious eber is not found among this ungodly
14:16
crew, for he and his are called the children of God. And therefore
14:22
their souls come not into the secret, nor unite themselves to the assembly of
14:26
these children of men Numeral two. The counsels and resolves of the Eternal God
14:35
concerning this matter. He did not come down merely as a spectator, but
14:39
as a judge, as a prince, to look upon these proud men and
14:45
abase them job forty Verses eleven to fourteen. Observe number one. He suffered
14:52
them to proceed a good way into their enterprise before he put a stop to
14:56
it, that they might have space to repent, and if they had so
15:01
much consideration left, might be ashamed of it and weary of it themselves.
15:07
And if not, that their disappointment might be the more shameful, and every
15:13
one that passed by might laugh at them, saying, these men began to
15:18
build and were not able to finish, that so the works of their hands,
15:22
from which they promised themselves immortal honor, might turn to their perpetual reproach.
15:30
Note God has wise and holy ends in permitting the enemies of His glory
15:35
to carry on their impious projects a great way, and to prosper long in
15:41
their enterprises. Number two. When they had, with much care and toil,
15:46
made some considerable progress in their building, then God determined to break their
15:52
measures and disperse them. Observe subscript one the righteousness of God, which peers
16:00
in the considerations upon which he proceeded in this resolution Verse six. Two things
16:07
he considered sub point one their oneness, as a reason why they must be
16:12
scattered. Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language.
16:18
If they continue one, much of the earth will be left uninhabited.
16:25
The power of their prince will soon be exorbitant. Wickedness and profaneness will be
16:30
insufferably rampant, for they will strengthen one another's hands in it. And which
16:36
is worst of all, there will be an over balance to the church,
16:41
and these children of men, if thus incorporated, will swallow up the little
16:45
remnant of God's children. Therefore, it is decreed that they must not be
16:52
one. Note unity is a policy, but it is not the infallible mark
16:59
of a true church. Yet, while the builders of Babel, though of
17:03
different families, dispositions and interests were thus unanimous in opposing God. What a
17:10
pity is it, and what a shame that the builders of a scion,
17:15
though united in one common head and spirit, should be divided as they are
17:19
in serving God. But marvel not at the matter. Christ came not to
17:26
sin peace some point two their obstinacy. Now nothing will be restrained from them,
17:36
and this is a reason why they must be crossed and thwarted in their
17:40
design. God had tried, by his commands and admonitions, to bring them
17:45
off from this project, but in vain. Therefore he must take another course
17:51
with them. See here first the sinfulness of sin and the wilfulness of sinners.
17:59
Ever since Ada would not be restrained from the forbidden tree, his unsanctified
18:03
seed have been impatient of restraint and ready to rebel against it. Secondly,
18:11
see the necessity of God's judgments upon earth to keep the world in some order
18:15
and to tie the hands of those that will not be checked by law.
18:21
Subscript too, the wisdom and mercy of God in the methods that were taken
18:26
for the defeating of this enterprise. Verse seven, go too. Let us
18:32
go down, and there confound their language This was not spoken to the angels,
18:37
as if God needed either their advice or their assistance. But God speaks
18:42
it to himself or the Father, to the Son and holy Ghost. They
18:48
said, go too, let us make brick and go too. Let us
18:52
build a tower, animating one another to the attempt. And now God says,
18:57
go too. Let us confound their language. For if men stir up
19:03
themselves to sin, God will stir up himself to take vengeance. Isaiah forty
19:08
nine, verses seventeen eighteen. Now observe here sub point one the mercy of
19:17
God in moderating the penalty and not making it proportionable to the offense. For
19:22
He deals not with us according to our sins. He does not say,
19:27
let us go down now in thunder and lightning and consume those rebels in a
19:33
moment, or let the earth open and swallow up them and their building,
19:38
and let those go down quickly into hell who are climbing to heaven the wrong
19:44
way. No, only let us go down and scatter them. They deserved
19:49
death, but are only banished or transported. For the patience of God is
19:56
very great towards a provoking world. Punish are chiefly reserved for the future state.
