Abraham's Life History by John Edgar, 1919

8/20/2019 Abraham's Life History by John Edgar, 1919

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o

the

Divine

P1 s

o

the

Age

A n Address delivered

in

many of the town8

of

Great

I

Britain and Ireland

JOHN

EDG R

M.A., B.Sc, M.B., C.M.

Fellow of the Royal Faculty of filrysicians

' '

and Sur eons, GIas o w; Professor of Midwifery and

Aseases of &omen Anderson% college

Medical School; Senior gorgeon, Royal Samaritan. .

.

Hospital for Women, Glasgow.

a

Author o f Sociulism and tlie Bible,

A

Tree Planted by the River8 of Water,

The Preservation of Identity in the Resurrection.

and Joint-Author of Great Pyramid Paseoges.

Rcammged

y

Morton Edgar

All

r ts reserved.

Further copies of this brochure a n

be

procured by applying to

Morton

Edgar.

224

West Regent

Street

Ghs ow,Scotland.


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Abraham s

Life History

n Allegory

o

the

ivine

lan

o

the

Ages.

It hns been wr it ten that Abraham

had

tw

sons

ore from the

bond-wornat~, nd onefrom the freewoman. Now , the one

frerrr

the bondwoman wu born according to theflesh; but ra of the

freeu*oman w a s through the promise. Whic h things are u

allegory;

for

these represent

tuto

covenants. Gal.

4 :

22 31.1

Had it not been for this authoritative statement of the

Apostle, would it have occurred to us that Abraham's two

wives are allegorical of two covenants?

Our attention having been drawn to this fact, we find,

when we study Abraham's career, that his whole life-

history is an allegory. All the events of his life were

overruled and recorded in such a manner, that they form

in their sequence a living picture, epitomising the com-

plete Plan of the Ages. As Bible students know, the

Scriptures abound with such illustrations. They are all

designed by our loving heavenly Father to strengthen our

faith; to make the glorious Plan of the Ages appear so

real, that we can believe in it

as

firmly as that to-morrow

will dawn.

Allegory is not an English, ,,but a Greek, word.

Translated into English it reads: adapted to another

meaning.

While Abraham enacted his life in a natural

way, and apparently without restriction, yet, in God s

providences, every incident and event, and every person

that came into his life, was adapted to mean some feature

in the Plan of God.


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Thus Abraliam himself enacted the part of God

Rorn.

4:

7; also Isa.

51:2 .

His two wives, as we have seen,

represented God's two covenants-Sarah. the original

oath-bound covenant, or covenant of Grace, and Hagar

the law covenant. His children by these wives repre-

sented God's Children, fleshy and spiritual, which He

begat through His two covenants. Isaac typified the

Spiritual Seed, Christ head and body, sons of God begotten

throi~gh he original oath-bound covenant; and Ishmael

typified the nation of Israel, the progeny of the law

covenant. These two covenants m y herefore be likened

to two wives. od being their husband.

Each journey of Abraham from place to place repre-

sented God changing to a new phase of His foreordained

Plan. Every action of Abraham pictured some .defitlitt:

dealing of God with mankind. And the persons with

whom Abraham came into contact typified particular

features of t l ~ e

ORD S

cheme of salvation.

Nearly fourteen chapters of the book of Genesis are

devoted to the life-history of Abraham-namely, chapters

12

to

25.

W e notice that the first three chapters present,

allegorically, a general outline of the three great Dispen-

sations into which the Divine Plan of the Ages is divided;

The succeeding chapters enter into the details of th

various Ages, and especially describe God's dealings with

His covenanted people during these periods. (See the

Chart of the Ages.)

Remember that, in the allegory, Abraham always r e p

resents God, who is the

real

Father of the faithful, (Rorn.

4

7. .

The irst Digponsatio n

or world of the ungodly, as it is named by the Apostle

Peter. began with the creation of Adam, and ended with'

the flood.

I ,


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Chapter 12of Genesis is an allegorical sketch of this

first dispensa tiop.

I

Ga 1 I-&

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy

qountry, .and from thy kindred, a+from thy father's house, unto a land

tibat

I

w~ l l how thee: And I wpll make of thee a great natiqr~, nd

I

will bless thee, and make thy name great; and tt~ou l~alt

e

a blessing:

And I

will blcu then1 that bless thee. and curse rheru that curwth tilee;

rod in thee allall all fi i i l iaq of the earth

be

blessed.

The first three verses show. how Abraham

was

taljed

to leave his own 'country and enter into another land,

where he would become a great nation; and get a great

name.

H e

would also become a blessing, and bless all

the families of the earth.

.

God cannot lie, and thek"promises .will' be fulfilled:

But while on tht .surface the Scriptures 'seem to' centre'

the'hope of the world ika Abraham and in the se'e4:krhom

he begat through his wife Sarah, we perceive that this is

only a little earthly picture of the W e hope of the world.

For although'rddressed to Abraham,

God

was in reality

applying the promises to Himself. He, peisonalld, would

1)

beget

a

great,,nation,

2)

end would .glorify Himself

and make hie own name great,

3)

and through H im all

the world would receive a blessing. . .

, ' : . 8

, Gem ra -49

So

Abram departed;

r

the Lord

bad

spoken unto him

qnd

L

;en; with him

:

and Abram mas v v e n t y a n dBre y e a n 012.

when he departed out of Haran. 5 And; Abram took Sarai his wife,

and Lot his brother's aonS8and11 their suhtance that they'had gathered,

a d h i soulr that they had gotten in H u a n ad. hey went forth .to

o

into the land of CPnaal~ nd illto the land of Canaan

h y

cmme.

6

And

Abram parred-through the land unto the.plrce'of Sicbem, unto

the

of Moreh. And the Canaanite

mar

th(nSin the land. 7

And

the

f $i

appeared unto Abram, .and said, Unto thy'

reed

will

I

give

thm

land

and thcrm builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto

him

And he removed from thence unto a mountaln on the east of Beth-el,.

and pitched his tent, hm inp Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east:

and there he buildcd amaltar unto the Lord,,and called upon the name

of

th

4or4. And Abrarn joumey4, goiqr on rtil toward the wuth.

Abrahim

descended from karan

to

Canaan.

Both


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tries are mountainous, but Hilran is much higher than

anaan. Sarah and Lot accompanied Abraham. In the

ymbolisms of the Scriptures, a mountain represents. a

ingdom ; nd we find that, in the allegory, Lot is-a

ype

of mankind. In this we see God coming down with His

the high heavenly king-

to establish a lesser kingdom on earth a t the creation

f Adam.

The definite promise made 'to brah ham : Unto thy see4

ill

I

give this land -Canaan (verse 7) . indicates'not

God s Seed would possess the earth

en mankind attained to the glorious liberty of the

en of God a t the end of the Millennium.

Abraham built an altar and called upon the-n~me'<

ord who appeared to. him. This represents Adam,

nally the earthly image of God having perfect corn;:

during the period of i,mocence in thq

garden of Eden.

Gem 11: 10 And

then m s

mmine ih8the nd :

nd

Abram wenr

into

gypt

to

wfourn

there

;

or

the

f mime

was

rievous

in

the

Imd

Now, a famine implia~lack f bread and cdisequent

W a s here

a

famine .in

earthly kingdom Yes.

When Adam transgressed.

Lord.

or man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word

at proceedeth out of the month of God (Amos.8:11;

: 4).

Adam did not obey the life-sustaining. words

s Creator, and therefore he and the whole human race.

5:12 . .The scene was

Paradise, the kingdom of God on earth, fell

became the kingdom of Satan, with sin, sorrow, and

. The world of the ungodly was inaugurated.

his terrible change was typified

by

Abraham journeying


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with

Sarah and Lot) form the mountainous country

of

Canaan,down south to the almost sea-level land of

Ex

ypt.

The Scriptures use Egypt

as

a figure of the sinful world.

Is it consistent with the facts to say that Abraham re-

presents God at this stage? For h o r can od be said to

have gone down with the world into

its

sinful condition

2

The episode narrated in the remaining verses of this 2th

chapter of Genesis

shows

how the allegory sustains th is

thought. First, let us quote the verses:

Gm.

3 i 11 m.

And it came to paas when he war

oome

near to enter

ihto

e y p t .

that he said unto

Sarai

his wife, Behokl now, k ~ ~ o what

thou urt a fair woman to look upon:

12

Therefore it shall collie to

pass.

wllen the Egyptia~~sl~all ee thee. that they shall say. ThiCis his wite:

and they will kill me, but they w1l1 save thee

alive

3

y,

1

pray thee,

thou art my sister: that it may

be

well with me for thy saki: and my soul

all live becallw of thee.

14

And it came to

pass

that, when A b r aq

was come into Ijllypt, the E m t l a n s beheld the woman that she was very

fair.

I

The yrincesahoof Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before

Pharaog : nd the m m a n was taken into Pharaoh's house. 6And he en-

treatad Abtam well for her sake: and he had sheep. and 0Tt n and he

asses, and

menserv nts

and midnemants, alwl she asses, and canlels.

