"And He said unto him, Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away" (vs. 9-11). The typical picture is wonderfully complete. "Take Me," observe, for the sacrifice belongs to, is for God. It has been pointed out by another that each of the three animals named here were tame ones, not wild and needing to be captured by Abram; instead, they were the willing servants of man's need. Each one foreshadowed a distinctive aspect of Christ's perfections and work. The heifer of three years seems to have pointed to the freshness of His vigor; the goat, gave the sin-offering aspect; the ram is the animal that in the Levitical offerings was connected specially with consecration. The birds told of One from Heaven. The "three years," thrice repeated, suggested perhaps the time of our Lord's sacrifice, offered after "three years" of service! Note that death passed upon them all, for without shedding of blood is no remission and where no remission is there can be no inheritance. The "dividing" of the animals indicated that this sacrifice was to form the basis for a covenant (cf. Jer. 34: 18, 19). The "driving away" of the fowls seems to have shown forth the energy of faith.

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (vs. 12, 13). A profound truth is here taught us in type. Abram now learns that the inheritance can be reached only through suffering! His heirs would have to pass through the furnace before they entered into that which God had prepared for them. In the "deep sleep" and the "horror of great darkness" Abram, as it were, entered in spirit into death, as that through which all his seed would have to pass ere they experienced God's deliverance after the death of the Paschal Lamb. First the suffering, the four hundred years' "affliction," and then the inheritance. How this reminds us again of Romans 8:17! "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs

with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." And again: "We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Thus it was with our blessed Lord-first the "sufferings" and then "the glory." We call attention to the wonderful and perfect order of the typical teaching here: first the sacrifice (v. 9); second, "thy seed"-sons (v. 13); third, suffering-"affliction" (v. 13); fourth, entering into the inheritance-"come hither again" (v. 16). How complete the typical picture!

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him" (v. 12). By this deep sleep we learn how God was showing the patriarch, symbolically, that not during his natural life would he inherit the land; instead, he must go down into the grave and inherit it together with the Promised Seed. In his awaking from this "deep sleep" Abram received a veiled promise of resurrection from the dead and the horror of great darkness as of the grave (cf. Heb. 2:15) from which he was recalled again to the light of day. In a word, the way to blessing, to the inheritance, was through death and resurrection.

"And He said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (vs. 13-16). These verses contain a sevenfold prophecy which received a literal and complete fulfillment. It had reference to the sojourn of Abram's descendants in the land of Egypt, their bondage there, and their deliverance and return to Canaan. We can do little more now than outline the divisions of this compound prophecy. First, Abram's descendants were to be strangers in a land not theirs (v. 13). Second, in that strange land they were to "serve" (v. 13). Third, they were to be "afflicted" four hundred years (v. 13)-note that Exodus 12:40 views the entire "sojourning" of the children of Israel in Egypt. They "dwelt" in Egypt four hundred and thirty years, but were "afflicted" for only four hun

dred years of that time. Fourth, the nation whom Abram's descendants "served" God would "judge" (v. 14). Fifth, Abram's offspring were to come out of Egypt with "great substance" (v. 14), cf. Ps. 105:37. Sixth, Abram himself was to be spared these afflictions-he should die in peace and be buried in a good old age (v. 15). Seventh, in the "fourth generation" Abram's descendants would return again to Canaan (v. 16). We take it that our readers are sufficiently well acquainted with the book of Exodus to know how wonderfully this prophecy was fulfilled, but we would point out here how accurately the seventh item was realized. By comparing Exodus 6:16-26 we find that it was exactly in the "fourth generation" that the children of Israel left Egypt and returned to Canaan. In this particular example the first generation was Levi, the son of Jacob, who entered Egypt at the time his father and brethren did (Ex. 6:16). The second generation was Kohath (Ex. 6:16), who was a son of Levi. The third generation was Amran, son of Kohath (Ex. 6:18). And the fourth generation brings us to Moses and Aaron, who were the sons of Amram (Ex. 6:20), and these were the ones who led Israel out of Egypt!

"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" (v. 17). Much is suggested here which we have to pass by. The "smoking furnace" and the "burning lamp" symbolized the two leading features of the history of Abram's descendants. For the "furnace" see Jeremiah 11: 3, 4, etc.; for the "burning lamp" see 2 Samuel 22:29; Psalm 119:105; Isaiah 62: 1, etc. Note a "smoking furnace and a burning lamp." Did not this teach Abram that in Israel's sufferings God would be with them; and that in all their afflictions, He would be afflicted, too?

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (v. 18). The covenant which God here made with Abram was based upon death, typically, the death of Christ. This covenant, based on sacrifice, was made by the Lord Himself; it concerned the land; and was absolutely unconditional. It has never yet been completely fulfilled. Note carefully its wording "Unto thy seed have I given this land." Con

trast these words with Genesis 13: 15-"For all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it." But now a sacrifice had been offered, blood had been shed, the purchase price had been paid, and hence the change from "I will" to "I have."

In these articles we are not attempting complete expositions. They are little more than "Notes"-"Gleanings"and our prime endeavor is to indicate some of the broad outlines of truth in the hope that our readers will be led to fill in the details by their own personal studies. In concluding this paper it deserves to be noted that Genesis 15 is a chapter in which quite a number of important terms and expressions occur for the first time. The following is not a complete list, but includes some of the more important examples. Here for the first time we find that notable expression, "The word of the Lord came unto" (v. 1). Here is the first reference to a "vision" (v. 1). Here for the first time we read the words "Fear not" (v. 1), which, with their equivalent, "Be not afraid," occur in Scriptures almost one hundred and eighty times. Here is the first mention of God as a "Shield" (v. 1). Here is the first occurrence of the Divine title "Adonai Jehovah"-Lord God (v. 2). Here for the first time we find the words "Believed," "counted" or reckoned, and "righteousness.” May writer and reader search the Scriptures daily and diligently so that each shall say, "I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil" (Ps. 119:162).

21. ABRAHAM AND HAGAR

GENESIS 16

It is difficult to imagine a greater contrast than what is presented in our present chapter from the one reviewed in our last article. In Genesis 15 Abram is seen as the man of faith, in chapter 16 as the man of unbelief. In Genesis 15 he "believed in the Lord," in Genesis 16 he "hearkened to the voice of Sarai." There he walks after the Spirit, here he acts in the energy of the flesh. Sad inconsistency! But One could say, "I do always these things that please Him" (John 8:29).

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid, it may be that I may obtain children by her" (Gen. 16: 1, 2). In this suggestion of Sarai's we witness a fresh testing of Abram. Again and again our patriarch was tried -tried, may we not say, at every point. First, his faith had to overcome the ties of nature: God's call was for him to leave his country and his kindred. Then, shortly after he had actually arrived in Canaan, his faith was tried by stress of circumstances-there was a famine in the land. Next, he had to meet a trial respecting a brother: Abram feared that the friction between his herdsmen and the herdsmen of his nephew might lead to "strife" between brethren, and how he met this by his magnanimous offer to Lot we have already seen in an earlier chapter. Later, there was a testing of Abram's courage, as well as his love for his nephew. Lot had been captured by a powerful warrior, but Abram hastens to his rescue and delivers him. Subsequently, there was a testing of his cupidity. The King of Sodom offered to "reward" him for overcoming Chedorlaomer. And now he is tested by a suggestion from his wife. Would he take matters out of the hand of God and act in the energy of the flesh with reference to the obtaining of a son and heir. Thus, at six different points (to this stage in his history) was the character of Abram tested. We might summarize them thus: There was the trying of the fervor of his faith-did he love God more than home