20:03
God's judgments on sinners in this life, compared with those which are reserved,
20:08
are little more than restraints. Sub Point two. The wisdom of God
20:15
in pitching upon an effectual expedient to stay proceedings, which was the confounding of
20:21
their language, that they might not understand one another's speech, nor could they
20:26
well join hands when their tongues were divided, so that this would be a
20:30
very proper method both for taking them off from their building, for if they
20:36
could not understand one another, they could not help one another, and also
20:40
for disposing them to scatter, for when they could not understand one another,
20:45
they could not take pleasure in one another. Note. God has various means
20:51
and effectual ones to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that set themselves
20:56
against Him, and particularly to divide them among themselves, either by dividing their
21:03
spirits Judges nine, verse three, or by dividing their tongues, as David
21:08
prays Psalm fifty five, verse nine, numeral three, the execution of these
21:17
counsels of God to the blasting and defeating of the councils of men Verses eight
21:22
and nine. God made them know whose word should stand his or theirs,
21:29
as the expression is Jeremiah forty four, verse twenty eight. Notwithstanding their oneness
21:36
and obstinacy, God was too hard for them, And wherein they dealt proudly,
21:41
he was above them. For whoever hardened his heart against him and prospered.
21:48
Three things were done. Number One, their language was confounded. God,
21:52
who when he made man, taught him to speak and put words into
21:56
his mouth fit to express the conceptions of his mind, by now caused these
22:03
builders to forget their former language and to speak anew and understand a new one,
22:08
which yet was common to those of the same tribe or family, but
22:12
not to others. Those of one colony could converse together, but not with
22:18
those of another. Now Subscript one, this was a great miracle, and
22:25
a proof of the power which God has upon the minds and tongues of men,
22:29
which he turns as the rivers of water. Subscript two. This was
22:33
a great judgment upon these builders, for being thus deprived of the knowledge of
22:38
the ancient and holy tongue, they had become incapable of communicating with the true
22:45
Church in which it was retained, and probably it contributed much to their loss
22:51
of the knowledge of the True God. Subscript three. We all suffer by
22:56
it to this day, in all the inconveniences we sustain by the diversity of
23:02
languages, and all the pains and trouble we are at to learn the languages
23:07
we have occasioned. For we smart for the rebellion of our ancestors at babble,
23:14
nay, in those unhappy controversies which are strifes of words, and arise
23:18
from our misunderstanding one another's language. For aught, I know, are owing
23:23
to this confusion of tongues. Subscript four. The project of some to frame
23:32
a universal character in order to a universal language, how desirable soever it may
23:37
seem, is yet, I think, but a vain thing to attempt.
23:42
For it is to strive against a divine sentence by which the languages of the
23:48
nations will be divided while the world stands. Subscript five. We may here
23:53
lament the loss of the universal use of the Hebrew tongue, which from this
23:59
time the vulgar language of the Hebrews only, and continued so till the captivity
24:03
in Babylon, where even among them it was exchanged for the Syriac Subscript six.
24:12
As the confounding of tongues divided the children of men and scattered them abroad.
24:18
So the gift of tongues bestowed upon the apostles Acts two contributed greatly to
24:25
the gathering together of the children of God who were scattered abroad, and the
24:29
uniting of them in Christ, that with one mind and one mouth they might
24:33
glorify God. Romans fifteen, verse six, number two. Their building was
24:40
stopped. They left off to build the city. This was the effect of
24:45
the confusion of their tongues, for it has not only incapacitated them for helping
24:49
one another, but probably struck such a damp upon their spirits that they could
24:53
not proceed, since they saw in this the hand of the Lord gone out
24:59
against them. Note subscript one, it is wisdom to leave off that which
25:04
we see God fights against. Subscript two. God is able to blast and
25:11
bring to naught all the devices and designs of babel builders. He sits in
25:17
heaven and lasts at the councils of the kings of the earth against Him and
25:22
his anointed, and will force them to confess that there is no wisdom nor
25:26
counsel against the Lord. Proverbs twenty one, verse thirty, Isaiah eight verses
25:33
nine and ten. Number three, the builders were scattered abroad upon the face
25:40
of the whole earth Verses eight and nine. They departed in companies, after
25:45
their families and after their tongues. Chapter ten, Verses five twenty thirty one,
25:51
to the several countries and places allotted to them in the division that had
25:56
been made, which they knew before, but would not go to take possession
26:00
of till now that they were forced to do it. Observe here Subscript one.