7

And the

,Ow

lagued Pharaoh and his house wtth great plagues

because

of Sa'rai Abrkm's

I . I8

And Pharaoh called Abram, and said. What

ie

this

th t

thou I~ast one unto me? why didst thou not tell me. that she

wus thy aife)

19

Why aaidst thou, She u my Sister? so

I

111ighthave

taken her t'o me to wife : ow therefore behold thy wife t8kC

r

nd go

thy way..

zo

And Paraoh commanded

hi s

men co nn rn ii g him

:

nd, they

mnt him away. and his wife,

a d

ll that

he

had.

.

. Were

i i

not that r e rnrceive an allegoricrl

purpose n

this peculiar episode in Abraham s life, weS might be

at a,lo ss tp understand why it should be mentioned. The

writers of God s Word were greaR economists of

space, and always had a definite reason for every.utter-

ance. Besides which we remember that

God

Himself

supervised all the holy records, and nothing was

allowed

40 be inserted in His Word unless it would serve a useful

purpose. Apart from the allegorical picture there is no

apparent reasoq why this episode should be included. n

the Bible. We just

draw

attention to this, because it is

a


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good &ampl; of how a n incident, unimportant in itself,

has

a deep meaning when recognised as an allegorical

sketch.

Briefly stated, this part of the allegory simply teaches

that God kept secret themeans by which He intended to

bring into existence the Seed which was destined to

bless all the families of the earth. God reveals His secrets

only when, in His wisdom, He knows that the appropiate*

time has come. He knew that His wisest plan was to hide

the true relationship of His oath-bound covenant to Him

self (even as Abraham hid the fact that Sarah mas his

wife), and to permit Satan and his angels, typified by

Pharaoh and his princes, to make the attempt of blessing

the world and thus try to glorify themselves. Satan did.

not desire to be the god of

a

dying world. T o the woman

he had said: ye shall

n t

surely die. But when he saw

death reigning, he attempted to instil new life into the death-

doomed race by causing the angels, the sons of God, to

marry the daughters of men (Gen. 6:1-4 . This was

Satan's attempt to bless the world, and bring glory t o him-

self. But he failed.

..

God had two reasons for hiding ~ i bovenant: (I) that

t might never thereafter be claimed by any of His angelic,

reatures that Christ's sacrifice was unnecesary, and that

His

work of salvation could have been done by them if

nly, hey had had the opportunity; (2) that the loyalty of

herangelg

migh t

be tested. Such of the angels as fell from

heir first estak by mingling with the human family,,

ave ever since been kept in restraint unto the judgment

f the great day (Jude

6;

2 Pet.

2:4 .

The plagues which came upon Pharaoh and his house

ypified

the calamities brought upon angels and .men

hrough their vainglorious attempt to appropriate God s

enant to themselves. The result of their folly was itr-1

reased degradation and sorrow, term'inating with the

Deluge. .


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The Second Dispensation.

or Present Evil World, which began

with

Noah and his

family after the drying up of the

flood

and ends with

rist's Second Advent, is allegorically sketched in

nesis, chapter 13 to chapter.

14

verse

12;

I . ,

4

, h 4

A Q

AI>-. we11.t

up

o u t of ~ n p t ,e id i;

C .

a n

a ll t h a t h e h a d , a n d L o t w ~ t h rm,. r ~ i t o h e ~011th. 2 A n d A b r a m

u

y ric h ill cat tle . in sil ve r, and in gold. 3 A n d he w ent on h i s journeys

from t h e s o ut h e v e n t o B eth -e l, u n t o t h e p la c e w h e re I ~ i c t e n t a d be e n

a t t h e b e g i n r ~ i l~ g etween Beth-el and Hai . U n t o t h e p l a c e o f t h e

a l ta r , w h i ch h e L ad m a d e t h e r e a t t h e f i n t : od h e r e A bm m o l l e d o n

t h e n a m e of t h e LORD.

'

The return of br h him to Canaan picture tlie rsgener-

400d.

Abraham represents Gbd,,and

Lot

esents restored mankind. Later

on

as we shall see,

ot represents ,that portion of the human race with which

Gud

had special dealings-namely, thenation of Israel.,

Gea 13 5-13. A n d Lnc ,a lso , w h ich w en t w i th A bra m, had Bock , an d

herds,

md

ent.. 6

nd

t he l and w u ot ab le to be ar them , th a t they

ht dweU toqe ther. 7 And th e re w ar a s t r i fe botween th e he rdnien of

Abram'c ca t t l e anrl t h e he rdmen of Lot' s c a t t l e

:

n d th e Ca larnrte an d

a n d t he P e r i t ~ i t e d w e l e dhtln in t h e land. 8 A n d A b r a m sald unto Lot .

L e t t h e r e ba no *wife, I p r ay t he e , b e t r e a n m e a n d t he e , a n d b e tw e e n

my herdmen and t h y herdmen for w e bcbret ll ren . 9

11

no t t h e w hole

la nd k f o e h e e? w p r r n t e thystif, I p r y h e e from m a

:

f I h ill l kr

th e I& han d, .

than

I r i l l g o t o th e

ri

h t ; o i

if

flu

d8pat-t

t o t h e rig ht

hand . then

will

o t o t h e left. 10 ~ n d aifte d u p h is e r r r a n d b eb eid

al l tbe plmn of fordan, a n d i t

was

well wa te re d every r l r e r e , be fore th e

LORD k t r o y e d Sotlom a n d G om orrah , rwn as t h e ga rd e n of t h e

L d ~ b ,

e the land of Egypt

am t ho u c o ~ n e s t n to Z o a r. X T h en L ot cl~ocrs

him aY t he p la in of j o r k n

;

n d Lu t jaurnsved ea s t

;

n d th p y s c p a ~ t c d

themaelves t he one f rom the o the r .

12

bram dw el t in the land of

c R i a of

the p la ln , and

pitohqd

his t en t

Sodom: 13

But t h e m en of Sodorri w wicked a n d a rnner r f rs

LORD r c e d n ~ l y .

.

. . . : I . . a

I I ,

*. The.

postle tells us 'that minkind,'-$hen they

knew

od, nlorified Him not as God; neither were 'thankful.

s they did not like to retain

God

in their

God'

gave

them

over

to

a

pind void

of

judg

, I .

3

. . I I


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ment (Rom. f :21-32). At no period in earth s history did

know

God

more fully than during the years follow-

ing the

flood

One would have e

ected that the lesson

of the great

doud

rh ich taught G ~ Sighteous judgment

against sin, woul d have been a lasting one. Wit4 such a

demorlstration of God s power, i t would be-only reason-

able to suppose that mankind would no longer strive

against Him, and against His servants the prophets and

saints. But not

so

Like Lot, they preferred their own

way to the way of God. They chose the course of pride,

fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness. And thus,

seeing that they could not dwell together in peace, God

allowed mankind to separte themselves from Him, even

as Abraham permitted Lot to. go hfs own way toward

Sodom. God does nothing without a reason-His desire

is

to prove to men through bitter experience the folly of

their conduct.

G n 13: 14 18..

And the

Lord

asideuntoAbram, after that Lot

w u

separated from him, Llft up now thane

eyer and

look from the place

where thou art northwud, and southward, and eastward, and westward

15

For a11the laad which thou eest, to thee will

I

give

it

and to

thy

seed

for ever.

16

b d rill make thy seed as the dust of

the

earth:

so

that

if a man caa numberthedust of the earth,

l h

hall thy wed also num-

bered. 17 Ar m, walk through the land in the length of it and in the

breadth

of I t :

for

I

will

qlve at

onto thee.

18

Then

Abmm

removed hb

and came and dwelt n the

plain

of Mamre, which is in Htbron, and

there ahar ullto the

LORD.

While

od

promised Abraham the whole land of can-

(figurative of the world-see Rom.

:

19, and

a

as nullrerous

as

the dust.of the earth,

we

perceive

this prolnise has

a

deeper significance. Though

like Lot, chose the wayward cotme, God s

covenant will be fulfilled nevertheless The

will yet be His? and will be thickly populated with

own children, all In complete harmony .with Himself.

For thus saith the.Lord that c r e a t d the heavens; God

that formed thp ea rt h apd made it; he hath estab-

it, he created ~t not In yam he formed it to

be

I


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inhabited (ha. 45: 18 .

Thus when men fell away from

God soon after the flood (as typified by Lot separating

from Abraham and pitching his tent toward the sinful city

Sodom),'God reminded Himself of his own oath-bound

covenant to bless the world in due time by reclaiming it

from its sinful condition through His Seed,

Gm 14: 1-12.' A n d i t ca nl e t o pass in th e day s of A m ra ph el

ki

of

S h i n a r. A r.ioch k i n a o f E l l w r , C h e d o ~ l a o m e r in g of E la m . a n d d a l

kipg of natrons.

t t

t sr m ad e w a r w ~ t h era k ing of SO~U I I Ind w ith

Binha

k in g of k o m o r r a h , S h i n a b k in g of A d m ah , a nd ~ h e r n e b ; r i ng of

Z eb i i m , and t h e k in8 o f H ela, w h tch 8s Zoar.

