His people. We doubtless are aware that there are what are called lo-ammi periods in

biblical chronology; lo-ammi being the Hebrew for, "not my people". According to

I Kings 6: 1 the temple was commenced in the 480th year after the children of Israel had

departed from Egypt, whereas according to Acts 13: 17-22 the period is given as

573 years (this includes 3 years of Solomon's reign), a difference of 93 years. Abram's

loss of communion, and the re-commencement with God from where he was at the

beginning, is but a small example of the principle that solves this apparent riddle.

During the time of the Judges Israel were taken away captive 5 times, and if we note

the duration of these captivities, we find they total exactly 93 years! In case some readers

are acquainted with this fact, we give the references hereunder:--

The years of the Acts reckoning are Anno Mundi (in the year of the world), whereas

the 480th year of I Kings is Anno Dei (in God's year), showing that no record is made of

the years of captivity. What a short term of Christian service some of us really serve

when we come to consider the many lapses, and the many fresh beginnings that we can

remember. What a mercy that the Lord does restore us, yet should we remember His

words, "Go, and sin no more". The reader who is interested in the prophetic times of

Dan. 9: will find a further application of this principle in Volume VI The Berean

Expositor (page 165).

We are sure that when Abram reached the place of tent and altar, and there called

upon the name of the Lord, he realized that nothing Egypt could offer was so precious as

these two accompaniments of his pilgrimage. The world throughout all dispensations has

been an unqualified snare: the wise will profit by these scriptural examples, while the

foolish will think that where Abram failed, they will succeed. Doubtless Lot thought he

would overcome the evil of Sodom, but we know that he did not.

We cannot close without at least a remembrance of that One who though the Son of

God (and who could, had He wished, have turned the stones of the wilderness into bread),

nevertheless waited upon God, repelling the suggestion of dependence upon any arm save

that of His Father. Abram will find his place in the list of those who lived by faith, but

the One who eclipses the whole cloud of witnesses is that One who is the author and

perfecter of faith.