26:07
The very thing which they feared came upon them, that dispersion which sought
26:12
to evade by an act of rebellion, They by this act brought it upon
26:17
themselves. For we are most likely to fall into trouble that which we seek
26:22
to evade by indirect and sinful methods. Subscript two. It was God's work.
26:30
The Lord scattered them. God's hand is to be acknowledged in all scattering
26:36
providences. If the family be scattered, relations scattered, churches scattered, it
26:42
is the Lord's doing. Subscript three. Though they were as firmly in league
26:49
with one another as could be, yet the Lord scattered them. For no
26:53
man can keep together what God will put asunder Subscript four. Thus God justly
27:00
took vengeance on them for their oneness in that presumptuous attempt to build their tower.
27:07
Shameful dispersions are the just punishment of sinful unions. Simeon and Levi,
27:14
who had been brethren in iniquity, were divided in Jacob Chapter forty four,
27:19
verses five and seven. Psalm eighty three, Verses three through thirteen. Subscript
27:29
five. They left behind them a perpetual memorandum of their reproach. In the
27:34
name given to the place, it was called Babel confusion. Those that aim
27:41
at a great name commonly come off with a bad name. Subscript six.
27:47
The children of men were now finely scattered, and never did, nor ever
27:52
will come altogether again till the great day, when the Son of Man shall
27:56
sit upon the throne of his glory, and all nations shall be gathered before
28:02
him. Matthew twenty five, Verses thirty one thirty two, Verses ten through
28:08
twenty six. These are the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years
28:15
old and begat our Pakshad two years after the flood, and Shem lived after
28:21
he begat our Pakshad five hundred years and begat sons and daughters and our Pakshad
28:26
lived five and thirty years, and begat Selah and our Pakshad lived after he
28:33
begat Selah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters and Selah
28:38
lived thirty years, and begat Eber and Celah lived after he begat Eber four
28:44
hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters and Iber lived four and
28:49
thirty years, and begat Peelig and Iber lived after he begat Peelig four hundred
28:56
and thirty years and begat sons and daughters. Peelig lived thirty years, and
29:02
begat ru and Peelig lived after he begat Rheu two hundred and nine years,
29:07
and begat sons and daughters and Rhyu lived two and thirty years, and begat
29:14
sea Rug and Rhyu lived after he begat sea Rug two hundred and seven years,
29:19
and begat sons and daughters and sea Rug lived thirty years, and Begatnor
29:27
and Sea Rugg lived after he Begatnor two hundred years, and begat sons and
29:33
daughters and Neaor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Tira and Naor lived
29:41
after he begat Tira one hundred and nineteen years, and Begat sons and daughters,
29:47
and Tira lived seventy years, and Begat Abram Neor and Heyrun. We
29:53
have here a genealogy, not an endless genealogy, for here it ends in
29:59
Abram, the Friend of God, and leads further to Christ, the Promised
30:03
Seed, who was the son of Abram. And from Abram the genealogy of
30:07
Christ is reckoned Matthew one, verse one, and so on, so that
30:12
put Chapter five, Chapter six, and Matthew one together, and you have
30:18
such an entire genealogy of Jesus Christ as cannot be produced for aught, I
30:23
know, concerning any person in the world out of his line and at a
30:29
distance from the fountain head. And laying these three genealogies together, we shall
30:34
find that twice ten and thrice fourteen generations or descendants passed between the first and
30:41
second atom, making it clear concerning Christ that he was not only the son
30:47
of Abraham, but the son of Man and the seed of woman. Observe
30:52
here number one. Nothing is left upon record concerning those of this line,
30:59
but their names an age the Holy Ghost seeming to hasten through them to the
31:03
story of Abram, how little do we know of those that have gone before
31:07
us in this world, even those that lived in the same places where we
31:11
live, as we likewise know little of those that are our contemporaries in distant
31:18
places. We have enough to do to mind the work of our own day,
31:22
and let God alone to require that which has past. Ecclesiastes three,
31:26
verse fifteen, number two. There was an observable gradual decrease in the years
31:33
of their lives. Shim reached to six hundred years, which yet fell short
31:38
of the age of the patriarchs before the flood. The next three came short
31:45
of five hundred. The next three did not reach three hundred. After them,
31:48
we read not of any that detained to two hundred except Tira, and
31:53
not many ages after this. Moses reckoned seventy or eighty to be the most
32:00
men ordinarily arrived at. When the earth began to be replenished, men's lives
32:07
began to shorten, so that the decrease is to be imputed to the wise
32:12
disposal of Providence, rather than to any decay of nature. For the elect's
32:17
sake, men's days are shortened, and being evil, it is well they
32:22
are few and attain not to the years of the lives of our fathers.