3

All these w ere joined

together in th e va le of S iddim. wh ich i s the sa l t sea . 4 T w e l v e y e a r s

t h e y served Chedor laomer , and in th e th i r teen th y ear they rehcl led . 5

An d in the four teen th yea r c a m e Chedor lao tner, and th e k ings th a t were

with him. an d sm ote

the

Repha i tns in A shte ro th Ka rna im, and tbe Zuz ims

in H a m ; a n d t h e E m i m s in S h a v e t h K ~ r i a t h a i m . 6 A n d t h e H o r i t e s in

the i r Mount Seir in to El -paran, which

i s

by th e wilderness. 7 A n d t h e y

returned.. a nd ca m e to En-mishpat , wh ich

is

Kadesh , and smo te a l l the

cou ntry of th e Arnaleki tes.and also th e Amori tes, th at dw elt in Ha zezo n-

t a m a r . 8 A nd the re wctlt ou t the long of Sodom, and t h e k ing of Go-

mor rah, and t he k ing of A d m ah and t he k ing o f Zeb o i in~ , nd t he k k g o f

B ela ( t h e s a m e

is

Zo ar an d they joined bat t le wi th them in the va le of

S hld im W i t h Chedor laomer t he k ing of E lam, and w ~ t h i tl a l k ing

of nat ions, and Amraphael k ing of Shinar , ? ~ d r i o c h

king

of EHasar ;

four k ings m t h five.

1x

A n d t h e v a le of Sidd.m w a s f u l lo f r l ~ m e p ~ t rn d

the k ings of Sodom'and G om orra h fled, a nd k l l t h er e

;

nd they th a t re -

mained

fled t o t h e m ountain. A n d th ey to ok all t h e g d s f S od otn

and G o ~ n o r r a h n d a l l t he i r vic tuals , a nd w en t the i r w ay .

I

And they

took L o t. ~ b r k n ' s rother's m n . r h o dwel t in Sodom, a d i ~ r o o t l s . n d

depar ted;

The details f the& verees

have

'significance in con-

nection with'various features in1God's Plan, th narrative;

as

a whole is an allegorical outline: of the last portion of

the'second Dispensation-namely, the period of the,Seven

Times of the Gentiles. Lot here represents n0.t mankind

as a whole, but the one representative nation of .Israel,

with which

od

ha4 particular dealings. The four

kings

with Chedorlaomer as leader who overthrew Sodom and

Gomorrah, and Capbured foolish Lot with all his goods,

represent the four Gentile universal empires, headed by

Nebuadnezzar,, who in

606

B C

overthrew the apostate

I .

. :. ; .. .

,

s

'J


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kingdom of Israel, and carried captive the children of

Israel with all their goods., Since then the Israelites have

been subject to the Gentile nations, and have btm wait-

ing for God to deliver them.

.

The

Thlrd

impensation

i s introduced in Geq.

14:1 ~ x 6 .We

shall

first

quote

t hesc

verses:

.

Gen

14: 13 16.A n d th e re c am e o ne t h a t c rc a a n d to ld ~ b m mh e

H e b r e w ; for h e dw elt i n th e p la in of M a m r e e A m o r i t e , b m t h c r of

E:hcol, an d br o th er of A m e r : a n ? t he s e

w m

onfe dera te .with A br am l

4

And w h m

Abram

hea rd t h a t 111s b ro the r w as t aken c a p t ~ t e , e

armed

his

t r a i n e d s m a r t s ,

born

in h i s ow n house . th re e hundred an d e igh teen ,

and pursued

f k m

u n t o D a n .

5

And divided himsel f against them, he

he and his servant r ,

by

night , and

smot

t h rm. a n d pur sued t hem un to

H o h h . w h i c h s on the l e k hand o f D amascas .

16

An d be brought back

all the goods . and a l so bro uf i t a g r in h is b ro ther Lo t , and h i s goods , and

the w om en a lw . and t he peopie .

These verses picture how God and His anointed com-

pany, the spirit-begotten Church, every member of which

has

been born in God's

own

house and has been instructed

by

Him,

will

~ i t eBabylon the Great" in the dark night

of trouble which ends the Second Dispensation,and ushers

in the 'l'hird Dispertsaticn. And as Abraham and his

trained servants, all born in his house, rescued Lot and his

goods, so will

G od

and His specially trained and anointed

company restore Israel with all their possessions, and alsq.

the world of mankind in general.

.

It is remarkable that of all Abraham's gervants the.

name of one only

is

recorded -Elieier. But more remark-.

able still, if we add together the numerical value of each

Hebrew letter in the name Eliezer, we in

th

total is;

exactly 318. The ancient Hebrews, like the Greeks, used.

R e g a r d i n g th e num ber of A braham 's r t ~ 8 n b , a a t i n p ,

~ i b l e ~ i e

t ionar s ta tes un de r th e capt ion Number, - The num ber

j 8

i s t he

equivalent of EHezer, if t he ~ ia m e r i c a l a l u a

of

th e different le t ters

of.,

t h tr n a m e a r e

added

t o g e t h e r

t

1+ 30+ 10+ ~+ 7+ m= 318 . I t . . r au ld

be

s tranme coincidence i f the numb er o f Abrah am's ' t ra ined servants '

x


15/50

the letters in their alphabet t6 denote numbers, s that

reckoned i t 1 this way, every word had a nulnerical value.

Apparently, therefore, orlly one name among all

b

raham's 318 servants required to be recorded, because this

name represented the complete number. The reason

is

evident, for

a s

an allegorical personage Eliezer represents

the Holy Spirit; and the 3 8 trained servants accompany-

ing Abraham typified the Christ, head and body, all those

who have been anointed

w i

tli the Holy Spirit, in company

with God overthrowing the Gentile nations on the com-

p etion of their lease of power, the end of their "Seven

Times,

en

4:

17-20.

A n d t h e

king

of S odo m wen t ou t t o m ee t h im a f te r

h is r er u rn f ro m t h e sl au g h te r o f C h e h l a o m e r a n d of t h e kings t h a t wt

with

him,

a t t he v a l l t y of S b a n h , w h ic h

s

the king's dale . 18 A n d

Alelchizedek king of Salcnr brought forth bread and wi ne nd he

war

tne p riest

of

th e m ost high God. 9 A nd he b le se d h im, and sa id , Blessed

e

Abrall i of th e mast hrgh God possessor of heaven an d e a r t h .

XI

And

blessed be the most h ~ g h od , kh ich ba th du l ive red th ine en imies in to

thy

hand.

A n d h e gav e him t i thes of a ll.

When the evil systems 'of the Second Dispensation are

finally overthrown in th t great trouble which follows the

expiry of the Gentile Times, and Israel, represented by

Lot, is restored to favour, even the world, as represented

in the king of Sodom, although formerly evil .at heart,

will recognise God

as

the mighty avenger end conqueror

who has liberated them from bondage, especially the bon-

dage of the grave. I t will be in the "King's

Dale"

that

restored manki:rd will meet od and do Him honour, even

as the king

of

Sodom met Abraham in this valley. For

the Kina's Dale is the valley of Jehoshaphat, or the valley

of the Kedron, which runs along the east side

of

Jerusalem

(known in Abraham's

d y

.as Salem). And this valley is

stood in such a r el a ti on to 'E l i eu r , ' t he on ly nam e k l~ o wn o U o f

t ra ined s e r van t o f Abr ah am .

Hence

Rashi sa id l nu ago , 'Our f a then

said Eliezer ~t was, a lone, a nd this 318) is the Ciematrical nurnbcr of h u

name. '

13


16/50

racogaised ar a type of the Adamic death, from which a

resurrection is assured because of tile sacrificial

work o i the great high priest, Christ. (The valley of

Jehoshaphat is a great cemetery; and every Jew as well

as the Mohammedans, desires to be buried in this valley,

as they firmly believe that it is here that the resurrection

of the dead

is

to take place, and where they will meet

God. This valley is the vdley of the dry bones refer-

red to by Ezekiel in the 37th chapter, where the dead are

pictured in graphic language as coming to life once more.

Absalom's Pillar can be seen in this valley a t the pre-

sent day-See Sam.

18:

18.)

Christ, head and body, the great High Priest after the

order of Meichizedqk, will also be there, and wi# meet

GodJ' and offer to im the flesh and blood of his atoning

sacrifice, represented by the bread and wine which Mel-

chizedek offered to Abraham in the king's dale. Accord-

ing to God's own arrangement, the successful sacrificial

work of Christ gives him the right to kingly and priestly

authority; and even as Abraham recognised Melchizedek

when he received the bread and wine from him, and gave

him tithes, so God win recognise Christ as a Priest for

ever after the order of Melchizedek, and will hand over

the reins of goveroment into his exclusive keeping until

the work of the Millennia1 reign is accomplished, and all

the dead have been raised to perfect He, and the Adamic

curse finally rolled away. In all this Christ wiW bless

God, because he will bring honour to His great Name.

