leave not a hoof behind, lest that should make them mindful of the country from which they came out.
3. They took with them the souls that they had gotten, that is, (1.) The servants they had bought, which were part of their substance, but are called souls, to remind masters that their poor servants have souls, precious souls, which they ought to take care of, and provide food convenient for. (2.) The proselytes they had made, and persuaded to attend the worship of the true God, and to go with them to Canaan: the souls which (as one of the Rabbins expresses it) they had gathered under the wings of the Divine Majesty. Note, Those who serve and follow God themselves, should do all they can to bring others to serve and follow him too. Those souls they are said to have gained; we must reckon ourselves true gainers, if we can but win souls to Christ.
IV. Here is their happy arrival at their journey's end. They went forth to go into the land of Canaan, so they did before, (ch. 11. 31.) and then took up short; but now they held on their way, and, by the good hand of their God upon them, to the land of Canaan they came; where, by a fresh revelation, they were told that this was the land God promised to show them. They were not discouraged by the difficulties they met with in their way, nor diverted by the delights they met with; but pressed forward. Note, 1. Those that set out for heaven, must persevere to the end, still reaching forth to those things that are before. 2. That which we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and a humble attendance upon his providence, will certainly succeed, and end with comfort at last.
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. 8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 9. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
One would have expected that Abram having had such an extraordinary call to Canaan, some great event should have followed upon his arrival there; that he should have been introduced with all possible marks of honour and respect, and that the kings of Canaan should immediately have surrendered their crowns to him, and done him homage: but, lo! he comes not with observation, little notice is taken of him; for still God will have him to live by faith, and to look upon Canaan, even when he was in it, as a land of promise: therefore observe here,
I. How little comfort he had in the land he came to; for, 1. He had it not to himself; the Canaanite was then in the land. He found the country peopled and possessed by Canaanites, who were likely to be but bad neighbours, and worse landlords; and, for aught that appears, he could not have ground to pitch his tent on, but by their permission: thus the accursed Canaanites seemed to be in better circumstances than blessed Abram. Note, The children of this world have commonly more of it than God's children. 2. He had not a settlement in it. He passed through the land, v. 6. He removed to a mountain, v. 8. He journeyed, going on still, v. 9. Observe here, (1.) That sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and obliged often to remove their habitation. Holy David had his wanderings, his flittings, Ps. 56. 8. (2.) Our removes in this world are often into various conditions.
Abram sojourned, first, in a plain, v. 6, then, in a mountain, v. 8. God had set the one over against the other. (3.) All good people must look upon themselves as strangers and sojourners in this world, and by faith sit loose to it as a strange country. So Abram did, Heb. 11. 8..14. (4.) While we are here in this present state, we must be journeying, and going on still from strength to strength, as having not yet attained.
II. How much comfort he had in the God he followed; when he could have little satisfaction in converse with the Canaanites, whom he found there, he had abundance of pleasure in communion with that God who brought him thither, and did not leave him. Communion with God is kept up by the word and by prayer, and by these according to the methods of that dispensation, Abram's communion with God was kept up in the land of his pilgrimage.
1. God appeared to Abram; probably, in a vision, and spake to him good words, and comfortable words, Unto thy seed will I give this land. Note, (1.) No place or condition of life can shut us out from the comfort of God's gracious visits. Abram is a sojourner, unsettled, among the Canaanites; and yet here also he meets with him that lives and sees him. Enemies may part us and our tents, us and our altars, but not us and our God. Nay, (2.) With respect to those that faithfully follow God in a way of duty, though he lead them from their friends, he will himself make up that loss by his gracious appearances to them. (3.) God's promises are sure and satisfying to all those who conscientiously observe and obey his precepts: and those who, in compliance with God's call, leave or lose any thing that is dear to them, shall be sure of something else abundantly better in lieu of it. Abram had left the land of his nativity, "Well," says God, "I will give thee this land," Matth. 19. 29. (4.) God reveals himself and his favours to his people by degrees; before he had promised to show him this land, now, to give it him: as grace is growing, so is comfort. (5.) It is comfortable to have land of God's giving, not by providence only, but by promise. (6.) Mercies to the children are mercies to the parents. "I will give it, not to thee, but to thy seed;" it is a grant in reversion, to his seed, which yet, it should seem, Abram understood also as a grant to himself of a better land in reversion, of which this was a type; for he looked for a heavenly country, Heb. 11. 16.
2. Abram attended on God in his instituted ordinances. He built an altar unto the Lord, who appeared to him, and called on the name of the Lord, v. 7, 8. Now consider this, (1.) As done upon a special occasion; when God appeared to him, then and there he built an altar, with an eye to the God who appeared to him. Thus he returned God's visit, and kept up his correspondence with Heaven, as one that resolved it should not fail on his side; thus he acknowledged with thankfulness, God's kindness to him in making him that gracious visit and promise; and thus he testified his confidence in, and dependence upon, the word which God had spoken. Note, An active believer can heartily bless God for a promise which he does not yet see the performance of, and build an altar to the honour of God who appears to him, though he does not yet appear for him. (2.) As his constant practice, whithersoever he removed. As soon as Abram was got to Canaan, though he was but a stranger and sojourner there, yet he set up, and kept up the worship of God in his family; and wherever he had a