32:29
Chapter forty seven, Verse nine, Number three. Eber, from whom the
32:34
Hebrews were denominated, was the longest lived of any that was born after the
32:39
flood, which perhaps was the reward of a singular piety and strict adherents to
32:45
the ways of God. The Generations of Tira b. C. Nineteen twenty
32:53
one, Verses twenty seven through thirty two. Now these are the generations of
33:00
Tira. Tira Begat, Abram, Neor and Hern and Hern Begat, Lot
33:07
and Heron died before his father Tira in the land of his nativity in Er
33:14
of the Chaldis, and Abram and Neor took them wives. The name of
33:20
Abram's wife was Seriai, and the name of Nyer's wife Milka, the daughter
33:24
of Hern, the father of Milka and the father of Isca. But Seriai
33:30
was barn she had no child. And Tira took Abram his son, and
33:36
Lot, the son of Heron his son's son, and Seraai his daughter in
33:40
law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them from Er
33:45
of the Chaldis to go into the land of Canaan and they came unto Heron,
33:51
and they dwelt there. And the days of Tira were two hundred and
33:55
five years, and Tira died in Heron. Here begins the story of Abram,
34:01
whose name is famous henceforward in both Testaments. We have here numeral one
34:07
his country er of the Chaldis. This was the land of his nativity,
34:13
an idolatrous country where even the children of Eber themselves had degenerated. Note,
34:20
those who are, through grace heirs of the land of Promise ought to remember
34:25
what was the land of their nativity? What was their corrupt and sinful state?
34:30
By nature the rock out of which they were hewn Numeral two. His
34:37
relations mentioned for his sake and because of their interest in the following story.
34:44
Number one. His father was Tira, of whom it is said Joshua twenty
34:47
four, verse two, that he served other gods on the other side of
34:52
this flood. So early did idolatry gain footing in the world, and so
34:58
hard as it even those that have some good principles to swim against the stream.
35:05
Though it is said verse twenty six that when Tira was seventy years old,
35:08
he begat abramnaor and hay Run, which seems to tell us that Abram
35:14
was the eldest son of Tira and was born in his seventieth year. Yet,
35:19
by comparing verse thirty two, which makes Tira to die in his two
35:23
hundred and fifth year, with Acts seven verse four, where it is said
35:29
that he was but seventy five years old when he removed from Hayrun, it
35:34
appears that he was born in the one hundred thirtieth year of Tira, and
35:38
probably was his youngest son. For in God's choices, the last are often
35:45
first and the first last. We have number two some account of his brethren
35:52
subscript I naor out of whose family both Isaac and Jacob had their wives.
35:58
Subscript two Hayrn, the father of Lot, of whom it is here said
36:04
verse twenty eight, that he died before his father Tira. Note children cannot
36:08
be sure that they shall survive their parents, for death does not go by
36:15
seniority, taking the eldest first. The shadow of death is without any order
36:21
Job ten, verse twenty two. It is likewise said that he died in
36:28
ear of the Chaldies, before the happy removal of the family out of that
36:31
idolatrous country. Note it concerns us to hasten out of our natural state,
36:38
lest death surprise us. In it number three, his wife was Serae,
36:45
who some think was the same with Iska, the daughter of Harun. Abraham
36:52
himself says of her that she was the daughter of his father, but not
36:55
the daughter of his mother. Chapter twenty, verse one. She was ten
37:00
years younger than Abram Numeral three. His departure out of Er of the Chaldis
37:08
with his father Tira, his nephew Lot, and the rest of his family,
37:14
in obedience to the call of God, of which we shall read more
37:17
Chapter twelve, verse one. This chapter leaves them in Harun or Karen,
37:23
a place about midway between Er and Canaan, where they dwelt till Tira's head
37:29
was laid, probably because the old man was unable, through the infirmities of
37:35
age, to proceed in his journey. Many reach to Karen and yet fall
37:40
short of Canaan. They are not far from the Kingdom of God, and
37:45
yet they never come thither. End of chapter eleven