And after the Millennia1 work is complete, the Son will

hand over the Kingdom to the Father, that the Father

may be all in ail, even the Son becoming subject to Him.

(Thus when we keep strictly. to the allegorical picture,

we are not doing violence to the statement in Heb. 7 :7.

GIN 4 :ZI 24.

And the

king

of Sodom said

unto

Abram Give me the

pCrwns. and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said t o the

king

o

Sodom

I

have

l i f t

up

mine

hand unto the

LORD

he

most

high

Cod


17/50

th e possessor of hearen and earth 23 T hat

I

will not take from a thread

even to a shoelatchet and that

I

will not lake anything that

s

th ~n e ert

thou shouldst say I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which

the young m e n have eaten and the portion of the men which went with

me. Aner. Eshcol and Mamre et them take their portion.

Those who have allied themselves with

od

will get

their portion of the spoil (Isa.

53: IZ ,

but God Himself

will take nothing; for is He not the possessor of heaven

and earth? God gives, but takes nothing; nor will He

be

debtor to any man.

Who can make Him rich? And the

children of God must also give and not take, nor be

debtor to any except to love others.

After presenting this general outline of the

Plan

of the

Ages, we find that the allegory of Abraham's life-history,

as continued from the 15th chapter of Genesis, entersinto

the

details

of the Plan.

wrything

recorded-is not to be

regarded in an allegorical sense; merely the principal or

outstanding features are to be so recogniscd. This is the

rnetllod pursued by the Apostle when telling us that

Abraham's two wives were allegorical of two covenants-

he does not regard every minute incident in connection

with Abraham's wives as necessarily having connectiofi

with the picture, bnt treats the narratives broadly. We

remember that many separate purposes are served

by

every feature of the Divine record- wheels within

wheels.

As the Bible does not give much information about the

Old World of the Ungodly, so also in the further un-

folding~ f the allegorical sketch, it passes on to the

account of the first Age of the Second Dispensation with-

out more than a passing reference to the First Dispen-

sation. We find that

The atriarchal

Age

is

dealt witb in the 15th chapter of Genesis, which we

here quote:

a.

15 21.

fter

these things tho word

o

the

LORD

am e unto

IS


18/50

A br am in a v ir ion , r ay in g

F e a r not A b r a m

n

th y sh ie ld nnd t h )

exceed ing g re at rew ard . 1 ) ~ n dbrim sa id , Lo r d GOD a l l a t k i l t th ou

give me, see ing I g o childless . a n d t he s teward of my house is th i s El iezer

o f Dam ar cu s? A n d Ab r a m sa id , B eho ld , t o m e th ou h as t g iv en n o

~ e d

and. lo,

on

born in nry house is mine heir .

4 And, behold,

the word of the

LORD me

u u t o h im, s ay in g T h i s sh a ll n o t be

t h i n e h e i r * b u t h e t h a t sh a ll co me f o rt h o u t hf th i n e o wn b owe ls

shal l

be

t h e heir.

5

And he b rough t h im fo r th abroad , and sa id ,

Look

now toward heaven , and tel l th e s tars , if thou

I

a b l e t o n um -

b e r t h e m : an d h e s a id u n t o h im,

So

shal l thy seed be 6 A n d h e

believed

i n

t h e

LORD;

n d h e co u n t ed i t t o h i m f o r r ig h teo u sncs .

7

And he ra id un to h im,

I nm

t h e

LORD

ha t b rough t thcc ou t of U r

o f t h e C h a l decs

to g ive thee t l i i s l and to inher i t i t 8 A n d h e s a i d

Lord GOD he;eby sh al l know th a t

I

shal l inher i t

i t ?

And he sa id

un to h im, T a k e me a n he i fe r o f th ree year s o ld , and a she goa t of th ree

yea rs o ld , an d a r a m of th re p yea rs o ld . and a tu r t l e dove , an d a young

prgeon. 1

And he took unto h im al l these , and d iv ided then1 in the

midst , a nd laid ea ch p iece on e agains t i~ n o th r r ; Inrt the b irds d ivided he

not .

11

And when the fowls c a m e down upon th e carcases, A braa l

d r o v e t h em away .

12

A n d wh en t h e sun wa s g o in g d own .

;I

deep s l eep

fell upon +ram nd, lo, a n ho rro r of

Ereat

da rk ne ss fell upon Irim.

And he

aa~d

unto Abram. Know of a su re ty tha t t hy seed sha l l

be

a

s t ranger in

a

l and

th t is

no t theirs, a n d shall se rv e the111; nd they sha l l

aff lict the m four hul tdred y e a rs ; 14 An d also th a t nat ion, whom t h e y

shall serve. will I

j udge and a f t e rw ard sha ll t hey com e ou t wi th g rea t

substance.

15

And thou sha l t g o t o th y fa ther:, i n pea ce ; thou sha lt be

buried in

r

g o d old age. 16 But in the four th genera t ion they s l~ a l lo me

ther aga in o r th e iniqu ity o f th e Am or i t es

IS

no t y et full.

I ?

And 11

c am e t o s l ~ a t s ,h a t , w h er ~ he su n wen t down , an d 11 was dar k , behold

a smoking furnace. an d a burning lam p that passed between those

pieces. 18 I n t h e s ame d a y t h e

L O R D

ade a covenant with Abraln,

aviog , U n to th y meed h av e I g iven th i s land , f rom the r iver of E gy pt unto

th e g rea t r iver, t h e r iver Euphra tes .

19

T h e Keni tes . and th e Keoizzites,

and the Kadmoni t es

2

A nd th e H i t t i t e s ant1 t h e Yerrzzites and th e

Kcphaims, zr And th e Amori tes , and the Cana ani tes , an d th; Gi rgash-

ter , a nd the Jebusites.

T i l l Abraham 's day ,

4 7

yea rs a f t e r th e flood , and

2,081

ars a f te r the fa l l of A da m , God's H oly Sp i r i t , typified

iezet-, had been st r iv ing w ith m en t o con vince them

f the i r evi l ways, an d ra ise them ou t of the i rde gra da t ion .

as i t was withou t benef icent effect, G od said t o Noali:

.My pir it shall not a lway s s t r iv e wi th m en (Gen. 6: 3).

written in m an's nature , arrd i t was t o this tha t God


19/50

appealed by His Spirit; for

the l w

is spiritual, as the

Apostle declares (Rom.

2:

14, 15). This spirit could not

ways strive with men, but must ultimately become so

effaced as to no longer prevent them from going head-

long into destruction. Clearly, then, the Holy Spirit of

God, as represented by Eliezer, could not be the heir

of

the promise, the one who would inherit all things and

bless all the families of the earth. And thus, just as

od

informed Abraham that Eliezer could not be his heir, but

that

he

would have a

seed

of his own who would inherit

the promises, so God by this allegorical picture informs

us that it not y the Holy Spirit, but by His beloved Son

Jesus Christ whom He Himself wor~ldbeget, that all the

blessings of restitution shall be accomplished. And this

Son was not to be an earthly Seed, but a heavenly spiritual

Seed, like the stars of heaver) for multitude-a multitud-

inous Seed, composed of Jesus Christ the head, and the

members of the Church His body.

The sign which Abraham received in confirmation of

God s promise that his seed would possess the land, is

a

hidden prophecy of the timp when the Christ, typified by

Isaac, would know

y e

would possess the world.

For

if

we regard the years of .the covenant-witnessing animals

asprophetic, we find that the aggregate ages of these five

animals point to the date when the present great world-

war began, which is the commencement of the active

overthrow of the Present Evil World by the invisible

spiritual Kingdom, that the world may thus become the

possession of the Christ. Reckoning the ages of the two

birds as one year each, the aggregate ages of the five

animals is eleven yea r s If we regard these eleven

years as prophetic, they represent a period of 11 times

360=3 960

ears. This period, dated from the year

2 45

B.C.

when the covenant was first made with Abraham,

terminates in the year 1914-1915

AD.

he datc

of

the

endl

of the Times of the Gentiles.,


20/50

The remarkable catalogue of ten nations, which ends

this 15th chapter of Genesis (verse8 19-21) is a hidden

reference to the ten toes of the great image which,

Daniel informs us, are to be destroyed by the stone

Kingdom (Dan. 2: 31-&). For beforeGod piritual Seed

can

fully

possess

the world, He milst first dispoclscrs its

present Gentile occupants,the ten divisions of the Holy

Roman Empire. Observe that Abraham's question wor

not: h hall

I

inherit it?'' but: Whereby shall I

know that

I

shall inherit it? This word whereby has,

in the Hebrew, the meaning of by what. The thought

is: By what (event)shall

I

know? - What is the sign?

Keeping to the allegoricalpicture, God as represented by

Abraham, knew that He and His

Seed

would inherit the

Kingdom when the foretold great time of trouble broke

out in 1914, the date indicated prophetically by the ages

of the animals use in sealing the promise. His Seed

now also know that they will enter into full possession of

the world, over which they will reign

as

spiritual Kinga

and Priests; because they see the present complete gov-

ernmental powers now being dashed in pieces as a potter's

vessel. This is a sure sign to the faithful that the promise

ia being fulfilled The number ten, when connected

with government, representscomplete governmental

pow-

er; and s the ten nations enumerated in verses 19 to 2

of this 15th chapter of Genesis were in complete possess

ion of the p ro mid inheritance in the days of Abraham,

so the antitypical inheritance has up till 191) been pos-

sessed by the complete governmental porrers of the Gen-

tiles aa represented by the ten horns of the fourth

beast seen in Daniel's vision, and the ten toes of the

great Gentle.image seen in vision by Nebuchadnezzar).

The Israelites were constantly reminded of

God s

deter-

mination to drive out the nations, that He might fulfll His

promise to Abraham (Josh, 23:9,10)

;

herefore, when in'

the dapa of Joehua the ruling powen began to be driven

18


21/50

out, the fleshy seed of Abraham knew they would inherit

the land. So,.also, when the Spiritual Seed now see the

complete governmental powers of the Present Evil World,

typified by the orginal ten nations in Canaan, being

driven out of their rulership, it is a sign to them. They

know that, in the words of Revelation : 5: Tbe king-

dom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord,

and of his Christ. There is also an indication that the

special covenant regarding the land in verse 18 of this

15th chapter of Genesis, will begin to be fulfilled with the

fleshly Israelites in 1925, ten years after the beginning of

the fulfilment of the spiritual phase of the promise (ac-

cording to the point of time given at the end of-the

16

chapter.

Thm Law.Mspenution

n all~gorically ealt with in Geneda chapten 16 to 19

inclusive.

Gem

6

: 16. Now S a n i Abpm'r wife

bare

him no ehildrsa : nd

ohe had an haodma~d, n Qyptlan, whom name Hagar. 2 And

Sarai u i d onto Abram Behold now the LORD hath reatrained me from

bearing I pray thee. i o in unto m i maid t may that

I

m.ay obtair

children by her.

And Abrun hearkened to t l ~ eolce of S a n ~ .3 And

Sarai Abram'a wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after A b n m had

dwelt ten y e a n in the land of Canaan and

ave her to her husband

Abram to he his wife. 4

A d

e went i sbnto Raga r and she conceived

:

a ~ l dhsn.she aaw t b t she had conceived her mdrea r was despised in

her eyes. 5 And Sami said unto Abram

M;

wrong upon thee-

I

have

given my maid unto th y b a o m ; nd r h i n she saw that she had ioonceiv-

ed,

I

was despised in her e y a : the LORDjud between me a d hee.

6

But Abram raid unto Sarai, Behold th ma ib ir

in

thy hand; d o to her

.r

it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dear; hardly with her, she fled from

her face.

7

And the angel of the LORD found her by a foantain of r a t e r

in the wilderneo, b the fountain in the r a y to Shut. And he r ~ d

H a ar, Sa pi 'a m a i t whence comeat thqu

?

and whither wilt thou go

~ n he aa ~d , Bee from the face of my mlrtrcn Sam. p And the nnwl

of the LOR said unto her, Return to thy mistrew, and submit thyself

under her hands. 1 And tbe angel af rhe LORD said unto her, I will

multiply thy reed exceedingly that it #ball not be numbered for multi-

tude I And the angel of the LORD mid unto her &hold thou u

with'child, and rbalt bear a

ron

and thou Ihalt call bis nam;Iahmael;

I9


22/50

because.

the Lonp bath heard thy adlidion. 2And he rill be

a

wild

man; h a hand

W N

agalnrt every man, and every loan's hand a g a i ~ ~ s

him and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

3

And she

called the name of LORD that ake unto her Thou

od

KeSt me:

for rhe raid, Have I alao here l o s r d after him' that seeth me? 4

Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahairoi; behold

it s

between Ka-

desh and Bered.

S

And Hagar bore Abmm

a

aon

nd

Abram called

his son'r name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16

And Abram

w s

fuur-

mcore and six yearn old, when Hagar bare lehmael to Abrarn.

1

God at the first did not indicate to Abraham that'the,

son whom he would beget would be by Sarah, and as it

seemed as if the heir was not intended to come through

her, Abraham took Hagar, Sarah's bondmaid, and

beg t

Ishmael. The antitype of the interval between Gods's

covenant with Abraham, and the birth of Ishmael (between;

10 and f years), is the long period of 2,553 years which

elapsed between the creation of Adam, and the birth

of the nation of Israel when it entered the promised land

under Joshua.

During all of that long period it must have

seemed as if God's original oath-bound Covenant, typified'

by Sarah, was barren indeed (Gal. q:2I-31). But the Law

Covenant, to which God bound Himself, at once con-,

ceived and brought forth in due time the nation of Israel,

the fleshly seed typified by Ishmael, a wild man wbose

hand was against every man, and every man's hand:

against him; for the nation of Israel has indeed been

thus peculiarly marked amongst the nations of earth;

During all the Jewish Age from the entering of the nation

into the inheritance of the land of Canaan, till the first.

advent' of Jesus. Christ, the Sarah Covenant still re-,

mained barren. But when Jesus was -raised from the

dead, the Head

of

the great spiritual Seed of promise,

was born through the Sarah Covenant;

and during the.

Gospel Age the Church of the first-born have been

selected member by member to complete the antitypical

Isaac, the Seed of God Himself, in whom all .the prom-

ises centre. 8

We

anderstand through thetimes and seasons of the

2


23/50

Scriptures, that in

1878

A.D. those who slept in Chrkt

arose in the First Resurrection.'

The 17th chapter of Genesis continues the allegory

of

the Law Dispetisation

Gem 17 -27. A n d when Abram was n ine ty yea rn o ld a n d n ine , th e

LOR

ppeared to A br am . and sa id unto h im. I

am

t he A l m i gh t y Go d :

walk before me. and be thou perfec t . 2 An d I will niake my covenant

be twee n m e and thee and will mul tip ly the e exceedingly . A n d

A h ra m fe ll on h is f a&: and

God

talked with him, saying. 4 A s f o r m e ,

M o l d , m y co ven an t

is

wi t h t he e

a n d t h o u s h a l t be a f a t h e r o f m a ny

nations. 5 N ei th er sha l l thy nam; a l ly mo re be ca l led Abram. bu t th y

na m e sha l l be A br ah am or a fa th er of Illany na t ions ha ve I mad e thee .

And

I

will mak e th ee exceedingly f ru i tfu l, and I will m ak e na t ions of

ee , an d k ings sha l l co m e out of thee . 7 And I will establish m y cov-

a n t betwe en m e a n d t he e a n d thy se ed a f t e r t he e i n the ir ge ne ra t ions

or a n eve r l a s t ing covenan t , t o I=

a

God un to t he e, a n d t o thy se ed a f t e r

hee. 8 And I will g ive un to thee . and to thy seed a f t e r thee , th e l and

he re i n t hou a r t

a

s t ranger . a ll t h e l and o f Ca naa n , fo r an eve r l a s ting

a n d

I

wil l be their God. 9 And God sa i d un t o Abra ha m ,

h o u s h a l t k e e p m y c o v e n a n t t l ~ e r e f o r e h o u a n d t h y ac ed a f t e r t h e e In

genera t ions . 10 T h i s is m y c o v c ~ ~ a h t ,h ich ye sha l l keep, b e tween

e a n d y ou a nd

thy

se e d a f t e r t he e E ve rv m a n c h il d a m ong you sha ll

W e find t h a t t he r e m

a

t ime-para llel be tween th e b i r th? of th e na t -

s o f A brah am , an d the two na t io ns , fle shy and spiritual, which

o seeds typify . Accord ing to th e no tes o f t ime g iven in the na r -

ive . I shm ael w as born be tw cen

lo

and

11

ye a rs a f t e r Ab ra ha m re c c i r e d

e c o v e n a n t f ro m G o d o n first e n t e r in g t h e l an d of C a n a a n , o r s a . ~ 0

a rs . I t wa s 5 yea rs in t e rva l be tween the covenan t and t h e b t r th o f

; 1 5

1

A we ha v e no t i ced ? \ ready .

e e n t e r i n g o f A b r a h a m i n to C a n a a n w i th S a r a h w h en h e r ec e tv e d t h e

na n t wa s al le go r ic a l o f l;od c o m in g d o w n t o e a r t h w i th H i s o a t h -

und c dve na n t , a nd c r e a t i ng Ada m a s he a d of H i s e a r t h l y k ingdom

.

Unti l Je sus Chr is t wa s ra ised f rom th e

SarahCovenantVwasbarren andunt i l 1878 A D t h e m e m b e rs

t i e Church, the Body of Chr is t, ;ere not born f rom the de ad (an d

ven n o w t h e feet m e m l ~ nti ll aw ai t th ei r birth ). But in 1575 B.C.

h e H a g a r Covenan t brough t fort11 h er f leshy seed. wh en the y crossed

a n d e n t e r e d a s a na ti on i n t o t he i r own c oun try . T h e in te rval8

the coven ant wit11 Ab rahani and t he b i r ths of l sh mael an d Isaac .

r e in t il e sam e propor t iona te ra t io a s th e long pe riods between th e c re -

of A da m

4128 B.C.

an d th e e nt r an ce of t h e t ieshy seed in to the i r

na t ion in

575 B c ;

and the en t ran ce o f ti le sp i r i tua l Seed o r

-loly N at ion in to th e ir h eave nly inher i tance in 1878 A D ( O r , t o s t at e t h e

As

25 yea rs i s t o

I

years,

so

is

6 6

years t o 2553 years-- the ra t io

s tb e same.)

A3 21


24/50


25/50

be

circumcised.

A nd y e shal l c i tcum cise t lie f lesh of your foreskin;

a n d i t s h al l

e

a t o k en o f t h e c o v e n a n t L n t w ~ x tm e and you . 2 And h e

tha t i s e ig ht d ay s old shal l be c ircumcised am on g yo11, ev ery nlan chi ld

in your gene ra t ions , he t h a t i s bo r n i n t h e houre , o r I m ug l t w i th m oney

of any s t r ange r , wh ich

s

not o f thy seed .

3

H e t h a t is b o rn in t h y

house . and he th a t i s bought wi th thy m oney , mus t needs be c i r cumcised :

a n d m y c o v e n a n t s ha ll be in your f lesh fo r a n ever las t ing coven ant . 14

A n d th e uncircumciscd m an child whose f lesh of his foreskin is not c ir -

cumcised . t h a t sou l sha l l

be

cu t off f rom h is people : he ha th broken m y

covenant . 5 A n d G o d s ai d u n t o A b r a h a m , A s f o r S a r a i t h y w ife, t h o u

s h a l t n o t c a l l h e r n a m e S a r a i ut S ar a l i

shall

h e r n a m e

be.

16 A n d I

wil l b l a s he r , and g ive t h e a s on a l s o o f he r : yea ,

I

will bless her , a n d

t h e s h a l l be a mothrr of na t io ns ; k ings of people shal l be of I~ er . 7T h e n

A b ra h am fel l upon h i s f ace , an d laughed , an d sa id In h i s hea r t , Sha l l a

chili be b o rn u n t o h im t h a t is a n h un dred y e a r s o l d ? a n d s h al l S a r a h . t h a t

i s n ine ty yea r s o ld , bea r 18 A n d A bra hzm said un to God, hat I sh-

mael might l ive before thee

9

A nd God s a id S a r a h thy w if e s ha ll

bea r t hee a s on indeed . and thou s ha l t c a l l h i s h am e I s aac : an d I w il l

e stabli sh m y cov enan t A i th h im f o r a n eve r l a st ing covenan t, nd with

h i s

aced

af te r h im. A n d a s fo r I shmael . I hav e hea rd thee : Behold .

I

ha ve b leawd him , a nd will m a ke h im f ru it fu l, and will m u lti ply h ~ mx-

c e e d i n g l y ; twe lve p r ince s s ha l l he bege t , and I will m ak e h im a g r e a t

na t ion.

2

But my cove nan t will I e s tab l i sh wi th I saac , w hich Sa ra h

s h al l b e ar u n t o t h e e a t t h i s s e t t i m e i n t h e n e x t y e ar . 22 A nd h e le f t off

ta lk ing wi th h im, and God went u p f rom Abraham . 23 A n d A b r a h a m

too k lvhmae l h i s son , an d a l l tha t w ere orn in h is house , and a l l th a t

we re bought w i th h js 'money . every n la le am on g th e m en of Abraham 's

h ou se ; a n d c i r c u ~ n c ~ s e dhe f le sh of the i r foreskin In t h e sel f s a m e da y

a s

od

had said u n to him. 4 A n d A b r a h a m urns nine ty yea r s o ld an d

nine , wh en h e w as circu mc ised in th e flesh of his foreskin.

25

An d I sh-

mae l h i s so n

w s

th i r teen y ea rs o ld , when h e w as c ircumcised in the f lesh

if his foreskin.

26 I n t he se lf sam e d a w as Ab r aham c ir cum cis ed , and

I s h n ~ a e l i ss o n.

A nd a11 the men o r h i s house , born in th e house , a nd

bought wi th money of th e s t r ang er , w ere c ir cun ic ised w i th h im.

After the nation of Israel born of the Law Covenant

had entered into their inheritance God gave them judges

and later kings as His representatives in the earthly

kingdom. But it soon became apparent to the

honest-

hearted among the people that the Law would make

nothing perfect and that it w s not possible that the

blood of bulls and of goats could take away sins. Hagar

did not represent th covenant nor Ishmael the Seed

which could bring blessing. When this became evident

God then proclai~ned or the first time His intention to

22


26/50

by the Sarah Covenant.

e sent prophets during the Jewish Age who foretold as

uld he (God) be a great father (which is the mean-

of the name Abram)-that is, not only would He be

he Father of the Jewish nation alone, but that He would

the Father of many nations (the meaning of the name

Through these prophets He also foretold (an

the allegory) that His original oath-bound Covenant

ted by Sarai) would no longer be a source of

(the meaning of the name Sarai), but would

a source of happiness, a princess or queen (which

kt His Cove-

like Sarah, would soon bring forth a son indeed,

great Deliverer, who would bring blessings to all.

The circumcision

on

the 8th day pointed to the great

th Millennia1Day when a11the children of God (Abraham)

God.

ark

18

: -33.

And the Lo ~q ap pe ar ednto him

in

the plainsof Mammr

d he sat the tent door in the heat of the day:

a

And he lifted up

s and looked. and lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw

he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bored himself toward

3 And mid, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy

ight, p a s not away, I pray thee, from thy se.mant :

4

Let

a

little water.

pray you,

be

fetched. and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the

:

And

I

will fetch a rnorstl of bread. and comfort ye your heartm-

ye come to your rervant:

do as

hou hast sald.

6

And Abraham hastened into

nt unto Sarah, and said, Make reads quickly three measures of fine

it

and make cakes upon the hearth.

7

And Abraham ran

herd.

and

fetched .a calf tender and good and gave

i t

u~i to

8

And he took butter, oud NII

it before then1 ; nd he s t 3

y them under the tree and they did eat. And they s a ~ dnto h ~ m ,

1s Sarah hy wifk2 And he said, Eehqld, in the tent. 10 And he

I w ~ l lertrlnly return unto thee according to the ttme of life

;

nd

Sarah thy wife sliall have a son And Sarah heard it in the tent doe

X NO Abraham land Sarah wrrr old d

ell stricken in age; a d i t ceased to be .w~th arah after the manner

of

12 Therefore Sarah laughed wlthin henelf u d l ~ fter I up

33


27/50

n a r d

o

shall hate pleasrim, my 1 0 ~ d eing old aim? 3 And the

LOR aid unto Ab ~ah am ,Wherefore d ~ darah laugh, saying, Shall

I

of

a surety bear a chdd

whtch am old

14

Is anything too hard for the

Lord? At the time ippointed I r i l l return unto tllee, according to the

time of life, and Sarah shall hate a son.

5

Then Sarah denied, saying,

I laughed not for she was afraid

And he said Nay. but thou d~d s

laugh. 16 ~ n ihe men rose up frdm thence, and iookedtorard Sodom;

and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

7 And

the

L O ~ ~ s a i d ,hall

I

hide from Abraham that thing which

1

do-

8

Seeing

that Abrahank shall surely become a great and mighty nation: and all the

nations of the earth shall be blessed in him I

For

1

know him, that

he will command hischildren and his household aRer hlm, and they h a l l

keep the way of the LORD, o do justice and judgment; that the LORD

may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. 2 And

the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Comorrah is great and

be-

cause their sin

is

very grievous;

2 I

will go down now, and see whether

they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto

me; and if not,

I

will know.

22

And the men turned their factr from

thence. and went toward Sodom:

But Abraham stood e t before the

Lord. (Note: the remaining ve- give a n account of t o w Abraham

interceded for Sodom, and how the Lord promised tha t he would not de-

str y 11 if even

s

f e r en righteous penonr were found there.)

In this 18th chapter of Genesis, two important things

u e foretold by the three angels: I ) That Sarah would

have the promised son a t the appointed time; and 2) that

Sodom would be destroyed. The three angels represent

three means by which God had communicated to the Jew-

ish nation during their Age, that I) The great Messiah

would come at the due time, and

2)

that the apostate

kingdom of Israel would be destroyed because of its wick-

edness see Ezek.

1647-50 .

These three means by which

God foretold these two great events, were I) the typical

reign of Solomon,

2)

the Law, and

3)

the prophets.

The heat of the day is the time when the sun is high in the

heavens, and symbolises well the reign of Solomon, when

the typical people of God, the children of the Law Cov-

enant, reached the zenith of their favour with Jehovah.

Solomon himself is the well-known type of the Royal Seed,

Christ, ia His glory, and thus foreshadowed the coming

Messiah. But toward the latter part

of

his typical reign,

Solomon fell away into idolatry, and on his death the


28/50

kingdom was largely wrested from his heir. His kingdom

was divided, and thus practically fell. The reign of the

antitypical Solomon will never fall ; he fall of Solomon's

kingdon rather foreshadowed the overthrow of the whole

Jewish nation and kingdom in 6 6 B.c.,and again in 7

A.D.

The law of Moses also, by means of

its

types and

shadows, foretold the coming of the great Prophet and

Priest the great Deliverer; and also the destruction of the

kingdom and nation because of their evil which was evep

greater than the evil of the Sodomites.

The prophets likewise foretold of these two events.

I t is generally understood that one of the three angels

who appeared before Abraham was the Lord Jesus in his

prehuman existence. In this appearance of the Lord and

the two angels before Abraham, we are reminded of the

vision on the Mount when esus was transfigured and

Moses and Elias, representing the

law md

the prophets,

communed with him before God, and spake of his coming

glory (Matt.

7: 9;

Pet.

6 1 8 .

Gen 9

is rather long to quote. Briefly summarised,

thischapter details how two angels came to Sodom at even';

and Lot,

who

was sitting at the gate, invited them to stay

with him durin the night. They ate unleavened bread.

The ~od om itnfea ringf the two strangers in Lot's home,

demanded that they should be delivered up. Lot refused,

and tbe angels struck the rabble with blindness, so that

they could not see the door. The angels then foretold of

the destruction of Sodom because of its great wickedness,

and urged and then compelled Lot and his wife, and his

two daughters to flee from the place. And it came to

pass, when they bad brought them fo r~h broad, that he

said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay

thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be

consumed. And Lot besought them to let him escape

into the little city of Zoar, and his request was granted.

The

sun was

rises

upon the earth when Lot entered into


29/50

Zoar.

he the

~ o k d ' ined upon odbrn and upon

Gornorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of h'eavea.

And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all

the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew'upon

the ground. But his wife looked backed from behind hiin,

and she became

a

pillar of salt. Later, Lot, fearing

to dwell in Zoar, went up to the mountain and dwelt there

with his two daughterr. The Maobites and the Ammon-

ites were born of these two daughters.

While in the allegory we are still dealifig'with the

Law

Dispensation,

we

know that 'what took place in that' ge

was typical of the realities o f the Gospel Age. In the

typical Law Age, the destruction of Sodom allegorically

represented. the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel in

6 6 B C; and in a secondary sense it might also be regard-

ed as representing the complete overthrow of Israel as a

nation in 70

A D

But since these two important events,

through the over-ruling providence of God, occurred

a s

figures of the much greater downfall of Christendom now

begun,

so

the destruction of Sodom by fire and brimstone

from heaven foreshadowed in the fullest degree the ever-'

lasting destruction of Christendom at the end of the Gospel

Age. That this application is correct there is no doubt,

for Jesus himself connected the destruction of Sodom with

the overthrow of the Present Evil World (see Luke

17:28-32). In the 11th chapter of Revelation, also, Ch'rist-:

endom is spiritually called Sodom. In this 11th chapter

of Revelation two witnesses are prominently mentioned.'

In the syn~bolisms f this book these two witnesses repred

sent the Old and New Testaments, which warn the Spirit-'

ual Israelites to flee from the destruction'

o f

Christendom,

just as Lot was warned y

the two angels, to escape out,

of Sodom before the fire and brimstone came down. Ini

this connection, therefore (and in strict accordance %itla

the words of Jesus), Lot, while in the allegory primarily.:

representing fleshly Israel, also more. fully

representr the

26


30/50

Great Company.*

When considering the general outline of the Divine

in chap-

ers

2

to

14

of Genesis, we saw .that the overthrow

f Sodom by Chedorlaomer also pictured the overthrow

f Israel in 6 6 B C Here again certain incidents con-

cat lier overthrow of Sodotn, have an

llustrative bearing up011 the destruction of the Spiritual

dom. In the

10th

verse of Genesis 14, we read that the

ings of Sodorn and Gonlorral~ell in the vale of Siddim,

which was full of petroleum pits (not slin~epits). The

Hebrew for slimepit .could also have been ret~dered

bitumen which is petroleunl llardeped by evaporation

The tilaterial, also known as asphalt and

which is very infiammable, burning like bright coal,

cast up to the surface of the Dead Sea in great masses

y earthquakes. (Tlris was especially noted in the earth-

kes of 1834 and 1837.) In the opinion of many corn-

nt authorities, Sodom was situated at the southern end

f the Dead Sea, at a place now covered by the water.' The

its being now covered by the water of the Dead

ter earthquakes had loosened them from the pits, One

iter says that these floating lumps of bitumen sometimes

into flames. his phenomenon may

e been the origin of the prophet Isaiah's graphic

de-

w h n

he says that

s streams would be turned into pitch. The land of

inhabited by the descendants of Esau or Bdom,

es soutllward and westward from the' southern 'end

f the Dead Sea. Idumea is one of the well-known types

,

*T he series of Pastor Russell s S tu d in

in

th e Scripturer we;;

rocured from the Watch Tower

Bible

and Tract

Society, f4 Craven

Laneaster Gate. London,

W.;

or

4

Columbia Hei.hts

N.Y..

U S A

There

rc

wren rolunrn in

t h e

scricr.

e

t

everyone.

' 1


31/50

of Christendom, as all Bible students are aware.

In Isa.

34:

1 10 the prophet in highly figurative language force-

fully depicts the utter destruction of Christendom, the

spiritual Idumea. Its 6'streams the channels of com-

merce by which the life of a country is sustained, would

be turned into inflammable pitch, its dust illto brimstone,

and its land into burning pitch, and the smoke thereof

would ascend for ever. When Sodom

w s

destroyed in

the days of Abraham, he saw the smoke of the country

going up as the smoke of a furnace (Gen. 19:28 . Thus

the fiery overthrow in the vale of Siddim, that highly

inflammable region which afterwards was included in the

land of Idumea, well illustrated the fiery overttirow

of

the

Spiritual ,Sodom, or Spiritual Idumea; for the coming

social revolution, likened to a great earthquake, will

loosen elements in the figurative streams of Christen-

dom which will burst into the destructive fire of anarchy,

and will utterly consume the present order of things (see

2 Pet. 3:

10-12 .

The smoke (remembrance) of this

great destruction will never fade-it will be an everlasting

lesson.

It says that the usun was risen upon the earth when

Lot escaped into the little city Zoar Gen. I9:23). Later,

when the vengeance of God was poured upon Sodom, Lot

fled from Zoar to the mountain. As a city symbolises a

religious government backed by power and influence

(See Studies in Scriptures, Vol. IV, page 2 9 Zoar

must represent the small organisation which is backed by

the power of God, and is composed of those in present

Truth, the spirit-begotten sons of God organised for the

~ c t i v epread of the message of the kingdom during the

harvest period of the Age. In the dawn of the Millen-

nial morning this kingdom class have obeyed the summons

to come out of the antitypical spiritual Sodom, prepara-

tory to ascending beyond the vail

to

the heavenly Kmgdom

(mountain).

a


32/50

And Jesus said: Remember Lot's wife

She looked

k, and was therefore turned into a pillar of salt. As

t is a preservative, and as a pillar is frequently used

as

so we would understand that the pillar of salt

o which the disobedient wife of Lot was turned serves

selves from Churchianity, or Babylon the Great.

Since Lot here represents th Israel of God, his two

ghters represent fleshly Judah and Israel, who, like

whole of Gospel Age. Just as Lot, after escaping tp

the Ammonites, so the Christ, head and body, when

entiles through Judall and Israel, who wil l then be the

ministers of the Word of life.

I

he

Seven

Time

o

th

Centilem

referred to in the allegory in the 20th chapter

of

Gene-

is which we here quote:

Gen m

-18.

And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south

country and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur a~ tdmjour~~edn Gerar.

z

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She i s m y sister : and Abimelech

king of Gerar sent. and took Sarah. But od came to Abimelech

n

a

dream by night, and said to him. Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the

woman which thou bast taken;for she is man s wife. But Abimelech

had not come near her: and he said. Lord, w~ l lhou slay also a righteour

nation 5 Said he unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself

said, He is my brother : n the integrity of my heart and innocency of my

hands liave

I

done this And God said

unto

him in the dream, Yea,

I

know that thou didst tdis in the integrity of thy heart or also withheld

thee from sinning against me:

therefore.ruffered thee not to touch her.

7

Now tl~erefore estore the

man

his r ~ f e.for he is a prophet. and

he

shall pray for thee, and thou shalt lire: and lf tho11 restore hw not, know

thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that

ar8

thine.

8

Therefore

Abinlelech rose early in the morning, and ~ a l l e dll hirservants, qnd told

all these things ia their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then

Abimelech called Abraham, and raid unto him, What hart thou done

unto us? and what have

I

offended thee, that thou hast brought on me

and on my kingdom a great sin

t

thou h u t done decdsunto me that ought

I

9


33/50

not t o be done.

1

A n d A b i m e l e c h s a i d u n t o A b r a h a m , W h a t s a w e r t

t hou , t ha t t ho u has t (lo lie th is t h in g ?

I I

And Abraham sa id , He 'cause

thought , Sure ly the fea r of Got1 i s no t in th i s p lace ; and they wi l l s l ay m e

for m y w ife 's sa ke.

2

lld yet indeed s h t i s my sister; she is the danghte r

o f my fa the r , bu t no t the dau gh te r o f Iny m ot he r ; ancl sh becanle my

wife.

3

And it ca m e t o pass, when God cau sed 111e to w ander from 111y

l a t h e r 's I ~ o u s e , ha t said un to her . T h i s

is

th y kindness which tho11 sh al t

rhow.unto m e; a t every p lace w hi th e r we sha l l conie, ray of me .

He

s

my brother.

4

A nd A bime lech took sheep , and oxen an d mense rvan t s,

a n d w o m e n s e r v a n t s a n d g a v e

t hen

u n to ~ b r a h a m . ' a n d resto re d hi m

Sa ra h his wife. 15 A ~ i d b i~ n e le c haid Behold

I I I Y

l an d i s b e f o r e t h e e .

dwell w liere i t pleaseth thee

6

A nd u A o ~ a r a ie said Behold

I

h a v e

given thy b rother a th o t l sh d pieces of s i lv er ; be ho ldI nh e i s to) the e

cove r ing of th e eyes , unto a l l th a t a r t wit11 thee , ant1 with a l l

other

thus

rh r was reproved . 7 S o A br ah am prayed un to Got , and God hea led

Abirnelech, an d his wife, and his ma idservan ts ; an d they ba re chilh-en.

8

F o r t h e

L O R D

h ad fast c losed

up

a l l t he w ombs o f t h e house

of

A bime-

lech. because of S a ra h Ab raham 's wife.

As in the allegory the overthrow of Sodom in the days

of Abraham primarily represented the overthrow of the

apostate kingdom of Israel in

6 6 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar,

the king of Babylon, so the allegory continues in the 20th

chapter of Genesis to deal with the period immediately

following that overthrow-namely, the Seven Times of

the Gentiles. King Abimelech taking Sarah into his

house, believing her to be Abraham s sister, reminds us

of the similar incident recorded in the

12th chapter in con-

nection with Pharoah and his princes. In the former

case Pharoah and his princes represented Satan and his

evil angels; but in this case, Abimelech and his house re-

present Nebuchadnezzar and the Gentiles generally, who

in

6 6

B.c.

after the overthrow of God s typical earthly

kihgdom, sought to govern the world, and thus bring

blessing tipon all the families of the earth. In other

words, they sought to do all that God s original oath-bound

as typified by Sarah, is destined to do. But as

Abraham did not devulge to Abirnelecll that his sister

ah was also his wife, so

God in His wisdom hid the full

uth that he alone is bound to His original Covenant, and

that He alone has the right and power to bring into ems-

30


34/50

Ztence the grtat Seed who will

bless

the world vith ,good

government, peace, and contentment. Abraham did not

tell a lie when he said that Sarah wae his sister; he with-

held the truth that she was also his wife. So God, who

cannot lie, does not disclose His secrets until the due time.

After H e has allowed angels, and then men, to learn

y

'bitter experience that they are unable to bless the world,

He will.then disclose the fact that H e is the husband of

the Sarah Covenant of blessing. Neither angels nor men

will hereafter ever be in a position to claim that the sac-

rifice of Christ was unnecessary (for through death and

resurrection the Christ, the Spiritual Seed of Abraham, is

orn

of the oath-bound Covenant); for all will then have

had the opportunity to try to bring forth this Seed, but

have only brought disaster upon themselves, as did Phar-

oah and his princes, and later Abimelech and his house.

their misappropriation of Abraham's wife, Sarah.. In

od

demonstrates His

wisdom, and proves that His thoughts and ways arc as

high above those of angels and men, as the heavens a re

above the earth.

In the allegoty,we read (in verse of this 20th chapter

of Genesis) how the Loyd appeared to Abimelech in a

dream, and declared to him Sarah's true relationship to

Abraham. This reminds as of how the Lord similarly

appeared in a dream to Nebuchadneuar, and told him

that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of man, and

giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan.

4:32 .

But it was

ot until the typical seven times of madness bad passed

v e r the head of Nebuchadnezzar, that he realised the full

of God's warning. And neither will the

fully comprehend their inability to rule and bless

, the great Seven Times of the Gentiles having

ssed, the rude awakening, the time of shaking now

n

progress,.makes them rub their eyes a ~ l d e e clearly

ir former madness. Th:y will then u t o l 'the most


35/50

high, and praise Him for their returned reason (lost for

them by Adam through his disobedience). , And

ocj

will

not hold the Gentiles responsiMe .for their misrule, but

will forgive them, knowing that in the integrity of their

hearts they believed they could rule and bless the world.

They have'not known that the covenant of blessing be-

longs to God alone.

In the 14th and 15th verses it says that Abimelech

restored Sarah to Abraham, and gave him great riches,

and told him to dwell where he pleased; As Abimelech

in himself represents, in the allegory, the Babylonian

empire headed by.

Nebuchadnezzar, the restoration of

rah and the riches and freedom he gave;to .Abraham,

represent, ( I ) God resuming His ight tu.His owncoven-

ant in 5 6 B.c. when 'the typical 70 years' dominion of

Babylori ended; and (2) at that date God's chosen people,

the Israelites, were restored to their native land,

(3)

laden

with gifts froni the Gentiles, preparatory

to

the birth of

Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of the Covenant.. In the

fuller sense this illustrates how, after the lease of dominion

permitted to Babylon the Great (Christendom) comes

to the full end, God resumes His right to the Covenant,

and brings forth into the spiritual realm the. great Christ,

head and body complete. Then the blessing of all the

families of the earth will at once commence with the re-

storation to their native land of the captive Israelites,

laden with gifts from the Gentiles.

The

Harvest

Period

of

the

wish

Age

is dealt with in the 21st chapter of Genesis; We shall

,in sections,

and

shows the allegorical

meaning as we proceed:

, Gcn 2 s ~ ~ 9 . nd the LORD visited Sarah a8

h

had mid 'urd th

LORDid unto Sarah as h

had

spoken. For Sarmb co nc e~ ve d and

Abrr1l.m son in his old age. at tb e set time of r l ~ i c h . ~ o dad

spoken to him.

3

And Abraham called the name of his m n .th a t was

whom Sarah b re to him Isaac. And Abmhm circum-

_

' I .

32


36/50

eibed

h h w n Isaac being eight dam old, as

God

had commanded him.

And Abraham was an hundred y ean old. when his so11 Isaac was born

unto him.

6

And Sarah said, God hath made lne to laugh. so t h a t all tbat

hear will laugh with me.

7

And she said, Who would have said unto

Abraham, that Sarah should have given chtldren suck for I have born

him a son in his old age. 8

And

the child grew and was weaned: and

Abraham 111ade a great feast the sum day that Isaac was waned.

And Sarah saw the

son

of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto

Abrahanr mocking.

After having fully demonstrated that the angels could

not bless the world with everlasting life (as typified by

Pharoah and his princes' misappropriation of Sarah); and

that the Holy Spirit was not the means of blessing (as typi-

fied by the rejection of Eliezer as Abraham's heir); and that

fleshly Israel was not Abraham's true Seed (as typified by

God's refusal to recognise Ishmael as the child of prom-

ise); and that the Gentile nations were not capable of

brin ing peace and contentment to mankind (as typified

by

lbimelech's mistake in appropriating Sarah); God at

last brings forth His true spiritual Seed, Jesus Christ,

through His own oath-bound Covenant

as

typifiid by

Sarah nov having bdrn to Abrqham the long promised

son Isaac). And as Ishmael persecuted Isaac,

s6

the

fleshly Israelites persecuted

esus

Christ during the time

of his ministry.

Gem

21

: 0 21.

Wherefore she unto Abraham. Cast out thkbqnd

i omap and her con : 6r the

son

of t h ~ rondwoman shall not be hew w ~ t h

my wn

men

with Isaac. nd the thing was very grievous in Abra-

ham s Hght because of his son. 12A 4

Cod

said unto Abraham

Let it

not be grietour in thy sight becatme of the lad, and because of th; bond

woman in all tbat S a n h hath said unto thee hearken u11to her voice *

for in I shall t hy reed be called. r And ;lso of the son of the lmnd:

woman will

I

make a nation, became he is thy reed.

14

And Abraham

rose

up

early in the morning, aad took bread, and a bottle of wafer, and

gave it unto H a g u , putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and .sent

her away nd rhe departed, and

= red

in the wildernem of Beenhe-

ba. 15 And the water was rpent in the bottle, and she cast tho child

under one of the shruba

16 nd

rbe went, and sat herdown ovefagainst

him

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Abraham's Life History by John Edgar, 1919

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